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There are many questions and answers on the internet about the "Running transaction test" notice which appears after a yum update. These questions usually concern what to do if it gets stuck.

My question is simply to know: what is taking place during this transaction test? What is the transaction in question? What kind of test is being done?

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peterh
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Jack Amoratis
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1 Answers1

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Transaction Test tells if the required package/rpm will install without any issue if it fails it will throw error. To understand it better you must understand the transaction with rpm command.

In brief this is what yum does :

1: Installing the package breaks none of the already installed packages (recursively, as they may need packages of their own to be installed).

2: All the packages that the package requires for correct operation are also (or already) installed along with the selected package, recursively..

3: A later version of the package does not (accidentally) replace an earlier version of the package.

Hope this makes sense to you.

Pratap
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  • "Installing the package breaks none of the already installed packages" - ...is "breaking" the packages defined as overwriting their files? – Jack Amoratis Sep 17 '14 at 23:40
  • Yes, if you need that in your word, it should not break/damage already installed packages/rpm. It could be overwriting, deleting or modifying too. – Pratap Sep 18 '14 at 04:03
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    I will be happy to award the correct answer here because your answer is exhibits verisimilitude, and does seem to give insight into the process of what is taking place. On the other hand, there are two levels of answers to "what is it doing?" One level is to say "it's making sure no packages were overwritten." Another level is to explain that it is downloading a manifest for packages and then cycling through an array of file names, etc. Your answer is more like the first level, and I think in this case that is adequate. I am very grateful for your help in understanding this process. – Jack Amoratis Sep 19 '14 at 01:42
  • Glad to hear that I was able to help you thanks. – Pratap Sep 19 '14 at 02:17