What is a repository?

joao2 · Post by **joao2** » 2012/01/05 08:38:16

Is YUM CentOS's official repository, and is it true anything that isn't installed in YUM isn't recommended for installation in a CentOS server? If so, what do you do when you want to install something not in the repository, while facing the risk of corrupting CentOS which can easily start working wrong if you install things incorrectly or install them from repositories not supported by CentOS? I'm on CentOS 5, btw.

abednegoyulo · Post by **abednegoyulo** » 2012/01/05 09:28:48

Hi joao2,

The [url=http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos]How Tos[/url] in the [url=http://wiki.centos.org/]Wiki[/url] may help you, specifically the [url=http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos#head-70ff04f00f6b441f231663b09d7716f4f771a436]Package Management[/url] part.

Please let us know if you have any specific questions on those reading materials.

joao2 · Post by **joao2** » 2012/01/05 12:05:08

Thank you for the response. Indeed it was a good help and when my hosting decides to explain to me what's wrong with my IP, I'll be onto looking at those CentOS supported repositories your links talk about.

However, all the pages I've read that talk about the repositories list the packages of the repositories in rpm files that have to be downloaded into CentOS and installed, or claim that a look at the package list of each repository can only be achieved after enabling the repository in question and querying SSH. Is there any way to look at the list of packages each repository has, in a more simple manner, so I know which repository would be better suited for my needs, and for the packages I'm actually looking for?

markkuk · Post by **markkuk** » 2012/01/05 13:59:26

Most repositories have a web page where you can browse the contents, for example here's EPEL packages for 32-bit CentOS/RHEL 5:

http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/epel/5/i386/repoview/

centek1 · Post by **centek1** » 2012/01/22 22:33:16

Lama question... :( sorry, but want to get info what means the "*" in the yum repolist output where the enabled repos are listed

Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, refresh-packagekit
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
* base: centos.slaskdatacenter.com
* epel: mirror.nsc.liu.se
* extras: centos.slaskdatacenter.com
* rpmforge: ftp-stud.fht-esslingen.de
* updates: centos.slaskdatacenter.com
repo id repo name status
base CentOS-6 - Base 6,294
*epel <-THIS STAR!!! Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 6 - x86_64 6,863
extras CentOS-6 - Extras 3
rpmforge RHEL 6 - RPMforge.net - dag 4,138
updates CentOS-6 - Updates 213
repolist: 17,511

pschaff · Post by **pschaff** » 2012/01/23 01:29:01

[b]centek1[/b] - Please do not hijack threads. Review [url=http://www.centos.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=28726&forum=54]Readme First[/url] then start a new Topic for your issue to get the attention you need, providing a link to this one if required for context.

CentOS