General Question: Installing rpms

sysbox · 10-20-2009, 12:33 PM

I often run into dependency problems that I don't understand. For example, when I tried to install a vpnc client on my machine:

Code:

# rpm -ivh vpnc-0.5.1-6.fc10.i386.rpm
warning: vpnc-0.5.1-6.fc10.i386.rpm: Header V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID 4ebfc273
error: Failed dependencies:
        libc.so.6(GLIBC_2.8) is needed by vpnc-0.5.1-6.fc10.i386
        upstart is needed by vpnc-0.5.1-6.fc10.i386

Okay, it needs libc.so.6. But I thought that I have that already:

Code:

# locate libc.so.6
/lib/libc.so.6
/lib/i686/nosegneg/libc.so.6
/lib64/libc.so.6

So, why does that dependency fail? Can someone explain this?

acid_kewpie · 10-20-2009, 01:07 PM

well that's asking for glibc 2.8, what version do you heave installed? Having that sort of error, I'd wonder if you are actually running fc10 in the first place, but you've kindly neglected to tell us what distro you're running to confirm that either way. if you anre't on fc10 then you should get an RPM for your own distro specifically.

jomen · 10-20-2009, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Okay, it needs libc.so.6. But I thought that I have that already

It might be a version thing.
...your installed glibc vs. the one the rpm expects to see.
and: do you have "upstart"?

There is really nothing more I can say.

[edit] oops - a little late...

John VV · 10-20-2009, 03:03 PM

IF YOU ARE USING FEDORA
DO NOT use rpm to install things !!!!
Use yum to install

Code:

su -
yum install vpnc

sysbox · 10-20-2009, 03:43 PM

This is really meant to be a general installation question and I don't necessarily want help in installing this specific RPM on this specific machine.

Quote:

well that's asking for glibc 2.8, what version do you heave installed?

That's probably my source of confusion. I had assumed that when libraries are named libXXXX.so.NN, where NN is a number, that that number is the version, and that's what determines if it's compatible or whatever. Isn't that generally true of all libraries?

Are you saying that it's possible to have two different libraries named libc.so.6 and each a different version? If so, how can I tell which version my libc.so.6, and in general, which version any library is? How did rpm know that the libc.so.6 that was currently installed wasn't the correct version?

acid_kewpie · 10-20-2009, 03:47 PM

ultimately in this *specific* case you can run "strings /lib/libc.so.6" and it will, or won't, list GLIBC2.8 in the output. You're going about this the wrong way though, get the right package in the first place (you still haven't mentioned what distro you are on), or build from source to make the code take whatever is already there without issue.

sysbox · 10-20-2009, 03:51 PM

You are correct in that this rpm file is the wrong one for the machine I'm on. I'm on a CentOS 5.x machine, while the rpm file was for a Fedora Core machine. What could I do? There's no equivalent rpm for a CentOS Distro.

jomen · 10-20-2009, 04:06 PM

I think what John VV said about Fedora also applies to you using CentOS.
Use yum to install software.

unSpawn · 10-20-2009, 04:17 PM

The RPMForge repo has a Centos Vpnc package.

sysbox · 10-20-2009, 05:42 PM

Quote:

ultimately in this *specific* case you can run "strings /lib/libc.so.6" and it will, or won't, list GLIBC2.8 in the output.

Is that really how rpm determines if libc.so.6 is version 2.8 or higher? It seems like such a hack. Surely there is a better way.

sysbox · 10-20-2009, 05:44 PM

Quote:

I think what John VV said about Fedora also applies to you using CentOS.
Use yum to install software.

I first tried "yum list | grep -i vpn" and that turned up nothing. So I had to "leave the Reservation". But this thread is really more about resolving library dependencies then it is about installing a VPN client.

chrism01 · 10-21-2009, 12:32 AM

I've got a feeling that cmd defaults to checking installed pkgs. You'll need the list available option.
There's a good list of cmds/options here:
http://kbase.redhat.com/faq/docs/DOC-2531

jomen · 10-21-2009, 02:25 AM

Quote:

I first tried "yum list | grep -i vpn" and that turned up nothing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by unSpawn

The RPMForge repo has a Centos Vpnc package.

Quote:

But this thread is really more about resolving library dependencies ...

I think it is more about how rpm works and how it determines, if a package will be fitting into your setup.
The fedora package might even work when you force install it - but rpm of course sees some unmet dependencies and refuses to install.

acid_kewpie · 10-21-2009, 02:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sysbox

But this thread is really more about resolving library dependencies then it is about installing a VPN client.

Not really, it appears to be about understand which RPM's are and are not applicable for a given system. Don't try to make a square peg fit a round hole. I'll only go off on pointless tangents about chisels and wood shavings...

John VV · 10-21-2009, 01:24 PM

a quick google ...
from the CentOS 5 wiki ....
http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/vpnc
the instructions are on the page!