I have been recently facing following error when using yum/dnf:
There are unfinished DB8actions remaining. You might consider running yum-complete-DB8action, or "yum-complete-DB8action --cleanup-only" and "yum history redo last", first to finish them. If those don't work you'll have to try removing/installing packages by hand (maybe package-cleanup can help).
And I was wondering how to deal with this. I would like in this blog share with you my troubleshooting, as it might help someone sooner than later.
I was at that time running el7 and it was before upgrading the machine to el8. Let me first share with you the error message:
[root@SRV ~]# yum remove mariadb-libs-5.5.65-1.el7.x86_64 Loaded plugins: ulninfo Resolving Dependencies There are unfinished DB8actions remaining. You might consider running yum-complete-DB8action, or "yum-complete-DB8action --cleanup-only" and "yum history redo last", first to finish them. If those don't work you'll have to try removing/installing packages by hand (maybe package-cleanup can help). --> Running DB8action check ---> Package mariadb-libs.x86_64 1:5.5.65-1.el7 will be erased --> Finished Dependency Resolution Dependencies Resolved ============================================================================================================================================================================================================ Package Arch Version Repository Size ============================================================================================================================================================================================================ Removing: mariadb-libs x86_64 1:5.5.65-1.el7 @anaconda/7.8 4.4 M DB8action Summary ============================================================================================================================================================================================================ Remove 1 Package Installed size: 4.4 M Is this ok [y/N]: N Exiting on user command Your DB8action was saved, rerun it with: yum load-DB8action /tmp/yum_save_tx.2026-06-17.16-16.CupcSE.yumtx [root@SRV ~]#
I ran a yum history command:
[root@SRV ~]# yum history
Loaded plugins: ulninfo
ID | Login user | Date and time | Action(s) | Altered
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
26 | root | 2026-06-17 15:17 | E, I, U | 184 EE
25 | root | 2026-06-17 14:59 | Install | 25
24 | root | 2026-06-17 14:59 | Update | 1
23 | root | 2026-05-07 15:21 | Install | 1
22 | | 2022-11-18 10:42 | Install | 1
21 | | 2022-11-18 09:56 | Install | 1
20 | root | 2021-11-10 11:24 | Install | 7
19 | root | 2021-10-26 16:54 | Install | 1
18 | root | 2021-10-26 16:54 | Install | 1
17 | root | 2021-10-26 16:54 | Install | 1
16 | root | 2021-10-26 16:53 | Install | 1
15 | root | 2021-04-08 09:30 | Install | 14
14 | | 2021-03-19 11:28 | Install | 1
13 | root | 2021-01-21 11:36 | Install | 2
12 | root | 2021-01-21 10:53 | Erase | 1
11 | root | 2021-01-21 10:28 | E, I, U | 37 EE
10 | root | 2020-11-26 11:13 | Install | 2
9 | root | 2020-11-16 14:41 | I, U | 8 PP
8 | root | 2020-11-16 14:35 | I, U | 152 **
7 | | 2020-10-28 15:45 | Install | 1
history list
[root@SRV ~]#
If I check the last transaction, it is successful. For sure, I have just run it.
