MAN page from Old RedHat 6.X autorpm-1.7.1-3.noarch.rpm

AUTORPM

Section: User Manuals (8)
Updated: MARCH 1998
Index

NAME

autorpm - RPM FTP Mirror and/or Auto-Update utility.

SYNOPSIS

autorpm [--apply|--interactive|-i] [--ftpftp-site] [--dirdir-name] [--configfile-name] [--print] [--debug] [--help|--usage] [--version]

DESCRIPTION

AutoRPMis a program that can do any combination of the following: mirror RPMs froman FTP site, keep installed RPMs consistent with an FTP site or local directory,and keep installed RPMs in a cluster or network of systems consistent. Itis highly flexible... and if it can't do something, email me and I willprobably implement that too...

OPTIONS

--apply | --interactive | -i | -a: This will probably be the most used argument. If any RPMs on the system needto be installed or updated and, in the config file, you chose Interactivemode, those RPMs will be entered in the Interactive Queue. You may then runAutoRPM in Apply-Mode and decide whether or not you want to install or upgradeeach RPM. See the section titledINTERACTIVE MODEbelow.
--ftp ftp-site: FTP site must be in the form of"ftp.somewhere.com:/pub/redhat/RPMS/i386". This will make AutoRPM connectto that site and compare the files in that directory with the files currentlyinstalled on your system. It will then ask you if you want to install anyRPMs that are on the site but are not installed, or if you want to upgrade anyRPMs to a newer version on the FTP site. Nothing will be downloadedor installed on your system unless you say 'Yes' on a per-file basis.
--dir dir-name: Where dir-name is the name of a directory on your filesystem.. This will make AutoRPM lookat that directory and compare the files in that directory with the files currentlyinstalled on your system. It will then ask you if you want to install anyRPMs that are in the directory but are not installed, or if you want to upgrade anyRPMs to a newer version in the directory. Nothing will be installed on your systemunless you say 'Yes' on a per-file basis.
--config file-name: Specify an alternate config file (besides the default of /etc/autorpm.conf).
--print: This will cause AutoRPM to print all output to STDOUT, ignoring any commandsin the config file that says to mail the reports somewhere else...
--debug: Turns debugging mode on. Please use this mode to send me output from the program.
--version: Displays the version of AutoRPM and when it was released.
--help | --usage: Displays the usage information.

FILES

/etc/autorpm.conf

: Unless you specify an alternate config file on the commandline (with --config),this file will be used to determine the behavior of AutoRPM. I plan to write a man-page for this file eventually, but for now the commentsinside the file itself should suffice.

/var/spool/autorpm

: This can be changed in the config file. Depending on how you use AutoRPM, thisdirectory could fill up with many RPMs, so watch it for space. Basically, thisdirectory is used for all AutoRPM's temp files and persistent queues, as well asa temporary location for RPMs from an FTP site. These RPMs from FTP sites shouldbedeletedwhen inside Interactive Mode as they are simply copies of the remote files.

/var/spool/autorpm/auto-ignore

: This file may require special attention. Every time you remove a file from yourInteractive Queue, an entry is placed into this file listing the source RPM(including full pathname and/or FTP site name), a semi-colon, and the localRPM that it was compared against (if any). This file prevents you from havingto say "No, I don't want to install XXX" every single night. It is specificenough so that most users will never have a problem with unwanted Auto-Ignores.If you are debugging or testing AutoRPM and it is not behaving properly, takea look in this file to see if there are any entries that might be affecting your testing. Also, it is conceivable that this file will grow very largeas the years go on if you don't null it out every once in a while.

AUTO-INSTALL QUEUE MESSAGES

You will sometimes see, during the Auto-Install-Queue run, a packagefail to install, but AutoRPM says "will try again later". What thismeans is that the package *did* fail, but AutoRPM will try again afterinstalling the rest of the packages it the Auto-Install-Queuejust in case the first package depended on the others.

In other words, whenever you see "failed, but will try again", you shouldsee another mention of the *same* package again. If the last mentionof a package is a failure, then the package will go into the interactivequeue.

INTERACTIVE MODE

Interactive Mode is how you determine whether or not you want to installRPMs that have been tagged for Interactive install. This happens either bychoice (in the config file, or by running in --dir or --ftp mode) or whenan RPM that was supposed to be installed automatically failed.

MAIN MENU

The Main Menu lists all the RPMs that are in the Interactive queue (never with repeats) firstand then 2 or 3 commands at the bottom. Selecting any one of the RPMs will bringyou into a submenu that will allow you to view and modify attributes of that RPM. AnyRPMs with NEW at the beginning of the description have been added by AutoRPM sincethe last time you saved your changes in Interactive-Mode. Once you install anyRPMs in Interactive-Mode or you save changes, any RPMs marked as NEW will no longerbe marked as NEW.

Applywill attempt to install or upgrade any RPMs marked as such(and delete the RPMs after a successful install, if specified).

Exitwill exit the program after saving changes. Everything will be justhow you left it when you enter the program the next time.

Quitwill only be available if you haven't yet installed any RPMs during the currentInteractive session nor placed any RPMs in the 'Later Queue'. Selecting thiswill exit without saving any changes.

