Add FC2 DVD as apt repository

[Tux]

Hi guys,

Does anyone know whether it would be possilbe to add my FC2 DVD to my apt sources to perform the upgrade, or do I perhaps need to make a local repository on another machine?

[Void Main]

If you have the DVD it would be better to actually boot from it and do the upgrade rather than use apt. You can use CD/DVD disks for your repository. I have not actually done it in Red Hat but have done it in Debian. The reason I have not done it with Red Hat is because you would actually have to modify the disk before you could use it with apt (modify the ISO image and write it back to a new disk). Here you can get an idea of what it would take:

http://freshrpms.net/apt/
http://ccrma.stanford.edu/planetccrma/s ... droms.html

Since the above links only have the metadata for the CDs you would have to create your own for the DVD. I would guess it would be the same as it is for a network repo (genbasedir).

[Tux]

Thanks void, with a little bit of wrestling me and Fedora made a truce and the git upgraded to FC2.

I'm just in the process of Ironing out a few niggles I have going on, mainly kernel related.

I am going to recompile a stock kernel first to sort out the nVidia thing. Then I need to reconfigure vmware, set up ALSA, tell Fedora to load usb-uhci so my mouse works.
I also need to find out why kudzu doesn't work anymore

It did something else fun, deleted my 2.4.x kernel despite me taking efforts for it not to do that. It also removed Fedora completely from my GRUB menu, so I hav to fix that in Slack.

It's hasn't been too bad really, i'm just moaning - although these issues would definitely phase a noobie. I kinda like Fedora giving me trouble, makes it feel like slack or debian.
FUN!

[Void Main]

Sounds like you had every issue that I had when I upgraded (I think you'll find similar notes by me in the FC2 thread). I am running VMware 3.x and had to get the patch to get it working (I think the guy's name is Petri, you can find info in the VMware forum and his site). nVidia drivers do work under the stock 2.6.6 kernel but I think it's not nearly as stable as it was under 2.4.2x. Hopefully they will have a driver out soon, otherwise I almost think using the open source nVidia driver is better until then. Most of my issues are also kernel related (VMware, nVidia, madwifi, firewire, etc).

[Tux]

I have another one that I forgot, apt-get wanted to REMOVE apt during the upgrade.
As a result I had to do the upgrade in 3 or 4 stages a bit more carefully than usually, installing the newer apt near the beginning. I also had to remove sendmail and KDE and some other stuff and put them back later.

[Void Main]

Yeah, my suggestion is *not* to upgrade via apt if at all possible (unless you know what you are in for). Upgrading via CD went smooth as silk.

[Tux]

It wasn't something you'd ever want to do with a room full of machines, no

But it was a one off and I had the time prepared for 'issues'.

[Linux Frank]

I know gainsaying Void could be dangerous, but you could try

$ man apt-cdrom

I cannot verify that it does work. I am, for the time being not able to experiment on this system. It definately leaves me with the impression that as long as the CD is readable it can work without extra work.

[Void Main]

That man page comes from Debian (where apt originated) and Debian disks do have the necessary metadata that apt looks for (after installing a Debian system it will ask you if you want to add your disks to the repo automatically, and then scans each of your disks). The Red Hat disks do not have the necessary apt metadata which is why you have to build new ISOs with the necessary data. At least I've never seen any other way to do it.

P.S. It's nice to know that at least ONE person reads the man pages. Great work! :) It's amazing how much great info you can find right in the man pages (even if this wasn't the best example). :)

[Tux]

That man page comes from Debian (where apt originated) and Debian disks do have the necessary metadata that apt looks for (after installing a Debian system it will ask you if you want to add your disks to the repo automatically, and then scans each of your disks). The Red Hat disks do not have the necessary apt metadata which is why you have to build new ISOs with the necessary data. At least I've never seen any other way to do it.

P.S. It's nice to know that at least ONE person reads the man pages. Great work! It's amazing how much great info you can find right in the man pages (even if this wasn't the best example).

What he said...

Basically all I did was mount the DVD iso, make a temporary directory and symlinks to the mounted ISO. Then did a genbasedir from within said temporary directory, I added this to my sources.list and did the upgrade.

It is a little more complicated than the Debian process, but barely. Especially if you are only using the CDs because then you can just get the metafiles from ccrma, but I was using the DVD hence the genbasedir - it's a neat little tool that I would have come across if not for void, I've never made my own repo you see.

[Void Main]

Now that's a cool way to do it. Never thought of doing that.

[Tux]

Now that's a cool way to do it. Never thought of doing that.

We're blessed to have the options

[Void Main]

I actually do something similar for my local OS repo. I have the ISO images on my hard drive, mounted on loop devices, and have all the RPMS symlinked from the mounted ISOs into my apt directory structure under my web root. Works great!

[Linux Frank]

P.S. It's nice to know that at least ONE person reads the man pages. Great work! It's amazing how much great info you can find right in the man pages (even if this wasn't the best example).

You kinding me? Anyone who doesn't read the man pages is stupid.

IMHO : They are, point of fact, the most important computing resource on the face of the planet. With them, a litlle mental elbow grease and a search engine I can find out almost anything I need to know about my computer. Your on-line man pages are a fantastic help when I'm not on a linux system, and want to help someone. They are not so good for trouble shooting, but that is more my lack of knowledge, I'm getting there slowly.

I actually have a question about these. Is the O'reilly book Linux in a nutshell (the one with all the commands) actually just the man pages? And does anyone think keeping a physical printout of these commands is a good thing, or do they go out of date too quickly to be worthwhile?

[Void Main]

I actually have a question about these. Is the O'reilly book Linux in a nutshell (the one with all the commands) actually just the man pages? And does anyone think keeping a physical printout of these commands is a good thing, or do they go out of date too quickly to be worthwhile?

My feelings on all of the above over the last several years are "save a tree, use Google" (not that I am the "tree saver" type mind you). I can't tell you the number of books I have downstairs where I "used" to work at my computer desk.

The oldest books I bought (15-20-25 years ago) have the covers worn off, pages taped, beer/cigarette stains (back in the old days when I used to smoke and drink). Yep, those were some good books. Then a much larger section of books show a little use from 5-15 years back. Any book that I have purchased from 5 years ago until now have been opened *maybe* once and I don't believe I have actually bought a book in at least 3 years. I used to be a big fan of the O'Reilly books but I just find Google so much easier than a book any day of the week. I don't even have to think.

I also used to print out man pages and other documentation. It used to come in handy for the bathroom, but since I got my wireless setup.... :)