[wpkg-users] Package Renaming [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

[Rainer Meier]

Hi Michael,

Michael Chinn wrote:
> I was planning a mass rename of existing packages to conform with a new 
> naming & priority convention and just wondered if anyone else has 
> attempted this? Would it be best to remove the local wpkg.xml prior to 
> wpkg.js execution so that all the packages reperforms their checks? I 
> can for see some issues with 'execute once' pkgs running again

Well, I never did it but I would like to share some thoughts of course.

When renaming the package ID then WPKG cannot know if the package is 
actually the same but just renamed. So it will regard it as a new 
package. This also means that the original package (old name) will not 
appear any more within the profile - so WPKG is going to remove them 
first before starting to re-install it using the new package ID.

So if you keep your local settings (wpkg.xml) then WPKG will do the 
following (assuming all packages are renamed):
- remove all packages which are listed in wpkg.xml
- install all packages currently in the profile

If you're going to remove wpkg.xml before the following will happen:
- WPKG assumes "no software intalled yet" and will install all packages
During installation WPKG will execute the checks and eventually skip the 
installation where it finds that the checks already succeed. So if all 
your packages supply appropriate checks then WPKG will do nothing but 
just re-fill wpkg.xml
This also applies for execute="once" packages. They will not be 
re-installed if checks succeed. However execute="once" packages 
typically do not have checks and are used just to apply it once and then 
forget about it (unless it's upgraded). In such case the package will be 
re-applied (since WPKG cannot determine by checks that the package is 
already installed).

I strongly recommend to test this migration on a testbed because it 
heavily depends on the quality of your packages. In best case (all 
checks appropriate) I would recommend deleting the local wpkg.xml as you 
already mentioned and then re-synchronize.

br,
Rainer