[solved] Obtain sparky upgrade log (terminal output)

[TRon]

Test-driving rolling Sparky Mate.

Is there a log of sparky-aptus-upgrade which contains the actual upgrade/update output text.

A short while ago useradd was updated, which contained a lot of warning information during installation. I would like to know the details.

Today "something" (I can't even say what for sure) was bypassing the APT update manager and issued a load of warnings during about that during installation. Also for that I would like to know the details.

I had a look at the sparky script but I seem unable to locate any other output other then the updated packagelist, not the actual output of the installation of a package itself.

tia.

[AxL]

[....]  A short while ago useradd was updated, which contained a lot of warning information during installation. I would like to know the details.

First of all, the package you refer to 'useradd' simply does NOT exist in the debian / SparkyLinux repositories.
The package in question is 'adduser'

You can use apt changelog. To know the changes in each updated package:

Code Select Expand

apt changelog adduser

[....]  Today "something" (I can't even say what for sure) was bypassing the APT update manager and issued a load of warnings during about that during installation. Also for that I would like to know the details.

In this particular case, you can use:

Code Select Expand

grep "upgrade" /var/log/dpkg.log

or

Code Select Expand

grep "install" /var/log/dpkg.log















Cheers !! 

[AxL]

See also:

Code Select Expand

apt show adduser


[TRon]

Thank you very much for your quick reaction AxL.

It was indeed the package adduser (and not the command useradd) that I have wrongfully mentioned. My apologies and thank you for the correction.

The way in which you showed how to provide more information proofed to be informative (thank you for that, as I did not know them all). I will use those solutions more often.

Alas, during 'installation' of the packages I mentioned (by using your commands I can now take an educated guess that the second one that emitted warnings was the update for dpkg) the sparky-upgrade shell emitted warnings that I (after the fact) can't seem to reproduce.

I assume (?) this is because the package manager or package itself detects that during installation/upgrade there
seem to be a "issue" and/or "situation" that deserves enough attention from the user to issue a warning (or a set of warnings).

So far, the only place where such a warning can be seen (to my knowledge) is the sparky-upgrade-shell itself ?

It is in a similar fashion that sometimes the sparky-upgrade shell asks to choose from a selection (yes/no/ignore, select a number of your choice) during the installation of a package. Also there I seem unable to reproduce the choice (and what choices where presented) that was made during the installation process.

I am not familiar with running a rolling distribution and having so much updates/feedback from the upgrade-tool. E.g. sparky stable does the same thing but (a whole lot) less frequent (which allows me more time to manually investigate).

I understand the importance of the release notes of a package/update but unfortunately those (for me, perhaps my noobness) do not shed a light on what was so important to inform me about when the upgrade-shell ran.

So please forgive me when I repeat the question if it is possible to reproduce or if there is any more information available about what the sparky-upgrade tool (e.g. package manager) emits in the shell during an upgrade/installation ?

[AxL]

Thank you very much for your quick reaction AxL.

It was indeed the package adduser (and not the command useradd) that I have wrongfully mentioned. My apologies and thank you for the correction.

The way in which you showed how to provide more information proofed to be informative (thank you for that, as I did not know them all). I will use those solutions more often.

Glad to help. You're welcome!

[....] Alas, during 'installation' of the packages I mentioned (by using your commands I can now take an educated guess that the second one that emitted warnings was the update for dpkg) the sparky-upgrade shell emitted warnings that I (after the fact) can't seem to reproduce.

I assume (?) this is because the package manager or package itself detects that during installation/upgrade there
seem to be a "issue" and/or "situation" that deserves enough attention from the user to issue a warning (or a set of warnings).

So far, the only place where such a warning can be seen (to my knowledge) is the sparky-upgrade-shell itself ?

If instead of using sparky-upgrade. You simply use a terminal with sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade (Personally, I always upgrade this way. I have never used sparky-upgrade). You could also see those messages/issues you mention (only if the package has to inform you, about some important change or modification).

