Upgrading Berkeley DB databases

Willie Green · 2010-11-03 14:38:48

Okay, so I did a pacman -Syu this morning, and when it upgraded the package "db" I got the message that it is a major version upgrade and that I should consider running db_upgrade on Berkeley DB databases.

Well, since i am very well disciplined in the monkey-see. monkey-do school of computer operation (and really have no idea what I'm doing), I diligently began searching the forums, the wiki and even googlled the Internet to better inform myself before attempting such an upgrade.

And yes, just like anything else that one attempts to research out there in cyberspace, there's a seemingly infinite amount of information available. There's just one little problem: it's all way over my head and completely meaningless to me.

So, does anybody have any quick and easy advice?

(There's nothing exotic about my computer... it's just an old Compaq Deskpro PIII-800 with a Fluxbox desktop that I use for everyday websurfing, email, youtubes and other nonessential personal activities)

Vagabond · 2010-11-03 14:57:50

What Willie Green said...

I found the command db_upgrade in /usr/bin, and nothing on it in Linux in a Nutshell (O'Reilly) or in the Arch Wiki. db is installed.

My guess is that db_upgrade can't be a dangerous command.

Anybody? Please. TIA.

PS Willie, have you looked into yaourt yet? It's nice as a replacement for pacman, and the command yaourt --stats produces very interesting and helpful results. Check it out.

Willie Green · 2010-11-03 15:16:20

Vagabond wrote:

PS Willie, have you looked into yaourt yet? It's nice as a replacement for pacman, and the command yaourt --stats produces very interesting and helpful results. Check it out.

Thank-you, I think that's something that's on my "One of these days, I'll have to learn how to do that" list.
So far, I've only been using precompiled packages and haven't done anything yet that would involve the AUR, PKGBUILDs etc. etc. etc.

I know that it's something I'd like to monkey around with "one of these days", but i haven't gotten around to trying it yet.

Vagabond · 2010-11-03 15:39:10

I have yet to do a pkgbuild, but yaourt has been helpful already. I have three packages from AUR and keeping them updated is a snap with yaourt; pacman won't do it, AFAIK. BTW pacman tells you "there is nothing to do" if no upgrade is needed, but yaourt just shuts up.

Hey, nobody is reading the mail. I'm tempted to go ahead and # db_upgrade

How about if I try it and report back, assuming my box does not melt down?

Edit:
I gave it a look, and it's going to take more time than I have right now. It's coming up on 11 PM where I am (Bangkok) so I'll investigate the complexities of the command tomorrow. .... BFN.

Last edited by Vagabond (2010-11-03 16:02:25)

Willie Green · 2010-11-03 17:44:26

Thank-you... yes, that would be helpful...

I did try running "db_upgrade" from the command prompt,
but all it did was come back with a message showing that it needs to be used with various optional switches and a file name.

Vagabond · 2010-11-04 10:24:47

Well, that was fun. I logged in, wrote a bunch of stuff, and when I tried to post it, not only was I logged out, but my post was lost.

I know why: at one point, I complained that Arch has a gremlin that does things you don't want it to, and that got the gremlin angry. (He reset my root prompt to something goofy, which puzzled me, but gremlins do things like that, so there is no point in being puzzled.) Well, here is what I said the first time around, more or less:

I came up with info that says that this Berkeley database gizmo is for older versions of software that some folks might use. It is, as the name implies, a result of Arch's being a step-stranger-in-law of BSD. Slackware is BSD-influenced, too. You can see it in Arch in the way the initialization process is handled, in the ABS "tree" which reminds of BSD's "ports" system, and in the lack of runlevels.

I doubt seriously that you or I need be conserned about any of this. so I am not going to try to get more information on doing an upgrade of stuff I very likely do not have.

Having offered an ignorant guess rather than a truly informed judgment, I expect to be set straight by someone who will happen along. I can take it. This is not my first post to an Arch forum. I have my flame-retradant underwear on.

A word about the --stats option in yaourt, BTW. It got me into a session that reminded me of RPM hell, Ha Ha! As I deleted apps that had not been explicitly installed and were no longer needed for anything, the number of useless apps kept growing rather than shrinking. It reminded me of the hopeless chase for dependency satisfaction that finally ends with the discovery that the essential missing app is not on the internet, is not on that install disc, and is not said or admitted to be anywhere at all. What fun that was. It made me promise myself that I would never again use an RPM-based distro, a promise I have kept faithfully.

The experience with yaourt and the mushrooming number of useless apps was funny instead of infuriating because there was an end to it. I don't think infinitely recursive nonsense is possible in Arch. So go ahead, see which apps you don't need, and toss 'em out!

loafer · 2010-11-04 10:46:54

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_DB

If you don't use it you won't need to do anything.

