[xymon] xymon-client repo install broken also?

[Buchan Milne]

On Thursday, 29 July 2010 14:42:37 epperson at alumni.unc.edu wrote:
> After hand-repairing a broken repo install of xymon on a new prototype
> xymon server, I just attempted a xymon-client install on a prototype
> client.  That was broken, too.  Am I doing something wrong, or is the rpm
> just hosed?  This is a fully updated RHEL5 system.  Like the server
> install, the xymon-client install blew up with a rename error and left the
> already unpacked files in place but with no trace of xymon in the rpm
> database.  I guess I can clean up by pulling a file manifest from the rpm.
>  Here's what happened:

Focus on the actual error message reported that caused the installation 
transaction to fail:

> Error unpacking rpm package xymon-client-4.2.3-1.rhel5.x86_64
> error: unpacking of archive failed on file /usr/lib64/xymon/client/etc:
> cpio: re                                        name
> 
> Failed:
>   xymon-client.x86_64 0:4.2.3-1.rhel5
> 
> Complete!
> [root at utility named.data]# ls -l /usr/lib64/xymon/client/etc
> total 0
> lrwxrwxrwx 1 root adm 43 Sep  2  2008 clientlaunch.cfg.rpmsave ->
> /usr/lib/hobbi
> t/client/etc/clientlaunch.cfg
> [root at utility named.data]# rpm -qa|grep xymon

Why do you have existing files in /usr/lib64/xymon if you have no package 
installed?

According to the error message, and previous experience with rpm, most likely 
you have a real directory, /usr/lib64/xymon/client/etc, and rpm is trying to 
create a symlink there instead, which rpm doesn't deal that well with. If 
packages know about this, they will take care of removal of the directory in 
%pre, but I have never had a real directory located there.

Please remove or rename the directory, and then install or upgrade the 
package.

So, no, the package isn't broken or hosed or anything else.

Regards,
Buchan