Meaning of Symlink test with rpm --verify

blackhole54 · 01-02-2009, 09:31 AM

I am trying to figure out what (if anything) has "failed" when rmp --verify reports "L" in the results. I understand that this is the "symlink test" but I have not been able to find anything to tell me what a "failure" or flagging of that test means. I am beginning to think it symply flags every symlink that way, even though that would seem a weird way to do things. If none of the other tests indicate any error wouldn't that mean the symlink was, in fact, correct?

Thanks to anybody who can clarify this for me.

Berhanie · 01-03-2009, 06:23 PM

The rpm man page lists the following failure messages resulting from a --verify command:

Code:

       S file size differs
       M mode differs (includes permissions and file type)
       5 md5 sum differs
       D device major/minor number mismatch
       L readlink(2) path mismatch
       U user ownership differs
       G group ownership differs
       T mtime differs

An "L" means that the symlink isn't pointing where it's supposed to be pointing.

blackhole54 · 01-04-2009, 12:41 AM

Thanks for your response. The man page I have describes it with the single word "Symlink" and what I found on the Internet was no better.