Configure YUM server to install/update packages on remote server

In the previous post we learn how to create a YUM repository or YUM server on Redhat Enterprise Linux 6. Now if you want to use this YUM server to manage packages on other servers follow below mentioned steps.

1. Create the YUM server as described in previous post.

2. Install vsftpd using yum command.

# yum install vsftpd

3. Make changes in “/etc/vsftpd/vsftpd.conf” as below.

anonymous_enable=YES
anon_root=/mnt

4. Login to the client machine on which you want to install packages.

5. Create a .repo file in “/etc/yum.repos.d/” directory.

# vi /etc/yum.repos.d/RHEL6.repo

[RHEL6]
name= RHEL 6 remote repository
baseurl=file:///yum_server_ip/
enabled=1
gpgcheck=0

6. Run command yum clean all.

# yum clean all

You can now use yum commands to install, remove and query packages.

# yum info httpd

Loaded plugins: aliases, changelog, downloadonly, kabi, presto, product-id, refresh-packagekit, security, subscription-manager, tmprepo, verify,
               : versionlock
Updating certificate-based repositories.
Loading support for Red Hat kernel ABI
Installed Packages
Name           : httpd
Arch           : x86_64
Version        : 2.2.15
Release        : 15.el6
Size           : 2.9 M
Repo           : installed
From repo      : anaconda-RedHatEnterpriseLinux-201105101844.x86_64
Summary        : Apache HTTP Server
URL            : http://httpd.apache.org/
License        : ASL 2.0
Description    : The Apache HTTP Server is a powerful, efficient, and extensible
               : web server.

Please comment if you have any questions.

Configure YUM server in Redhat Enterprise Linux 6 (RHEL6)

Package management is one of the main objectives of RHCSA certification exam. Also as a system administrator you have to install, remove and update packages. In this post we will learn how to configure YUM server for package management on local machine as well as on remote machines. Yum server gives ease to package management in Linux. Using yum server you can query about installed packages, install or remove packages and upgrade or degrade packages as per your requirements.

The main configuration file for yum server is “/etc/yum.conf”. YUM server gets you out of which we know as “Dependency Hell”. It resolves and installs all dependencies related to a package. YUM server creates a database of packages. In this database it stores information like: all installed packages, all available packages, updates, etc. In this post we will see:

• How to configure local YUM server for RHEL6 DVD iso.
• How to create YUM server to update packages through FTP.
• How to configure YUM clients.

STEPS TO CONFIGURE YUM SERVER.

In this exercise we will use RHEL6 DVD.iso. You can mount and copy contents of DVD on local server or if you don’t have enough space you can mount and directly use it as a repository. For now we will mount RHEL6 DVD.iso and use it as our repository for packages.

1. Mount the RHEL6 DVD.iso on /mnt (you can mount it on any directory of your choice).

# mount -o loop rhel-server-6.2-x86_64-dvd.iso /mnt

2. Create a new file in directory “/etc/yum.repos.d/”.

Note: “/etc/yum.repos.d/” directory is default configuration directory for yum. You have to create a file with extension “.repo” and make below mentioned entries in the file.

# vi /etc/yum.repos.d/RHEL6.repo

[RHEL6]
name= RHEL 6 local repository
baseurl=file:///mnt/
enabled=1
gpgcheck=0

3. Run command yum clean all.

# yum clean all

4. You can now use yum commands to install, remove and query packages.

# yum info httpd

Loaded plugins: aliases, changelog, downloadonly, kabi, presto, product-id, refresh-packagekit, security, subscription-manager, tmprepo, verify,
             : versionlock
Updating certificate-based repositories.
Loading support for Red Hat kernel ABI
Installed Packages

Name          : httpd
Arch          : x86_64
Version       : 2.2.15
Release       : 15.el6
Size          : 2.9 M
Repo          : installed
From repo     : anaconda-RedHatEnterpriseLinux-201105101844.x86_64
Summary       : Apache HTTP Server
URL           : http://httpd.apache.org/
License       : ASL 2.0
Description   : The Apache HTTP Server is a powerful, efficient, and extensible
              : web server.

In the next post we will learn how to install/update packages on a remote server form yum server.

Package Management in RHEL6: YUM

Package management is one of the main objectives of RHCSA and RHCE exams on RHEL6. It is required to install and configure packages during the certification exam. In previous posts we have discussed installing package using rpm command. In Redhat Enterprise Linux 6 (RHEL6), to install a package we also have to install its dependencies.

This could be a difficult process as some packages have more than 50 dependent packages so we have to find out those dependent packages and install all of them one by one, also there could be dependency for the dependency. In Linux this is called “Dependency Hell”. To make this process easier, we can create a local YUM server or can configure a YUM server on FTP/HTTP to make it as a centralized repository for all servers.

YUM (Yellow Dog updater, modifier) maintains a database regarding the packages. This database contains information about installed packages, available packages, and automatically resolves dependencies while installing packages. The yum database is also known as repository.

What is a repository?

A repository is collection of rpm packages. Repository can also include group of packages. For example RHN includes following RHEL6 repositories:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server: This is the main repository, which includes both packages associated with installation of RHEL6 and updated packages.

• RHN Tools: Repository for managing RHN connections and Kickstart installation.
• RHN Server Supplementary: Repository of packages other that open source like adobe and java.
• RHELV2VWIN: Repository to support package to read Microsoft formatted partitions.
• RHEL Server Optional: Large group of packages other than server package like desktop packages, etc.

Each repository contains a database about the packages in the repository. This database can be found under repodata directory in each repository. This database contains information about each package and its dependencies.

You can also create your own repository of packages. To create a repository, you need createrepo package installed.

In the next post we will see how to configure YUM server and Client. Also we will learn how to create YUM server for RHEL6 DVD iso to update packages on local and remote machines.