I want to uninstall a package and NOT uninstall its dependencies.

[Chris_Cilino]

i'm trying to automate a build process where I have to programmatically install and uninstall packages during a hierarchical build. When calling "remove" there doesn't seem to be an option to remove ONLY a given package. NI Package manager will remove all dependencies as well if those dependencies are not used by another package on the system.

You may ask "why would you want the dependencies of a package to remain if the dependent package is removed and there are no other callers of a dependency package?"  That's a complicated answer, but for now just treat it as a requirement. I'm hoping there's an option to remove only the package I specifically say to remove and not remove the dependencies.

any help would be appreciated. 

[CL_eisenwr]

I would try looking into the lock operation for NIPKG Command Line Interface.

[APena]

Hi Chris,

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That's a complicated answer, but for now just treat it as a requirement.

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I would be interested in hearing the complicated answer. If you don't want to post it here, let me now and we can set up a quick chat.

In general, we never want to leave a system in a broken state where package dependencies are left unsatisfied. That runs counter to the benefits that we are trying to achieve by moving to a packaged experience across the platform. That being said, I'm always interested in hearing more about our user's specific use cases to see how we can accommodate.

Thanks.

Aaron Peña

Product Owner, Package and License Management

National Instruments

[Chris_Cilino]

Hey Aaron,

I'm not sure how removing a dependent package but leaving dependencies in place breaks a system. There may be some confusion.  Here's a diagram of what I'm lookin for.

In this case, Package B, C and D should NOT be broken. All of their dependencies are still satisfied.

[APena]

Hey Chris,

Ah okay. Apologies, I definitely misunderstood your original post. Thanks for the clarification.

I'll take a note and add this to our backlog. Could you also crosslink or create an idea for this in our new NI Package Management Idea Exchange?

Thanks.

- Aaron

[DGriffithjr]

I am having the same issue.  I have PKG A, B, C and D installed.  PKG B, C, D list PKG A as a dependency >= to version 1.0.0-x.

PKG A has been updated several versions and is now at version 1.0.0-X+Y.  I found an issue with 1.0.0-X+Y and want to revert to 1.0.0-X+(Y-1).

I cannot do that without forcing PKGs B, C, D to be removed also.

This is a problem.  I am forced to re-build PKG A with reverted code to be identical to 1.0.0-X+(Y-1) but it will look like 1.0.0-X+(Y+1) instead.

[WesW]

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@DGriffithjr wrote:

I am having the same issue.  I have PKG A, B, C and D installed.  PKG B, C, D list PKG A as a dependency >= to version 1.0.0-x.

PKG A has been updated several versions and is now at version 1.0.0-X+Y.  I found an issue with 1.0.0-X+Y and want to revert to 1.0.0-X+(Y-1).

I cannot do that without forcing PKGs B, C, D to be removed also.

This is a problem.  I am forced to re-build PKG A with reverted code to be identical to 1.0.0-X+(Y-1) but it will look like 1.0.0-X+(Y+1) instead.

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I think this is a different request. Using specific numbers as an example, it sounds like you have pkg_a 1.0.0.105 installed, and you want to downgrade it to pkg_a of version 1.0.0.104. The NIPM GUI doesn't allow you to downgrade, but you can do this from the NIPM CLI. The command would be something like:
nipkg.exe install pkg_a=1.0.0.104 --allow-downgrade

The key is to use the "--allow-downgrade" flag, and to specify the exact version that you want. Since the other packages depend on pkg_a of perhaps >= 1.0.0.0, then this downgrade is allowed because the dependencies are still satisfied.

Cheers,

- Wes