rpm for embedded system

rpm for embedded system

[Stephen Williams]

I'm using ELDK-3 from Denx for my ppc based board, which has
disk space (in the form of a compact flash) that I want to
manage using rpm. (I'd like to rpm install the eldk packages
that I want on my target.)

So I'm looking for a cross-rpm howto. Seems like the ppc_4xx-rpm
that comes with the ELDK gets me half way there.

--
Steve Williams                "The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
steve at XXXXXXXXXX           But I have promises to keep,
http://www.XXXXXXXXXX         and lines to code before I sleep,
http://www.picturel.com       And lines to code before I sleep."


** Sent via the linuxppc-embedded mail list. See http://lists.linuxppc.org/

Re: rpm for embedded system

[Wolfgang Grandegger]

On 07/07/2004 09:11 PM Stephen Williams wrote:
> I'm using ELDK-3 from Denx for my ppc based board, which has
> disk space (in the form of a compact flash) that I want to
> manage using rpm. (I'd like to rpm install the eldk packages
> that I want on my target.)
>
> So I'm looking for a cross-rpm howto. Seems like the ppc_4xx-rpm
> that comes with the ELDK gets me half way there.


Check http://www.denx.de/twiki/bin/view/DULG/ELDKRebuildingComponents

Wolfgang.

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Re: rpm for embedded system

[Stephen Williams]

Wolfgang Grandegger wolfgang.grandegger-at-bluewin.ch |PPC Linux
Embedded| wrote:
> On 07/07/2004 09:11 PM Stephen Williams wrote:
>
>>I'm using ELDK-3 from Denx for my ppc based board, which has
>>disk space (in the form of a compact flash) that I want to
>>manage using rpm. (I'd like to rpm install the eldk packages
>>that I want on my target.)
>>
>>So I'm looking for a cross-rpm howto. Seems like the ppc_4xx-rpm
>>that comes with the ELDK gets me half way there.
>
>
>
> Check http://www.denx.de/twiki/bin/view/DULG/ELDKRebuildingComponents

Almost. That is instructions for remaking the ELDK packages
from the src.rpms. But I want to take the existing binary
rpms and install them on my owh root. This does *not* work:

   ppc_4xx-rpm --root=/mnt/flash foo.ppc.rpm

I want to do something like that with the packages, so that
I can install individual existing ppc.rpm packages from the
ELDK disk onyl by flash card.
--
Steve Williams                "The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
steve at XXXXXXXXXX           But I have promises to keep,
http://www.XXXXXXXXXX         and lines to code before I sleep,
http://www.picturel.com       And lines to code before I sleep."


** Sent via the linuxppc-embedded mail list. See http://lists.linuxppc.org/

Re: rpm for embedded system

[Wolfgang Grandegger]

On 07/07/2004 09:30 PM Stephen Williams wrote:
> Wolfgang Grandegger wolfgang.grandegger-at-bluewin.ch |PPC Linux
> Embedded| wrote:
>> On 07/07/2004 09:11 PM Stephen Williams wrote:
>>
>>>I'm using ELDK-3 from Denx for my ppc based board, which has
>>>disk space (in the form of a compact flash) that I want to
>>>manage using rpm. (I'd like to rpm install the eldk packages
>>>that I want on my target.)
>>>
>>>So I'm looking for a cross-rpm howto. Seems like the ppc_4xx-rpm
>>>that comes with the ELDK gets me half way there.
>>
>>
>>
>> Check http://www.denx.de/twiki/bin/view/DULG/ELDKRebuildingComponents
>
> Almost. That is instructions for remaking the ELDK packages
> from the src.rpms. But I want to take the existing binary
> rpms and install them on my owh root. This does *not* work:
>
>    ppc_4xx-rpm --root=/mnt/flash foo.ppc.rpm
>
> I want to do something like that with the packages, so that
> I can install individual existing ppc.rpm packages from the
> ELDK disk onyl by flash card.

Hm, have a look to the ELDK CDROM, especially check the ".list" files in
/mnt/cdrom/etc. They actually define the packages to be installed. You
might copy parts of the tree to disk and tailor the list files according
to your needs. Then you should be able to install the RPM packages with
the "install" utility as usual. Nevertheless, a root file system built
this way is very large, too large for most embedded systems.

Wolfgang.


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Re: rpm for embedded system

[Stephen Williams]

Wolfgang Grandegger wolfgang.grandegger-at-bluewin.ch |PPC Linux
Embedded| wrote:

>>Almost. That is instructions for remaking the ELDK packages
>>from the src.rpms. But I want to take the existing binary
>>rpms and install them on my owh root. This does *not* work:
>>
>>   ppc_4xx-rpm --root=/mnt/flash foo.ppc.rpm
>>
>>I want to do something like that with the packages, so that
>>I can install individual existing ppc.rpm packages from the
>>ELDK disk onyl by flash card.
>
>
> Hm, have a look to the ELDK CDROM, especially check the ".list" files in
> /mnt/cdrom/etc. They actually define the packages to be installed. You
> might copy parts of the tree to disk and tailor the list files according
> to your needs. Then you should be able to install the RPM packages with
> the "install" utility as usual. Nevertheless, a root file system built
> this way is very large, too large for most embedded systems.

Indeed, I really only want 3 or 4 rpms (glibc, e2fsprogs, maybe
a few others) and a few rpms of my own.