RPM SUB-MENU

At any given time, some of these commands will not be on the menu forone reason or another. I have tried to give the reasons why an item wouldbe missing below.

Toggle-Installlets you specify whether or not to install this RPM now (now meaningthe next time you run the Apply command from the Main Menu). This will notbe available if you have selected to install the RPM later (see below).

Toggle-Laterallows you to specify whether or not you want this RPM to be upgraded/installed later.Later is defined as the next time AutoRPM is run without any major arguments (--apply,--dir, --ftp). This is usually the next time it runs from cron... NOTE: If youhave this set to Yes and return to the Main Menu, the file is instantly removed fromthe Interactive Queue and added to the Delayed Queue, so you won't be able to getto it again. In other words, don't set this to Yes and return to the Main Menu unlessyou are sure you want to delay installation. This option is not available if thelast attempt to install the RPM failed.

Toggle-Deletelets you choose whether or not to delete the source file after the RPM is successfullyinstalled or upgraded. An RPM will never be deleted if there are problems installingit. This option will only be available if the Source RPM came from an FTP site (as thisoption asks you whether or not you want to delete the local copy of the remote RPM), if you run RPM from the command line with the --dir or --ftp commands, or if youuse the Allow_Delete command in the config file. NOTE: You should almost always deleteany RPMs that came from an FTP site as your temp directory could fill up quickly ifyou don't.

View-Errorswill only be available if an attempt to install this RPM has already been made butfailed. This will display whatever error RPM reported on the last installation attempt.

Use-NoDepswill only be available if an attempt to install this RPM has already been made butfailed due to unsatisfied dependencies. Setting this to Yes will direct AutoRPM touse RPM's --nodeps flag on the next installation attempt. Use with care as the newly installed RPM might not work correctly without its dependencies resolved. Youshould first make sure that the dependencies are not resolved by any other filescurrently in the Interactive Queue and, if there are, try installing the RPM and theneeded dependencies at the same time (by saying Install Now to all of them and thenselecting Apply from the Main Menu).

Use-Forcewill only be available if an attempt to install this RPM has already been made butfailed due to conflicting files. Setting this to Yes will direct AutoRPM touse RPM's --force flag on the next installation attempt. I would not suggest usingthis unless you really know what you are doing.

Removewill remove the RPM from the Interactive Queue. Once you remove a given file fromthe Interactive queue, it is placed in the Auto-Ignore file and will not benoticed again unless the local version, remote version, or remote location changes.If you really need to undo this, you may edit the auto-ignore file directly (seethe FILES section).

Remove and Deletedoes the same as the Remove command above, but also deletes the file like the Toggle-Deletecommand above. This will only be available if the Toggle-Delete command is available.If removing a RPM that was originally on a FTP site, you should probably choose thiscommand over plain Remove.

AutoRPM-Infowill display the current RPM, its location, its original location (if it was originallyfrom an FTP site), and any local version(s) already installed.

Package-Infoexecutes 'rpm -qi' on the package and displays the results. This is a nice summaryof the package.

List-Filesexecutes 'rpm -ql' on the package and displays the results. This lists all the filesthat belong to the RPM.

List-Depsexecutes 'rpm -q --requires' on the package and displays the results. This lists alldependencies for the current RPM.

Show-Provides executes 'rpm -q --provides' on the package and displays the results. This lists what dependencies the RPM provides.

Show-Scripts executes 'rpm -q --scripts' on the package and displays the results. This lists the pre and post install scripts that will be run before and after installation,if any. It is a good idea to check these on any untrusted RPMs.

Check-Sig executes 'rpm --checksig' on the package and displays the results. This verifiesthe RPM's integrity using the author's PGP key, if you have PGP installed...

BUGS

When looking at the source RPMs, AutoRPM bases itsdecisions with the assumption that the files are named in the standardPACKAGENAME-VERSION-RELEASE.ARCH.rpm. Also, this may actually be a"feature" (to prevent messing with random non-rpm files in the directory,such as README.errata), but all RPM files are expected to have a '.rpm' extention.

RPMs with cross-dependencies will have to be installed manually. Also, if youwant to use both '--nodeps' and '--force' on an RPM, you must do it manually asyou can't from inside Interactive Mode.

I don't know what the behavior of the program will be, exactly, when it can'tconnect to an FTP site... it should go on and try to connect to any other sites,but that has not been tested.

MAILING LISTS

AutoRPM List

For general discussion and questions about AutoRPM.

To Subscribe: echo "subscribe" | mail autorpm-requestAATTkaybee.org

Send Mail To: autorpmAATTkaybee.org

AutoRPM Announcements List

For important announcements about AutoRPM.

To Subscribe: echo "subscribe" | mail autorpm-announce-requestAATTkaybee.org

Send Mail To: autorpm-announceAATTkaybee.org

AutoRPM Development List

For discussion about AutoRPM development.

To Subscribe: echo "subscribe" | mail autorpm-devel-requestAATTkaybee.org

Send Mail To: autorpm-develAATTkaybee.org

AUTHOR

Kirk Bauer <kirkAATTkaybee.org>

http://www.kaybee.org/~kirk

ftp://ftp.kaybee.org/pub/redhat/RPMS

This document was created byman2html,using the manual pages.