[mirror-admin] repomd.xml problems

[David Ramirez]

Thank you for your answers - knowing that I shouldn't need to regenerate 
metadata made me to go in more detail over the mirrored copy - now my 
NFS installs work OK.
(I include here copy on a message that didn't make it to the list, 
thanks Claire).

"Case dismissed".

---
David,

If you're mirroring and just using the mirrored data, you
shouldn't need to regenerate the metadata -- it should be all set
up for you from the master mirror (and cascaded through any
intermediate mirrors without change).

It's been a while since I did NFS installs of CentOS (since I
migrated our private mirror to our more public mirror that only
does HTTP), but I don't recall ever touching the metadata from the
mirrored bits (in part because I would expect it to be overwritten
by any subsequent syncs).

We *do* have our own tree of packages that we serve out, and we do
generate metadata for that tree.  And there I have a custom
``yumgroups.xml'' file that I use with the -g flag.  We define
various groups in that file (e.g, ``Math Workstation''), and YUM
is happy to use it to install whatever packages we define in those
groups (even if they come from other repos, including the CentOS,
EPEL, and RPMForge repos, as well as our local repo).

    Claire

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
   Claire Connelly                              cmc at math.hmc.edu
   System Administrator                           (909) 621-8754
   Department of Mathematics                 Harvey Mudd College
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   For System News: http://www.math.hmc.edu/computing/news/
                    or http://twitter.com/hmcmathcomp/.
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Nick Olsen wrote:
>  On 9/8/2010 1:19 PM, David Ramirez wrote:
>> Hi,
>> I'm in the process of becoming a private Fedora mirror for my lab use 
>> (60+ boxes).
>>
>> So far I have replicated the file structure from my chosen mirror and 
>> rsync-ed against it.
>>
>> After that an have a cron job periodically updating my updates 
>> subtree, it seems to work OK.
>>
>> But I have problems with the releases part of my mirror, since 
>> naturally I want to pull my new installs from there, using NFS.
>>
>> This had worked before with an unofficial, non-standard structure, but 
>> now my installs die complaining of not finding a repomd.xml file for 
>> the group descriptions.
>>
>> I have exhausted different suggestions found in the web without 
>> hitting the solution - from using createrepo and creating my own 
>> repository metadata (although not seeing that repomd.xml file produced 
>> in the process), to having the original repodata directory obtained 
>> from the official mirror, to copying that file from the updates 
>> directory (hoping it is the same: createrepo instructions always 
>> assume that I already have one such file for the -g option).
>>
>> I have run createrepo -g inside and outside the Packages directory, 
>> seems to end OK, but the end result is always the same, the net-based 
>> install of a new host failing shortly after package selection, while 
>> the NFS mount is (apparently) OK.
>>
>> Error message has been normally related to missing group info/the 
>> rempomd.xml file, but after doing the last mentioned copy now the 
>> install breaks searching (I presume) for the 1st rpm package ("The 
>> file authconfig-gtk... cannot be opened").
>>
>> Shouldn't the downloaded (as part of the mirror image) group 
>> information dated May 12 just work ?
>>
>> May be somebody out there can point me in the right direction ?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>>
>>
> Try HTTP?
> I ran a private mirror for quite some time when toying with some cluster 
> ideas. Just did an rsync of the fedora enchilada and I could http net 
> install all day long. Never tried NFS. Anything useful in the NFS logs?
> 
> -Nick
> 
> -- 
> 

-- 
DAVID RAMIREZ
System Administrator - Analyst II
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
Parasol Laboratory
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
HR Bright 410D
College Station, TX  77843-3112
Tel. (979) 845-3937
davidr at cse.tamu.edu

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