It would be ideal to be able to do something like:

    rpm --root=/mnt/flash --initdb
    rpm --root=/mnt/flash -ivh glibc-common-X.ppc.rpm
    rpm --root=/mnt/flash -ivh e2fsprogs-X.ppc.rpm
    rpm --root=/mnt/flash -ivh my-jse-initscripts-X.ppc.rpm

and so on. (As an aside, I may be wanting to allow for
running rpm on the target device itself to update in the
field. Getting fancy, eh?)

--
Steve Williams                "The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
steve at XXXXXXXXXX           But I have promises to keep,
http://www.XXXXXXXXXX         and lines to code before I sleep,
http://www.picturel.com       And lines to code before I sleep."


** Sent via the linuxppc-embedded mail list. See http://lists.linuxppc.org/

Re: rpm for embedded system

[Wolfgang Denk]

In message <20685-04823@sneakemail.com> you wrote:
>
> Indeed, I really only want 3 or 4 rpms (glibc, e2fsprogs, maybe
> a few others) and a few rpms of my own.
>
> It would be ideal to be able to do something like:
>
>     rpm --root=/mnt/flash --initdb
>     rpm --root=/mnt/flash -ivh glibc-common-X.ppc.rpm
>     rpm --root=/mnt/flash -ivh e2fsprogs-X.ppc.rpm
>     rpm --root=/mnt/flash -ivh my-jse-initscripts-X.ppc.rpm

You don't really want to do that. The standard RPM's include a lot of
stuff that are just a waste of resources on  the  embedded  system  -
things  like  man  pages, info pages, debug and profiling versions of
the system libraries etc. You will just waste tens and tens of  mega-
bytes in your root filesystem.

If you need package management on the target,  the  RPM  is  not  the
right  tool.  And if you really want to use RPM, then you must create
customized RPMs first.

> and so on. (As an aside, I may be wanting to allow for
> running rpm on the target device itself to update in the
> field. Getting fancy, eh?)

I think there are leaner and better ways to do this than  using  RPM.
While  technically  possible,  it  is  most  probably not the optimal
solution for your problem.

Best regards,

Wolfgang Denk

--
Software Engineering:  Embedded and Realtime Systems,  Embedded Linux
Phone: (+49)-8142-4596-87  Fax: (+49)-8142-4596-88  Email: wd@denx.de
A supercomputer is a machine that runs an endless loop in 2 seconds.

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Re: rpm for embedded system

[Robert P. J. Day]

On Wed, 7 Jul 2004, Stephen Williams wrote:

> Indeed, I really only want 3 or 4 rpms (glibc, e2fsprogs, maybe
> a few others) and a few rpms of my own.
>
> It would be ideal to be able to do something like:
>
>   rpm --root=/mnt/flash --initdb
>   rpm --root=/mnt/flash -ivh glibc-common-X.ppc.rpm
>   rpm --root=/mnt/flash -ivh e2fsprogs-X.ppc.rpm
>   rpm --root=/mnt/flash -ivh my-jse-initscripts-X.ppc.rpm

that's a lot of unnecessary overhead for an embedded system.  if i
want to add an extra program or two, i just grab the binary from the
ELDK distribution.

if it's a package that's not part of ELDK, i download the src rpm from
yellow dog and use ELDK to cross-compile it, then repeat step 1.  rpm
really is overkill for an embedded system.

rday

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Re: rpm for embedded system

[Marc Leeman]

> if it's a package that's not part of ELDK, i download the src rpm from
> yellow dog and use ELDK to cross-compile it, then repeat step 1. rpm
> really is overkill for an embedded system.

emdebian is trying to get the crud out of the default gpp debian
packages and provide a nice packet way to compose an embedded system. I
am currently considering this to replace the MVL solution we have now;
especially since they seem to be 'open' (not free, that's not the most
important issue here) on the surface.

I haven't had the time to really investigate the option though, nor have
I found decent documentation for e.g. ppc_82xx builds.

http://www.emdebian.org/

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AW: rpm for embedded system

[Thomas Schafer]

Hi,

we are using the ipkg package management system, which is well suited for
embedded systems as it doesn't need much overhead on the system. A database
is used which takes a few kBytes (depending on the number of packages
installed) and the ipkg binary itself takes about 120kB on our PPC405 based
system. Furthermore, the package format is easy to understand (it is derived
from debian package format) and ipkg packages are easy to build.

For more detail, see

http://www.handhelds.org/z/wiki/BuildingIpkgs
http://www.handhelds.org/z/wiki/iPKG

There are more leightweight package management systems available, see

http://www.movial.fi/client-data/file/movial_package_management.pdf

Best regards,

Thomas Schafer

> -----Ursprungliche Nachricht-----
> Von: owner-linuxppc-embedded@lists.linuxppc.org
> [mailto:owner-linuxppc-embedded@lists.linuxppc.org]Im Auftrag von
> Stephen Williams
> Gesendet: Mittwoch, 7. Juli 2004 21:11
> An: linuxppc-embedded@lists.linuxppc.org
> Betreff: rpm for embedded system
>
>
>
> I'm using ELDK-3 from Denx for my ppc based board, which has
> disk space (in the form of a compact flash) that I want to
> manage using rpm. (I'd like to rpm install the eldk packages
> that I want on my target.)
>
> So I'm looking for a cross-rpm howto. Seems like the ppc_4xx-rpm
> that comes with the ELDK gets me half way there.
>
> --
> Steve Williams                "The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
> steve at XXXXXXXXXX           But I have promises to keep,
> http://www.XXXXXXXXXX         and lines to code before I sleep,
> http://www.picturel.com       And lines to code before I sleep."
>
>
>
>


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