Linux – What package(s) to exclude to not upgrade from RHEL 5.3 to 5.5

linuxredhatyum

I know how to exclude certain packages when updating RHEL like:

yum update –exclude=kernel

How would I prevent yum from updating from 5.3 to 5.5

Best Answer

Excluding redhat-* files prevents the release information from being updated e.g. it still thinks it's 5.3 .

yum update --exclude=kernel --exclude='redhat-*'

So when I did the yum update (I have only 5.4 not 5.5). I ended up with a lsb_release command that says:

LSB Version:    :core-3.1-ia32:core-3.1-noarch:graphics-3.1-ia32:graphics-3.1-noarch
Distributor ID: RedHatEnterpriseServer
Description:    Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 5.3 (Tikanga)
Release:    5.3
Codename:   Tikanga

openssh-server-4.3p2-36.el5 (from 5.4)

rather than the openssh-server-4.3p2-29.el5.i386.rpm

from 5.3

These are the packages that would be excluded:

# rpm -qa | grep "^redhat"
redhat-menus-6.7.8-3.el5
redhat-lsb-3.1-12.3.EL
redhat-release-notes-5Server-25
redhat-logos-4.9.16-1
redhat-artwork-5.0.9-1.el5
redhat-release-5Server-5.3.0.3

Personally I'm with Ignacio on upgrading the whole thing. I think you will need to to a bit of digging into what those packages provide and decide whether or not it's safe to exclude them. If your customer is that keen on what the NSA thinks then this might not get by them.

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