[root@SRV ~]# yum history info 26 | grep Return-Code Return-Code : Success [root@SRV ~]#
But if I check the transaction id 8, I see that this one was aborted:
[root@SRV ~]# yum history info 8 | grep Return-Code Return-Code : ** Aborted **
If I look to the RPM database changes log dated for this transaction I see the following file:
[root@SRV ~]# ls -l /var/lib/yum/DB8action-* -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 13671 Nov 16 2020 /var/lib/yum/DB8action-all.2020-11-16.14:35.57 -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 9424 Nov 16 2020 /var/lib/yum/DB8action-done.2020-11-16.14:35.57 [root@SRV ~]#
I can check it’s content…
[root@SRV ~]# tail /var/lib/yum/DB8action-all.2020-11-16.14:35.57 erase 0:file-libs-5.11-36.el7.x86_64 erase 0:iptables-1.4.21-34.el7.x86_64 erase 2:vim-minimal-7.4.629-6.0.1.el7.x86_64 erase 0:libxml2-2.9.1-6.0.1.el7.4.x86_64 erase 0:libteam-1.29-1.el7.x86_64 erase 0:mokutil-15-2.0.3.el7.x86_64 erase 0:numactl-libs-2.0.12-5.el7.x86_64 erase 1:dmidecode-3.2-3.el7.x86_64 erase 0:iprutils-2.4.17.1-3.el7.x86_64 erase 1:mariadb-libs-5.5.65-1.el7.x86_64 [root@SRV ~]# tail /var/lib/yum/DB8action-done.2020-11-16.14:35.57 erase 999:iwl7260-firmware-22.0.7.0-999.4.el7.noarch erase 0:ca-certificates-2019.2.32-76.el7_7.noarch erase 999:iwl6000g2a-firmware-17.168.5.3-999.4.el7.noarch erase 999:iwl5000-firmware-8.83.5.1_1-999.4.el7.noarch erase 999:iwl100-firmware-39.31.5.1-999.4.el7.noarch erase 1:NetworkManager-tui-1.18.8-1.el7.x86_64 erase 0:rpm-python-4.11.3-43.el7.x86_64 erase 1:NetworkManager-glib-1.18.8-1.el7.x86_64 erase 32:bind-utils-9.11.4-26.P2.el7.x86_64 erase 7:lvm2-2.02.186-7.0.1.el7.x86_64 [root@SRV ~]#
Let’s take mariadb-libs RPM as example. Checking this package, I can see that it is duplicated.
[root@SRV ~]# rpm -q --last mariadb-libs mariadb-libs-5.5.68-1.el7.x86_64 Mon 16 Nov 2020 02:38:01 PM CET mariadb-libs-5.5.65-1.el7.x86_64 Wed 28 Oct 2020 10:39:07 AM CET [root@SRV ~]#
Having duplicated RPM is not good. I suspect it is coming from this aborted yum transaction, old for past 6 years.
Let’s check if there is several other duplicated RPM.
[root@SRV ~]# package-cleanup --dupes libcroco-0.6.12-6.el7_9.x86_64 libcroco-0.6.12-4.el7.x86_64 lz4-1.8.3-1.el7.x86_64 lz4-1.7.5-3.el7.x86_64 iprutils-2.4.17.1-3.el7.x86_64 iprutils-2.4.17.1-3.el7_7.x86_64 numactl-libs-2.0.12-5.el7.x86_64 numactl-libs-2.0.12-5.0.3.el7.x86_64 file-libs-5.11-36.el7.x86_64 file-libs-5.11-37.el7.x86_64 sed-4.2.2-6.el7.x86_64 sed-4.2.2-7.el7.x86_64 lshw-B.02.18-17.el7.x86_64 lshw-B.02.18-14.el7.x86_64 file-5.11-36.el7.x86_64 file-5.11-37.el7.x86_64 kmod-20-28.0.1.el7.x86_64 kmod-20-28.0.3.el7.x86_64 coreutils-8.22-24.0.1.el7.x86_64 coreutils-8.22-24.0.1.el7_9.2.x86_64 dbus-libs-1.10.24-13.0.1.el7_6.x86_64 dbus-libs-1.10.24-15.0.1.el7.x86_64 elfutils-libelf-0.176-5.el7.x86_64 elfutils-libelf-0.176-4.el7.x86_64 freetype-2.8-14.el7.x86_64 freetype-2.8-14.el7_9.1.x86_64 plymouth-core-libs-0.8.9-0.34.20140113.0.1.el7.x86_64 plymouth-core-libs-0.8.9-0.33.20140113.0.1.el7.x86_64 cpio-2.11-27.el7.x86_64 cpio-2.11-28.el7.x86_64 kmod-libs-20-28.0.3.el7.x86_64 kmod-libs-20-28.0.1.el7.x86_64 libpng-1.5.13-8.el7.x86_64 libpng-1.5.13-7.el7_2.x86_64 libteam-1.29-1.el7.x86_64 libteam-1.29-3.el7.x86_64 elfutils-libs-0.176-4.el7.x86_64 elfutils-libs-0.176-5.el7.x86_64 dbus-1.10.24-13.0.1.el7_6.x86_64 dbus-1.10.24-15.0.1.el7.x86_64 mariadb-libs-5.5.65-1.el7.x86_64 mariadb-libs-5.5.68-1.el7.x86_64 elfutils-default-yama-scope-0.176-5.el7.noarch elfutils-default-yama-scope-0.176-4.el7.noarch teamd-1.29-3.el7.x86_64 teamd-1.29-1.el7.x86_64 device-mapper-persistent-data-0.8.5-2.el7.x86_64 device-mapper-persistent-data-0.8.5-3.el7_9.2.x86_64 [root@SRV ~]#
Yes there are and many!
