Bug 462545

Summary: YAST2 stops installing, with a modal dialog box, if a server returns a temporary 503 error. Retry always works.
Product: [openSUSE] openSUSE 11.1 Reporter: Mike H <mystica>
Component: YaST2Assignee: Jan Kupec <jkupec>
Status: RESOLVED FIXED QA Contact: Jiri Srain <jsrain>
Severity: Major    
Priority: P2 - High CC: jreidinger
Version: Final   
Target Milestone: ---   
Hardware: PC   
OS: openSUSE 11.1   
URL: http://mystica.cx/~mike/yast2-503.png
Whiteboard:
Found By: Community User Services Priority:
Business Priority: Blocker: ---
Marketing QA Status: --- IT Deployment: ---

Description Mike H 2008-12-26 07:24:21 UTC 
I've not touched SuSE since the days when RedHat 6 was the "hot" distro.  I just started installing OpenSuSE 11.1, and I've been so far impressed by YAST2, with one flaw:

While installing from your network repository, the server randomly gives out 503 errors.  These appear to be temporary faults, in as much as perhaps too many people are accessing the server or somesuch.  They are transient, and hitting "retry" on the installation dialog box always works.

The issue is, WHY DO I NEED TO KEEP HITTING RETRY!?  Is there NO LOGIC TO TRY AGAIN? 

FIX YAST2 so that it can retry on a 503, and if maybe after a sane number of retries (5 over the course of 5 mins) it cannot download the package, THEN present me with an installation-stopping dialog box.

I cannot imagine someone wanting to sit infront of a computer for the better part of 2 hours, for THE SOLE REASON to make sure NO 503 BOX POPS UP.

This is the -4th- time now during this install where I've been interrupted, and have had to click "Retry"

FIX YOUR INSTALLER.
That, or fix the damn 503 errors
I'm not sure which is more critical........both seem to be rather distro-switching annoying so far.

I can, with certainty, tell you that throughout umpteen package installs with Gentoo, Ubuntu, and even FreeBSD's ports, I've yet to find a SINGLE 503 error...Your server has given me 4. Not once throughout an entire ebuild process bootstrapping gentoo up to X and KDE, have I received a 503 from one of the mirrors (TDS or Kernel.org usually).


So yes, fix your servers to not report spurious 503 errors, OR fix your YAST2 installer to AUTOMATICALLY RETRY.

Else you will have a lot of people who want to net-install, and end up getting VERY frustrated

I wanted to click "next" and go to bed...but apparently I am unable to do that.
Comment 1 Mike H 2008-12-26 07:41:11 UTC 
http://mystica.cx/~mike/yast2-503.png for screenshot.

Please make this dialog never need to appear, if a simple retry is able to download the file in question.  This was the FIFTH time I got said dialog box...
Comment 2 Mike H 2008-12-26 08:12:40 UTC 
Ok.. During the course of installing a rather generic KDE install via your Net Installer, I received this damn 503 popup dialog no less than 7 times!  What happened to "Click and walk away" installs!?

This is unacceptable.  Seriously! Even a single auto-retry after a second or 2 would prevent this!

BTW Why was I not even prompted for a mirror server, that may be better than yours at NOT producing spurious 503 errors?  I see that BOTH mirrors.tds.net AND mirrors.kernel.org, both servers I trust innately, DO have OpenSuSE mirrors.  Where was the dialog box to select a mirror?

Finally, what is with a distro, backed by a LARGE CORPORATION, NOT having a RELIABLE default download server!?!
Comment 3 Mike H 2008-12-26 08:40:38 UTC 
It also happens during the "Online Update" part of your installer..
503 yet again, modal dialog, 'retry works'

Plz fix...(yes im still sitting here installing when I should have been asleep 2 hours ago...if I didn't see the first 503 dialog, id have had to wait much longer tomorrow when I planned to finish the final tweaks of this box)
Comment 4 Josef Reidinger 2009-01-05 08:21:17 UTC 
jano - please check, if this case is handled as soft-error.
Comment 5 Jan Kupec 2009-01-07 09:15:25 UTC 
No, it isn't, i'll handle is as such.
Comment 6 Jan Kupec 2009-01-16 10:48:33 UTC 
Done in git, to be in libzypp 6.0.0 for openSUSE 11.2
Comment 7 Jan Kupec 2009-01-28 14:32:15 UTC 
submitted