urpmi is only usable when at least one media is defined. Usually, the OS installation procedure configures a predefined set of media, corresponding to the installation method you've selected: installation CDs, an HTTP or FTP server if you've installed from a networked mirror. System administrators often want to add media. To do so, use the urpmi.addmedia program:

urpmi.addmedia [options] <name> <url> [with hdlist]

In this synopsis, <name> is the name of the new media, <url> the URL where the RPMs are to be found, and the “with” parameter optionally specifies where to find the information file that describes the media's contents..

Supported URLs can be http://, ftp://, rsync://, ssh:// (this will use rsync over ssh), file://, and removable://. removable:// works like file://, but instructs urpmi that the directory is mounted from a removable media, such as a CD or a DVD. If the media requires authentication, you can use the usual URL syntax:

<scheme>://<login>:<pass>@host/path

Those credentials will not be stored in any world-readable file.

In some cases, if your media points to an external HTTP or FTP server, you might want to use a proxy to access it. Use the --proxy and --proxy-user options (the second one is needed if your proxy requires authentication.)

This is straight forward. To remove a media named foo, simply use the command:

urpmi.removemedia foo

Some media never change. This is the case, for example, for CD-ROMs. However, other media, typically updates, grow. New RPMs are added and old ones are removed. Therefore, before using them you should instruct urpmi that their contents might have changed.

To do this, use the urpmi.update program. You can either update all media:

urpmi.update -a

You can also update only specifically named media:

urpmi.update updates-one updates-two

The easiest way to create your own media is to let urpmi.addmedia do it. However, this will work properly only if you have a small number of RPMs, stored on disk or on a shared NFS mount. To do this, assuming that your RPMs are under a directory like /var/my-rpms, enter the command below:

urpmi.addmedia my-media /var/my-rpms

To create a media containing a large number of RPMs, or to be put on a shared server, you'll need to use the gendistrib tool. It comes in the rpmtools package. It generates a mirror tree for one or several media.

A typical media repository, under a root directory /ROOT/, has the following structure, (we have two media, named “first” and “second”):

    ROOT/ - media/
    |- first/
    |   `- media_info/
    |- second/
    |   `- media_info/
    `- media_info/

The RPMs are placed in the first and second subdirectories. Repository metadata is contained in the top-level media_info directory. Per-media metadata is contained in the first/media_info and second/media_info subdirectories.

Per-media metadata consists of an hdlist.cz file that contains the gzipped headers of the media's RPMs, a synthesis.hdlist.cz file (much smaller than the hdlist) containing only the information necessary for urpmi to resolve dependencies, and optionally, a pubkey file if the RPMs are signed (so that urpmi can check that the RPMs it downloads are signed with the key associated to this media.)

Before using gendistrib, you must create a media_info/media.cfg file to describe this media repository. The syntax of this file is like that of .ini files. It contains one section per media:

[first] hdlist=hdlist_first.cz name=First
    supplementary media

In the previous case, first is the directory name, hdlist_first.cz is the name of the hdlist file that will be created (it must end with .cz), and name= gives a human-readable description of the media.

Then, you can run gendistrib. You should pass it the /ROOT/ directory as parameter. It will then generate the hdlist and synthesis files and all other files needed for proper repository operation.

For further information, see the gendistrib(1) manpage.

In Figure 5.5, “The Software Package Installation interface”, the samba-3.2.7-0.3mdv2009.0 package is selected in the tree-view. In the package-description are shown the required disk space, a short summary (“Samba (SMB) server programs”), as well as a detailed description.

The status bar displays the disk space required by the selected packages, as well as the current free space. Please note that due to dependencies, the disk space required by the selected packages might be greater than the size required by the chosen package itself.

Now you can begin the installation by clicking on the Install button. A new window appears, showing you a progress bar of how your installation is proceeding. If you prefer to leave without doing anything, click the Quit button.

While selecting applications to install, it may happen that you choose a package which requires dependencies (additional libraries or another tool) to work correctly. In this case, Rpmdrake displays an information window enabling you to choose whether to accept the selected dependencies, or to Cancel the operation (Figure 5.6, “Rpmdrake Dependency Alert Box”).

Let's say you want to install a package which requires dependencies, and various packages are capable of providing that dependency. The list of alternatives is then presented. You may read the additional information presented by clicking the Info button to help you choose the best alternative.

We will now take a closer look at the search and sort functions provided to ease your job as a system administrator:

To search for a specific package, just type its name (or part of the name) in the text area next to the Search button. Then choose from the pull-down list where you want to look for it (either in the package name, in the description provided with the package or in the names of the files stored in the packages). After clicking on the Search button, a new list appears (Search results), showing you the results Rpmdrake found while scanning the package databases.

Let's look at the different sort orders:

By using Rpmdrake's parallel mode, you can define groups of machines to install the same software packages on. This greatly simplifies managing a large number of systems, such as in a LAN. Make sure park-rpmdrake, urpmi-parallel-ssh and urpmi-parallel-ka-run are installed.

Click on New Group, provide a Name for the group, select the Protocol to use (ssh in our example), check the networks to be scanned for hosts in the list or add other networks. By default, only your local network is listed. Then click on Scan.

Wait a few minutes until the network scan finishes and then check the hosts to be made part of the group.

You are then asked for root's password on each of the selected hosts to automate the installation of packages on them.

Select the group and click the Use Group button. You can now install packages on the selected computers group, as you would on a single computer.

You can also install packages on the computers' group from the command line:

urpmi --parallel <group_name> <package_name>

For example, issuing urpmi --parallel GraphicDesign gimp will install GIMP on all computers which are part of the GraphicDesign group.

To remove a package from a computer group, use:

urpme --parallel <group_name> <package_name>

For example, issuing urpme --parallel GraphicDesign gcc will remove the C compiler from all computers which are part of the GraphicDesign group.