Installing lots of rpms at the same time with rpm -i not possible

This document (7004927) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11

Situation

Installation of hundreds of rpms with sufficiently complex ordering requirements at the same time, for example:

rpm -i foo.rpm bar.rpm ...

will fail with a message like:

rpmtsOrder failed, 42 elements remain

(where the number 42 varies depending on the rpms specified).

Resolution

The rpm maintenance update: rpm-4.4.2.3-37.18.1 released September 2010 includes the patch removing the limit on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11.
This limit was already removed in the later version of rpm shipped with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Service Pack 1.

Disclaimer

This Support Knowledgebase provides a valuable tool for SUSE customers and parties interested in our products and solutions to acquire information, ideas and learn from one another. Materials are provided for informational, personal or non-commercial use within your organization and are presented "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.