Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Administration Unleashed

132CHAPTER 5Working with RPM Softwarecreated the RPM package. If a configuration file is part of the package being upgraded,RPM checks the file to determine if it has been modified. So, what happens to the configurationfiles when a package is upgraded? Here are the possible scenarios:. Current file has not been modifiedRegardless of whether the file from the updated package has changed from the fileinstalled by the original package, the configuration file is replaced with the file fromthe updated package.. Current file has been modified but the file from the updated package hasn’tchanged from the file installed by the original packageBecause the configuration file hasn’t changed from version to version, the modifiedfile on the system is left alone.. Current file has been modified and the file from the updated package has changedfrom the file installed by the original packageBecause the configuration file has changed from version to version, it is not knownwhether the current configuration file will work with the new version of the software.The modified file on the system is renamed with the .rpmsave file extension,and the configuration file from the new package version is installed over the modifiedfile on disk. If you are using the command-line version of RPM, a message isdisplayed with the old and new filenames.Removing SoftwareTo remove a package, issue the following command:rpm -e Notice that this time, only is used, not the full name of the file used toinstall the software. When this command is issued, the RPM database is searched for thefiles associated with this package, and they are removed.If multiple versions of a package are installed, such as the kernel, the package version canalso be specified to make sure the correct version is removed:rpm -e --As previously discussed, sometimes packages must have additional packages installed forthem to function properly. If you try to remove a package that is needed by a packageinstalled, a message similar to the following is shown:error: Failed dependencies:example-filters is needed by example-core = 1:2.0.0-3.2.1If the package that depends on the package you are trying to remove is still needed onthe system, you should not try to remove the package. If the package that depends on the