@Willie Green, you need to run the command in the directory containing the database.

bernarcher · 2010-11-04 10:50:54

A hint to all: search the internet.
(Sorry, I could not resist.)

@loafer: You are too fast for me. And of course you are right: Always check the wikipedia (and the Arch wiki).

This reference turned out top in an ixquick serach for "db_upgrade berkeley":
http://pybsddb.sourceforge.net/api_c/db_upgrade.html.

Check it out. It answers most of your issues.

If you want more extensive documentation, see the Oracle Berkeley DB documentation.

And if you have no clue about how to find such info, try "pacman -Qs berkeley" which produces "core/db", and then look up the package info: "pacman -Qi db" where you will find the projects URL: "http://www.oracle.com/technology/softwa … index.html".

This works for every Arch package.

Last edited by bernarcher (2010-11-04 11:00:47)

Vagabond · 2010-11-04 13:26:36

Willie:

Wow. That's grist for the mill, eh?

Your post explains that you looked at the Wiki, Googled, did a search on the Forums, and then did not understand what you found. You were then told to look on the internet, check the Wiki, go to the website of the outfit that created the package, and look for information.

I did not bother to give the source for the info I found and tried to explain to you. Whether I got any of it right was not mentioned.

Shame, shame on both you and me! Aren't we a couple of jerks?

Your candid admission that you are having trouble making sense of what you found is an expression of a real problem. How is the newcomer to get to the level where he can make use of the resources suggested to him?

I posted some comments about the Arch Wiki entries on Makepkg, Creating Packages, and PKGBUILD. I suggested a number of things, including the claim that if a Wiki entry is complete, as opposed to written for people who do not need it, no one is harmed. I suggested that advanced users would simply read the text quickly.

Responses were basically of three types: first, Arch is for experienced users. Second, "you will not be spoon fed." Third, I was told to re-write Wiki entries to suit myself.

I have considered the third response seriously, but I have a life. My point was not, "I can do it better than you guys can," but, "You can do it so you help everybody."

I insist that it IS possible to write on two or three levels, such that the Expert gets what he needs, the Intermediate User learns more, and the Newcomer is able to study the text to advantage. The use of glossaries, indented paragraphs, () and [], or even colors, can make it easy for the reader to find and learn at his level. Yes, the author has to put a little thought into how to set things up, but it is not hard.

The resulting text should be demystifying, transparent, cogent, and genuinely helpful to everyone.

As long as an elite is in the driver's seat, the new arrival's prospects will be less than optimum. I'm not suggesting that he should be exempted from reading and practicing and learning; I'm suggesting that not all advice is of equal quality. Look at what you got.

I'd like to make a genuine contribution to Arch, because I consider it a wonderful distro. Maybe I could chip away at its social and informational problems, but there are only so many hours in a day. Not only that, there is too much I simply don't know.

OK, now to try to post this without getting logged out automatically a third time. Writing everything twice is getting tiresome.

Allan · 2010-11-04 13:53:57

Vagabond wrote:

Writing everything twice is getting tiresome.

Yes it would with the amount of off-topic drivel you are spouting...

karol · 2010-11-04 13:54:05

@ Vagabond
I'm aware that my post is OT, but:
- we all have only 24 hrs in a day and good writing takes time; the wiki is getting better slowly,
- many Arch users aren't native English speakers which makes it particularly hard for them to write in clear and concise way,
- many people still don't make use of the excellent resources readily available which can put off those who want to contribute - why would I write things people won't read?

litemotiv · 2010-11-04 14:18:38

Vagabond: if you want to make improvements to the wiki that is highly encouraged, as long as you stay factually correct and don't resort to endless explanations. One of the main goals of the wiki is to keep information as concise and focused as possible, without making it too abstract for less advanced readers to understand. That in itself can be a challenge.

Let's keep it ontopic from now on people, this thread is about Berkely db_upgrade and that alone.

Arch Linux

#1 2010-11-03 14:38:48

Upgrading Berkeley DB databases

#2 2010-11-03 14:57:50

Re: Upgrading Berkeley DB databases

#3 2010-11-03 15:16:20

Re: Upgrading Berkeley DB databases

#4 2010-11-03 15:39:10

Re: Upgrading Berkeley DB databases

#5 2010-11-03 17:44:26

Re: Upgrading Berkeley DB databases

#6 2010-11-04 10:24:47

Re: Upgrading Berkeley DB databases

#7 2010-11-04 10:46:54

Re: Upgrading Berkeley DB databases

#8 2010-11-04 10:50:54

Re: Upgrading Berkeley DB databases

#9 2010-11-04 13:26:36

Re: Upgrading Berkeley DB databases

#10 2010-11-04 13:53:57

Re: Upgrading Berkeley DB databases

#11 2010-11-04 13:54:05

Re: Upgrading Berkeley DB databases

#12 2010-11-04 14:18:38

Re: Upgrading Berkeley DB databases

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