rpm-ostree/man/rpm-ostree.xml

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<refentry id="rpm-ostree">

  <refentryinfo>
    <title>rpm-ostree</title>
    <productname>rpm-ostree</productname>

    <authorgroup>
      <author>
        <contrib>Developer</contrib>
        <firstname>Jonathan</firstname>
        <surname>Lebon</surname>
        <email>jlebon@redhat.com</email>
      </author>
    </authorgroup>

    <authorgroup>
      <author>
        <contrib>Developer</contrib>
        <firstname>Colin</firstname>
        <surname>Walters</surname>
        <email>walters@redhat.com</email>
      </author>
    </authorgroup>
  </refentryinfo>

  <refmeta>
    <refentrytitle>rpm-ostree</refentrytitle>
    <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
  </refmeta>

  <refnamediv>
    <refname>rpm-ostree</refname>
    <refpurpose>
      Hybrid image/package system for host operating system updates
    </refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>

  <refsynopsisdiv>
    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>rpm-ostree</command>
      <arg choice="req">COMMAND</arg>
      <arg choice="opt" rep="repeat">OPTIONS</arg>
    </cmdsynopsis>
  </refsynopsisdiv>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Description</title>

    <para>
      rpm-ostree is a hybrid image and package system; as the name suggests, it
      uses OSTree for the image side, and RPM for the package side.  It supports
      composing RPMs server-side into an OSTree commit (like an image), and
      clients can replicate that bit-for-bit, with fast incremental updates.
      Additionally, the hybrid nature comes to the fore with client-side package
      layering and overrides.
    </para>

    <para>
      On an rpm-ostree managed system, the traditional
      <literal>yum</literal> (if installed) and <literal>rpm</literal>
      tools operate in a read-only state; the RPM database is stored
      in <literal>/usr/share/rpm</literal> which is underneath a
      read-only bind mount.
    </para>

    <para>
      Instead of live package-by-package upgrades, the underlying
      OSTree layer replicates a complete filesystem tree from a
      compose server into a new deployment, available on the next
      reboot.  One benefit of this is that there will always be a
      previous deployment, available for rollback.  This also
      makes it easier to reliably "queue" an update without destabilizing
      the running system at all.  (Currently though there's an experimental
      <literal>livefs</literal> command that supports changing the
      running filesystem).
    </para>

    <para>
      Note in this "pure replication" model, there is no per-client
      packaging overhead.  Dependency resolution, SELinux labeling,
      all of the scripts etc. were run on the server side and captured
      in the OSTree commit.
    </para>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Client side commands</title>

    <variablelist>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>cancel</command></term>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            Cancel a pending transaction.  Exits successfully and does
            nothing if no transaction is running.  Note that it is fully
            safe to cancel transactions such as <command>upgrade</command>
            in general.
          </para>

        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>db</command></term>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            Gives information pertaining to <literal>rpm</literal> data
            within the file system trees within the ostree commits.
            There are three sub-commands:
          </para>

          <para>
            <command>diff</command> to see how the packages are
            different between the trees in two revs. If no revs are
            provided, the booted commit is compared to the pending
            commit. If only a single rev is provided, the booted commit
            is compared to that rev. The
            <option>--format=diff</option> option uses
            <literal>-</literal> for removed packages,
            <literal>+</literal> for added packages, and finally
            <literal>!</literal> for the old version of an updated
            package, with a following <literal>=</literal> for the new
            version.
          </para>

          <para>
            <command>list</command> to see which packages are within the
            commit(s) (works like yum list). At least one commit must be
            specified, but more than one or a range will also work.
          </para>

          <para>
            <command>version</command> to see the rpmdb version of the
            packages within the commit (works like yum version
            nogroups). At least one commit must be specified, but more
            than one or a range will also work.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>deploy</command></term>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            Takes version, branch, or commit ID as an argument, and
            creates a new deployment using it, setting it up as the
            default for the next boot.  Unlike most other commands, this
            will automatically fetch and traverse the origin history to
            find the target. By design, this has no effect on your
            running filesystem tree. You must reboot for any changes to
            take effect.
          </para>

          <para>
            <command>
              --unchanged-exit-77
            </command>
              to exit status 77 to indicate that the system is already
              on the specified commit. This tristate return model is
              intended to support idempotency-oriented systems
              automation tools like Ansible.
          </para>

          <para>
            <command>--reboot</command> or <command>-r</command> to
            initiate a reboot after the upgrade is prepared.
          </para>

          <para>
            <command>--preview</command> download enough metadata to
            inspect the RPM diff, but do not actually create a new
            deployment.
          </para>