For each of the rpm, I ran following query to find the latest one.
[root@SRV ~]# rpm -q --last lz4 lz4-1.8.3-1.el7.x86_64 Mon 16 Nov 2020 02:36:12 PM CET lz4-1.7.5-3.el7.x86_64 Wed 28 Oct 2020 10:34:25 AM CET [root@SRV ~]#
And decided to remove the last oldest version. For each yum remove command, I ensured there were no dependencies issues.
[root@SRV ~]# yum remove lz4-1.7.5-3.el7.x86_64 Loaded plugins: ulninfo Resolving Dependencies There are unfinished DB8actions remaining. You might consider running yum-complete-DB8action, or "yum-complete-DB8action --cleanup-only" and "yum history redo last", first to finish them. If those don't work you'll have to try removing/installing packages by hand (maybe package-cleanup can help). --> Running DB8action check ---> Package lz4.x86_64 0:1.7.5-3.el7 will be erased --> Finished Dependency Resolution Dependencies Resolved ========================================================================================================================================================================================================================= Package Arch Version Repository Size ========================================================================================================================================================================================================================= Removing: lz4 x86_64 1.7.5-3.el7 @anaconda/7.8 358 k DB8action Summary ========================================================================================================================================================================================================================= Remove 1 Package Installed size: 358 k Is this ok [y/N]: y Downloading packages: Running DB8action check Running DB8action test DB8action test succeeded Running DB8action Erasing : lz4-1.7.5-3.el7.x86_64 1/1 Verifying : lz4-1.7.5-3.el7.x86_64 1/1 Removed: lz4.x86_64 0:1.7.5-3.el7 Complete!
I did that for all until having no duplicated any more.
[root@SRV ~]# package-cleanup --dupes [root@SRV ~]#
So the duplicated came for sure due to this aborted transaction, id 8 that should have replaced the previous version package.
And I can confirm it. If I look to the all DB action transaction log for this transaction 8, /var/lib/yum/DB8action-all.2020-11-16.14:35.57, I can find both install and erase:
[root@SRV ~]# cat /var/lib/yum/DB8action-all.2020-11-16.14:35.57 install 1:mariadb-libs-5.5.68-1.el7.x86_64 ... erase 1:mariadb-libs-5.5.65-1.el7.x86_64
So it was planned that yum installs new version and removes old one.
But if I look to the done file, /var/lib/yum/DB8action-done.2020-11-16.14:35.57, file showing what really yum did, I will only find the install and not the erase:
[root@SRV ~]# cat /var/lib/yum/DB8action-done.2020-11-16.14:35.57 ... install 1:mariadb-libs-5.5.68-1.el7.x86_64 ...
So the intention was to install version 5.5.68 and remove old 5.5.65, but as the yum transaction was aborted after the installation package, yum only installed 5.5.68 but could not remove the old one 5.5.65, thus the duplicated. Yum transaction was aborted in between.
Knowing I resolved manually the duplication, I decided to complete the aborted transaction by just doing cleanup.
[root@SRV ~]# yum-complete-DB8action --cleanup-only Cleaning up unfinished DB8action journals Cleaning up 2020-11-16.14:35.57 [root@SRV ~]#
cleanup-only will simply delete the stale journal. Knowing I manually resolved the problem, I think it was the right think to do.
And now I’m clean…
[root@SRV ~]# yum update Loaded plugins: ulninfo No packages marked for update [root@SRV ~]#
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