[wpkg-users] [Bug 177] Local install flag

[bugzilla-daemon at bugzilla.wpkg.org]

http://bugzilla.wpkg.org/show_bug.cgi?id=177

Rainer Meier <r.meier at wpkg.org> changed:

           What    |Removed                     |Added
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Status|ASSIGNED                    |RESOLVED
         Resolution|                            |FIXED

--- Comment #4 from Rainer Meier <r.meier at wpkg.org>  ---
Very old report but now I've implemented something which is similar to this
request. WPKG now allows manual installations of packages which are not
assigned by profile. Such packages will get updates as well during
synchronization and are removed only if the user removes them manually or if
they completely disappear from the package database.

I didn't like the idea about persistence at all since WPKG is a software
synchronization tool mainly and persisting packages even if the administrator
chose to remove them is not a good idea. In such case it might be better if the
user simply installs the package without any WPKG assistance. If manually
installed then WPKG won't care about the software at all.
In case somebody installs a software via WPKG he's expecting that the software
is still maintained by somebody maintaining the package database.


Here's a change log:

NEW: New feature allowing manual package installation to be combined with
     synchronization.
     If a package is installed manually using the /install:<package> command-
     line switch, then the package is added to the local package database and
     retained during future synchronizations.
     In previous versions of WPKG you could have either installed packages via
     profiles or manually but if you installed a package manually then
     subsequent synchronizations would have removed the package if it was not
     part of the profile. This enhancement allows local administrators to
     manually install any package provided in the package database. Packages
     installed manually will also be updated on subsequent synchronizations.
     Let's provide some examples.

     Host A has the following packages assigned:
     - Pidgin
     - Thunderbird

     A local administrator would like to install Firefox on the machine too.
     Of course as a local admin he could also install Firefox using the Mozilla
     installer but this would mean he has to take care about updates and
     potentially synchronize such update actions with the IT departement.
     Now a local administrator could simply use the "wpkg.js /install:firefox"
     command (of course given the fact that the IT departements maintains a
     package called "firefox") and get the official Firefox package installed.

     On future "wpkg.js /synchronize" runs WPKG will update the "firefox"
     package in the same way as if the IT departement would have added
     "firefox" to the profile applied to the host. Therefore on the host as
     defined above WPKG would look for updates on Pidgin, Thunderbird and
     Firefox during synchronization.


     If the IT departement decides to remove the "firefox" package from the
     server-side package database this likely means that support is dropped and
     Firefox shall not be used any more. In such case WPKG would also remove
     the package manually installed via /install:firefox on synchronization.

     So as you see the /install:<package> switch can be used by local
     administrators to kind of modify or extend the server-based profile with
     some manually chosen packages which keep updated automatically when
     synchronizing.


version 1.2.1 RC23 or newer can be downloaded from here:
<http://wpkg.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/wpkg/wpkg/stable/1.2/>

I am closing this issue for now.

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