Installing the Driver: Downloaded (RPM Methods)

Use this information to choose the most appropriate procedure to install a Linux driver that you have downloaded from the Digi ftp site.

Note: These procedures should be used only in Linux environments that support the installation and building of packages from an RPM repository. The procedures require that the following RPM directories exist and are used by RPM on your Linux system.

/usr/src/redhat/BUILD
/usr/src/redhat/RPMS
/usr/src/redhat/SOURCES
/usr/src/redhat/SPECS
/usr/src/redhat/SRPMS

Installation Methods

There are three methods of installing with RPM:

Method

Description

Installing With digirpm

digirpm is a shell script designed to automate the build and installation process from a source RPM. This installation is fully automated.

Standard Installation Procedure

This method is also automated but there is user control at every step.

Custom Installation Procedure

This method is intended for use by users who wish to customize the installation (for example, to change the destination directories of certain tools). This method is the most complex and should be used only if necessary.

Package Version and Revision

Certain commands used in the following procedures need to be entered with the correct package version and revision number.

Note: To determine package version and revision numbers, use this command:
         
rpm -qp filename

Example:

If the package version of the Linux driver is 1.0 and the revision is 2, then:

For this command variable:

This value would be used:

version

1.0

revision

2

For this command:

This would be entered:

rpm -ivv dgdm-version-revision.src.rpm

rpm -ivv dgdm-1.0-2.src.rpm

Installing with digirpm

Use this procedure to install the Linux driver with digirpm.

  1. Download the RPM package as well as the digirpm tool. The RPM package and digirpm tool can be found on Digi's web site, www.digi.com, or Digi's ftp site, ftp.digi.com/support/drivers/linux.

  2. Copy the RPM file and digirpm to a directory on the Linux system. Create a new directory for the two files if you wish.

  3. In the same directory as the RPM and digirpm files, execute the following command to extract the source from the source RPM package, build a binary RPM native to your system, and to install the package:

    sh digirpm.sh filename

    where filename is the name of the driver file.

    Note: For more information about how to use the digirpm tool, execute the command, sh digirpm -h.

  4. By using chkconfig you can automatically start the driver when the system boots. To automatically start the driver enter:

    chkconfig --add dgdm

Standard Installation Procedure

Use this procedure to install the Linux driver without digirpm. See Package Version and Revision for important information on entering commands in this procedure.

  1. Download the source RPM package. The RPM package can be found on Digi's web site, www.digi.com, or Digi's ftp site, ftp.digi.com/support/drivers/linux. For consistency, you might consider downloading the source RPM to the directory /usr/src/redhat/SRPMS.

  2. Install the source code in the SOURCES directory used by RPM (/usr/src/redhat/SOURCES) with this command:

    rpm -ivv dgdm-version-revision.src.rpm

    This command also copies the specification file (/usr/src/redhat/SPECS/dgdm-version.revision.spec) to the SPECS directory.

  3. Create an RPM specific to your platform by executing the following commands:

    cd /usr/src/redhat/SPECS

    rpm -bb dgdm.spec

  4. Install the RPM, which was just created by the previous step, using the following commands.

    cd /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/arch

    rpm -ivv dgdm-version-revision.arch.rpm

    The arch value should be replaced with a string representing your architecture, such as i386 or alpha. This value is system dependent, and is chosen by your system when the RPM is built.

    Note: To install the driver on another system of the same architecture and Linux version, copy the following binary to the same location on the other system and execute the rpm command in this step:

    /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/arch/dgdm-version-revision.arch.rpm

  1. Use the following commands to verify that all files are installed correctly:

    cd /usr/src/redhat/SPECS

    rpm -bl dgdm.spec

Custom Installation Procedure

Important: This custom installation procedure is reserved for those users that need to change a portion of the installation procedure or its contents in their specific environment. Reasons might include a need to change the directory where files are installed, or to modify the source code. Modifications to the source package may cause Digi to refuse support for that package in that environment.

See Package Version and Revision for important information on entering commands in this procedure.

  1. Download the RPM package. The RPM package can be found on Digi's web site, www.digi.com, or Digi's ftp site, ftp.digi.com/support/drivers/linux. For consistency, you might consider downloading the source RPM to the directory /usr/src/redhat/SRPMS.

  2. Install the source code in the SOURCES directory used by RPM (/usr/src/redhat/SOURCES) with this command:

    rpm -ivv dgdm-version-revision.src.rpm

    This command also copies the specification file (/usr/src/redhat/SPECS/dgdm-version.spec) to the SPECS directory.

  3. Use the RPM tools to open the source archive:

    cd /usr/src/redhat/SPECS

    rpm -bp dgdm.spec

    The -bp option specifies that only the preparation section (%prep) of the specification file should be executed. This might result in the source files being uncompressed, removed from the archive, and placed in the following directory:

    /usr/src/redhat/BUILD/dgdm-version-revision

  4. Modify the source files and/or the specification file as required. The source files are found in the directory

    /usr/src/redhat/BUILD/dgdm-version-revision

    The specification file is named:

    /usr/src/redhat/SPECS/dgdm.spec

    Important: You should save the original version of any file that you change, plus the final versions of the files after you make and test your changes. These backup copies should be placed somewhere other than in the /usr/src/redhat tree.

    Important: If you change the final location of any of the files in the package, you must also update the %file list in the specification file. Otherwise, you will get a message that the installation was incomplete, because some files were not found.

    Recommended: It is recommended that you document your changes in the %description section of the specification file.

  5. The easiest method for building and installing the modified package is to first replace the Digi TGZ archive with a new one including your changes. Replace the archive by doing the following:

    1. Change to the appropriate directory:

      cd /usr/src/redhat/BUILD

    2. Create a compressed archive of the source files by entering the following command (on a single line):

      tar -cavzf ../SOURCES/dgdm-version-revision.tgz dgdm-version-revision/*

      Once the TGZ file has been replaced, you can proceed with step 3 of the Standard Installation Procedure.