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directoryrpmuninstallationprefixrelocation

RPM doesnot take care of deleting the directories which are created as part of RPM relocation

I have to relocate a rpm and hence i have added Prefix in my spec file.

rpm.spec:

Prefix: /etc

Prefix: /usr

Prefix: /var

when i do relocation :

rpm -ivh --relocate /etc=/akshatha/test/ --relocate /usr=/akshatha/test/ --relocate /var=/akshatha/test/ (rpm_package)

etc has directories : aaa bbb ccc

usr has directories : ddd eee fff

var has directories : hhh iii jjj

so i see inside /akshatha/test/

$cd /akshatha/test/

$ ls -ltr

aaa bbb ccc ddd eee fff hhh iii jjj (and some_other_contents_which is not of rpm package)

the relocation is sucessful..very happy for that.

But when i do uninstall of that rpm :

rpm -e (rpm_package_name)

i see the contents inside the directories aaa bbb ccc ... are deleted.

but the directories does not get deleted as part of uninstall.

if i delete these folders forcefully during uninstall :

rpm takes RPM_PREFIX_INSTALL=/akshatha/test

which actually deletes the entire test folder(which also has someother contents which are not of that rpm package)

Solution

  • In the %files section you define what belongs to an rpm and what will be removed when the rpm will be removed.

    If you put:

    %files
/etc/test/*

    The all files inside /etc/test will belong to the rpm but not the test directory. If you put

    %files
/etc/test

    Then the /etc/test directory with all it's content will belong to the rpm and will also be removed upon uninstallation.