[BlueOnyx:05100] Re: Ref: .rpmnew files in an old BO server

[Michael Stauber]

Hi Tony,

> I have just updated an old BO server and I have the following to deal with;
> 
> /etc/yum.conf.rpmnew
> /etc/php.ini.rpmnew
> /etc/issue.rpmnew
> /etc/mail/sendmail.mc.rpmnew
> /etc/mail/sendmail.cf.rpmnew
> 
> I Google'd and found that I should open the /etc/php.ini and the
> /etc/php.ini.rpmnew ( for example ) and then compare the two and then merge
> any changes that I find.
> 
> Is this the process that everyone else does in this situation?

Hell, no. Don't. This is something that you don't have to touch at all.

It works like this: Some RPMs have config files. Typically those config files 
have some defaults in them, but on a running system the config files have seen 
some (needed!) updates and changes, which you don't want to loose.

To prevent loss of data in such config files during RPM updates, the RPM 
mechanism allows to specify such config files with the flag "noreplace". So 
when you install an upgraded version of a certain RPM, it'll check if there is 
already a config file present and it will also check if that config file has 
been modified since it was installed.

If the RPM mechanism detects that the config file of the older RPM has been 
modified, it will not overwrite it with the "stock" version from the newer 
RPM. Instead the config file from the newer RPM will be installed as *.rpmnew

So simply ignore the *.rpmnew files. The system takes care of itself there.  

-- 
With best regards

Michael Stauber