[KLUG Members] Multiple x86 architecture RPM packages in RedHat install ..

[Bruce Smith]

> Anyone who has looked at the RedHat RPM list under ./RedHat/RPMS on an
> install CD or in an install directory (for those of us that use NFS),
> you'll note a few packages are duplicated with different x86
> architectures (i.e. packagename.ARCH.rpm).  E.g., the obvious kernel
> versions (.i386, .i586, .i686 and, more recently, .athlon), glibc
> (.i386, .i686) and maybe one or two others.
> 
> I'm curious to find out if the Anaconda installer is flexible enough to
> handle additional x86 architectures for the same package?  Or if the
> installer is "hard coded" to only handle multiple architectures on a few
> packages?

I've never tried it, but I suspect it is smart enough.  There is the
"--ignorearch" install option, and that leads me to think it's flexible.

> Although it's fairly easy to test to see if Anaconda accepts it, I
> canNOT easily verify which x86 architecture RPM was actually installed. 
> At least I don't know how to find out with any variation of "rpm -q".

I don't know if any options that display it with the "rpm -q", but there
are a couple tricks I've used in the past.

1)  Do an "rpm -qip package*rpm" and look at the "Build Date:" field. 
It _usually_ varies between the different arch's in the same package. 
Then do an "rpm -qi package" and compare build dates.

2) Save as #1, except compare the "Size:" field (in bytes).  That also
varies from arch to arch in most cases.

3)  If all of the above doesn't work, in a scratch directory run:
 "rpm2cpio package.arch.rpm | cpio -ivmud" to extract the files from the
package (without installing the package), and then compare md5sum's with
the extracted binaries to the installed binaries.

If anyone knows of a better way, please share!

--------------------------------------------
Bruce Smith                bruce@armintl.com
System Administrator / Network Administrator
Armstrong International, Inc.
Three Rivers, Michigan  49093  USA
http://www.armstrong-intl.com/
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