yum updates corrupting rpmdb

[Joe Smith]

Todd Denniston wrote:
> ...
> try
> df -h / /var /usr
> 
> I don't remember what all went wrong when it happened to me (been a few 
> years), but if the system does not have enough space to hold the update 
> rpms AND apply the updates at the same time, then you can get several 
> things about doing updates messed up.
> 
> On systems with limited disk space, I usually hand yum update a few 
> packages at a time with `yum clean`s in between each yum update.
> 
> at 200MB free in /var/ it looks like you have enough space to download 
> all of the updates, the question is: are / and /usr similarly 
> provisioned with free space?

Good thought, thanks.

I have exactly the same problem, that's why I checked the free space. I 
just didn't show all the partitions ;-)

/, /tmp and /usr were all <100% as well. But it's possible that space 
was freed up before I checked it.

I've run out of space during an update lots of times and never had a 
database problem. Either a download fails and the update stops, or an 
install fails (space check) and it stops--always cleanly in the past.

The total amount ofd space for this batch (~30M) was within my 
seat-of-the-pants "safe" zone.

But, you're right, I could easily see how running out of space at just 
the wrong time could cause the db to corrupt, and I can't rule out the 
possibility that could've happened this time.

So far, so good. I just have to wait and see what happens when the next 
updates land.

Thanks for your help.

<Joe