On both my boxes, rpm -V setup-2.0.2-1 incorrectly believes that /etc/passwd and /etc/group have not changed since they were installed. Perhaps I am missing something, but shouldn't -V let me know about changed files when the change is likely to be the result of a user/administrator change? Also, -V ignores changes to files such as lastlog and tty owners. Ocassionally, These changes are occasionally important to some users. Perhaps -Vv could override the %verify directive in the spec files. I was considering a program which eliminates files from backups if rpm indicates that the file came from a package and that the file has not been changed. I figure that this could cut my backup size in half. Perhaps I am being to ambitious in my expectations from -V. Thanks! Bill D. duruone:~/backup $ rpm -qf /etc/passwd setup-2.0.2-1 duruone:~/backup $ rpm -V setup-2.0.2-1 S.5....T c /etc/exports S.5....T c /etc/hosts.allow S.5....T c /etc/hosts.deny S.5....T c /etc/printcap S.5....T c /etc/profile ..?..... c /etc/securetty S.5....T c /etc/services duruone:~/backup $ rpm -qlv setup-2.0.2-1 -rw-r--r-- root root 723 Feb 18 16:16 /etc/csh.cshrc -rw-r--r-- root root 0 Jul 06 1995 /etc/exports -rw-r--r-- root root 290 Jul 28 1995 /etc/group -rw-r--r-- root root 26 Jul 12 1994 /etc/host.conf -rw-r--r-- root root 161 Jul 28 1995 /etc/hosts.allow -rw-r--r-- root root 347 Jul 28 1995 /etc/hosts.deny -rw-r--r-- root root 0 Jul 06 1995 /etc/motd -rw-r--r-- root root 509 Jul 28 1995 /etc/passwd -rw-r--r-- root root 289 Jul 28 1995 /etc/printcap -rw-r--r-- root root 546 Apr 19 15:35 /etc/profile drwxr-xr-x root root 1024 Aug 19 1996 /etc/profile.d -rw-r--r-- root root 1191 Mar 23 17:10 /etc/protocols -rw------- root root 40 Sep 04 1995 /etc/securetty -rw-r--r-- root root 11121 Mar 31 19:00 /etc/services -rw-r--r-- root root 0 Apr 19 15:39 /var/log/lastlog duruone:~/backup $ ls -l /etc/passwd /etc/group -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 595 Jul 3 18:38 /etc/group -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1501 Jul 3 18:37 /etc/passwd duruone:~/backup $ rpm --version RPM version 3.0.2 duruone:~/backup $ cat /etc/redhat-release Red Hat Linux release 6.0 (Hedwig)
the .spec file for setup says the following: %verify(not md5 size mtime) %config(noreplace) /etc/passwd %verify(not md5 size mtime) %config(noreplace) /etc/group This is because when the setup package is upgraded, we don't want to rename your passwd to passwd.rpmsave (and group in the same way). This would cause many many problems. These config files are thus special exceptions.