yum and createrepo questions

Hi,

I've been recently working with yum and createrepo in RHEL5.  I've a few things
that I've not yet been able to find answers to.  I have need
for various OSs (both RHEL5, CENTOS5, RHEL4, CENTOS4, etc...) and their various
updates to all be kickstarted, though the concentration
at the moment is on RHEL5.  I've included some details of my config at the bottom
which is related to my questions.

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')?
   -  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 '--groupfile' option seems valuable.  The language in the manpage is
vague, though it seems to infer that this is applicable
      to the  'comps-*.xml' files provided on the media (see example below), or,
could be intended for the local creation of a similiar
      type of file (though I'm unclear as to how to go about doing that).
Further, the information in the EXAMPLES section states the
      'comps.xml' file should be in the same directory as the RPMs.  However,
when copying everything from the media, there is, in fact,
      a 'repodata' directory subordinate to where the RPMs are located at, and
the 'comps-*.xml' file is located there.  So, in my YUM
      repository, should the 'comps-*.xml' file be manually moved up one
directory so as to be compliant with the language in the
      manpage?  What is the right implementation of the '--groupfile' option and
what value will I get from implementing it?  What is
      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?


-  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.


-  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.




Relevant details of my kickstart server implementation:
-  /kickstart/os-files contains directories for each RHEL OS I host (i.e.
RHEL5.2x32, RHEL5.1x32, RHEL5.0x32. RHEL5.2x64, RHEL5.1x64,
   RHEL5.0x64, etc.....).  The media for each OS had been mounted and everything
recursively copied to the respective OS directory,
   while preserving all subdirectory structure.
-  An example of the repodata directories and their files available on the
distrubution media, as copied:
   drwxrwxrwx 2  root  root      4,096  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/Cluster/repodata
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root    101,836  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/Cluster/repodata/comps-rhel5-cluster.xml
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root    170,789  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/Cluster/repodata/filelists.xml.gz
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root     24,695  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/Cluster/repodata/other.xml.gz
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root      6,073  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/Cluster/repodata/primary.xml.gz
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root      1,310  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/Cluster/repodata/repomd.xml
   drwxrwxrwx 2  root  root      4,096  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/ClusterStorage/repodata
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root    106,338  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/ClusterStorage/repodata/comps-rhel5-cluster-st.xml
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root     55,375  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/ClusterStorage/repodata/filelists.xml.gz
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root      6,931  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/ClusterStorage/repodata/other.xml.gz
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root      6,920  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/ClusterStorage/repodata/primary.xml.gz
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root      1,313  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/ClusterStorage/repodata/repomd.xml
   drwxrwxrwx 2  root  root      4,096  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/Server/repodata
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root  1,009,127  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/Server/repodata/comps-rhel5-server-core.xml
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root  2,667,976  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/Server/repodata/filelists.xml.gz
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root  6,555,246  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/Server/repodata/other.xml.gz
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root    825,211  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/Server/repodata/primary.xml.gz
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root      1,314  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/Server/repodata/repomd.xml
   drwxrwxrwx 2  root  root      4,096  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/VT/repodata
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root    103,754  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/VT/repodata/comps-rhel5-vt.xml
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root     32,783  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/VT/repodata/filelists.xml.gz
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root     40,590  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/VT/repodata/other.xml.gz
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root      7,171  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/VT/repodata/primary.xml.gz
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root      1,305  Apr 30  2008
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/VT/repodata/repomd.xml

-  These get created when I execute 'createrepo /kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64'
   drwxrwxrwx 2  root  root      4,096  Jan 31 18:05
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/repodata
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root  3,153,955  Jan 31 18:05
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/repodata/filelists.xml.gz
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root  8,360,128  Jan 31 18:05
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/repodata/other.xml.gz
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root  1,058,682  Jan 31 18:05
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/repodata/primary.xml.gz
   -rwxrwxrwx 1  root  root        951  Jan 31 18:05
/kickstart/os-files/RHEL5.2x64/repodata/repomd.xml





R,
-Joe Wulf, CISSP, VCP, USN(RET)
 Senior IA Engineer
 ProSync Technology Group, LLC
 www.prosync.com

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