Given the low impact and being fixed in newer releases this might be not worth an SRU. Please discuss this as part of the MPs.
** Description changed: [SRU] [Impact] The "drivedb.h" file is the smartmontools drive database file used to perform the scan actions. This file can be updated through update-smart- drivedb command, but debsums may complain about drive.h in the form of a - false negative verification of the smartmontool packae being raised. In - addition, if the smartmontool package is upgraded, the "drivedb.h" file - is overwritten, therefore data will be lost. - - The worst scenario would be that a drive model is included in a - "drivedb.h" update at some point, and later the smartmontool package - update downgrades the drive.h version, making smartmontools scans - unavailable. It's true that it can be recovered through an update-smart- - drivedb action, but the user might not be aware of it. + false negative verification of the smartmontool package being raised. The fix applied here is picked up from upstream and it is present since version 7.2-1, therefore Ubuntu series starting at Impish and later are not affected. What this fix does is that it corrects the current - shipping system of "drivedb.h", as well as avoiding an unconditional - replacement of "drivedb.h". + shipping system of "drivedb.h" - the one in /usr belongs to the package + and on install it copies it to /var/lib. Any subsequent updates with + update-smart-drivedb will update /var/lib and not mess with the packaged + original. + + If users have broken their file a --reinstall or upgrade of + smartmontools will restore the packaged version, just as a manual copy + from /usr/share/smartmontools/drivedb.h would. [Test Plan] This test plan is for Focal, but applies to Bionic in the same way. 0.Preparing the test environment: #Preparing the container lxc launch images:ubuntu/focal focal lxc shell focal apt update -y apt upgrade -y #Installing necessary tools apt install -y smartmontools gpg debsums wget 0.1 Preparing scenario: #At this point, debsums always gives all OK for the package: root@focal:~# debsums smartmontools /lib/systemd/system/smartmontools.service OK /usr/sbin/smartctl OK /usr/sbin/smartd OK /usr/sbin/update-smart-drivedb OK /usr/share/bug/smartmontools/presubj OK /usr/share/doc/smartmontools/AUTHORS OK /usr/share/doc/smartmontools/ChangeLog-6.0-7.0.gz OK /usr/share/doc/smartmontools/NEWS.Debian.gz OK /usr/share/doc/smartmontools/NEWS.gz OK /usr/share/doc/smartmontools/README OK /usr/share/doc/smartmontools/README.Debian OK /usr/share/doc/smartmontools/badblockhowto.html OK /usr/share/doc/smartmontools/changelog.Debian.gz OK /usr/share/doc/smartmontools/copyright OK /usr/share/doc/smartmontools/examples/Example1 OK /usr/share/doc/smartmontools/examples/Example2 OK /usr/share/doc/smartmontools/examples/Example3 OK /usr/share/doc/smartmontools/examples/Example4 OK /usr/share/doc/smartmontools/examples/Example5 OK /usr/share/doc/smartmontools/examples/Example6 OK /usr/share/doc/smartmontools/examples/Example7 OK /usr/share/doc/smartmontools/examples/Example8 OK /usr/share/doc/smartmontools/examples/README OK /usr/share/doc/smartmontools/smartd.conf.gz OK /usr/share/lintian/overrides/smartmontools OK /usr/share/man/man5/smartd.conf.5.gz OK /usr/share/man/man8/smartctl.8.gz OK /usr/share/man/man8/smartd.8.gz OK /usr/share/man/man8/update-smart-drivedb.8.gz OK /usr/share/smartmontools/smartd-runner OK /usr/share/smartmontools/smartd_warning.sh OK /var/lib/smartmontools/drivedb/drivedb.h OK #Perform an update of the drivedb.h: root@focal:~# update-smart-drivedb /var/lib/smartmontools/drivedb/drivedb.h updated from branches/RELEASE_7_0_DRIVEDB 1. Bad cases: root@focal:~# debsums smartmontools | grep drivedb.h /var/lib/smartmontools/drivedb/drivedb.h FAILED 2. Good cases: # special attention on the new location of the file root@focal:~# debsums smartmontools | grep drivedb.h /usr/share/smartmontools/drivedb.h OK [Where problems could occur] - In the end, the file is still used from the /var/lib location, so the - smartmontools logic for using the file remains the same. But, if the - user alters the file or it gets corrupted (bad update), a new - installation wouldn't be a solution. + We initially thought that if the file or it gets corrupted (bad update + by update-smart-drived) a new installation wouldn't be a solution - that + would have been a problem. But at this point the balance of "runtime vs + package update" was taken so that the package wins. So a --reinstall + will ensure that the packaged content is in place - at the cost of + potentially downgrading if the user put new content there. This isn't + different than before. [Other Info] The fix applied here is picked up from upstream (https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=976696#30) available since version 7.2-1 (https://bugs.debian.org/cgi- bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=976696#30). [Original Report] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The update-smart-drivedb command overwrites /var/lib/smartmontools/drivedb/drivedb.h which is a file installed by the package. This means that reinstalling or upgrading the package from a SRU may downgrade the drivedb. In general it's something packages shouldn't do. After running update-smart-drivedb on Groovy `debsums smartmontools` report that the package has a corrupted file: /var/lib/smartmontools/drivedb/drivedb.h FAILED The smartctl(8) manpage says that If /var/lib/smartmontools/drivedb/drivedb.h is present, the contents of this file is used instead of the built in table. So I think we should: 1. Make sure the built-in table is up-to-date with drivedb.h. I suppose that file gets #included in the code when building, so this should be the case. 2. Stop installing /var/lib/smartmontools/drivedb/drivedb.h and leave it in full control of update-smart-drivedb. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1893202 Title: update-smart-drivedb overwrites package installed file To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/smartmontools/+bug/1893202/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
