[wpkg-users] WPKG uninstalls unmanaged software?

[Rainer Meier]

Hi Falko and others,

Honestly I did not yet follow the full thread. But I would like to drop some
comments.

On 09.06.2011 11:06, Falko Trojahn wrote:
>> - install (same as action= attribute omitted): same behavior as today
>> - remove (always uninstall if the package already exists, even if it is
>> missing in wpkg.xml)
>> - skip (don't install or uninstall regardless of whether it is listed in
>> wpkg.xml)
>> - manage (add to wpkg.xml if found, but don't install if it is missing).
>> - unmanage (remove from wpkg.xml but do not uninstall)
> 
> I don't know if this makes sense - but usually this could break lots of other
> things. Perhaps Rainer knows if it is possible at all.
> 
> At least "unmanage" is not needed IMHO - if a software is not in package
> database AND not assigned in profile, wpkg does this automagically.
> 
> "manage" could make sense in scenarios where some software should later be
> uninstalled using Wpkg.

About "unamange":
Well the main purpose of WPKG is to manage software. If a specific piece of
software shall be removed from the WPKG tree without affecting the clients (the
ones who have it keep it and the ones who don't have it are just ignored) then
you can simply do the following:
- Increment package revision
- Remove checks from package
- Specify no remove command
- Advisable: Define upgrade command which exits quickly or does not do anything
- Make sure the package is not listed in the profile for a specific machine
Now WPKG simply performs an upgrade on the machine. The upgrade actually does
not perform any action but is successful from WPKG point of view. Now WPKG
inserts the updated package into wpkg.xml. Since it's removed now from the
profile WPKG will immediately uninstall it. As the new package (just upgraded
to) has no uninstall commands it will succeed to uninstall it but actually not
performing any change on the system.
So the software is "unmanaged".

About "manage":
This is default WPKG behavior. If a package is not yet assigned to a host and
it's first assigned, then WPKG will first perform the checks. If checks are
already true, then WPKG just inserts the package to wpkg.xml without performing
any install/upgrade commands.

br,
Rainer