Seema -  The response still suggests that it is technically possible to 
resolve it - if we all want to . I guess, I am still looking for answers 
as to do we all want to resolve this ? If yes, how we want to ?

- Sriram

Seema Alevoor wrote:
> Sriram,
>
> Below is Lars' response posted to pkg-discuss, which explained about the 
> symlinks issue.
> HTH.
>
> -- Seema.
>
> ----------------------
> Jumping in a little late...  Most interesting bit at the end.
>
> -- Lars
>
> Danek Duvall wrote, On 07/23/08 08:36 AM:
>  > > On Wed, Jul 23, 2008 at 11:49:02AM +0530, Sunanda Menon wrote:
>  > >
>  >> >> The question is since the customer who has previously installed MySQL 
> 5.0
>  >> >> will have his /var/mysql/data pointing to /var/mysql/5.0/data which has
>  >> >> real time data .Now if I install 5.1 packages the links will change
>  >> >> pointing to 5.1 which he may not be ready for as he is caught unaware .
>  >> >> How do I communicate to the user that his links will be overwritten ?
>  > >
>  > > At the moment, release notes are your best bet.  Or don't change the 
> links.
>  > > You have a real dilemma trying to support a product whose file format
>  > > changes every time you upgrade.  If that didn't happen, then the data
>  > > directory wouldn't have to be versioned, and you wouldn't have the 
> problem.
>  > > Or are the 5.0 and 5.1 database formats compatible?
>  > >
>  > > Is the intent to have mysql 5.0 and 5.1 on the system at the same time 
> (as
>  > > well as 4.0)?
>
> Since users may deploy on 5.0, need to test on 5.1 or 6.0 and then migrate,
> multiple versions will need to coexist.  You could have multiple deployments
> on same server, too.  Formats may change, even in minor version upgraded,
> I'm told.
>
> Due to the complexity of and risk connected to maintaining the soft links,
> we are considering dropping them altogether (behave like e.g postgres).
>
> 4.0 will be removed once SER/SIP proxy verify they work with 5.x (6631906).
>
>  > > The ARC case for mysql5 stated that the next version of mysql we intended
>  > > to ship was going to be 6.0, which is why the packages (although not the
>  > > directories) were named as "5" rather than "50".  In addition, the case
>  > > stated that the intent was to have the links always point to the latest
>  > > version of mysql.  So there needs to be a bit more clarity about what the
>  > > intent is now, six months later.
>
> 6.0 will not be here for quite some time yet.  5.1 is quite an upgrade
> over 5.0 and we should definitely get that out to users.
>
> For stability reasons, having the links point to the latest version is
> not a good design choice.  If present, they should be behave very
> conservatively as not to interfere with any running server instances.
>
>  > > At any rate, if you want for a fresh install to point to 5.1, but for
>  > > existing links to continue pointing to 5.0, then I believe that the tag
>  > > "preserve=true" will prevent the link from being overwritten.  I don't
>  > > think we do that for any symlinks right now, but there's no reason I can
>  > > think of that it shouldn't work.
>
> This is what Sunanda was thinking of, I believe.
>
>  > > But I'd rather that you state the exact behavior you need/want, and we 
> can
>  > > figure out a mechanism to support that if appropriate, rather than trying
>  > > to triangulate the path forward based on a vague explanation of the 
> desired
>  > > behavior and a vague understanding of what might or might not be possible
>  > > now, or in the future.
>
> The issue is:
>
> SUNWmysql5* delivered soft links a la /usr/mysql/bin -> 5.0/bin and
> /var/mysql/data -> 5.0/data.  Upon istalling SUNWmysql51* or later,
> any existing such soft links should not be touched as that could
> interfere with running server instances and otherwise surprise the
> non-sysadm MySQL user/adm...
>
> How can this be handled for both SVR4 and IPS packages?
>
> Option 1:
>     * drop the soft links altogether.
