d-i should use dpkg --force-unsafe-io

[Raphael Hertzog <hertzog@debian.org>]

clone 605009 -1
reassign -1 base-installer
retitle -1 d-i should use dpkg --force-unsafe-io to optimize installation time
severity -1 wishlist
thanks

I put severity wishlist but it would still be nice if this could be
implemented for squeeze. It should not be a major change.

On Fri, 26 Nov 2010, Raphael Hertzog wrote:
> 2/ d-i should be modified to use --force-unsafe-io if it detects a dpkg
> version >= 1.15.8.6.

dpkg has become slower due to the usage of fsync() to ensure data
consistency in case of crashes/power failures.

In the context of d-i, a crash means restarting the installation 
so it's not a big deal to not use fsync() and on the opposite, it's rather
important that it goes fast...

So it would be nice if base-installer could auto-detect whether dpkg >=
1.15.8.6 is used and if yes, then it could add a temporary configuration
file in /etc/dpkg.cfg.d/ with "force-unsafe-io" inside.

That file should obviously be dropped at the end of the installation.

Thanks.
-- 
Raphaël Hertzog ◈ Debian Developer

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