setup.exe: force installation of specific package versions?

setup.exe: force installation of specific package versions?

[Andrew Schulman]

I run setup unattended as e.g.

setup.exe --quiet-mode --packages aria2,atool,autoconf,...

This works great, except for one thing:  There are some packages for which
the "current" versions are broken, at least for me, so I want to keep the
"prev" or some other already-installed version of the package.  Is there a
way to specify in the setup invocation that I want a particular version of
a particular package?

For example, I'd like to write

setup.exe --quiet-mode --packages bzr=2.3.1-1,openssh=prev,...

I've tried to run that, but it doesn't work - everything between the = and
the next comma is ignored.  So the current versions of those packages
always get installed.

Is there a way to do this that's not documented yet?  If not, is there any
inclination to add it?

Thanks,
Andrew.


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Re: setup.exe: force installation of specific package versions?

[Christopher Faylor]

On Wed, Oct 05, 2011 at 12:00:43PM -0400, Andrew Schulman wrote:
>I run setup unattended as e.g.
>
>setup.exe --quiet-mode --packages aria2,atool,autoconf,...
>
>This works great, except for one thing:  There are some packages for which
>the "current" versions are broken, at least for me, so I want to keep the
>"prev" or some other already-installed version of the package.  Is there a
>way to specify in the setup invocation that I want a particular version of
>a particular package?
>
>For example, I'd like to write
>
>setup.exe --quiet-mode --packages bzr=2.3.1-1,openssh=prev,...
>
>I've tried to run that, but it doesn't work - everything between the = and
>the next comma is ignored.  So the current versions of those packages
>always get installed.
>
>Is there a way to do this that's not documented yet?  If not, is there any
>inclination to add it?

How about if we just fix the broken packages?

cgf

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Re: setup.exe: force installation of specific package versions?

[Andrew Schulman]

> >There are some packages for which
> >the "current" versions are broken, at least for me, so I want to keep the
> >"prev" or some other already-installed version of the package.  Is there a
> >way to specify in the setup invocation that I want a particular version of
> >a particular package?
> 
> How about if we just fix the broken packages?

Fixing a broken package is of course better.  But while I post a bug
report, discuss it with the package maintainer and/or upstream developer,
and wait for a fix to be released, meanwhile I'd like to be able to run
setup without always having to manually dial back the version number of
that package.

For example, the bug that makes openssh 5.8p1 unusable for me was reported
in Ubuntu back in January [1].  No doubt it will get fixed eventually, but
no fix seems to be in sight, and for now I need to use 5.6p1.  Fortunately,
setup supports that, since 5.6p1 is the prev version.  What setup doesn't
seem to support yet is automatically specifying which packages I'd like to
keep at their prev or some other versions.

bzr 2.4.0 has several problems, and rather than grapple with them I'd
rather just stick with 2.3.1 until another 2.4.x comes out.

[1] https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/openssh/+bug/708493


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RE: setup.exe: force installation of specific package versions?

[Buchbinder, Barry (NIH/NIAID) [E]]

Andrew Schulman sent the following at Wednesday, October 05, 2011 12:01 PM
>I run setup unattended as e.g.
>
>setup.exe --quiet-mode --packages aria2,atool,autoconf,...
>
>This works great, except for one thing: There are some packages for
>which the "current" versions are broken, at least for me, so I want
>to keep the "prev" or some other already-installed version of the
>package. Is there a way to specify in the setup invocation that I want a
>particular version of a particular package?
>
>For example, I'd like to write
>
>setup.exe --quiet-mode --packages bzr=2.3.1-1,openssh=prev,...
>
>I've tried to run that, but it doesn't work - everything between the =
>and the next comma is ignored. So the current versions of those packages
>always get installed.
>
>Is there a way to do this that's not documented yet? If not, is there
>any inclination to add it?

I have not tested either of the following.  These are just ideas.  YMMV.

Presumably, you already have the packages that you wish to keep as prev.

How about after --packages listing only packages that you are willing
to upgrade, i.e., omit those packages that you don't want updated?
Does that work for you?

I suppose that the above might not work if you are trying to preserve
something that is not listed but is pulled in as a dependency.

Otherwise, you might consider trying to do it in stages.
  1.  Do a download with setup.
  2.  Have a script that looks in the directories of packages that you
      want to preserve and deletes everything that isn't the desired
      version.
  3.  Do a local install with setup.

Good luck,

- Barry
  Disclaimer: Statements made herein are not made on behalf of NIAID.

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