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Revision as of 17:16, 28 December 2021 by Chrismurphy (talk | contribs)

Relocate RPM database to /usr

Summary

Currently, the RPM databases is located in /var. Let's move it to /usr. The move is already under way in rpm-ostree-based installations, and in (open)SUSE.

Owner


Current status

  • Targeted release: Fedora Linux 36
  • Last updated: 2021-12-28
  • FESCo issue: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>
  • Tracker bug: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>
  • Release notes tracker: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>

Detailed Description

Current location

/var/lib/rpm

New location

/usr/lib/sysimage/rpm

The proposal is to apply the new location only to new clean installs only. It will not apply to upgrades.

/var/lib/rpm will be a symlink pointing to /usr/lib/sysimage/rpm

Changing the file system layout to accommodate a snapshot+rollback regime is implied, but not required by this proposal. For example, Fedora has long placed /home on a separate subvolume (or file system) so it can be isolated from system root. Likewise, it makes sense to isolate /var/log and possibly /var/lib/libvirt/images so these locations continue to carry forward in time, even if the system root does a rollback.

Feedback

There will be no change to DNF as part of this change proposal. DNF's history will remain in /var until DNF 5. Discussion continues about the effect of a snapshot+rollback regime on DNF history. Relocate DNF history to /usr.

Upstream RPM accept the change, but institutionally don't like the loss or weakening of a very well known location for the database, and anticipate complaints.


Benefit to Fedora

  • The RPM database primarily describes the state of /usr. Storing the databases in /usr will more easily facilitate OS rollback, without affecting /var.
  • Helps align Fedora variants with each other
    • rpm-ostree based systems (including CoreOS, IoT, Silverblue, Kinoite) already use /usr/lib/sysimage for rpmdb.
  • Consistency with another RPM-based distro, (open)SUSE has made this change
  • Accounts for various snapshot+rollback regimes, i.e. it's a beneficial change whether Btrfs or device-mapper based regimes.


Scope

  • Proposal owners:
    • changes in rpm package
      • create the new path
      • create a symlink for the old path pointing to new path
  • Other developers:
    • changes in SElinux policy


  • Release engineering: #Releng issue 10441
  • Policies and guidelines: N/A (not needed for this Change)
  • Trademark approval: N/A (not needed for this Change)
  • Alignment with Objectives:

Upgrade/compatibility impact

Change will not be applied to upgrades.


How To Test

  • Clean install or upgrade an existing Fedora system
  • Note the changed database paths (new location) and symlinks in the old location
  • Check that rpm and dnf commands work as expected, e.g.
dnf history  
rpm -qa
  • Since this will apply to new clean installs only, we'll be testing that the change appears only in Rawhide and does not appear on upgrades.


User Experience

Users will notice:

  • symlink in the old locations for the databases, pointing to the new location

Otherwise, the change should be invisible to users.


Dependencies

  • rpm-ostree probably should make /usr/share/rpm a symlink to /usr/lib/sysimage/rpm, rather than the reverse as it is currently.
  • PackageKit might use inotify on /var/lib/rpm need to check if it does and whether it should be changed or add the additional path


Contingency Plan

  • Contingency mechanism: Revert the change, try again the next Fedora release.
  • Contingency deadline: Beta freeze
  • Blocks release? Yes


Documentation

Release Notes