Yum won't run

casey0999 · 06-24-2007, 03:41 PM

Haven't run "yum" for a while, but when I do now I get the following for any yum command (under Fedora Core 4):

There was a problem importing one of the Python modules
required to run yum. The error leading to this problem was:

/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/libxml2mod.so: undefined symbol: xmlSchemaIsValid

Please install a package which provides this module, or
verify that the module is installed correctly.

It's possible that the above module doesn't match the
current version of Python, which is:
2.4.1 (#1, May 16 2005, 15:19:29)
[GCC 4.0.0 20050512 (Red Hat 4.0.0-5)]

If you cannot solve this problem yourself, please go to
the yum faq at:
http://wiki.linux.duke.edu/YumFaq

I have checked to see which related packages are installed:

yum-2.4.1-1.fc4
python-2.4.1-2
python-elementtree-1.2.6-4
libxml2-python-2.6.20-1.FC4
rpm-4.4.1-23
rpm-python-4.4.1-23
python-sqlite-1.1.6-1
python-urlgrabber-2.9.6-1

I have re-built and re-installed yum - no change.
I suspect that the libxml2-python package is the wrong one, however it is the one listed for FC4, and I'm hesitant to uninstall it, because of its dependencies.

Thanks for any help!

unSpawn · 06-24-2007, 05:15 PM

Tried checking which related packages where updated since you last ran yum successfully and then downgrading those?

casey0999 · 06-25-2007, 08:25 AM

I'm sure that's where the problem is, but the trouble is that a couple months ago I did a massive update (using yum!), which updated 50+ modules. Looking at the package dependencies now (using rpm.pbone.net) to try and figure out now whether the culprit is python or libxml2 related..... :-(

casey0999 · 06-25-2007, 09:22 AM

Reverted to 2.6.19 of libxml2, libxml2-devel, and libxml2-python - this fixed the yum problem - now it runs!

unSpawn · 06-25-2007, 11:52 AM

Best exclude the Yum/RPM stuff from upgrading automagically until you have tested *manually* the set works, then.

casey0999 · 06-25-2007, 12:03 PM

Yes, to torture myself I decided to see what "yum update" would do, and let it run again .. It predictably updated a bunch of packages, including the three ones I just downgraded: libxml2, libxml2-python, and libxml2-devel. And, of course, my original problem came back - which I fixed again. Since this seems to be a reproducible problem, is there a way to tell Yum not to touch particular packages when using "yum update"?

Thanks again.

lazlow · 06-25-2007, 01:05 PM

Casey

Yes there is (I do not remember at the moment how), check man yum. This is part of the problem running a version that is no longer supported. Somebody updates a package but does not have the resources to check it against a lot of systems. You come along and pick up that package but it breaks other stuff. I am not real pleased with the rapid cycle rate that fedora is using now(roughly 1 year of life). Fedora 8 is due out around the first of September(?) which means support for FC6 (as well as all versions prior) will be dropped on the first of October. I am considering moving to Centos (Redhat with the logos removed). They maintain support (updates) for five years.

nathacof · 01-13-2008, 02:46 PM

Code:

root@h101047 [~/libxml]# cat /etc/yum.conf
[main]
exclude=apache* courier* exim* httpd* kernel kernel-xen kernel-smp kernel-pae ke                                                                                                rnel-PAE kernel-SMP kernel-hugemem mod_ssl* mysql* perl* php* proftpd* pure-ftpd                                                                                                * spamassassin* squirrelmail*
cachedir=/var/cache/yum
debuglevel=2
logfile=/var/log/yum.log
pkgpolicy=newest
distroverpkg=redhat-release
tolerant=1
exactarch=1
obsoletes=1


# PUT YOUR REPOS HERE OR IN separate files named file.repo
# in /etc/yum.repos.d
#[base]
#name=Red Hat Linux $releasever - $basearch - Base
#baseurl=http://mirror.dulug.duke.edu/pub/yum-repository/redhat/$releasever/$bas                                                                                                earch/


#[updates]
#name=Red Hat Linux $releasever - Updates
#baseurl=http://mirror.dulug.duke.edu/pub/yum-repository/redhat/updates/$release                                                                                                ver/


root@h101047 [~/libxml]#

This is a typical yum.conf. At the top you can see the list of packages excluded.