I am working on an embedded device running Ubuntu 14. The main application, let's call it A, can automatically update itself through apt-get. We've created a private apt repository where we publish our releases.
This main application, A, has some dependencies (also published in our repository), declared with Pre-Depends in the debian package.
Let's say A version 1.1 has the following:
Pre-Depends: B (= 1.0.2), C (= 2.1)
With this, A won't be updated if any of the dependencies installation fails. But the other dependencies will be updated and installed.
Let's assume dependency B can't be installed, for whatever reason. C will be updated to 2.1 and A won't be updated.
Since dependencies of A's previous version were:
Pre-Depends: B (= 1.0.0), C (= 2.0)
the current state of A, and thus of the device, is broken.
Which would be the best approach in order to rollback this failed update? Or what other actions would be recommended in such scenarios?
I've found this post: https://www.cyberciti.biz/howto/debian-linux/ubuntu-linux-rollback-an-apt-get-upgrade/ where it's explained how to do a rollback, but I'd like to explore other options, if possible, since it has to be done automatically on the device.
Related
On the website of Debian, it's written about point releases:
They usually incorporate the security fixes released until the time of
the update and fixes for grave bugs in the current release.
If I correctly understand, that means only minor updates can occur in the packages of the current stable version, right?
In other words, I want to know if a binary who depends of a library in a specific version (libmicrohttpd.so.12 for instance) will stay compatible in the next point releases of Debian.
Yes, but it is very seldom.
In general you are right, the point releases should not change existing API and ABI.
But there could be problems on doing that: security changes would require a lot of work, and upstream will do only for the new version. In such cases the version will be dump. But this is very seldom: it would need a security bug which effect the fundamental design of a library (not just some coding error).
In any case the old version will remain on archives, and you can keep it (so that it would not be automatically removed), so that you can still use, hopefully with relevant safe guard.
We build our installs\releases using Install Shield. I have come to a situation where we have a patch that cannot be upgraded by a release with a higher version number, that is missing components included in the patch.
After releasing a full minor release (i.e. 7.2.0) we released a patch on a previous full minor release (i.e. 7.1.12).
The Patch 7.1.12 had files and components added that do not exist in 7.2.0. The patch is not uninstallable.
It is now impossible to upgrade 7.1.12 to 7.2.0 because of the missing components. Some customers specifically want to upgrade to 7.2.0 and not a later version (7.3.0) where the components can be added to fix the issue.
Short of uninstalling 7.1.12 and then installing 7.2.0 I couldn’t find any solution to fix.
Is there any way around this? Can we build a 7.1.13 as a bridge to somehow fix the mistake. Or use an argument when installing 7.2.0 to get around this.
I looked around the registry and I am trying to figure out if it is possible to remove the components through the registry.
I tried deleting the component entries in the registry. that didn't do it.
If I delete the product entry in the registry that works - but it must be overkill.
I also tried deleting the patch msi from C:\Windows\Installer but that didn't do it.
There must still be a way to unlink the component from the feature in the registry without deleting the entire product.
It sounds like you're trying to do a series of Minor Upgrades, with at least 7.1.12 delivered as a patch. Using minor upgrades imposes various limitations; anything that requires you to Change the Product Code must be avoided. In your case, note that adding components is allowed, but not the reverse:
The update can add a new component to a new or an existing feature.
The product code must be changed if any of the following are true for the update:
A component is removed from an existing feature.
In short, any modifications to the feature-component tree, other than the addition of new ones, is going to require changing the product code, and thus a Major Upgrade. Major upgrades perform an uninstallation behind the scenes, and thus are less restrictive about the changes they are allowed to deliver.
You have two options:
Use a major upgrade, or some other means of uninstalling the old installation before installing the new version. If possible, this is what I would recommend. Using minor upgrades often adds more difficulty than benefit (though your needs may differ).
Maintain the new components in your newer versions. Note that you do not necessarily have to maintain the resources within them:
The update can add, remove, or modify the files, registry keys, or shortcuts of components that are not shared by two or more features.
But you will have to make additional changes to account for the changes to the resources. In your case, this probably will require additions to the RemoveFile table, and may be best served by "puncture component" pattern.
Spelunking through the registry for a workaround that modifies Windows Installer's bookkeeping is a bad idea. It may work, it may appear to work, or it may not work at all. In no case is it supported.
