[ale] adding an rpm to a kickstart repo

[Jim Kinney]

What works well in this is to add a second repo (call it local-updates) to
the install with the ks.cfg. The kickstart can take more than 1 additional
repo.

Set the location on a web server and from the directory with the rpm files,
run 'createrepo -d .' to generate the repodata directory with the correct
files. Now the installer can access those files as well as the original ones
from the install DVD. Through the magic of versioning, anaconda will use the
latest package from the combined list.

You _can_ just add the newest rpm files to the existing repo directory and
then run the same createrepo command. Be sure to keep the comps.xml file
intact between runs a that sets up the package groups (base-X, development,
etc.).

I've had good success with the createrepo --update on RHEL6 and Fedora but
it's total crap on RHEL5. Also if doing this on RHEL5 you MUST add the flag
'-s sha' or else the install will fail as the default checksum is sha256
must RHEL5 can only use sha1 (other problems exist as well when creating
rpm's for rhel5 on a fedora system using mock - i.e. embedded checksum is
only md5 for rhel5 but later versions of rpm use sha1/sha256 for signing and
there's no flag to select which one to use even though it can use any).

On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 10:59 PM, Steven A. DuChene <
linux-clusters at mindspring.com> wrote:

> I have copied the various files off of a Redhat dvd to a kickstart server
> and created a working ks.cfg file. I am able to kickstart servers with the
> default install files that were on the original DVD media. However I want to
> be able to update some of the rpms with newer ones like a newer kernel. I
> also need to add one or two custom rpms of my own.
>
> I tried just copying my small add-on rpm into the Packages directory and
> then adding that rpm name into my ks.cfg file but I got an error during the
> resulting kickstart operation that the rpm was not available. I am pretty
> sure I need to update the repo files that tell the system what rpms are
> available. I installed the createrepo rpm along with some other dependencies
> required but I have not been able to find any definite directions on how to
> accomplish this.
>
> Has anyone here ever done something like this and can provide some
> direction on how to proceed from this point or point me towards some
> definite documentation on the process?
> --
> Steven DuChene
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-- 
-- 
James P. Kinney III

As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to
consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable, then the powerful can do as they
please, and those who survive will be left to contemplate the outcome.
- *2011 Noam Chomsky

http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/
*
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