Which repository priority rules govern zypper’s dependency resolution in mixed Leap/Tumbleweed environments?

Zypper Priority and Rollback Logic

In openSUSE environments, zypper resolves package selection using a numerical priority system where lower numerical values indicate higher priority. If a package exists in multiple repositories, zypper selects the version from the repository with the lowest priority number. If priorities are identical, the package manager typically defaults to the highest version number available.

Dependency Resolution Algorithm

The priority algorithm remains consistent across Leap and Tumbleweed releases. When resolving dependencies that span multiple repositories, zypper follows these general rules:

• Primary Selection: The package is pulled from the repository with the lowest priority value.
• Dependency Satisfaction: Zypper attempts to satisfy all dependencies using the highest priority repositories first. However, if a dependency cannot be met by a high-priority repository, it will fall back to lower-priority repositories to complete the transaction.
• Vendor Stickiness: By default, zypper avoids changing the vendor of an already installed package unless explicitly told to do so, which can sometimes override priority settings during a dist-upgrade or up operation.

Transaction Rollback Behavior

Zypper does not guarantee a full filesystem rollback of all modifications. While it can remove newly installed packages if a transaction fails, it does not provide atomic state recovery for the entire filesystem.

Specifically, changes to configuration files are not automatically reverted. If a package installation triggers a post-installation script that modifies a config file, or if .rpmnew/.rpmsave files are created, these changes often persist even if the package installation is rolled back. Full system recovery in these scenarios typically requires a Btrfs snapshot restore rather than a zypper-level rollback.

Verification and Management

To analyze how zypper is currently prioritizing your mixed Leap/Tumbleweed repositories, use the following commands:

# View current repository priorities
zypper lr

# Simulate a transaction to see the resolution path without applying changes
zypper install -d [package_name]

Note: Mixing Leap and Tumbleweed repositories is highly unstable and generally discouraged due to divergent glibc and kernel versions.

Missing Diagnostic Detail

To provide a more specific recommendation on your conflict, please specify if you have vendor_stickiness enabled in your global configuration, as this significantly alters how zypper handles repository overrides.