>
> Option 2:
>     * add SVR4 class action script (e.g i.preservesoftlink) for
>       soft links similar to the existing and popular i.preserve
>     * make the IPS tag/attribute "preserve=true" also preserve
>       non-file objects (or add new "preservesoftlink=true":
>       "preserve" attribute is listed only under File Actions
>       in pkg(5) today)
>     * make relevant tools (solaris.py still?) automagically
>       translate i.preservesoftlink into the new preserve=true
>
> (or other rather inedible options)
>
> Option 2 would be best if made possible very soon (SVR4 bit
> is trivial on us), otherwise we will have to go with Option 1.
>
> Comments?
>
> ---
>
> Another problem is of course:
>     * 5.0 installs soft links
>     * 5.1 install does not touch those
>     * 5.0 is uninstalled
>     * soft links are gone
>     * 5.1 user is miffed
> This could have been handled with a separate package with no version
> identifier as part of the name, e.g SUNWmysql-softlinks (ok, bad name),
> that would carry only those soft links and behave as Option 2 above.
> Not sure this - managing packages, an admin/root user task - is a very
> good way to handle such user conveniences like these soft links, though...  ;)
>
> -- Lars
> ---------------------------------
>
>
>
> Sriram Natarajan wrote:
>   
>> Sunanda Menon wrote:
>>     
>>> Sriram Natarajan wrote:
>>>       
>>>> Sunanda Menon wrote:
>>>>         
>>>>> Sriram Natarajan wrote:
>>>>>  
>>>>>           
>>>>>> Hi
>>>>>>   I was wondering, if I can hear every one's thoughts as to should 
>>>>>> we deliver a symbolic link of apache, php and mysql binaries (at 
>>>>>> least some of the most commonly) used under /usr/bin ? For example, 
>>>>>> some of the commonly used binaries like ab, apxs, httpd, 
>>>>>> httpd.worker, php, php-cgi, mysql, mysqladmin should have a 
>>>>>> symbolic link under /usr/bin ? One argument for having this under 
>>>>>> /usr/bin is they are easy to access and customer clearly knows 
>>>>>> about this ?  Currently, none of this are delivered under /usr/bin 
>>>>>> and users are expected to set /usr/<component>/<version> in their 
>>>>>> PATH before using these. Do we still follow the same pattern  ?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  If we are going to create symbolic link, then what will be the 
>>>>>> expected behavior if a newer version of these components are 
>>>>>> integrated ? Will the newer version of components simply over write 
>>>>>> the symbolic links to point to the newer version ?
>>>>>>       
>>>>>>             
>>>>> The new version simply overwrites the symbolic links .
>>>>> Thanks for starting this thread ,even for MySQL this was a big 
>>>>> requirement and we did away with the symbolic links in 5.1.
>>>>>
>>>>>   
>>>>>           
>>>> can u elaborate as to what does it mean when you say 'we did away'..
>>>>         
>>> For 5.0 we had usr/mysql/bin ---> /usr/mysql/5.0/bin ,but in 5.1 we 
>>> have kept it as binaries being installed only in /usr/mysql/5.1/bin 
>>> and the symbolic link doesn't get created as part of the package .
>>>
>>>       
>> Why did you guys decide to do this way ?  Considering that users are now 
>> used to seeing some of the mysql binaries under /usr/bin and suddenty 
>> yanking it out does not seem the right thing to do. I am sure, you guys 
>> have your reasons but want to know as to
>> a) why you did not keep up with the practice of  leaving the useful 
>> mysql binaries under /usr/bin as you did with MySQL5.0 in OpenSolaris 
>> 2008.05 ?
>> b) will our customer not wonder as to why we suddenly yanked it out ?
>> c)  should all relevant components not follow the same practice - I see 
>> that PostgreSQL 8.2 / 8.3 does not create any symbolic links .Is this 
>> the accepted practice now ?
>>     
>
>
>   
>> - Sriram
>>     
>>>>>  
>>>>>           
>>>>>> thanks
>>>>>> sriram
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> webstack-discuss mailing list
>>>>>> webstack-discuss at opensolaris.org
>>>>>> http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/webstack-discuss
>>>>>>       
>>>>>>             
>>>>>   
>>>>>           
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>>
>> webstack-discuss mailing list
>> webstack-discuss at opensolaris.org
>> http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/webstack-discuss
>>     
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