Skip to content

Add migration spec for kernel -> kernel-clk6.12 namespace transition#1247

Closed
bmastbergen wants to merge 2 commits into
ciq-6.12.yfrom
{bmastbergen}_ciq-6.12.y-migrate
Closed

Add migration spec for kernel -> kernel-clk6.12 namespace transition#1247
bmastbergen wants to merge 2 commits into
ciq-6.12.yfrom
{bmastbergen}_ciq-6.12.y-migrate

Conversation

@bmastbergen

@bmastbergen bmastbergen commented May 18, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Collaborator

Migration metapackage that transitions users from old non-namespaced CIQ kernel 6.12.x packages to the new kernel-clk6.12 namespace.

How it works

Each subpackage shim carries Obsoletes: <old-name> < 6.12.86 (so dnf upgrade discovers it automatically) and Requires: <namespaced-replacement> (to pull in the new package). Shims have no Provides for the old name, which avoids triggering the Conflicts directives on the namespaced packages.

Migration happens automatically via dnf upgrade. Each shim is discovered independently by the DNF solver via its Obsoletes.

What gets migrated

  • Non-installonly packages (kernel-headers, kernel-tools, kernel-tools-libs, kernel-devel, kernel-devel-matched, perf, python3-perf, libperf, libperf-devel, rtla, rv, kernel-doc, kernel-cross-headers, kernel-selftests-internal, kernel-ipaclones-internal, kernel-abi-stablelists, kernel-uki-virt-addons) are replaced in the transaction via Obsoletes
  • Installonly packages (kernel-core, kernel-modules, kernel-modules-core) are handled by a systemd oneshot cleanup service on reboot. We can't use Obsoletes for these because if the user is currently booted into the old 6.12 kernel, DNF refuses to remove kernel-core (it's a protected package), and the entire transaction fails. The cleanup service skips the running kernel and retries on subsequent boots until all old kernels are gone.
  • kernel-clk6.12-default is pulled in to set DEFAULTKERNEL=kernel-clk6.12-core in /etc/sysconfig/kernel, ensuring future namespaced kernel installs become the default boot entry
  • The cleanup script dynamically finds non-namespaced 6.12.x kernel-core packages (no hardcoded version list)
  • Per-subpackage %posttrans runs dnf mark install on each namespaced replacement so they survive shim removal

Prerequisite

The old non-namespaced repo (ciq-kernel-lt-6_12) must be disabled before migration. If both repos are enabled, DNF prefers same-name upgrades (e.g., kernel-headers 6.12.85 -> 6.12.88) over Obsoletes-based shims.

Known limitation

The kernel-clk6.12 meta-package does not get installed because kernel-clk6.12-core provides the kernel-clk6.12 virtual, letting DNF satisfy the dependency without the meta-package. All real packages (core, modules, modules-core) are installed and functional.

Tested scenarios

  • dnf upgrade discovers shims and migrates all packages
  • Only installed packages get migrated (selective)
  • No-op when no old packages installed
  • dnf install kernel-headers after migration says "already installed"
  • glibc-devel dependency on kernel-headers satisfied by namespaced package
  • Shim removal preserves all namespaced packages
  • dnf upgrade with old repo re-enabled: nothing to do (Conflicts blocks regression)
  • Explicit install of old package names blocked by Conflicts
  • Cleanup script handles multiple installed kernel versions (tested with 6.12.63, 6.12.74, 6.12.85 all installed simultaneously, all removed correctly)
  • Cleanup script self-removes migration shims after cleanup
  • Second dnf upgrade is a clean no-op
  • Full two-reboot cycle tested with multiple old kernels:
    • Boot 1 (into old 6.12.85): cleanup removed 6.12.74, skipped 6.12.85 (running), service stayed enabled, shims kept
    • Boot 2 (into namespaced 6.12.87+clk6.12): cleanup removed 6.12.85, removed all migration shims, disabled service
    • Final state: zero old packages, zero shims, all namespaced packages intact
  • dnf autoremove does not touch any namespaced packages (dnf mark install working)
  • kernel-clk6.12-default installed, DEFAULTKERNEL updated from kernel-core to kernel-clk6.12-core

