Bug 28798

Summary: installer fails to note files already installed
Product: Mageia Reporter: Tony Blackwell <tablackwell>
Component: InstallerAssignee: Mageia tools maintainers <mageiatools>
Status: RESOLVED INVALID QA Contact:
Severity: enhancement    
Priority: Normal CC: fri, lewyssmith, ouaurelien
Version: Cauldron   
Target Milestone: ---   
Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
Whiteboard:
Source RPM: drakx-installer-stage2-18.45-2.mga9 CVE:
Status comment:

Description Tony Blackwell 2021-04-18 00:13:43 CEST
Description of problem:
If I've needed to adjust something about a new intallation, I've habitually run a 'new' install but taken the tick out of the box for formatting the partition into which I am installing, so the installation skips instantly to the configuration stuff after the files are installed.  This has worked forever.

No more: despite saying it it is looking at installed packages, the installer ignores what it finds and re-installs everything as if the partition was blank.

(Might this be linked in any way to the very nice work done on faster decompression for M8 - maybe the only recent work changes in the installer??)

Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):
M8-x86_64

How reproducible:  I've seen it 3x now on different machines.


Steps to Reproduce:
1. Do anew installation
2.Re-do it but take the tick out of the box, e.g.sda2, for formatting the installation partition, expecting the install will skip straight to configuration
3.Note that instead it does a full re-install
Comment 1 Lewis Smith 2021-04-18 09:00:26 CEST
What ISO are we talking about?

I think that merely skipping partition formatting and expecting it equally to skip installation, and jump straight to the final confuration step, is a tall order - worse, a bug (as was).

With the Classic ISO, would not 'update existing installation' do what you want? This is a common ruse. I think that only updates packages it has which are newer than what it finds, leaving more recent packages alone and certainly not deleting others.

Status: NEW => NEEDINFO
CC: (none) => lewyssmith, ouaurelien

Comment 2 Aurelien Oudelet 2021-04-18 09:49:36 CEST
I always thought choosing Installation even unselecting Format root partition means to reinstall all existing packages, even those already installed.

If you really want to do again an installation but you want to go straight to last configure step, Upgrading is the better path. But remember that "Upgrading" could save existing Settings and could carry them to latest installation.

I think this is related to new options in Urpmi --replacepkg and --reinstall switchs
Morgan Leijström 2021-04-18 11:00:47 CEST

CC: (none) => fri

Comment 3 Aurelien Oudelet 2021-04-30 17:19:23 CEST
@Tony, can you answer Lewis questions in Comment 1, please?
Comment 4 Tony Blackwell 2021-05-01 13:33:26 CEST
General comment:  
I've had the impression, rightly or wrongly, for years, that if prior to the install, the installer reports 'checking existing packages' (or similar) that this was to avoid re-doing the installation - otherwise, why bother, it could just enforce format before installation every time..But until now, the installer _has_ looked for existing packages and _has_ avoided reinstalling them if they are already there - for all iterations of the installer until now.  i.e its worked for M1 - M7 and I think before that.  So no, I think it was intentional rather than a tall order (see comment 1)  Source code anyone?

I could stand corrected on the facts, but my impression is that un-checking format at the start of install gave me full access to changing configuration options post-install, whereas updating instead could result in some of these confuration options being skipped - I'm reasonably sure I've had the configuration phase just skip through on the basis of what was previously there.

Using 'upgrade' seems counter-intuitive if I'm re-running the initial install and the installation has no net access, so no new packages are available or relevant at this point.

I can't find the email now, but I think there was some reference in qa as to internal code/library changes as a cause of this changed behaviour.

Pro-fixing: 
All the above, but how complicated  would it be to re-establish long-term behaviour?

Against fixing:
New installs are pretty fast these days with lovely new compression algorithm
Coding time to fix?

I'll obviously accept group opinion as to whether this is time well spent.
Regards to all,
Tony
Comment 5 Lewis Smith 2021-05-02 21:25:59 CEST
(In reply to Tony Blackwell from comment #4)
> Using 'upgrade' seems counter-intuitive if I'm re-running the initial
> install and the installation has no net access, so no new packages are
> available or relevant at this point.
My understanding is that with the Classic install medium, upgrade (or update) existing system will only update what it has on the medium - or finds from Internet - which is more recent than what is already there. If that is nothing, so be it; but it should then get to the final configuration screen - what you expected.

Re "Pro-fixing: 
All the above, but how complicated  would it be to re-establish long-term behaviour?
Against fixing:
New installs are pretty fast these days with lovely new compression algorithm
Coding time to fix?"

You indicated that the changed behaviour is recognised : "internal code/library changes as a cause of this changed behaviour".
Perhaps this could be submitted as an Installer enhancement.
Comment 6 Aurelien Oudelet 2021-05-08 15:24:27 CEST
When DrakX detects existing Mageia Installation, I think Installer should propose 2 ways:

 - Upgrade existing system from version N to N+1 (e;g; Mageia 7 to 8) by upgrading existing packages offline AND removing whose it can't upgrade (not on Media) OR requiring Network to really upgrade ALL existing packages.

 - Make a new installation by wiping existing RPM database and packages if user *forget* to format root partition, so it can't use existing already installed packages on the root device. It is sometimes useful to do so if something goes wrong on the existing installation. Remark: in this case, /home directory is not wiped...

So... what's the issue here?
I don't see anything wrong.

The 'checking existing packages' screen in DrakX means it computes what is available for its usage: RPM on an offline medias or/and RPM on online repositories... Not on target root partition...

Closing this.

Resolution: (none) => INVALID
Version: 8 => Cauldron
Status: NEEDINFO => RESOLVED
Assignee: bugsquad => mageiatools
Source RPM: (none) => drakx-installer-stage2-18.45-2.mga9
Severity: normal => enhancement