RPM-SCRIPTLETS(7)

NAME #

rpm-scriptlets - RPM transaction scriptlets

SYNOPSIS #

%SCRIPT [options] [NAME]
[body]

%TRIGGER [options] [NAME] -- TRIGGERCOND ...
[body]

%FILETRIGGER [options] [filetrigger-options] [NAME] -- PATHPREFIX ...
[body]

DESCRIPTION #

RPM supports running arbitrary programs at various pre-determined stages of a package's lifetime, such as after installation, just before uninstall or when another package is installed or updated in transactions. These programs are called scriptlets and the places where they run are called slots.

There are three main types of scriptlets:

• Scripts are unconditionally invoked at their predetermined slots in a transaction.
• Triggers are conditionally invoked when their specified trigger condition matches other packages on the installed system or in a transaction.
• File triggers are conditionally invoked when their specified path prefix matches other files on the installed system or in a transaction.

Scriptlets cannot be interactive, and should not rely on their output to be seen by users.

ARGUMENTS #

NAME

The name of the subpackage the scriptlet is associated with, within the spec file. If omitted, the main package is assumed. See rpm-spec(5) for details.

TRIGGERCOND

A trigger condition is a name of a package, optionally followed by a version range: NAME [op EVR] where op is one of <, <=, =, >= or > and EVR is an rpm-version(7) label. For example, glibc < 2.40.

PATHPREFIX

A path prefix on which the file trigger is triggered on. The prefix must be a complete path of its own, typically a directory whose contents the trigger is interested in, e.g. /usr/lib.

OPTIONS #

-e

Perform runtime rpm-macros(7) expansion on the scriptlet before executing it.

Note that macros intended to be runtime expanded generally need to be escaped in specs to avoid buildtime expansion.

-n

Interpret NAME as a full package name.

-p EXECUTABLE

Execute the scriptlet using EXECUTABLE as the interpreter.

As a special case, specifying <lua> as the EXECUTABLE invokes the embedded Lua interpreter. The various special behaviors of such scriplets are documented in the rpm-lua(7) manual.

-q

Perform rpm-queryformat(7) on the package header, using the scriptlet as the format.

Note the need to escape things that look like macros, and constructs that are special to the shell, such as {} and [].

FILETRIGGER OPTIONS #

-P NUMBER

Priority of the trigger, among the other file triggers of the same kind. The default priority of file triggers is 100000. A larger priority means earlier execution.

SCRIPTS #

%SCRIPT [options] [NAME]
[body]

Scripts execute unconditionally at their pre-determined slots in a transaction.

Scripts receive one argument ($1), which contains the number of installed instances of the package when the operation on the package containing the executing script completes. RPM performs upgrades as two separate but related operations: install of the new version, and erase of the old version. This can be used to differentiate install, erase and upgrade/downgrade from each other: the argument is 1 on initial install, and 0 on final removal. Otherwise it's an upgrade/downgrade (or parallel install).

The scripts of a package can be examined with a rpm -q --scripts query.

TRIGGERS #

%TRIGGER [options] [NAME] -- TRIGGERCOND ...
[body]

Triggers are package scriptlets that are set off by changes to other packages. Unlike scripts, triggers are only executed when their trigger condition is satisfied. Besides just reacting to changes to other packages, they are often used for version specific migration tasks.

A trigger scriptlet may have more than one condition, and any of them matching sets off the trigger. A trigger will only run once even if there are multiple packages setting it off.

Triggers receive one argument ($1), which contains the number of installed instances of the triggered package (ie. the package containing the trigger scriptlet) when the operation has completed. In addition, triggers receive a second argument ($2), which contains the number of installed instaces of the triggering package (ie. the package that set off the trigger).

The triggers of a package can be examined with a rpm -q --triggers query.

%triggerprein

Executed just before the installation of a triggering package.

%triggerin

Executed just after the installation of a triggering package.

%triggerun

Executed just before the removal of a triggering package.

%triggerpostun

Executed just after the removal of a triggering package.

FILE TRIGGERS #

%FILETRIGGER [options] [filetrigger-options] [NAME] -- PATHPREFIX ...
[body]

File triggers are scriptlets that are set off by changes to files, ie. triggers whose trigger condition is path-based. File triggers are used to centralize script patterns that repeat across multiple packages, such as registering domain-specific files into databases or updating system-wide caches.

File triggers receive the matching paths via standard input, one per line.

