CentOS - Aug 2010 - Yum broken after x86_64 upgrade

Hi All,

I just upgraded a machine from CentOS 5.3 32-bit to CentOS 5.5 x86_64 using
the updater on the release disk. Now that the machine is running 64-bit, I
notice that Yum is broken, failing with the following error:
~~~
There was a problem importing one of the Python modules
required to run yum. The error leading to this problem was:
   /usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/rpm/_rpmmodule.so: wrong ELF class:
ELFCLASS32
~~~

OK, so I thought I could fix this by installing the dependency. After digging
through a bunch of cascading dependencies using rpm, I got to the elfutils,
which didn't want to install until I used the --ignorearch switch on rpm.
However, when I try to install the 64-bit version of rpm-libs on top of that,
I still get the complaint about the failed dependency on elfutils.

My first question is: Would I be better off just wiping the machine and
installing from scratch at this point, or is there some sane way to get yum
reconstructed?

And the second question: did I make a mistake by assuming that the upgrade
system would work as it should, or is this just a bug in the upgrade system?
And to my first question, does anyone know what else the updater is likely to
have broken? 

Thanks,
--Bill

At Sun, 15 Aug 2010 16:09:13 -0700 CentOS mailing list <centos at
centos.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi All,
> 
> I just upgraded a machine from CentOS 5.3 32-bit to CentOS 5.5 x86_64 using
> the updater on the release disk. Now that the machine is running 64-bit, I
> notice that Yum is broken, failing with the following error:
> ~~~
> There was a problem importing one of the Python modules
> required to run yum. The error leading to this problem was:
>    /usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/rpm/_rpmmodule.so: wrong ELF class:
ELFCLASS32
> ~~~
Is there really an updater that goes from 32-bit to 64-bit?  Or is it a
CentOS 5.3 64-bit to CentOS 5.5 64-bit?

I don't believe you *really* don't want to do a 'live update'
from
32-bit to 64-bit.  You should make a backup and do a fresh install of
the 64-bit system.
> 
> OK, so I thought I could fix this by installing the dependency. After
digging
> through a bunch of cascading dependencies using rpm, I got to the elfutils,
> which didn't want to install until I used the --ignorearch switch on
rpm.
> However, when I try to install the 64-bit version of rpm-libs on top of
that,
> I still get the complaint about the failed dependency on elfutils.
> 
> My first question is: Would I be better off just wiping the machine and
> installing from scratch at this point, or is there some sane way to get yum
> reconstructed?
You probably should do a fresh install.
> 
> And the second question: did I make a mistake by assuming that the upgrade
> system would work as it should, or is this just a bug in the upgrade
system?
> And to my first question, does anyone know what else the updater is likely
to
> have broken? 
Again, are you sure the updater migrates from 32-bit to 64-bit and NOT
just 64-bit < 5.5 to 64-bit 5.5?
> 
> Thanks,
> --Bill
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
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> 
>                                                    
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