How To Create yum/dnf Local & Remote Repository With HTTP Server On RHEL 8 /CentOS 8

Learn how to configure yum/dnf local repository local & http remote repository on RHEL 8 or CentOS 8 system. point a client to the yum / dnf remote repository.

sequel to the last lesson on configuring yum local repository on RHEL 7 and RHEL 8 where we explained in details the necessary and important parameters that should be in yum configuration file, this lesson will guide us on the step by step process of how to configure an http based yum remote repository on RHEL 8.

This activity is important for one to be able to install packages if your system is not subscribed.

I will be using two servers for this scenario.

Server A is the (Apache HTTP Server) : HQDEV1, 192.168.170.173

On this server, we will configure yum local repository and httpd based remote repository

Server B is the (client) : DRDEV1, 192.168.170.

on this server, we will create a yum configuration file that will point to the http server so that packages can be downloaded and installed on the client from the server.

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Configuring Server A (yum local repository and HTTP based remote repository )

1. Copy the ISO image to your system

If the ISO image is not on your system already, you can use FileZilla or any other tool or method to move it to your system

2. Mount the ISO to any mount point, perherps “/mnt”

[root@HQDEV1]# mount rhel-8.1-x86_64-dvd.iso /mnt

3. copy the ISO image files to the any path you wish

In my case, I will make a directory (/iso_files) and copy it here

[root@HQDEV1 ~]# mkdir /iso_files

[root@HQDEV1 ~]# cd /mnt

[root@HQDEV1 mnt]# ls

AppStream  EFI   extra_files.json  images    media.repo               RPM-GPG-KEY-redhat-release
BaseOS     EULA  GPL               isolinux  RPM-GPG-KEY-redhat-beta  TRANS.TBL

[root@HQDEV1 mnt]# cp -va * /iso_files

4. create the repository configuration file

NOTE: It must have the extension, “.repo”

[root@HQDEV1 ~]# vi /etc/yum.repos.d/local.repo

[rhel8_Appstream]
baseurl=file:///iso_files/AppStream
gpgcheck=0
name=Red Hat Ent Linux App_stream
enable=1


[rhel8_BaseOS]
baseurl=file:///iso_files/BaseOS
gpgcheck=0
name=Red Hat Ent Linux BaseOS
enable=1

5. Verify the yum local repository is well configured

[root@HQDEV1 ~]# yum repolist

Updating Subscription Management repositories.

for x86_64 - BaseOS (RPMs)   4,834
rhel8_Appstream                          Red Hat Ent Linux App_stream                            4,817
rhel8_BaseOS                             Red Hat Ent Linux BaseOS                                1,661

6. Now Install the httpd server

[root@HQDEV1 ~]# yum install httpd

Updating Subscription Management repositories.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 for x86_64 - AppStream (RPMs)    3.4 kB/s | 4.5 kB     00:01
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 for x86_64 - BaseOS (RPMs)       4.9 kB/s | 4.1 kB     00:00
Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder for R

7. start the service and enable if you wish

[root@HQDEV1 ~]# systemctl start httpd

7. Test if the httpd sever is working If it is possible, but if not, go to the next step

you can use any browser within your network

To use a browser, specify the IP

http://192.168.170.217

NB: If your system is subscribed, you can use the text based browser such as elinks. Installing elinks in RHEL 8 is now different from the way it is done in RHEL 7. click here to see the steps of installing elinks in RHEL 8

NOW THAT THE HTTPD SERVER IS STARTED, LET’s CONFIGURE HTTP SERVER FOR yum REMOTE REPOSITORY

11. copy the ISO image files to the httpd default document root location (/var/www/html).

[root@HQDEV1 ~]# cp -va /iso_files /var/www/html

[root@HQDEV1 ~]# cd /var/www/html/

[root@HQDEV1 html]# ls
iso_files  tekneed

9. Verify the ISO Content is in the /var/www/html location

[root@HQDEV1 html]# cd iso_files/

[root@HQDEV1 iso_files]# ls

AppStream  EFI   extra_files.json  images    media.repo               RPM-GPG-KEY-redhat-release
BaseOS     EULA  GPL               isolinux  RPM-GPG-KEY-redhat-beta  TRANS.TBL
[root@HQDEV1 iso_files]#

10. Allow http service in the firewall rule

[root@HQDEV1 iso_files]# firewall-cmd --add-service=http --permanent

[root@HQDEV1 iso_files]# systemctl restart firewalld

Configuring Server B (Client )

1. Create the yum repository configuration file

NOTE: must have the extension, “.repo”

[root@DRDEV1 html]# vi /etc/yum.repos.d/remote..repo

[rhel8_Appstream_remote]
baseurl=http://192.168.170.173/iso_files/AppStream
gpgcheck=0
name=Red Hat Ent Linux App_stream remote
enable=1


[rhel8_BaseOS_remote]
baseurl=http://192.168.170.173/iso_files/BaseOS
gpgcheck=0
name=Red Hat Ent Linux BaseOS remote
enable=1

where IP is the httpd server IP. FQDN can also be used

2. Verify

[root@DRDEV1 ~]# yum repolist

Updating Subscription Management repositories.

for x86_64 - BaseOS (RPMs)   4,834
rhel8_Appstream                          Red Hat Ent Linux App_stream                            4,817
rhel8_BaseOS                             Red Hat Ent Linux BaseOS                                1,661
[root@HQDEV1 ~]#

3. If you wish, you can install any package for confirmation as well

[root@DRDEV1 ~]# yum install httpd

Updating Subscription Management repositories.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 for x86_64 - AppStream (RPMs)    3.4 kB/s | 4.5 kB     00:01
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 for x86_64 - BaseOS (RPMs)       4.9 kB/s | 4.1 kB     00:00
Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder for R

NOTE

If you are getting the message “This system is not registered to Red Hat Subscription Management. You can use subscription-manager to register” and you want to stop it, edit the (/etc/yum/pluginconf.d/subscription-manager.conf) file and change the parameter “enable” to 0

[root@HQDEV1 iso_files]# vi /etc/yum/pluginconf.d/subscription-manager.conf

[main]
enabled=0

# When following option is set to 1, then all repositories defined outside redhat.repo will be disabled
# every time subscription-manager plugin is triggered by dnf or yum
disable_system_repos=0
~

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