If both versions 7.1.12 and 7.2.0 are already publicly released, you're in a rough spot. I think your best bet there is to re-release 7.2.0 with a new product code and version, e.g. a 7.2.1 major upgrade. You can advise your end users that those already at 7.2.0 don't need to install it.
If I update node or a package, will it affect the applications I have that are currently dependent on the previous node/package version I had? If yes, how do I fix this? Maybe like a virtual environment :)
You should be looking at the update from 2 standpoints.
1. Node itself
2. Updating NPM Packages
For instance, there is the Node LTS which at this time is 6.1.10 and then there is v7.7.3. If you desire total stability then use the LTS. As Cihan said above, upgrading Node can be a long process if you have a system running on an older version.
However, if you want to test out the new async/await (async functions) which is already in 7.7.3 and should be released officially in 7.8 then 7.7.3 is the way to go. But keep in mind some things just may not work as you think they should or you may get some wonky results.
Also be aware depending on your server or system the Node update works differently and make sure you read the documentation for that specific system you need to upgrade.
NPM is a different ballgame. You are reliant upon many different programmers or groups of programmers. The package is depending upon their capabilities and desire to maintain the backwards compatibility. Most package creators are really good about this. Some are not.
Take a for instance. MongoDB issued a really new driver which is an incredible upgrade from its previous one. The new driver contains ES6 and in conjunction with the co package, it is basically operating with promises.
Updating this package for MongoDB was essential for me. But it does maintain my previous code as well, (even though lots of it may be superfluous now!)
So when you think about updating Node..it is not the same as updating NPM modules. But if you wish, you can go to our project root where package.json exists and just type npm update and all packages will be updated. You can update to only a specific version - take a look here.
Remember also, NPM itself also requires updating from time to time.
So in summary:
Node Version - decide which one based upon needs, requirements and your own servers.
NPM as NPM also needs updating from time to time
NPM packages can be updated constantly with npm update or just update to a specific version number based upon the url above.
Not as confusing as it first seems, once one gets it all down straight :)
Good luck
It's possible that you have a package that is being used by another package which a version change could break it. There are several options, if this is a personal project then you would have to either reinstall the correct version of the package or see if there are updates available otherwise for the packages that broke.
It should not, because npm was made to resolve this issue: each project has its own dependencies, and it is totally independent with other projects.
In a word, no matter what you change, you do npm install in your project, npm will fix the dependency issue by itself (by checking your project's package.json)
npm-packages sometimes change or deprecate certain functions & functionalities in newer versions. If something stops working when you update a package, you must figure out from the documentation of the updated package on how to make it work again. Many packages might also give runtime information/errors in the console about functionalities that have deprecated or that have been marked for deprecation in future versions.
npm will download specific versions of a packages' dependencies (and thus you can often have multiple version of a certain package in one project), so you shouldn't need to worry about the dependencies of the packages you are updating, only about the changes of the package itself.
Certain npm-package versions only support certain versions of Node, so updating the node version might require updating some packages. If you switch the node version, it will also switch the npm version, which will then install the correct version of the package per node version.
Some Node.js functionalities might stop working if you update Node.js. In these cases you must refer to the Node.js docs for help. Sometimes updating Node.js from a old version to a new version in a project is a large and tedious task.
When browsing the packagist.org repositories you see packages with these version numbers e.g. If you look at the Phpunit repo
There are a few instances
4.5.x-dev
4.3.x-dev
4.2.x-dev
Do these packages contain the current work the developers are performing towards basic updates, security and bugfixes etc on an otherwise basically stable package?
These are the dev branches. These are unstable and contain bug fixes, etc. This will eventually be released as 4.5.8 for instance (if the library is still supported).
You can get it by using 4.5.x-dev or 4.5.*#dev as version constraint.
I am doing a concept in linux in which i want to do version rollback for an app installed in linux. Is it possible??
For eg I have an application named X with version 1.1
I get an update. It changes it to version 1.2
I note what all the packages in the app going to be modified.
Then i save them and apply the changes.
Now after sometime due to some problems I want to switch back to version 1.1
If i undo the changes and make the entire solution will the rollback be done?
The easiest and common way in Unix is to install them in separate directories,
eg "/usr/bin/MyApp.1.2.3" and "/usr/bin/MyApp.1.2.4" then create a link to the one to use "/usr/bin/Myapp".
Changing versions is then just a matter of moving the link.
You don't need to invent anything. Just keep the packages you install around. If you want to go back, uninstall the current version and install the previous package again.