Dealing with .rpmnew and .rpmsave Files

"Nobody ever thinks to mention .rpmnew and .rpmsave extensions to new users of Fedora or Red Hat derivatives. Instead, most users suddenly discover that these files are accumulating on their hard drives, or notice a fleeting message on the screen about them during a version upgrade. Many, I suspect, simply leave them alone, uncertain what to do about them. Yet dealing with them is simply a matter of using a few basic commands, and can be a necessity for ensuring trouble-free upgrades in the future.

"Both .rpmnew and .rpmsave files are the result of a cautious upgrade policy in .RPM packages. When an upgrade includes changes to a default configuration file, instead of overwriting the configuration file on your system--and possibly nuking the changes you have made--the package will write one of these file types..."

Complete Story

Related Stories:

• SearchOpenSource: Using YUM in RHEL5 for RPM Systems(Feb 21, 2007)
• BobCares: RPM Basics(May 22, 2006)
• Linux Forums: RPM for Newbies(May 08, 2006)
• Rudela: How to Use Synaptic to Install RPM Packages Stored on your Hard Disk(Jun 01, 2005)