Chapter 2. Managing repositories to build your customized operating systems

You can define your customized repositories with third-party content without having to manage their lifecycle. You can use your third-party content to build an image, and when you launch that image to the public cloud environment, you can use those repositories with the dnf tool.

2.1. Adding a custom repository

Define your repository to be able to add packages from this repository to your customized images.

Prerequisites

  • You have a RHEL subscription.
  • You have administrator access to the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console web user interface or repository administrator role.
  • You have the URL link to your repository content.

Procedure

  1. Access Hybrid Cloud Console.
  2. Click Services > Observe > RHEL > Repositories.
  3. Click Add repositories. The Add custom repositories wizard opens.

  4. Optionally: Enable Snapshot creation option to create a daily snapshot of this repository. That enables you to create Image Blueprints with the consistent repository content.

    Note, the Snapshot creation option is available only in the Preview mode.

  5. Enter the following information:

    1. NAME - mandatory.
    2. URL - mandatory.
    3. In the Restrict architecture drop-down menu, select an architecture. You can allow all the architectures or restrict one to your system architecture to prevent incorrect repositories availability.
    4. In the Restrict OS version drop-down menu select an operating system (OS). You can allow all the RHEL versions or select one for your system version to prevent incorrect repositories being available.
    5. Optionally: Disable Modularity filtering option. When the Modularity filtering option is disabled, you can update the packages in this repository even if this package is a part of the module.
    6. GPG key - upload the .txt file with a GPG key or paste the URL or value of an existing GPG key. The GPG key verifies the signed packages of a repository. If you do not provide the GPG key for a repository, your system cannot perform the verification.
  6. If you want to add another repository, click the + Add another repository button and repeat step 3.
  7. Click Save. The Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console validates the project status. If your repository is marked as Invalid, check the repository URL that you added. For details about the repository status, see Repository status section.

Verification

  • Open the list of custom repositories and verify that the repository you added is listed.

2.2. Modifying a custom repository

You can modify a custom repository when you need to update information for that repository.

Prerequisites

  • You have a RHEL subscription.
  • You have administrator access to the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console web user interface or repository administrator role.

Procedure

  1. Access Hybrid Cloud Console.
  2. Click Services > Observe > RHEL > Repositories.
  3. Find a repository you want to modify and click Edit in the Options menu.
  4. In the Edit custom repository wizard, modify the information you need. Click Save changes.

2.3. Removing a custom repository

When you no longer need a custom repository you can delete it.

Prerequisites

  • You have a RHEL subscription.
  • You have administrator access to the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console web user interface or repository administrator role.

Procedure

  1. Access Hybrid Cloud Console.
  2. Click Services > Observe > RHEL > Repositories.
  3. Find a repository to delete and click Delete in the Options menu.

Verification

  • Open the list of custom repositories, and verify that the repository no longer exists.

2.4. Adding existing repositories from popular repositories to custom repositories

The Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console has pre-configured repositories that you can use to build your customized RHEL image.

Prerequisites

  • You have a RHEL subscription.
  • You have administrator access to the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console web user interface or repository administrator role.

Procedure

  1. Access Hybrid Cloud Console.
  2. Click Services > Observe > RHEL > Repositories.
  3. On the Custom repositories page click the Popular repositories tab.
  4. Search for the repository you want to add and click Add.

Verification

  • Select the Your repositories tab and verify that the new repository is displayed in the list of custom repositories.

2.5. Updating custom repository after changes

When you make changes to your repository you can trigger a refresh of that repository in the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console.

Prerequisites

  • You have a RHEL subscription.
  • You have administrator access to the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console web user interface or repository administrator role.
  • You updated your custom repository.

Procedure

  1. Access Hybrid Cloud Console.
  2. Click Services > Observe > RHEL > Repositories.
  3. Find a repository you want to modify and click Introspect Now in the Options menu.

  4. The status of that repository changes to In progress that indicates the Hybrid Cloud Console is connecting to the repository and checking for changes.

    The Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console checks the status of the repositories every 24 hours and again every 8 hours if the status check fails.

2.6. Repository status in the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console

The repository status shows if the repository is available. The Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console checks the repository status periodically and can change it. The following table describes the repository status in the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console.

Table 2.1. Repository status

StatusDescription

Valid

The Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console has validated the repository and you can use it.

Invalid

The Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console never validated this repository. You cannot use it.

Unavailable

The repository was valid at least once. The Red Hat Hybrid Console cannot reach this repository at the moment. You cannot use it.

In progress

The repository validation is in progress.