[....] It is in a similar fashion that sometimes the sparky-upgrade shell asks to choose from a selection (yes/no/ignore, select a number of your choice) during the installation of a package. Also there I seem unable to reproduce the choice (and what choices where presented) that was made during the installation process.

In this case you mention, it is because the package update will overwrite the configuration files/options. And it gives you the option to keep your custom configuration.

The most normal in this case, is to choose N=Default, to keep and continue using your custom configuration options.
(> For example this happens with packages like tlp, grub, vnstat ... etc).

I understand the importance of the release notes of a package/update but unfortunately those (for me, perhaps my noobness) do not shed a light on what was so important to inform me about when the upgrade-shell ran.

So please forgive me when I repeat the question if it is possible to reproduce or if there is any more information available about what the sparky-upgrade tool (e.g. package manager) emits in the shell during an upgrade/installation ?

You can check something else in:

Code Select Expand

/var/log/apt/history.log
or

Code Select Expand

/var/log/apt/term.log


And you will be able to see some messages of interest to you, such as:

Code Select Expand

Log started: 2023-01-10  12:10:06
(Reading database ... 199219 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../archives/adduser_3.130_all.deb ...
Unpacking adduser (3.130) over (3.129) ...
Setting up adduser (3.130) ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/adduser.conf ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/deluser.conf ...

[....]
















Cheers !!

[TRon]

Thank you again very much for your reply AxL.

You've made an old fart very happy :thumbsup:

If instead of using sparky-upgrade. You simply use a terminal with sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade (Personally, I always upgrade this way. I have never used sparky-upgrade). You could also see those messages/issues you mention (only if the package has to inform you, about some important change or modification).

You are correct in that it would be a better choice to manually upgrade (from a terminal). There is no (valid) excuse. I simply got used to sparky doing it this way by default :lazy:

In this case you mention, it is because the package update will overwrite the configuration files/options. And it gives you the option to keep your custom configuration.

As was indeed the case with package adduser (e.g. "installing new version of config file ...").

You can check something else in:

Code Select Expand

/var/log/apt/history.log or /var/log/apt/term.log


Again thank you for expanding my knowledge with your hints about these files.

I was aware of the history.log but did not had any idea that apt would store its terminal output as well. I really should pay more attention to the contents of these/such directories instead of someone else pointing it out to me :ashamed:


It seems that the term.log file is what I was/am looking for and, in this particular case it was about the following output:

Code Select Expand

Preparing to unpack .../dpkg_1.21.17_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking dpkg (1.21.17) over (1.21.13) ...
Setting up dpkg (1.21.17) ...
␛[1mdpkg␛[0m: ␛[1;33mwarning␛[0m: This system uses merged-usr-via-aliased-dirs, going behind dpkg's
␛[1mdpkg␛[0m: ␛[1;33mwarning␛[0m: back, breaking its core assumptions. This can cause silent file
␛[1mdpkg␛[0m: ␛[1;33mwarning␛[0m: overwrites and disappearances, and its general tools misbehavior.
␛[1mdpkg␛[0m: ␛[1;33mwarning␛[0m: See <https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg/FAQ#broken-usrmerge>.

I usually use such output to inform myself about (linux) topics that I am not familiar with. In that respect I am (and will always be) a noob.

So much to learn in so little time :-S

Thank you for your time and patience.

regards

[AxL]

Thank you again very much for your reply AxL.

I'm glad I could help you to solve the problem.
You're welcome !! 








Cheers !!! 

[AxL]

  In this last message, I forgot to add as a recommendation to install, apt-listbugs & apt-listchanges











Cheers !! 

[TRon]

@AxL:
Apologies for the (very) delayed reply.

Thank you very much for mentioning those tools. They are really a great addition to your other suggestions and offer exactly some of the (additional) details that I am/was looking for.

[AxL]

[....] Thank you very much for mentioning those tools. They are really a great addition to your other suggestions and offer exactly some of the (additional) details that I am/was looking for.

You're welcome !! 









Cheers !!