Like triggers, they receive one argument ($1), which contains the number of installed instances of the triggered package (ie. the package containing the file trigger scriptlet) when the operation has completed.

In addition, Package File Triggers receive a second argument ($2), which contains the number of installed instaces of the the triggering package (ie. the package which set off the trigger).

The file triggers of a package can be examined with a rpm -q --filetriggers query.

EXECUTION ORDER #

The relative execution order of scriptlets within a transaction for a single package upgrade is as follows. new refers to a newly installed package version, old refers to the already installed package version to be replaced by new, rpmdb means installed packages, and any means both rpmdb and the other packages in the current transaction.

1. %pretrans of new
2. %preuntrans of old
3. %transfiletriggerun of any, set off by removal of old
4. %sysusers of new (implicit)
5. %triggerprein of rpmdb, set off by install of new
6. %triggerprein of new, set off by rpmdb
7. %pre of new
8. (unpack new files)
9. %filetriggerin of any (high priority), set off by new
10. %filetriggerin of new (high priority), set off by any
11. %post of new
12. %triggerin of rpmdb, set off by new
13. %triggerin of new, set off by rpmdb
14. %filetriggerin of any (low priority), set off by new
15. %filetriggerin of new (low priority), set off by any
16. %triggerun of old, set off by rpmdb
17. %triggerun of rpmdb, set off by old
18. %filetriggerun of old (high priority), set off by any
19. %filetriggerun of any (high priority), set off by old
20. %preun of old
21. %filetriggerun of old (low priority), set off by any
22. %filetriggerun of any (low priority), set off by old
23. (erase old files)
24. %filetriggerpostun of old (high priority), set off by any
25. %filetriggerpostun of any (high priority), set off by old
26. %postun of old
27. %filetriggerpostun of old (low priority), set off by any
28. %filetriggerpostun of any (low priority), set off by old
29. %posttrans of new
30. %postuntrans of old
31. %transfiletriggerpostun of any, set off by old
32. %transfiletriggerin of any, set off by new

ENVIRONMENT #

RPM_INSTALL_PREFIX_​N

The N'th install prefix in relocatable packages.

RPM_INSTALL_PREFIX

Same as RPM_INSTALL_PREFIX0, for legacy compatibility.

EXIT STATUS #

A non-zero exit code from any scriptlet will be reflected as an error in the transaction result code. Additionally, non-zero exit from the various pre-scriptlets (noted above for each such scriptlet) stop further processing related to that package, not the whole transaction.

Scriptlets should be designed to always return with zero exit code, as RPM cannot undo or roll back a transaction.

For example, an exit code of 1 from a %pre script prevents the install/update of that package, but the rest of the transaction will still take place, even if there are missing dependencies.

EXAMPLES #

%post
if [ $1 -eq 1 ]; then
    # Initial install
    grep -q '^/bin/mysh$' /etc/shells || echo '/bin/mysh' >> /etc/shells
fi

%postun
if [ $1 -eq 0 ] ; then
    # Package removal, not upgrade
    sed -i '/^/bin/mysh$/d' /etc/shells
fi

Name: frobber
[...]

%package myimpl
[...]

%post myimpl
update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/frobber \\
	frobber /usr/bin/frobber.myimpl 10

%preun myimpl
if [ $1 -eq 0]; then
    # Package removal, not upgrade
    update-alternatives --remove frobber /usr/bin/frobber.myimpl 10
fi

%transfiletriggerin -- /usr/share/mime
/usr/bin/update-mime-database -n /usr/share/mime &> /dev/null ||:

%transfiletriggerpostun -- /usr/share/mime
/usr/bin/update-mime-database -n /usr/share/mime &> /dev/null ||:

Name: my
Version: 3.0
[...]

# On update from 2.x
%triggerun -- my < 3.0-1
if [ -x /usr/bin/systemctl ]; then
    systemctl --no-reload preset mydb-migrate ||:
fi

%pretrans -p <lua>
if posix.access('/usr/bin/mything', 'x') then
    rpm.execute('/usr/bin/mything')
end

%post -e
ln -s %{_datadir}/bar/some.ext %%{_libdir}/foo/some.ext

%post -q
for f in [%%{instfilenames} ]; do
    echo $f
done

BUGS #

Priority for Transaction File Triggers is not currently implemented.

SEE ALSO #

rpm(8), rpm-lua(7), rpm-sysusers(7), rpm-spec(5)