          <para>
            <option>--cache-only</option> or <command>-C</command> to
            perform the operation without trying to download the target
            tree from the remote nor the latest packages.
          </para>

          <para>
            <option>--download-only</option> to only download the target
            ostree and layered RPMs without actually performing the
            deployment. This can be used with a subsequent
            <option>--cache-only</option> invocation to perform the
            operation completely offline.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>install</command></term>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            Takes one or more packages as arguments. The packages are
            fetched from the enabled repositories in
            <filename>/etc/yum.repos.d/</filename> and are overlayed on
            top of a new deployment.  It is also possible to specify a
            local RPM package that resides on the host. Overlayed
            packages can later be removed with the
            <command>uninstall</command> command.
          </para>

          <para>
            If this is the first time a machine-local change is made,
            note that this will change rpm-ostree to operate in full
            hybrid mode.  Concretely, rpm-ostree will also start
            fetching all enabled rpm-md (yum) repositories and use
            those for package updates every time
            <command>rpm-ostree upgrade</command> is invoked.
          </para>

          <para>
            rpm-ostree remembers these requests even if a later host
            update includes those packages already: if the packages are
            subsequently dropped out again, rpm-ostree will go back to
            layering them.
          </para>

          <para>
            Note that by default, specifying a package that is already
            in the base layer is an error unless the
            <command>--allow-inactive</command> option is provided.
            This can be useful when anticipating the removal of a base
            package.
          </para>

          <para>
            <command>--idempotent</command> to do nothing if a package
            request is already present instead of erroring out.
          </para>

          <para>
            <command>--reboot</command> or <command>-r</command> to
            initiate a reboot after the deployment is prepared.
          </para>

          <para>
            <command>--dry-run</command> or <command>-n</command> to
            exit after printing the transaction rather than downloading
            the packages and creating a new deployment.
          </para>

          <para>
            <option>--allow-inactive</option> to allow requests for
            packages that are already in the base layer.
          </para>

          <para>
            <option>--cache-only</option> or <command>-C</command> to
            perform the operation without trying to download the latest
            packages.
          </para>

          <para>
            <option>--download-only</option> to only download the target
            layered RPMs without actually performing the deployment.
            This can be used with a subsequent
            <option>--cache-only</option> invocation to perform the
            operation completely offline.
          </para>

          <para>
            <option>--apply-live</option> will perform a subsequent <command>apply-live</command>
            operation to apply changes to the booted deployment.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>uninstall</command></term>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            Takes one or more packages as arguments. The packages are
            removed from the set of packages that are currently
            overlayed. The remaining packages in the set (if any) are
            fetched from the enabled repositories in
            <filename>/etc/yum.repos.d/</filename> and are overlayed on
            top of a new deployment.
          </para>

          <para>
            <command>--reboot</command> or <command>-r</command> to
            initiate a reboot after the deployment is prepared.
          </para>

          <para>
            <command>--dry-run</command> or <command>-n</command> to
            exit after printing the transaction rather than downloading
            the packages and creating a new deployment.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>override</command></term>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            <command>remove</command> Remove a package from the base
            tree.  Note that this is similar to layering in that
            the original base is retained.
          </para>

          <para>
            <command>replace</command> Replace a package in the base tree.
          </para>

          <para>
            <command>reset</command> Undo a <literal>remove</literal> or
            <literal>replace</literal> operation.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>rebase</command></term>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            Switch to a different branch (possibly using a new remote),
            while preserving all of the state that <command>upgrade</command>
            does, such as <literal>/etc</literal> changes, any layered RPM
            packages, etc.
          </para>
          <para>
            The full syntax is <literal>rebase REMOTENAME:BRANCHNAME</literal>.
            Alternatively, you can use the <command>--branch</command> or
            <command>--remote</command> options mentioned below. With the
            argument syntax, specifying just <literal>BRANCHNAME</literal> will
            reuse the same remote. You may also omit one of
            <literal>REMOTENAME</literal> or <literal>BRANCHNAME</literal>
            (keeping the colon). In the former case, the branch refers to a
            local branch; in the latter case, the same branch will be used on a
            different remote.
          </para>
          <para>
            <command>--branch</command> or <command>-b</command> to
            to pick a branch name.
          </para>
          <para>
            <command>--remote</command> or <command>-m</command> to
            to pick a remote name.
          </para>

          <para>
            <option>--cache-only</option> or <command>-C</command> to
            perform the rebase without trying to download the target
            tree from the remote nor the latest packages.
          </para>

          <para>
            <option>--download-only</option> to only download the target
            ostree and layered RPMs without actually performing the
            deployment. This can be used with a subsequent
            <option>--cache-only</option> invocation to perform the
            operation completely offline.
          </para>

