6:14 a.m.
I maintain a local RPM package repository and have a "newrepo" script that
assembles the repository, calls createrepo and repoview etc.
During the script it runs "restorecon" on all of the files in the repo to make
sure that they have the correct contexts to be accessible via http etc.
A few weeks ago I rewrote the script in python and decided to use the libselinux-python
binding (this is on F16) for the "restorecon" call. Around the same time I
noticed that my backups were getting a lot bigger but I've only just discovered why.
If I use the shell command "restorecon -rvF /path/to/dir", and it doesn't
need to change anything, the ctime of the dirs/files concerned remain unchanged. However,
if I use the python binding, the ctime is updated. So I've backing up the entire
repository on each incremental backup :-(
[paul@zion ~]$ ls -l --time=ctime /home/paul/cfo-repo/drivers/advansys/
total 11896
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 649700 Nov 29 11:54 advansys-driverdisk.zip
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 4175872 Nov 29 11:54 advansys-fc2-boot.iso
-rw-rw-r--. 2 paul paul 108723 Nov 29 11:54 dkms-2.2.0.2-1.noarch.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 2 paul paul 132593 Nov 29 11:54 dkms-2.2.0.2-1.src.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 10400 Nov 29 11:54 HEADER.html
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 287602 Nov 29 11:54 kernel-advansys-0.9.1-1dkms.noarch.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 228573 Nov 29 11:54 kernel-advansys-0.9.1-1dkms.src.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 620915 Nov 29 11:54 kernel-advansys-0.9.2-1dkms.noarch.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 457045 Nov 29 11:54 kernel-advansys-0.9.2-1dkms.src.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 607931 Nov 29 11:54 kernel-advansys-0.9.3-2dkms.noarch.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 461727 Nov 29 11:54 kernel-advansys-0.9.3-2dkms.src.rpm
-rw-r--r--. 1 paul paul 1234354 Nov 29 11:54 kernel-advansys-0.9.4-1dkms.noarch.rpm
-rw-r--r--. 1 paul paul 907444 Nov 29 11:54 kernel-advansys-0.9.4-1dkms.src.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 2 paul paul 1286253 Nov 29 11:54 kernel-advansys-0.9.5-1dkms.noarch.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 2 paul paul 981819 Nov 29 11:54 kernel-advansys-0.9.5-1dkms.src.rpm
[paul@zion ~]$ date; restorecon -rvF /home/paul/cfo-repo/drivers/advansys/; date
Tue Nov 29 12:02:54 GMT 2011
Tue Nov 29 12:02:54 GMT 2011
[paul@zion ~]$ ls -l --time=ctime /home/paul/cfo-repo/drivers/advansys/
total 11896
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 649700 Nov 29 11:54 advansys-driverdisk.zip
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 4175872 Nov 29 11:54 advansys-fc2-boot.iso
-rw-rw-r--. 2 paul paul 108723 Nov 29 11:54 dkms-2.2.0.2-1.noarch.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 2 paul paul 132593 Nov 29 11:54 dkms-2.2.0.2-1.src.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 10400 Nov 29 11:54 HEADER.html
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 287602 Nov 29 11:54 kernel-advansys-0.9.1-1dkms.noarch.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 228573 Nov 29 11:54 kernel-advansys-0.9.1-1dkms.src.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 620915 Nov 29 11:54 kernel-advansys-0.9.2-1dkms.noarch.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 457045 Nov 29 11:54 kernel-advansys-0.9.2-1dkms.src.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 607931 Nov 29 11:54 kernel-advansys-0.9.3-2dkms.noarch.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 461727 Nov 29 11:54 kernel-advansys-0.9.3-2dkms.src.rpm
-rw-r--r--. 1 paul paul 1234354 Nov 29 11:54 kernel-advansys-0.9.4-1dkms.noarch.rpm
-rw-r--r--. 1 paul paul 907444 Nov 29 11:54 kernel-advansys-0.9.4-1dkms.src.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 2 paul paul 1286253 Nov 29 11:54 kernel-advansys-0.9.5-1dkms.noarch.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 2 paul paul 981819 Nov 29 11:54 kernel-advansys-0.9.5-1dkms.src.rpm
[paul@zion ~]$ date; python -c "from selinux import restorecon;
restorecon('/home/paul/cfo-repo/drivers/advansys', recursive = True)"; date
Tue Nov 29 12:03:51 GMT 2011
Tue Nov 29 12:03:52 GMT 2011
[paul@zion ~]$ ls -l --time=ctime /home/paul/cfo-repo/drivers/advansys/total 11896
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 649700 Nov 29 12:03 advansys-driverdisk.zip
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 4175872 Nov 29 12:03 advansys-fc2-boot.iso
-rw-rw-r--. 2 paul paul 108723 Nov 29 12:03 dkms-2.2.0.2-1.noarch.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 2 paul paul 132593 Nov 29 12:03 dkms-2.2.0.2-1.src.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 10400 Nov 29 12:03 HEADER.html
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 287602 Nov 29 12:03 kernel-advansys-0.9.1-1dkms.noarch.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 228573 Nov 29 12:03 kernel-advansys-0.9.1-1dkms.src.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 620915 Nov 29 12:03 kernel-advansys-0.9.2-1dkms.noarch.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 457045 Nov 29 12:03 kernel-advansys-0.9.2-1dkms.src.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 607931 Nov 29 12:03 kernel-advansys-0.9.3-2dkms.noarch.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 1 paul paul 461727 Nov 29 12:03 kernel-advansys-0.9.3-2dkms.src.rpm
-rw-r--r--. 1 paul paul 1234354 Nov 29 12:03 kernel-advansys-0.9.4-1dkms.noarch.rpm
-rw-r--r--. 1 paul paul 907444 Nov 29 12:03 kernel-advansys-0.9.4-1dkms.src.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 2 paul paul 1286253 Nov 29 12:03 kernel-advansys-0.9.5-1dkms.noarch.rpm
-rw-rw-r--. 2 paul paul 981819 Nov 29 12:03 kernel-advansys-0.9.5-1dkms.src.rpm
[paul@zion ~]$
Is this expected behaviour? Is there a way I can use the python binding but get the same
behaviour as the shell command?
Paul.