Scott O'Neil added a comment - 2014-04-22 18:47 - edited Currently, the RPMs try to use files and "Provides" that conflict with a MySQL installation on a server: [root@master-a rpms]# rpm -ivh MariaDB-5.5.37-centos5-x86_64-* --test error: Failed dependencies: MySQL conflicts with mysql-5.0.95-5.el5_9.x86_64 MySQL conflicts with mysql-5.0.95-5.el5_9.i386 MySQL-server conflicts with mysql-server-5.0.95-5.el5_9.x86_64 [root@master-a rpms]# as a result, there is no clean pathway to use RPM to handle an upgrade from MySQL -> MariaDB. One could rpm -e to remove the pre-existing MySQL RPMs, but if there are any other packages that rely on MySQL, you'll need to use --nodeps. This will render the upgrade process non-transactional. rpm -U really is the best way to do this, and these sorts of conflicts are exactly what Obsoletes is designed to manage. The concern described in the cited Comment in the description can be handled differently: We keep our Maria RPMs in a completely separate repository, and when we know we want a server to use Maria, we install that particular repos release RPM. This allows for us to deploy both MySQL and Maria infrastructure. However, because of the lack of comprehensive Obsoletes tags, we have no way "clean" way to programmatically handle upgrades from MySQL to Maria.

Sergei Golubchik added a comment - 2014-04-22 19:18 americanwookie , the recommended way to upgrade is to use yum. It supports transactions and can remove MySQL and install MariaDB in one transaction without breaking dependencies. While rpm is like autocommit mode, you need to have consistent state after every operation or use -nodeps.

Scott O'Neil added a comment - 2014-04-22 19:36 - edited I agree, I'd prefer to use yum, but with the Obsoletes as it currently stands, I can't. Here's what happens: [root@master-b ~]# yum install -y MariaDB Loaded plugins: fastestmirror Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile * base: dallas.tx.mirror.xygenhosting.com * epel: mirror.utexas.edu * extras: centos.mirror.lstn.net * updates: mirror.beyondhosting.net Excluding Packages from Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 5 - x86_64 Finished Excluding Packages from MariaDB Finished Setting up Install Process Resolving Dependencies --> Running transaction check ---> Package MariaDB-server.x86_64 0:5.5.37-1 set to be updated --> Processing Dependency: MariaDB-client for package: MariaDB-server --> Processing Dependency: MariaDB-common for package: MariaDB-server --> Running transaction check ---> Package MariaDB-client.x86_64 0:5.5.37-1 set to be updated ---> Package MariaDB-common.x86_64 0:5.5.37-1 set to be updated --> Processing Conflict: mysql conflicts MySQL --> Restarting Dependency Resolution with new changes. --> Running transaction check ---> Package MariaDB-shared.x86_64 0:5.5.37-1 set to be updated --> Processing Dependency: libmysqlclient.so.15()(64bit) for package: perl-DBD-MySQL --> Processing Dependency: libmysqlclient.so.15(libmysqlclient_15)(64bit) for package: perl-DBD-MySQL --> Processing Dependency: libmysqlclient_r.so.15()(64bit) for package: collectd-mysql --> Processing Dependency: libmysqlclient_r.so.15(libmysqlclient_15)(64bit) for package: collectd-mysql --> Running transaction check ---> Package MariaDB-compat.x86_64 0:5.5.37-1 set to be updated --> Finished Dependency Resolution   Dependencies Resolved   =============================================================================================================================================================================================================================== Package Arch Version Repository Size =============================================================================================================================================================================================================================== Installing: MariaDB-server x86_64 5.5.37-1 mariadb 43 M replacing mysql-server.x86_64 5.0.95-5.el5_9   MariaDB-shared x86_64 5.5.37-1 mariadb 1.3 M replacing mysql.x86_64 5.0.95-5.el5_9   Installing for dependencies: MariaDB-client x86_64 5.5.37-1 mariadb 12 M MariaDB-common x86_64 5.5.37-1 mariadb 29 k MariaDB-compat x86_64 5.5.37-1 mariadb 3.4 M   Transaction Summary =============================================================================================================================================================================================================================== Install 5 Package(s) Upgrade 0 Package(s)   Total size: 60 M Downloading Packages: Running rpm_check_debug ERROR with rpm_check_debug vs depsolve: MySQL conflicts with mysql-5.0.95-5.el5_9.i386 Complete! (1, [u'Please report this error in http://bugs.centos.org/yum5bug']) [root@master-b ~]# The crux of this problem seems to be obsoletes. For the sake of simplifying discussion, I've been using rpm directly. AFAIK, rpm is bound by the same concerns as yum when it comes to obsoletes, but rpm gives us a much simpler output/test case than yum.

Scott O'Neil added a comment - 2014-04-22 19:46 Wait, I've probably misdiagnosed this. This server has x86_64 and i386 RPMs. More troubleshooting is needed. Updates coming.

Scott O'Neil added a comment - 2014-04-22 19:59 Well, my apologies for working some troubleshooting in here. The following rpm line did the trick for me: rpm -e mysql-5.0.95-5.el5_9.i386 I'm sure the equivalent yum comand (yum remove mysql-5.0.95-5.el5_9.i386) would've done the trick too. I'm wondering why the Obsoletes didn't catch all the architectures. At any rate, my update here is a +1 vote for the Maria project to continue using/maintaining Obsoletes in the RPMs.