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Ask HN: What the hell libpcre1 is ?( a horror story for sysadmins )

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Ask HN: What the hell libpcre1 is ?( a horror story for sysadmins )

#1

Post by adige01can »

demo video : https://youtu.be/AnwAl25MxMU

I tried to remove libcpre1 on SLES 12SP1 and install again to downgrade. We are using cluster management software which automatically send yes to all zypper commands. After hitting enter on cluster management system it deleted about 700 packages in a few seconds and we lost tools from ssh to rpm which is crucial to reinstall lost packages. We can only access system via console connection. The only option is left to reinstall from yesterday backup but I wonder why this package remove all software on the system

Re: Ask HN: What the hell libpcre1 is ?( a horror story for sysadmins )

#2

Post by db48x »

libpcre1 is a C library that implements parsing and execution of regular expressions. A lot of packages need some kind of regular expressions, so rather than implement that themselves they use libpcre. Without libpcre they can't function, so when you uninstall it you must also uninstall everything that requires it.

If you were downgrading in order to install some application which isn't compatible with the current versoin of libpcre, then you should be aware that most of the rest of the system may not function with that older version. You should fix your application instead so that it can use the version that comes with SLES12. If you can't you might be able to manually install a second copy of the libpcre1 package, but arrange for it to be in a different location than the normal version.

Have fun!

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