yum update failing for RHEL workshop when RHEL version is 8.3

[t-prinz]

It appears that the xorgxrdp package from the EPEL repository is not compatible with RHEL 8.3.

ansible-playbook 2_load.yml

...
TASK [Gathering Facts] *************************************************************************************************************
ok: [asnellrhel8ws.node.0.rhnaps.io]

TASK [upgrade : Upgrade all packages to latest] ************************************************************************************
changed: [asnellrhel8ws.node.0.rhnaps.io]

TASK [upgrade : Check on Package Updates ...] **************************************************************************************
FAILED - RETRYING: Check on Package Updates ... (180 retries left).
fatal: [asnellrhel8ws.node.0.rhnaps.io]: FAILED! => {"ansible_job_id": "715022773479.129659", "attempts": 2, "changed": false, "failures": [], "finished": 1, "msg": "Depsolve Error occured: \n Problem 1: package xorgxrdp-0.2.14-2.el8.x86_64 requires xorg-x11-server-Xorg(x86-64) = 1.20.6, but none of the providers can be installed\n - package gdm-1:3.28.3-34.el8.x86_64 conflicts with xorg-x11-server-Xorg < 1.20.8-4 provided by xorg-x11-server-Xorg-1.20.6-3.el8.x86_64\n - cannot install the best update candidate for package xorgxrdp-0.2.14-2.el8.x86_64\n - cannot install the best update candidate for package gdm-1:3.28.3-29.el8.x86_64\n Problem 2: problem with installed package xorgxrdp-0.2.14-2.el8.x86_64\n - package xorgxrdp-0.2.14-2.el8.x86_64 requires xorg-x11-server-Xorg(x86-64) = 1.20.6, but none of the providers can be installed\n - cannot install both xorg-x11-server-Xorg-1.20.8-6.el8.x86_64 and xorg-x11-server-Xorg-1.20.6-3.el8.x86_64\n - cannot install the best update candidate for package xorg-x11-server-Xorg-1.20.6-3.el8.x86_64", "rc": 1, "results": []}

PLAY RECAP *************************************************************************************************************************
asnellrhel8ws.node.0.rhnaps.io : ok=67 changed=25 unreachable=0 failed=1 skipped=63 rescued=0 ignored=0
localhost : ok=1 changed=0 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0

Logging in to the provisioned host:

[root@ip-10-0-2-175 ~]# yum list xorg-x11-server-Xorg
Updating Subscription Management repositories.
Last metadata expiration check: 0:27:32 ago on Sat 14 Nov 2020 12:42:22 AM UTC.
Installed Packages
xorg-x11-server-Xorg.x86_64 1.20.6-3.el8 @rhel-8-for-x86_64-appstream-rpms
Available Packages
xorg-x11-server-Xorg.x86_64 1.20.8-6.el8 rhel-8-for-x86_64-appstream-rpms
[root@ip-10-0-2-175 ~]# yum update
Updating Subscription Management repositories.
Last metadata expiration check: 0:30:56 ago on Sat 14 Nov 2020 12:42:22 AM UTC.
Error:
Problem 1: package xorgxrdp-0.2.14-2.el8.x86_64 requires xorg-x11-server-Xorg(x86-64) = 1.20.6, but none of the providers can be installed

• package gdm-1:3.28.3-34.el8.x86_64 conflicts with xorg-x11-server-Xorg < 1.20.8-4 provided by xorg-x11-server-Xorg-1.20.6-3.el8.x86_64
• cannot install the best update candidate for package xorgxrdp-0.2.14-2.el8.x86_64
• cannot install the best update candidate for package gdm-1:3.28.3-29.el8.x86_64
  Problem 2: problem with installed package xorgxrdp-0.2.14-2.el8.x86_64
• package xorgxrdp-0.2.14-2.el8.x86_64 requires xorg-x11-server-Xorg(x86-64) = 1.20.6, but none of the providers can be installed
• cannot install both xorg-x11-server-Xorg-1.20.8-6.el8.x86_64 and xorg-x11-server-Xorg-1.20.6-3.el8.x86_64
• cannot install the best update candidate for package xorg-x11-server-Xorg-1.20.6-3.el8.x86_64
  (try to add '--allowerasing' to command line to replace conflicting packages or '--skip-broken' to skip uninstallable packages or '--nobest' to use not only best candidate packages)
  [root@ip-10-0-2-175 ~]# yum list xorgxrdp
  Updating Subscription Management repositories.
  Last metadata expiration check: 0:31:06 ago on Sat 14 Nov 2020 12:42:22 AM UTC.
  Installed Packages
  xorgxrdp.x86_64 0.2.14-2.el8 @epel
  [root@ip-10-0-2-175 ~]# cat /etc/redhat-release
  Red Hat Enterprise Linux release 8.3 (Ootpa)

As a workaround, I modified the 'update' role to add a play that runs the following (this is admittedly a bad temporary workaround):

yum update --allowerasing

Change made to file: redhatgov.workshops/roles/upgrade/tasks/main.yml

BEFORE:

---

tasks file for upgrade

• name: Upgrade all packages to latest
  package:
  name: "*"
  state: latest
  async: 10800
  poll: 0
  register: package_update_status

AFTER

---

tasks file for upgrade

• name: Upgrade packages and reboot
  block:

  • name: Workaround for 8.3
    command: yum update -y --allowerasing

  • name: Upgrade all packages to latest
    package:
    name: "*"
    state: latest
    async: 10800
    poll: 0
    register: package_update_status

...

• name: Rebooting to apply kernel updates (<2.7)
  shell: /sbin/shutdown -r +1
  when: ansible_version.full < "2.7" and job_result is changed

• name: Force reboot for 8.3
  reboot:

• name: Wait for system to become reachable again
  wait_for_connection:
  timeout: 900
  delay: 120
  sleep: 5

when: upgrade == 1

when: ansible_version.full < "2.7" and job_result is changed

This removes the xorgxrdp package; hopefully this doesn't affect the workshop.

I suppose an alternative would be to fix the RHEL version to 8.2 using something like

subscription-manager release --set=8.2