[WBEL-users] RPM database lost :(

[Kirby C. Bohling]

On Fri, Dec 17, 2004 at 02:29:01PM +0000, Mário Gamito wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> After a reboot, all i had inside /var vanished. Yes, simply disapeared!!!
> 
> Well, i've managed to setup things again, except to things:
> 
> 1. The RPM database:
> I've already erased ___db*; rpm --rebuilddb; rpm --initdb; no way, zero.
> Always reapear those ___db* files.
> Is there another method of building my RPM database from start ?

Well, you could do one of two things (short of re-installing):

1.  RedHat ships an RPM that is a compete/full install of everything
in the RPM database.  (rpm --redhatprovides will let you have access
to it).  It appears RedHat has one also:

Poke around near this path:
/usr/lib/rpmdb/i386-redhat-linux/whitebox

2.  rpm --justdb is your friend.  If you have all of the original
RPM's and your sure of what was installed, you can do an:

In a directory that has all the RPM's you've installed:
rpm -Ihv --justdb *rpm

Afterwards, you can use something like:

for PKG in `rpm -q -a` ; do rpm -V $PKG ; done

That will tell you just how badly wrong your RPM database is. 

> 
> 2. Yum:
> I've reinstaled it, but i always get the error that it cannot find the 
> mirror. But it is alive. What can be wrong ?

Until you get your RPM database squared away, I wouldn't fool around
with YUM.   However, my guess is that you need the directory:

/var/cache/yum 

to exist.

Personally, I'd reinstall the box from scratch and use the one you
have as a source for all of the modifications, but that's just me
(assuming I had a spare machine, or at least a spare hard drive).

	Thanks,
		Kirby


> 
> Any help would be apreciated.
> 
> Warm regards.
> -- 
> Mário Gamito
> Administração de sistemas e desenvolvimento
> Netual - Multimédia e Telecomunicações, Lda.
> Rua João Afonso, Nº1
> 3800-198 Aveiro - Portugal
> Tel. +351 234 371 431 / Fax. +351 234 371 438
> E-mail: gamito@netual.pt
> www.netual.pt
> _______________________________________________
> Whitebox-users mailing list
> Whitebox-users@beau.org
> http://beau.org/mailman/listinfo/whitebox-users
>