[wpkg-users] stop wpkg from removing packages

[Rainer Meier]

Hi Malte,

Malte Starostik wrote:
>> Is there some global setting/method that could stop this happening.
> 
> Take a look at the /noremove command line options resp. the noRemove 
> config.xml parameter.

This could (partially) help only. The /noremove switch and noRemove
configuration makes WPKG to skip the remove commands. It is used to make sure
all programs installed by WPKG stay on the system. This means that if the
software is removed from the profile it is removed from WPKG control and remains
untouched on the system.

Further more it is absolutely essential to WPKG to remove these packages from
wpkg.xml after (skipped) removal. Because else it would have to re-do the remove
commands each time WPKG is executed. After a short while WPKG would have to
re-execute remove commands of a high number of packages on such systems on each
run (without the ability to ever remove it from wpkg.xml. And really nobody
wants to have WPKG removing various packages on each run (even if all remove
commands are skipped).

So either WPKG correctly removes the package or it skipps the removal and
removes it from wpkg.xml in order to release control on the package.


This of course means to "Simon" that re-adding the package later on will re-run
the install command in any case. Without the /noremove switch it will run it
because the software has been potentially correctly removed. With the /noremove
switch it will run the install commands because the package is new to WPKG.
However in the second case WPKG will not execute the install commands if the
checks defined in the package show that the package is already installed.

So as a conclusion the hint to use /noremove could help Simon in case his
packages contain proper checks. In that case WPKG will just remove the packages
from wpkg.xml and when he re-adds them to the package database it will just
print messages that the software is already installed. Again, this only works if
WPKG has a possibility to check if the package is already installed (by defining
appropriate checks). If there are no checks then WPKG will run the install commands.



In any case I think Simon should take a bit more care about an integral and
sensitive part of his software environment. In most cases re-installing an
application is not an issue and if it is then I suggest testing and carefully
handling the package database.


br,
Rainer