        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>rollback</command></term>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            OSTree manages an ordered list of bootloader entries, called
            "deployments".  The entry at index 0 is the default
            bootloader entry.  Each entry has a separate
            <filename>/etc</filename>, but they all share a single
            <filename>/var</filename>.  You can use the bootloader to
            choose between entries by pressing Tab to interrupt
            startup.
          </para>

          <para>
            This command then changes the default bootloader entry.  If
            the current default is booted, then set the default to the
            previous entry.  Otherwise, make the currently booted tree
            the default.
          </para>

          <para>
            <command>--reboot</command> or <command>-r</command> to
            initiate a reboot after rollback is prepared.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>status</command></term>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            Gives information pertaining to the current deployment in
            use. Lists the names and refspecs of all possible
            deployments in order, such that the first deployment in the
            list is the default upon boot. The deployment marked with *
            is the current booted deployment, and marking with 'r'
            indicates the most recent upgrade (the newest deployment
            version).
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>upgrade</command></term>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            Download the latest version of the current tree, and deploy
            it, setting it up as the default for the next boot. By
            design, this has no effect on your running filesystem tree.
            You must reboot for any changes to take effect.
          </para>

          <para>
            <command>
              --unchanged-exit-77
            </command>
              to exit status 77 to indicate that the system is already
              up to date. This tristate return model is intended to
              support idempotency-oriented systems automation tools like
              Ansible.
          </para>

          <para>
            <command>--reboot</command> or <command>-r</command> to
            initiate a reboot after upgrade is prepared.
          </para>

          <para>
            <command>--allow-downgrade</command> to permit deployment of
            chronologically older trees.
          </para>

          <para>
            <option>--preview</option> to download only /usr/share/rpm
            in order to do a package-level diff between the two
            versions.
          </para>

          <para>
            <option>--check</option> to just check if an upgrade is
            available, without downloading it or performing a
            package-level diff.  Using this flag will force an update
            of the RPM metadata from the enabled repos in
            <filename>/etc/yum.repos.d/</filename>, if there are any
            layered packages.
          </para>

          <para>
            <option>--cache-only</option> or <command>-C</command> to
            perform the upgrade without trying to download the latest
            tree from the remote nor the latest packages.
          </para>

          <para>
            <option>--download-only</option> to only download the target
            ostree and layered RPMs without actually performing the
            deployment. This can be used with a subsequent
            <option>--cache-only</option> invocation to perform the
            operation completely offline.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>override</command></term>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            Provides subcommands for overriding (modifying) the base
            OSTree layer. Such modifications should be done with care
            and are normally not intended to be long-lasting. For
            example, one might replace a base package with its older
            version to avoid a regression. Overrides are automatically
            carried over during new deployments. The subcommands are:
          </para>

          <para>
            <command>remove</command> to remove base packages.
          </para>

          <para>
            <command>replace</command> to replace base packages.
            Currently, only local RPM replacements are supported:
            one must directly provide the RPMs to substitute in.
          </para>

          <para>
            <command>reset</command> to reset previous overrides.
            Currently, the full <literal>NEVRA</literal> of the target
            packages must be specified.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>refresh-md</command></term>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            Download the latest rpm repo metadata if necessary and generate the
            cache.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>kargs</command></term>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            Without options, display current default kernel arguments. Modify
            arguments using <option>--append</option>,
            <option>--replace</option>, <option>--delete</option>, or
            <option>--editor</option>. This will create a new deployment with
            the modified kernel arguments. Previous deployments are never
            changed.
          </para>

          <para>
            By default, modifications are applied to the kernel arguments of the
            default deployment to get the final arguments. Use
            <option>--deploy-index</option> or
            <option>--import-proc-cmdline</option> to instead base them off of a
            specific deployment or the current boot.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>cleanup</command></term>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            Commands such as <command>upgrade</command> create new deployments,
            which affect the next boot, and take up additional storage space. In
            some cases, you may want to undo and clean up these operations. This
            command supports both removing additional deployments such as the
            "pending" deployment (the next boot) as well as the default rollback
            deployment. Use <option>-p/--pending</option> to remove the pending
            deployment, and <option>-r/--rollback</option> to remove the
            rollback.
          </para>

          <para>
            The <option>-b/--base</option> option does not affect finished
            deployments, but will clean up any transient allocated space that
            may result from interrupted operations. If you want to free up disk
            space safely, use this option first.
          </para>

          <para>
            The <option>-m/--repomd</option> option cleans up cached RPM
            repodata and any partially downloaded (but not imported) packages.
          </para>