@bmastbergen
Add migration spec for kernel -> kernel-clk6.12 namespace transition
3e579f6 
RPM spec that transitions users from old non-namespaced CIQ kernel 6.12.x
packages to the new kernel-clk6.12 namespace. Uses rich deps to only
migrate packages the user actually has installed. Includes a systemd
oneshot service to clean up old installonly packages on next boot (can't
rpm -e from %posttrans due to RPM db lock).

Migration shims intentionally avoid Provides for non-namespaced names
(e.g. kernel-headers) since the namespaced packages already carry those
Provides, and adding them to the shims would trigger the corresponding
Conflicts directives.
@bmastbergen
migrate: use Obsoletes for dnf upgrade discovery, drop Provides and r…
475f80b 
…ich deps

Switch shims from version-pinned Obsoletes to a version ceiling
(< 6.13) so dnf upgrade automatically discovers them as replacements
for installed non-namespaced packages. Remove Provides for old names
on shims to avoid triggering Conflicts on the namespaced packages.
Drop rich deps from base package since dnf upgrade discovers each shim
independently via Obsoletes.

Base package requires kernel-clk6.12-modules (to ensure the full kernel
is installed, not just core) and kernel-clk6.12-default (to set
DEFAULTKERNEL=kernel-clk6.12-core so future kernel installs become the
default boot entry).

Move dnf-mark-install to per-subpackage posttrans so namespaced packages
survive shim removal. Rewrite cleanup script to dynamically find
non-namespaced 6.12.x kernel-core packages instead of using a hardcoded
version list. Fix cleanup script to only disable itself when all
non-namespaced kernels are gone, not just when some were removed.

Note: the kernel-clk6.12 meta-package does not get installed because
kernel-clk6.12-core provides the kernel-clk6.12 virtual, letting DNF
satisfy the dependency without the meta-package. All real packages
(core, modules, modules-core) are installed and functional.
@bmastbergen

bmastbergen commented May 18, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Collaborator Author

Old PR got auto closed because we updated ciq-6.12.y. Grabbing this comment from that PR to continue the conversation here:

Why do we need the service to remove the old kernels? Shouldn't the Obsoletes handle that?

@jdieter The obsoletes are fine for the installonly packages (kernel, kernel-core, kernel-modules, etc) IFF you are not running the kernel you are obsoleting. If you are running kernel-6.12.X and run 'dnf upgrade' the whole transaction will fail because you can't remove the kernel you are running. So I landed on the script based cleanup for the installonly packages because that solution works (albeit with the delay of a reboot) no matter what kernel you are currently running when you do 'dnf upgrade'.

@PlaidCat

PlaidCat commented Jun 3, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Collaborator

I'm guessing this is good to go.

@bmastbergen should I just check this branch out, run a mock build, and in place upgrade my CLK kernel?

Would that be sufficient to get this moving?

@bmastbergen

bmastbergen commented Jun 3, 2026 •
edited
Loading

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Collaborator Author

I'm guessing this is good to go.

@bmastbergen should I just check this branch out, run a mock build, and in place upgrade my CLK kernel?

Would that be sufficient to get this moving?

AND you need to have a repo enabled with the actual kernel-clk6.12 packages available (or build them yourself I guess)

@ciq-kernel-automation
ciq-kernel-automation Bot deleted the branch ciq-6.12.y June 4, 2026 15:06
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Reviewers

@josephtate josephtate Awaiting requested review from josephtate
@skip77 skip77 Awaiting requested review from skip77
@jdieter jdieter Awaiting requested review from jdieter

Assignees

No one assigned

Labels

None yet

Milestone

No milestone

Development

Successfully merging this pull request may close these issues.

2 participants

@bmastbergen @PlaidCat