Re: [PATCH] install.sh: Preserve directory symlinks

[Jason Andryuk <jason.andryuk@xxxxxxx>]

On 2026-03-13 13:25, Thierry Escande wrote:
> In various distros (i.e. Debian) some folders like /lib or /var/run are
> symlinks. Using the tar option --keep-directory-symlink preserves these
> symlinks.
>
> Signed-off-by: Thierry Escande <thierry.escande@xxxxxxxxxx>
Coincidentally, I hit this last week.  I think the commit message should 
be expanded because it resulted in a non-functioning system.  I switched 
to make debball, but thanks for fixing this.
I saw Ubuntu's /lib -> /usr/lib symlink replaced with a directory for 
/lib/systemd/system/xen-watchdog-sleep.sh.  With /lib broken, systemd 
(/sbin/init) could not start and boot fails.
The fix was easy -  just restoring the /lib symlink.

So maybe add "Replacing the /lib symlink with a directory results in a 
non-functioning system."?
I thought /var/run was addressed by:
Fixes: 9d628ff6cc21 ("tools: Fix install.sh for systemd")
It hasn't been an issue for me since that change.

For /lib a fixes is either:
Fixes: e54a6cd6a1f3 ("systemd: Add hooks to stop/start xen-watchdog on 
suspend/resume")
or

Fixes: b34bde262c8c ("systemd: fall back to default system-sleep dir 
without systemd-devel")
It might have only been the second one that defaulted to /lib causing 
the problem.  Though the issue is more general.
I do think a fixes and backport are warranted.  With the commit message 
updated:
Reviewed-by: Jason Andryuk <jason.andryuk@xxxxxxx>
Tested-by: Jason Andryuk <jason.andryuk@xxxxxxx>

Thanks,
Jason

> ---
>   install.sh | 2 +-
>   1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
>
> diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
> index 3e11c4d46f..5d0b7a4933 100644
> --- a/install.sh
> +++ b/install.sh
> @@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ tmp="`mktemp -d`"
>   echo "Installing Xen from '$src' to '$dst'..."
>   (cd $src; tar -cf - * ) | tar -C "$tmp" -xf -
>   
> -(cd $tmp; tar -cf - *) | tar --no-same-owner -C "$dst" -xf -
> +(cd $tmp; tar -cf - *) | tar --no-same-owner -C "$dst" 
> --keep-directory-symlink -xf -
>   rm -rf "$tmp"
>   
>   echo "All done."