Hi, is it necessary to sometimes update the openSUSE Tumbleweed filesystem database (after zypper dup)? with a command similar to a command in the debian world (updatedb - update database for mlocate)? I ask this because for some time I was unaware of this command.
Is this initially (after installing openSUSE) handled automatically with openSUSE Tumbleweed? Or is it initially invoked somehow manually in openSUSE Tumbleweed by the use of executing an application such as zypper or what?
It looks like mlocate is not installed on the machine here. See the attached screenshot if able.
There are 2 repositories also (shown in screenshot) to get the mlocate package from. I am wondering which repository to use and what is the difference between the 2 repositories are?
Below is taken from the mlocate Description specification tab.
mlocate - A utility for finding files by name
A new locate implementation. The m character stands for merging, because updatedb reuses the existing database to avoid re-reading most of the file system.
What are the larger differences between yast cli and zypper cli? I would like to install mlocate with yast command line interface if possible for this instance. Neat, I see yast cli now.
Is this common for users to use yast cli? Wow it’s a bit more difficult to navigate in yast (cli) than yast (gui).
There’s actually no “yast cli”. You can enter yast as root, rather than yast2. It will lead you to a menue very similar and with all the same functions as the GUI version - just in the terminal environment.
“Under the hood” both versions the same basic functions as zypper. Just check /var/log/zypp/history after doing some install with YaST.
I’d say, CLI i.e. zypper is more common with tumbleweed users than GUI as zypper dup is your choice for updating (=upgrading). So, I assume most / many users also use it for (un-) install. After all, that’s your choice.
I’m on Leap, however. I use zypper or yast2 just as suits me best. IMHO, (open) search for files, commands, packages etc. can be easier in GUI. If you know the exact package and task to perform, zypper is your faster friend. Again, it’s just your choice and preference.
Thinkcentre-M57p:~> systemctl status mlocate.timer
● mlocate.timer - Daily locate database update
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/mlocate.timer; enabled; preset: enabled)
Active: active (waiting) since Thu 2024-01-11 16:46:09 CST; 26min ago
Trigger: Fri 2024-01-12 00:00:00 CST; 6h left
Triggers: ● mlocate.service
Docs: man:updatedb
Warning: some journal files were not opened due to insufficient permissions.
Then
Thinkcentre-M57p:~> sudo updatedb
[sudo] password for root:
Thinkcentre-M57p:~>
My questions for you is to why the mlocate.service does not display when systemctl status is passed?
The other question for you is passing: systemctl status mlocate.timer results in the following error: Warning: some journal files were not opened due to insufficient permissions.
Is this a common privilege situation you may be aware of after default installation of mlocate? If so, which file or folder is this located?
I did powercycle the machine and the mlocate status is the same as shown above in terminal output.
systemctl status ... can be run as user (i.e. not root). However a user can only read parts of the journal. So if you run systemctl status ... as user you will see that warning.
If you want your user to see all journal entries you have to add your user to the group systemd-journal.