RPM dependencies and XFree86

[Rick Stevens]

John Reynolds wrote:
> Having spent an hour scouring the Web with Google, I am at the wall with 
> what should have been a simple RPM update.  THis may not be the perfect 
> forum, but it's certainly worth asking.
> 
> I have an Itanium running  Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS release 3.  I need 
> to upgrade XFree86 for security reasons.  Some RPMs have gone in, some 
> won't.
> 
> Current installs : 
> 
> [root at hplinux2 ia64]# rpm -qa | grep XFree86
> XFree86-libs-4.3.0-55.EL
> XFree86-libs-4.3.0-35.EL
> XFree86-twm-4.3.0-35.EL
> XFree86-100dpi-fonts-4.3.0-62.EL
> XFree86-font-utils-4.3.0-62.EL
> XFree86-truetype-fonts-4.3.0-35.EL
> XFree86-75dpi-fonts-4.3.0-35.EL
> XFree86-Xvfb-4.3.0-35.EL
> XFree86-tools-4.3.0-62.EL
> XFree86-libs-data-4.3.0-35.EL
> XFree86-Mesa-libGL-4.3.0-35.EL
> XFree86-doc-4.3.0-62.EL
> XFree86-Mesa-libGLU-4.3.0-35.EL
> XFree86-xauth-4.3.0-35.EL
> XFree86-xdm-4.3.0-35.EL
> XFree86-libs-data-4.3.0-55.EL
> XFree86-Xnest-4.3.0-35.EL
> XFree86-base-fonts-4.3.0-62.EL
> XFree86-Mesa-libGL-4.3.0-35.EL
> XFree86-4.3.0-35.EL
> XFree86-devel-4.3.0-55.EL
> XFree86-xfs-4.3.0-35.EL
> [root at hplinux2 ia64]# 
> 
> What I'm trying to upgrade : 
> 
> [root at hplinux2 ia64]# ls X*
> XFree86-100dpi-fonts-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-75dpi-fonts-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-base-fonts-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-cyrillic-fonts-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-devel-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-doc-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-font-utils-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-ISO8859-14-100dpi-fonts-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-ISO8859-14-75dpi-fonts-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-ISO8859-15-100dpi-fonts-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-ISO8859-15-75dpi-fonts-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-ISO8859-2-100dpi-fonts-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-ISO8859-2-75dpi-fonts-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-ISO8859-9-100dpi-fonts-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-ISO8859-9-75dpi-fonts-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-libs-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-libs-data-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-Mesa-libGL-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-Mesa-libGLU-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-syriac-fonts-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-tools-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-truetype-fonts-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-twm-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-xauth-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-xdm-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-xfs-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-Xnest-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> XFree86-Xvfb-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm
> 
> What happens:
> [root at hplinux2 ia64]# rpm -Uvh --force XFree86*
> error: Failed dependencies:
>         XFree86-libs-data = 4.3.0-55.EL is needed by (installed) 
> XFree86-libs-4.3.0-55.EL
> [root at hplinux2 ia64]# 
> 
> I've been pondering using '--nodeps', but various sources suggest staying 
> away from that at all costs.

Generally speaking, the "--force" is the dangerous one.  In your case,
you have a circular dependency.  To resolve this, you can either specify
the two problem children on the command line:

	rpm -Fvh XFree86-libs-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm \
		XFree86-libs-data-4.3.0-62.EL.ia64.rpm

Or use "--nodeps" to wildcard JUST those two:

	rpm -Fvh --nodeps XFree86-libs*

Note that I prefer "Fvh" to "Uvh", as "Fvh" only updates stuff that's
previously installed.  "Uvh" will not only update, but install stuff
that isn't already there.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
-                                                                    -
-    I don't suffer from insanity...I enjoy every minute of it!      -
----------------------------------------------------------------------