Upgrading Gnu C Libraries (glibc, glibc-common)
The glibc and glibc-common RPMs should be installed with care. An incomplete C library upgrade can cause major upset. Whilst most currently active programs may continue normally they will be in an unpredictable state.
To minimise the chances of something going terribly wrong do not upgrade other RPMs in the same transaction. For example, the following command will download and upgrade the glibc, glibc-common and tuxracer RPMs:
apt-get install tuxracer glibc glibc-common |
rpm -e ... |
 | The likelyhood of a necessary tuxracer upgrade is quite low. |
After a glibc upgrade you should restart currently running programs as they will still be using the old libraries. You can see which processes will need restarting like this:
fuser -v /lib/i686/libc-*.so |
Recovering from a Borked C Library Upgrade
If something goes wrong upgrading these RPMs and libraries are missing, no dynamically linked programs will be able to execute until things are fixed, and fixing problems like these isn't a fun process. Remember, you can't start any new programs unless they are statically linked, so no bash, no rpm tools, no vi, and suprisingly not even cat or echo! (talk about bloat!) Whilst some currently active programs may continue normally they will be in an unpredictable state.
Boot disk;
mount hard disk;
rpm -r /mnt/harddisk/ -Uvh RedHat/RPMS/glibc*.rpm;
sync;
reboot.