Subject: import/export of pkgsrc db for pkg_chk??
To: None <tech-pkg@netbsd.org>
From: Greg Troxel <gdt@ir.bbn.com>
List: tech-pkg
Date: 07/26/2004 15:32:23
I'd like to use pkg_chk to create and install binary packages on a lot
of machines, and suspect I must be missing something.

What I'm doing so far:

  pkgchk.conf for what packages I need (not specifying all the dependencies)

  pkg_comp to build them all in a chroot (using pkg_chk)

  Using pkg_chk to install from the binary packages built in the
  chroot on the real machine.

What I don't do yet but seems clear:

  using pkg_chk to remove outdated packages prior to the build, and
  prior to installing packages from the build, to handle updating
  pkgsrc

What is unclear:

  I would like to copy my pkgchk config file and binary packages to
  other machines, remove outdated packages, and install the new ones.

pkg_chk seems to require that a consistent copy of pkgsrc be
installed, and I'd prefer to run this group of machines binary-only.
I suppose I can rsync pkgsrc, and probably will do that unless I
figure out something better.

I note that lintpkgsrc has an export/import feature, and this seems
cool.  But it outputs perl, which doesn't fit with pkg_chk.

I feel like I must be missing something, because using pkg_chk to
manage centrally-built packages in a world without installed pkgsrc
seems like an obvious application, and it's clearly 99% of the way
there.

On a trivial note, -l didn't do what I wanted.  I'd like to generate a
complete list of package files needed by a config, to then copy those
files to cd for that config.  What do people think of an option to
list all the needed packages, with a format like

GConf-1.0.9nb5.tgz OK
ORBit-0.5.15nb6.tgz MISSING

so it is easily amenable to awk usage to then copy them around?
Or am I missing something here too?