rpmcheck is a Perl based utility that checks RPM packages on a Linux server prior to installation of an Oracle product.
The utility consists of a Perl script called rpmcheck.pl and a set of XML files which specify the packages required by different versions of Oracle products on a number of Linux platforms. In the short to medium term, the plan is to support installations of:
The following platforms will be supported initially on both 32 bit (x86) and 64 bit (x86-64):
The files are supplied in a ZIP file called rpmcheck.zip. To install the utility
perl rpmcheck.pl <XMLfilename>
For example
perl rpmcheck.pl Database-11_2-RHEL5-x86_64.xml
rpmcheck lists the minimum (expected) versions of the packages and then lists the actual versions of the packages found by the rpm utility. rpmcheck will output an error message if a required package is either missing or earlier than the minimum version required by the Oracle product.
The following is an example of the output for the Oracle Database on Linux x86_64. Some history and other comments follow
rpmcheck version 2.0 ==================== Copyright JulianDyke.com Limited 2010 Processing Database-11_2-RHEL5-x86_64.xml Product : Oracle Database Version : 11.2 Platform : RHEL5 Architecture : x86_64 Expected packages: Package Name Version Release Architecture ------------------------------ ---------------- ---------------- ------------ binutils 2.17.50.0.6 x86_64 compat-libstdc++-33 3.2.3 x86_64 compat-libstdc++-33 3.2.3 i386 elfutils-libelf 0.125 x86_64 elfutils-libelf-devel 0.125 x86_64 gcc 4.1.2 x86_64 gcc-c++ 4.1.2 x86_64 glibc 2.5 24 x86_64 glibc 2.5 24 i686 glibc-common 2.5 x86_64 glibc-devel 2.5 x86_64 glibc-devel 2.5 i386 glibc-headers 2.5 x86_64 ksh 20060214 x86_64 libaio 0.3.106 x86_64 libaio 0.3.106 i386 libaio-devel 0.3.106 x86_64 libaio-devel 0.3.106 i386 libgcc 4.1.2 x86_64 libgcc 4.1.2 i386 libstdc++ 4.1.2 x86_64 libstdc++ 4.1.2 i386 libstdc++-devel 4.1.2 x86_64 make 3.81 x86_64 sysstat 7.0.2 x86_64 unixODBC 2.2.11 x86_64 unixODBC 2.2.11 i386 unixODBC-devel 2.2.11 x86_64 unixODBC-devel 2.2.11 i386 Actual packages: Package Name Version Release Architecture ------------------------------ ---------------- ---------------- ------------ binutils 2.17.50.0.6 12.el5 x86_64 compat-libstdc++-33 3.2.3 61 x86_64 compat-libstdc++-33 3.2.3 61 i386 elfutils-libelf 0.137 3.el5 x86_64 elfutils-libelf-devel 0.137 3.el5 x86_64 gcc 4.1.2 46.el5 x86_64 gcc-c++ 4.1.2 46.el5 x86_64 glibc 2.5 42 x86_64 glibc 2.5 42 i686 glibc-common 2.5 42 x86_64 glibc-devel 2.5 42 x86_64 glibc-devel 2.5 42 i386 glibc-headers 2.5 42 x86_64 ksh 20080202 14.el5 x86_64 libaio 0.3.106 3.2 x86_64 libaio 0.3.106 3.2 i386 libaio-devel 0.3.106 3.2 x86_64 libaio-devel 0.3.106 3.2 i386 libgcc 4.1.2 46.el5 x86_64 libgcc 4.1.2 46.el5 i386 libstdc++ 4.1.2 46.el5 x86_64 libstdc++ 4.1.2 46.el5 i386 libstdc++-devel 4.1.2 46.el5 x86_64 make 3.81 3.el5 x86_64 sysstat 7.0.2 3.el5 x86_64 unixODBC 2.2.11 7.1 x86_64 unixODBC 2.2.11 7.1 i386 unixODBC-devel 2.2.11 7.1 x86_64 unixODBC-devel 2.2.11 7.1 i386
This section discusses the concepts behind rpmcheck and describes the rationale behind some of the implementation decisions
I decided to write rpmcheck to solve a number of problems
My first attempt was to build an RPM package to perform the validation. I managed to figure out how to use rpmbuild to build an RPM using a spec file containing a list of dependencies. At this point I realized that RPM only supports the native architecture; it is not possible to specify alternate architectures in the dependency list. So creating an RPM for Linux x86-64 would be very complicated. Also the RPM itself might need a change control and root permissions to install. This might not be desirable in some environments. Therefore I decided to write a stand-alone utility
I initially considered writing the utility in C, but subsequently decided to use Perl for a number of reasons. Perl is available in most Linux builds. I have not encountered an Oracle environment that has not supported Perl for a few years now. Perl is human-readable; if security teams are concerned about the functionality of the utility, they can read the script.
For each required package the rpmcheck utility uses RPM to identify whether the package is currently installed and, if so, the architecture, version and release. The version comparison algorithm is based the rpmvercmp function in the RPM source library.
I have used XML for the definition files. Most Oracle users understand XML so the format does not need explaining. I have tried to keep to well-formed documents so they can work with any XML-parser. As the definition files are written in XML I am hoping that users of the utility will send back any new versions / corrections to the XML files which I will add to the library.
The Perl script originally used the Perl XML::Simple package to read the XML file (and was much more elegant). However, this package is not installed on Linux servers by default and has a handful of dependencies. While I was testing version 1.0 of rpmcheck, I realized this was an unacceptable restriction as it required the installation of a new package to determine whether existing packages were valid, possibly requiring a change control. Therefore I decided to implement a custom XML parser in Perl. I am not a professional Perl programmer and therefore my XML parser is only just adequate for the task it was designed for. Do not use it as a template for another application - you will regret it.
The rpmcheck utility is not perfect and the set of XML files is currently incomplete. I am hoping that this project will gain acceptance in the user community and that others will contribute additional XML files they have developed and tested in their own environments. I will add these to the library. The Perl script (rpmcheck.pl) is proprietary - owned by JulianDyke.com Limited - anyone can use this but they cannot claim it as their own work. The XML files are communal - anyone is welcome to contribute and I will try to ensure they are acknowledged on this page.