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Show HN: Red Hat/CentOS chroot installer

19 points by dozzie 12y ago

edwintorok 12y ago
how does this compare to 'rinse'?
- dozzie 12y ago
  * Easier to add packages to installation list (no need to track dependencies manually). * Allows multiple Yum repositories to be specified and used during bootstrapping. * RPM signatures checking. * Doesn't depend on repository mirror to list directory contents, so it makes less work with the mirror setup. * RPM spec already included, so yumbootstrap installs under Red Hat/CentOS.
rincebrain 12y ago
There used to be an rpmbootstrap-like tool for using on Xen RPM-based guests, though it was never as reliable as debootstrap in my experience. Nicely done, I'll have to try it.
- stevekemp 12y ago
  I suspect you're talking about rinse, which I wrote alongside xen-tools. It is still alive and well, under new maintainers: http://collab-maint.alioth.debian.org/rinse/ http://collab-maint.alioth.debian.org/rinse/
SEJeff 12y ago
FYI: https://github.com/libguestfs/febootstrap https://github.com/libguestfs/febootstrap
- dozzie 12y ago
  Yes, I've seen it. In old version (2.x) it could only install Fedora, in never version (3+, called supermin) it doesn't install chroot environments.
  - rwmj 12y ago
    Try supermin 5, which has chroot support. How to use it is documented on this page (search for "chroot"). supermin 5 is widely available in Linux distros. http://rwmj.wordpress.com/2014/03/08/supermin-version-5/#content http://rwmj.wordpress.com/2014/03/08/supermin-version-5/#con...
viraptor 12y ago
I was seriously involved only in debian packaging, so could someone tell me - how did RH do consistent package building without this tool? I constantly see people making silly mistakes when they package without pbuilder.
- heffer 12y ago
  A bit old but basically still valid for the most part: http://opensource.com/life/11/7/free-sake-story-koji http://opensource.com/life/11/7/free-sake-story-koji
- rwmj 12y ago
  Using "mock". https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Projects/Mock https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Projects/Mock Koji, mentioned in the sibling comment, is built on top of it.
zokier 12y ago
Does this utility require you to actually install the base system (with yum and all) to the target, or can you install only the requested packages with their dependencies? This is fairly important distinction when making minimal containers.
- dozzie 12y ago
  No, you don't need to install Yum, it's just defined in default suites. You'll also need to disable fix_rpmdb.py postinstall script, which is necessary to make Yum runnable from inside chroot. On the other hand, almost anything you would want to install will pull glibc, which is big package. But I suppose you could prepare trimmed down alternative and put it in additional repository. Seems doable.
stevekemp 12y ago
FWIW Rinse is still maintained, under new owners. I stopped maintaining it myself, along with xen-tools, a couple of years ago, but both projects have new owners and are active.
- dozzie 12y ago
  Thank you for comment. I need to update README to reflect reality.
andor 12y ago
yum itself can already install to chroots, so a tool like this shouldn't be necessary on yum-based distributions. https://plus.google.com/+LennartPoetteringTheOneAndOnly/posts/2HJAeRgtFBw https://plus.google.com/+LennartPoetteringTheOneAndOnly/post... http://rwmj.wordpress.com/2009/03/05/fedora-equivalent-of-debootstrap/ http://rwmj.wordpress.com/2009/03/05/fedora-equivalent-of-de...
- rwmj 12y ago
  Yup, this tool is completely unnecessary and overengineered. With yum it's a single command to install in a chroot (yum --installroot ...).

19 points by dozzie 12y ago

edwintorok 12y ago

how does this compare to 'rinse'?

dozzie 12y ago
* Easier to add packages to installation list (no need to track dependencies manually). * Allows multiple Yum repositories to be specified and used during bootstrapping. * RPM signatures checking. * Doesn't depend on repository mirror to list directory contents, so it makes less work with the mirror setup. * RPM spec already included, so yumbootstrap installs under Red Hat/CentOS.

rincebrain 12y ago

There used to be an rpmbootstrap-like tool for using on Xen RPM-based guests, though it was never as reliable as debootstrap in my experience. Nicely done, I'll have to try it.

stevekemp 12y ago
I suspect you're talking about rinse, which I wrote alongside xen-tools. It is still alive and well, under new maintainers: http://collab-maint.alioth.debian.org/rinse/ http://collab-maint.alioth.debian.org/rinse/

SEJeff 12y ago

FYI: https://github.com/libguestfs/febootstrap https://github.com/libguestfs/febootstrap

dozzie 12y ago
Yes, I've seen it. In old version (2.x) it could only install Fedora, in never version (3+, called supermin) it doesn't install chroot environments.
- rwmj 12y ago
  Try supermin 5, which has chroot support. How to use it is documented on this page (search for "chroot"). supermin 5 is widely available in Linux distros. http://rwmj.wordpress.com/2014/03/08/supermin-version-5/#content http://rwmj.wordpress.com/2014/03/08/supermin-version-5/#con...

viraptor 12y ago

I was seriously involved only in debian packaging, so could someone tell me - how did RH do consistent package building without this tool? I constantly see people making silly mistakes when they package without pbuilder.

heffer 12y ago
A bit old but basically still valid for the most part: http://opensource.com/life/11/7/free-sake-story-koji http://opensource.com/life/11/7/free-sake-story-koji
rwmj 12y ago
Using "mock". https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Projects/Mock https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Projects/Mock Koji, mentioned in the sibling comment, is built on top of it.

zokier 12y ago

Does this utility require you to actually install the base system (with yum and all) to the target, or can you install only the requested packages with their dependencies? This is fairly important distinction when making minimal containers.

dozzie 12y ago
No, you don't need to install Yum, it's just defined in default suites. You'll also need to disable fix_rpmdb.py postinstall script, which is necessary to make Yum runnable from inside chroot. On the other hand, almost anything you would want to install will pull glibc, which is big package. But I suppose you could prepare trimmed down alternative and put it in additional repository. Seems doable.

stevekemp 12y ago

FWIW Rinse is still maintained, under new owners. I stopped maintaining it myself, along with xen-tools, a couple of years ago, but both projects have new owners and are active.

dozzie 12y ago
Thank you for comment. I need to update README to reflect reality.

andor 12y ago

yum itself can already install to chroots, so a tool like this shouldn't be necessary on yum-based distributions. https://plus.google.com/+LennartPoetteringTheOneAndOnly/posts/2HJAeRgtFBw https://plus.google.com/+LennartPoetteringTheOneAndOnly/post... http://rwmj.wordpress.com/2009/03/05/fedora-equivalent-of-debootstrap/ http://rwmj.wordpress.com/2009/03/05/fedora-equivalent-of-de...

rwmj 12y ago
Yup, this tool is completely unnecessary and overengineered. With yum it's a single command to install in a chroot (yum --installroot ...).