#1014612 docbook-xml and docbook-xsl failed to update their catalogs in /etc/xml when interrupted

Package:
docbook-xsl
Source:
docbook-xsl
Submitter:
Daniel Kahn Gillmor
Date:
2023-10-25 07:45:02 UTC
Severity:
normal
#1014612#5
Date:
2022-07-08 19:08:30 UTC
From:
To:
I have a debian/unstable system on amd64.

I installed a pile of software on it, including docbook-xml and
docbook-xsl.  Part of the software installation failed due to
circumstances outside the machine (the VM was terminated on the host),
but after rebooting i picked up with "dpkg --reconfigure -a" and "apt
install -f".  All seemed fine.

However, when i then tried to build documentation (from the libreswan
package, fwiw, which uses xmlto to generate manpages), i got failures
due to the following files being empty:

/etc/xml/catalog
/etc/xml/docbook-xml.xml
/etc/xml/docbook-xsl.xml

The errors resulted in messages like:

When i did:

    dpkg-reconfigure docbook-xml docbook-xsl

then tried to rebuild, there was no problem.

So something about the commands that rebuild these files in /etc/xml is
dangerous, because it can be interrupted, and leave the system in a
state that appears to be correct, but is in fact non-functional.

perhaps the rebuild that's happening needs to happen somewhere else, and
then get moved into place correctly, rather than leaving an empty file?

Sorry to not have a more specific way to replicate the issue.
#1014612#20
Date:
2023-10-24 06:41:12 UTC
From:
To:
[Daniel Kahn Gillmor]

I had a look at the preinst and postinst scripts of docbook-xsl, and as
far as I can tell, all the code there is obsolete and only triggering
when upgrading from very old (before 2009) versions of the package, and
do not touch the content  of /etc/xml/ at all.

This make me believe the preinst and postinst scripts should be removed
and the described issue is not present in docbook-xsl.  Perhaps it is in
docbook-xml instead?  Did not look at that package.
#1014612#25
Date:
2023-10-25 04:29:13 UTC
From:
To:
[Petter Reinholdtsen]

I removed the preinst and postinst scripts in version 1.79.2+dfsg-4.  I
also had a look at the preinst in docbook-xml, and as far as I can see
it do not touch the content of /etc/xml/ at all, so I have no idea what
went wrong here.
#1014612#30
Date:
2023-10-25 07:22:36 UTC
From:
To:
Btw, I noticed "Processing triggers for sgml-base (1.31) ..." when
upgrading docbook-xsl to version 1.79.2+dfsg-4.  Perhaps the issue is in
the trigger, not in docbook-xsl?