On 11/30/06, Jeff Johnson <n3npq.jbj@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On 11/30/06, Tony Nelson <tonynelson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Does "rpm --initdb" ever delete database files, specifically the Packages > file? Is it safe to do "rpm --initdb ; rpm --rebuilddb"? I want to get > straight what "rpm --initdb" does, so I don't give bad advice. > > I had read that --initdb created a fresh, new database, as implied by "man > rpm", wiping out the old database. Others have disagreed, and it seems > that they are right. I looked casually at the RPM source code for --initdb > (stopping when it called through a function pointer), and it looks like > --initdb only tries to open / create the database file(s), and won't > replace existing files. I ran "rpm -vv --initdb --dbpath > /my/broken/database", and it only mentioned the Packages file. The only current use in rpm for --initdb is to conform to the doco so that I don't have to waste time and energy explaining to users why --initdb hasn't been needed for years and years.
Which is to say rpm uses a lazy algorithm to create the initial rpm database, such that you never have to explicitly call --initdb which historically was used to create the initial rpm database. In other words, rpm creates the initial rpm database automatically. ...james _______________________________________________ Rpm-list mailing list Rpm-list@xxxxxxxxxx https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/rpm-list
