On Wednesday 11 August 2004 04:05, Ryan Golhar wrote: > I installed the java SDK RPM from java.sun.com. > > Recently, however, I noticed that /usr/bin/java, /usr/bin/javac, and > /usr/bin/jar point to scripts in /etc/alternatives. > > I figured out that these replacements are from libgcj. It doesn't look > like I can until this other RPM as there are others that depend on it. > My question is why do they replace a legitimate program (java) with a > script that doesn't do anything. That just seems to break everything. > I remove the link so the real java program is picked up correctly. Does > anyone know what this is for and why its done? the alternatives system is there to allow you to install several services/packages that provide the same functionailty ( and very often the same program names) and switch between them without uninstalling either. Its most common use is to switch between sendmail and postfix, but links can be set up to cater for any package at all. How does it work? okay, the postfix/sendmail example: many programs look for a 'sendmail' binary when they want to, well, send mail. unfortunately both the sendmail and postfix packages normally provide a binary of this name, which means that if you want to switch from sendmail to postfix you would normally have to uninstall sendmail and then install postfix instead, which will involve at the very least a certain amount of downtime. On a Redhat system, these packages have been 'hacked' to provide sendmail.sendmail / sendmail.postfix (among other) binaries, so that this problem no longer exists, but how do apps know which one to call? a series of symbolic links are set up: /usr/sbin/sendmail -> /etc/alternatives/mta -> /usr/sbin/sendmail.postfix why three links instead of two? well, the other programs with clashing names also have to be dealt with, This is done using a series of 'slave' links which are automtically switched over when you change the master 'mta' link. try the alternatives command: [root@behemoth root]# alternatives --display mta mta - status is manual. link currently points to /usr/sbin/sendmail.postfix /usr/sbin/sendmail.sendmail - priority 90 slave mta-pam: /etc/pam.d/smtp.sendmail slave mta-mailq: /usr/bin/mailq.sendmail slave mta-newaliases: /usr/bin/newaliases.sendmail slave mta-rmail: /usr/bin/rmail.sendmail slave mta-rsmtp: (null) slave mta-runq: (null) slave mta-sendmail: /usr/lib/sendmail.sendmail slave mta-mailqman: /usr/share/man/man1/mailq.sendmail.1.gz slave mta-newaliasesman: /usr/share/man/man1/newaliases.sendmail.1.gz slave mta-aliasesman: /usr/share/man/man5/aliases.sendmail.5.gz slave mta-sendmailman: /usr/share/man/man8/sendmail.sendmail.8.gz /usr/sbin/sendmail.postfix - priority 30 slave mta-pam: /etc/pam.d/smtp.postfix slave mta-mailq: /usr/bin/mailq.postfix slave mta-newaliases: /usr/bin/newaliases.postfix slave mta-rmail: /usr/bin/rmail.postfix slave mta-rsmtp: (null) slave mta-runq: (null) slave mta-sendmail: (null) slave mta-mailqman: /usr/share/man/man1/mailq.postfix.1.gz slave mta-newaliasesman: /usr/share/man/man1/newaliases.postfix.1.gz slave mta-aliasesman: /usr/share/man/man5/aliases.postfix.5.gz slave mta-sendmailman: /usr/share/man/man1/sendmail.postfix.1.gz Current `best' version is /usr/sbin/sendmail.sendmail. you switch between the two systems with alternatives --set mta /usr/sbin/sendmail.sendmail (or postfix or any other that you have set up this way) or by using redhat-switch-mail wich will change the master link and the slaves will follow along like sheep. any help? ps if you want to know the command that set these things up, look at the install scripts for sendmail rpm -qp --scripts sendmail HTH -- Stuart Sears RHCE, RHCX -- redhat-list mailing list unsubscribe mailto:redhat-list-request@xxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/redhat-list
