[Yum] yum and createrepo questions

[seth vidal]

On Wed, 2009-02-11 at 09:28 -0500, Joe_Wulf wrote:
Joe,
 Wow, a lot of questions here. Some of them are easiest learned by use -
some of them are answered below:

> My yum and createrepo questions are as follows: 
> -  When executing the 'createrepo' command on the kickstart server/YUM
> repository: 
>    -  Where should the cache be placed when using the '--cachedir'
> option?  For example, should each OS have its own cache directory
> 
>       (i.e. '/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/CacheDirForJustThisOS'),
> or can/should a single cache directory be established for the
> 
>       entire repository (i.e.
> '/kickstart/os-files/MasterCacheForAllOSs')? 

It can be either, doing it for each repo is probably "safer" if there is
any tom-foolery going on in the repos. But in most cases a single dir
can work, too.


>    -  What, if anything, is needed in the client
> '/etc/yum/repos.d/<repofile>.repo' file so the client takes advantage
> of the cache
> 
>       directory (created when using the '--cachedir' option of
> createrepo)?

The client doesn't use that cache. That cache is for createrepo so it
doesn't have to checksum the packages as often when you rerun createrepo
to add new or remove packages.



>    -  The '--groupfile' option seems valuable.  The language in the
> manpage is vague, though it seems to infer that this is applicable

the groupfile IS the comps file - that's the format. To learn about
creating your own look at the yum-groups-manager program in yum-utils.

The groupfile can be pretty much wherever you want it. createrepo will
put it in the repodata directory when you add the --groupfile option.

>       the result when including this option on the createrepo
> commandline, and pointing to the 'comps-rhel5-cluster.xml' file, as
> well as each of the other .XML files located on the distro media (or
> is that NOT what this option is intended for?)? 


>    -  The '--database' option is very vague.  Where can I learn more
> information about this option, its implementation and its value?

the --database option enables the creation of sqlite databases from the
xml metadata. This helps speed up your clients access of the metadata.
Use this option. It's a good thing.



> -  For each RHEL yum client, the "Applications -> Add/Remove Software
> -> Package Manager" tool has three tabs: "Browse", "Search" and
>    "List".  How do I ensure the "Browse" tab gets populated and is
> usable?  Currently the "Search" and "List" seem to function correctly
>    for the respective RHEL client OS.

Browse is populated by the data in the groupfile mentioned above.


> -  For the client '/etc/yum/repos.d/<repofile>.repo' file, where the
> client OS is RHEL v5.2 x86_64, is it sufficient (correct?) to have
> 
>    the '--baseurl' option point to JUST the parent of the OS-specific
> repo (i.e. '/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64'), or should it point
> 
>    to all of the available OSs (i.e. '/kickstart/os-files')?.  I think
> the former is correct, but am seeking understanding and
>    clarification.

the baseurl should point to a path or a dir where a repodata directory
exists. In the above case I'm guessing the former dir.

experimentation is probably your best bet.

-sv