RPM files in Suse

Hello,

How can I handle RMP files in Suse 9.2 Pro. For example, I downloaded file sdm-1_2-linux-i586.rpm

I then launch Konsole and perform the following steps:

sustorres@linux:~/sun> rpm -i sdm-1_2-linux-i586.rpm

As a result, the following is displayed on Konsole:

error: cannot get exclusive lock on /var/lib/rpm/Packages
error: cannot open Packages index using db3 - Operation not permitted (1)
error: cannot open Packages database in /var/lib/rpm
sustorres@linux:~/sun>

What is happening, what am I doing wrong?

Are RPM files only meant for Redhat distributions?

Please help,

Thanks

Hi Jesse,

It appears to me that you are trying to install the package
as non-root. You cannot do that. You must first log-in as
root, then you can install package.

Honestly, can you imagine how security would look like in
a system where ordinary users could install software?
;-)

Petr

Originally posted by Petr Blahos:
Hi Jesse,

It appears to me that you are trying to install the package
as non-root. You cannot do that. You must first log-in as
root, then you can install package.

Honestly, can you imagine how security would look like in
a system where ordinary users could install software?
;-)

Petr

Hello,

Thanks for all of your help. I am new to Linux. So I have absolutely no idea on the steps to log-in as root. How can I login as root?

Originally posted by Jesse Torres:

How can I login as root?[/b]

At any terminal window, type

su

You will be prompted for the root password. Enter it. The prompt in the terminal window will change, indicating that you're now root. Be careful! Think twice before you type any commands as root.

Originally posted by Ernest Friedman-Hill:

At any terminal window, type

su

You will be prompted for the root password. Enter it. The prompt in the terminal window will change, indicating that you're now root. Be careful! Think twice before you type any commands as root.

Thanks so Much! Can you pls recommend a good Linux book that will teach me commands from a novice perspective? I am running Suse 9.2 Pro.

Thanks again,

Originally posted by Petr Blahos:
Hi Jesse,

It appears to me that you are trying to install the package
as non-root. You cannot do that. You must first log-in as
root, then you can install package.

Honestly, can you imagine how security would look like in
a system where ordinary users could install software?
;-)

Petr

Actually, with RPM you can, but you basically have to set up your own little world with its own personal RPM database. Probably best done in a chroot environment, but you can do it the hard way using overrides.

However, I have years of Linux sysadmin experience, and it's not something I'd do without a certain amount of trepidation. For normal package install, login as root.

Originally posted by Jesse Torres:
Can you pls recommend a good Linux book that will teach me commands from a novice perspective? I am running Suse 9.2 Pro.

I have actually read in a few of reviews that the SuSE
documentation is quite good. I believe if you have the
Pro version, you should have the books. I can't comment
on them myself as I never read them, but better trying
them out before you spend money...

P.

Originally posted by Petr Blahos:

I have actually read in a few of reviews that the SuSE
documentation is quite good. I believe if you have the
Pro version, you should have the books. I can't comment
on them myself as I never read them, but better trying
them out before you spend money...

P.

Thanks for your advice. I actually do have the documentation, since I have Suse Pro 9.2

Thanks,

Sounds like you've got plenty of reading to do. Also, the index is your friend ;-)

As noted above, you need to be very careful when you log in as root. One solution to avoid some of the potential problems with this, is the "sudo" program. You can add users to /etc/sudoers which will allow the users to run "sudo" and execute programs as a super-user. From what I've read, the super-user doesn't quite have all the priveleges as root, but I haven't encountered any situations where it doesn't. For more information about sudo, you can type "man sudo" at the command line.

HTH

Layne

Originally posted by Layne Lund:
Sounds like you've got plenty of reading to do. Also, the index is your friend ;-)

As noted above, you need to be very careful when you log in as root. One solution to avoid some of the potential problems with this, is the "sudo" program. You can add users to /etc/sudoers which will allow the users to run "sudo" and execute programs as a super-user. From what I've read, the super-user doesn't quite have all the priveleges as root, but I haven't encountered any situations where it doesn't. For more information about sudo, you can type "man sudo" at the command line.

HTH

Layne

Thanks