Existing home directories for the user dbadmin do not match the home directory provided

Pietro_La_Torre

Hi, i have the following error installing/updating vertica from 6.0.1 to 6.1.2: Existing home directories for the user dbadmin do not match the home directory provided (/storage/home/dbadmin/) I've already checked the home dir for user dbadmin on linux, which is actually /storage/home/dbadmin/ I think I may have specified a different home_dir on my first installation and then I changed dbadmin home dir. Is there a config file which specifies the home for dbadmin? Is there a way to cleanup vertica configuration and restart the installation from scratch?? thanks, P.

[Deleted User]

Hi Pietro, Thank you for reporting this difficulty. What is the update_vertica command which you are running? Please remove any sensitive information (such as passwords) before responding. It's likely that you are running update_vertica without the -l (dash el) option, which specifies the home directory. If omitted, /home/dbadmin is assumed. Try specifying -l /storage/home/dbadmin. The documentation for update_vertica specifies that you must provide all of the options you used during install_vertica, including this -l (dash el) option. See https://my.vertica.com/docs/6.1.x/HTML/index.htm#10461.htm step 6, bold. You are not alone in this mistake, if indeed this is the problem. We are taking a look at how we can make the user experience smoother. Your feedback is helpful. Derrick

Pietro_La_Torre

Hi Derrick, thank you for your reply. Actually I am using the -l option for the install_vertica: ./install_vertica -r /storage/archivio_file/vertica-ce-6.0.1-0.x86_64.RHEL5.rpm -l /storage/home/dbadmin/ and I get this error : Error: Existing home directories for the user dbadmin do not match the home dictory provided (/storage/home/dbadmin/) if I run : cat /etc/passwd I get the following line for user dbadmin: dbadmin:x:512:513::/storage/home/dbadmin/:/bin/bash which confirms the actual home dir for dbadmin. what else can I do? I'd rather clean my environmnet to a right configuration and reinstall vertica.. thanks.

[Deleted User]

Pietro, The error you are getting is raised when the home directory on any node does not match the provided home directory. Perhaps one of your nodes has a different value for dbadmin's home? You can run the following on each node which uses the same logic as the installer. It should print the same value for all nodes and it should match the -l option. echo ~dbadmin (~foo is a shell shortcut for "home of user foo") If you find that it matches for all hosts, we would have to take a closer look.

[Deleted User]

Also, please consider using the latest edition, 6.1.2. Some installer issues may have been corrected between 6.0.1 and 6.1.2

Pietro_La_Torre

Hi again, I have only one node and that command returns: /storage/home/dbadmin I had vertica 6.0.1 installed and I want to upgrade to 6.1.2 (by mantaining the data) I tried upgrade but It gave me this problem.. now I've just made a backup of /data and /catalog and I want to reinstall vertica 6.0.1 and then upgrade to vertica 6.1.2 Indeed, the output of the command " cat /opt/vertica/config/admintools.conf" is the following: [Configuration] install_opts = ['-r', '/storage/archivio_file/vertica-ce-6.0.1-0.x86_64.RHEL5.rpm', '-l', '/storage/home/dbadmin/'] default_base = show_hostnames = False format = 3 [Cluster] hosts = 127.0.0.1 spread_hosts = [Nodes] node0001 = 127.0.0.1,/storage/home/dbadmin/,/storage/home/dbadmin/ v_vertica_node0001 = 127.0.0.1,/storage/home/dbadmin/,/storage/home/dbadmin/ can you tell me how to fix this issue please?

[Deleted User]

Try removing the trailing slash from the home directory listed in /etc/passwd.

Pietro_La_Torre

yes!!! that worked!! you're right! After that I've reinstalled vertica 6.0.1 rpm and I've started successfully vertica. Thanks a lot for your help!! If I am not too annoying, to conclude I'd like to ask you how can I do the upgrade from 6.0.1 to 6.1.2. I've stopped the db. Stopped spreadd. launched : /opt/vertica/sbin/update_vertica -r /storage/archivio_file/vertica-6.1.2-0.x86_64.RHEL5.rpm -l /storage/home/dbadmin/ but when I restart the database I still have version 6.0.1. in some instructions I've also found suggestions for removing the previous rpm instead of using update_vertica script.. Do I need the 6.1.0 rpm before upgrading to 6.1.2 ? (by the way, where could I find a previous rpm?) thanks again, Pietro

[Deleted User]

For upgrade path purposes you can consider 6.1.* to all be equivalent. You may download the 6.1.2 release and following the 6.1.x upgrade instructions. https://my.vertica.com/docs/6.1.x/HTML/index.htm#19686.htm Those should have you change the software locally via rpm commands and then run update_vertica. update_vertica is capable of installing software on remote machines, but the local software must already be updated by the system administrator (you). Glad to help!

Pietro_La_Torre

For instance, I must uninstall the previous vertica rpm and then install the new vertica rpm followed by vertica_update. Correct?

[Deleted User]

Yes. Per doc: "On the administration host, install the new HP Vertica RPM. See Download and install the HP Vertica install package."

Pietro_La_Torre

thanks a lot!