          <para>
            NOTE: the <command>cleanup</command> will not affect any deployments
            that have been "pinned" via the <command>ostree admin pin</command>
            operation.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>reload</command></term>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            Some configuration and state data such as
            <literal>/etc/ostree/remotes.d</literal> changes may not be
            reflected until a daemon reload is invoked. Use this command to
            initiate a reload.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>usroverlay</command></term>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            Mount a writable overlay filesystem on <literal>/usr</literal> which
            is active only for the remainder of the system boot. This is
            intended for development, testing, and debugging. Changes will not
            persist across upgrades, or rebooting in general.
          </para>

          <para>
            One important goal of this is to support traditional <command>rpm
            -Uvh /path/to/rpms</command> or equivalent where changes are applied
            live. However, an intended future feature for
            <command>rpm-ostree</command> will be a variant of
            <command>rpm-ostree override</command> which also supports applying
            changes live, for the cases which one wants persistence as well.
          </para>

          <para>
            This command is equivalent to <command>ostree admin unlock</command>.
          </para>

        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>initramfs</command></term>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            By default, the primary use case mode for rpm-ostree is to replicate
            an initramfs as part of a base layer. However, some use cases
            require locally regenerating it to add configuration or drivers. Use
            <command>rpm-ostree initramfs</command> to inspect the current
            status.
          </para>

          <para>
            Use <command>--enable</command> to turn on client side initramfs
            regeneration. A new deployment will be generated, and after reboot,
            further upgrades will continue regenerating. You must reboot for the
            new initramfs to take effect.
          </para>

          <para>
            To append additional custom arguments to the initramfs program
            (currently dracut), use <command>--arg</command>. For example,
            <command>--arg=-I --arg=/etc/someconfigfile</command>.
          </para>

          <para>
            The <command>--disable</command> option will disable
            regeneration.  You must reboot for the change to take effect.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>ex</command></term>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            This command offers access to experimental features; command line
            stability is not guaranteed.  The available subcommands will be listed
            by invoking <command>rpm-ostree ex</command>.  For example, there is
            <command>rpm-ostree ex apply-live</command> which is an experimental
            interface for applying changes to the booted deployment.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>


      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>ex apply-live</command></term>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            Experimental feature; subject to change.
          </para>

          <para>
            Given a target OSTree commit (defaults to the pending deployment), create a transient
            <literal>overlayfs</literal> filesystem for <literal>/usr</literal>, and synchronize
            the changes to the booted filesystem tree.  By default, to ensure safety, only package additions
            are allowed.
          </para>

          <para>
            <option>--reset</option> to reset the filesystem tree to the booted commit.
          </para>

          <para>
            <option>--target</option> may be used to target an arbitrary OSTree commit.  This is an advanced feature, exposed mainly for testing.
          </para>

          <para>
            <option>--allow-replacement</option> enables live updates and removals for existing packages.
          </para>

          <example>
            <title>Install postgresql live</title>

            <programlisting>$ rpm-ostree install postgresql-server
$ rpm-ostree ex apply-live
$ systemctl start postgresql  # Some setup required
            </programlisting>
          </example>

          <para>
            Currently, this just synchronizes the filesystem; no systemd units are restarted
            for example.
          </para>

          <para>
            A major implicit benefit of the <literal>overlayfs</literal> approach is that
            if something goes wrong in the middle of a <literal>apply-live</literal> operation,
            a system reboot will implicitly remove the overlay, restoring the system to 
            the pristine deployment state.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>ex initramfs-etc</command></term>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            Experimental feature; subject to change.
          </para>

          <para>
            Add configuration (<literal>/etc</literal>) files into the initramfs without
            regenerating the entire initramfs. This is useful to be able to configure
            services backing the root block device as well as early-boot services like
            systemd and journald.
          </para>

          <para>
            Use <command>--track</command> to start tracking a specific file. Can be
            specified multiple times. A new deployment will be generated. Use
            <command>--untrack</command> or <command>--untrack-all</command> to stop
            tracking files.
          </para>

          <para>
            When there are tracked files, any future created deployment (e.g. when doing an
            upgrade) will ensure that they are synced. You can additionally use
            <command>--force-sync</command> to simply generate a new deployment with the
            latest versions of tracked files without upgrading.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Server side commands</title>

    <variablelist>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>compose</command></term>

        <listitem>
          <para>
            Entrypoint for tree composition; most typically used on servers to
            prepare trees for replication by client systems. The
            <literal>tree</literal> subcommand processes a treefile, installs
            packages, and commits the result to an OSTree repository. There are
            also split commands <literal>install</literal>,
            <literal>postprocess</literal>, and <literal>commit</literal>.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>

  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>See Also</title>

    <para>
      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>rpm-ostreed.conf</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>ostree</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>rpm</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
    </para>
  </refsect1>

</refentry>