fun with RPMs

[Michael Klinosky]

Rahul:
> Michael Klinosky wrote:
>> I've been trying to fix a repository issue on a F8 machine. I was given
>> a 'teach you how to fish' version of the process; I made some progress,
>> but now I'm stumped. The advice was to find the RPM for this release, 
>> and find the /etc/yum.repos.d file.
>>
>> I *think* that I found the RPM; on the dvd, in the directory 
>> 'Packages' is "rpm-4.4.2.2-3.fc8.i386.rpm" - is that the file I need? 
>> (For a download, it's .../os/Packages.)
>>
>> I opened it with the archive manager. My problem is that I can't find 
>> that repos file.
>>
>> What's the story?
> 
> The repository files are not part of the RPM package. Usually it is part 
> of some <foo>-release package where foo is the name of the repository. 
> In Fedora, it is in the fedora-release RPM package.

OK - that explains it.

The advice I got was to use "rpm -qf /etc/yum.repos.d/fedora.repo", and 
then "find that fedora-release rpm". Because of being a semi-newbie, I 
didn't know that I should look for the file named in the rpm line; I 
merely looked for a file named 'rpm'.

Ed:
> I think it would be helpful if you try to describe the "repository 
> issue" you are trying to fix.  At least I don't know what you really 
> mean by "find the RPM for this release".

After I installed F8, I used the Package Manager. I didn't have the 
'Install media' in, and it complained. Considering this computer's 
usage, I didn't want that to recur - so I unchecked that entry.

But then, I discovered that I couldn't set up the dial-up connection in 
Network. After trying to troubleshoot this situation, I deemed it 
necessary to access the install CD - but the entry had disappeared (I 
don't know how - I didn't do anything with any of these files). So, 
someone suggested getting the original repo file.