[Fedora-packaging] Moving configuration files in a package...

[Miroslav Suchý]

On 09/25/2013 06:14 PM, Manuel Wolfshant wrote:
> On 09/25/2013 06:56 PM, Darryl L. Pierce wrote:
>> For one package I maintain (qpid-cpp-server) the upstream team moved the
>> location of the configuration file from /etc to /etc/qpid, where the
>> other configuration files lived.
>>
>> I pushed the latest update and am now getting hit with negative karma
>> and a BZ complaining about this change.
>>
>> What is SOP for when a project moves configurations? I had resisted the
>> suggestion of having the spec move the configuration. Talking with other
>> packagers they agreed. But simply replying to a BZ with "the file's
>> moved, just copy yours over" and closing the BZ feels a bit aloof.
>>
>> Suggestions?
> Add a postinstall script which copies the old config from its previous location to the new one and maybe also a symlink
> from the new to the old location to the new one. Exercise care with both commands so as to not overwrite existing files.
> I would also add a README pointing out the change. Not that people actually read but still...

First I agree with Kalev in this thread that this should not go to updated but only into next version of Fedora.

+1 to postinstall script, which will help easy upgrade from Fedora n to Fedora n+1

You can as well touch in file:  %{_localstatedir}/lib/rpm-state/qpid-cpp-server-conf-migrated after successfull 
migration and if this file exist do not migrate (this can help you with old puppet configs of sysadmin).


-- 
Miroslav Suchy, RHCE, RHCDS
Red Hat, Software Engineer, #brno, #devexp, #fedora-buildsys