Frequently Asked Questions

Here you can find answers to Frequently Asked Questions. Bear with me as I update and
improve this page.
A. General Information
1. What is the Dag RPM Repository ?
2. What distributions and architectures are supported ?
3. Why should I use RPMforge repositories ?
4. How can we thank ?
B. Installation and Configuration
1. How to use this repository ?
2. How to configure to use RPMforge ?
3. How do I use Apt ?
4. How do I use Yum ?
5. How do I use up2date ?
C. Giving Feedback
1. Where can I report problems or improvements ?
2. Where can I discuss about these packages ?
3. Where can I contribute packages ?
D. Compatibility and mixing repositories
1. What about compatibility with Fedora ?
2. What repositories can I mix ?
E. Rebuilding Packages
1. How to rebuild packages ?
2. How to rebuild kernel-module packages ?
Z. Miscellaneous Items
1. Why are packages now tagged 'rf' ?
A. General Information
A1. What is the Dag RPM Repository ?
It grew out of my personal collection of RPMs, after discovering apt for RPM and the
FreshRPMS repository of Matthias Saou, I ended up opening up my own packages and
packaging a whole lot more. Since 2005 we've merged our repositories, provided packages for
several Red Hat based distributions and a handful of architectures.

The new RPMforge.net project is now working towards providing a better infrastructure and
tools to allow more people to help out and expanding our list of supported distributions. We hope
to integrate other packagers work and get rid of duplicated efforts and resources (bug-reports,
patches, developer time and knowledge).
• Current packagers:
 Matthias Saou, Dag Wieers and Dries Verachtert
• Supported distributions:
Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Fedora Core, Red Hat Linux
Yellow Dog Linux, Aurora Linux
CentOS, Scientific Linux, TaoLinux, WhiteBox Linux, Lineox
BLAG
• Supported/tested architectures:
i386, x86_64, alpha, ppc, sparc

A2. What distributions and architectures are supported ?

Here's a small overview with the total numbers, the number of packages per distribution and per
architecture.
Total number of all (S)RPM packages: 95119
Number of unique RPM packages: 52157 (distro-sum)
Number of unique RPM packages: 4912 (distro-independent)
Number of unique source packages: 4066
Supported #pkgs - i386 #pkgs - x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Tikanga 4060 3950

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Nahant 4242 4086
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Taroon 4138 3813
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 Pensacola 3147
Red Hat Linux 9 Shrike 4128
Red Hat Linux 7.3 Valhalla 3401

Supported by Dries

Fedora Core Linux 8 -

Fedora Core Linux 7 -
Fedora Core Linux 6 Zod
Fedora Core Linux 5 Bordeaux
Fedora Core Linux 4 Stentz

Unsupported

Fedora Core Linux 3 Heidelberg 3136 2947

Fedora Core Linux 2 Tettnang 3181 2950
Fedora Core Linux 1 Yarrow 3185

Red Hat Linux 8.0 Psyche 1404

Red Hat Linux 6.2 Zoot 389
Please note that I invest my time into Red Hat's enterprise products. (Enterprise Linux) and
compatible distributions like CentOS. Although I try to make sure older releases work too they
are basicly a free extra of my buildsystem. They may have not been tested as thoroughly, but
have no known issues. Please report any issue or improvement you have.

In the future I may end supporting RH7.3 and RH9. At the moment I have not made any
decisions yet, it's all about how I use my resources. If you interested to continue support for
RH62, RH80, FC1, FC2 or FC3 please contact me.

A3. Why should I use RPMforge repositories ?

There are many good repositories that you can use. Here are some advantages to our repositories:
• We don't replace base libraries or important core packages for repositories that are not
EOL.
• Everything we do is open, you can download the SPEC files, you can see what we
changed, you can rebuild it yourself.
• Report your problems, and we will fix them as soon as possible. Send us your bugfixes
and we fix them instantly.
• We communicate with developers directly and try to have things fixed upstream.
• If you experience repository conflicts, we'll work with other repositories to fix them
(when possible).
• We already have a huge userbase that is testing and providing improvements and
bugfixes.
• We provide packages for a variety of distributions and architectures, each of these
userbases are providing us with useful feedback.
A4. How can we thank ?
This is no longer a one person effort, so depending on why you are thankful you may have to
address another person :)

In general there are several ways to thank us and help the project.
• By sending us feedback and improvements, see C1
• By helping other users on the mailinglist
• By sending us a small thank you mail, that's always appreciated :)
• By sending us a little present:
○ Ask Matthias
○ Dag's Wishlist
○ Dries' Wishlist
B. Installation and Configuration
B1. How to use this repository ?
Most people use this RPM repository together with a tool that allows to automatically download
an install RPM packages and resolve dependencies. You have the choice of different tools, like
Apt, Smart, Yum, up2date or Red Carpet.
However if you occassionally want to download something, we've made sure the packages are
tagged with a proper distribution-tag so you can easily pick the right package for your
distribution from the packages directory. The directory listing will also indicate the distribution.

The packages are all signed with this GPG key.

B2. How to configure to use RPMforge ?

It's very easy. Just install the latest rpmforge-release package for your distribution and
architecture.

This will automatically install the configuration and GPG keys that are for safely installing
RPMforge packages.

Please select the correct command from the following list:

Supported
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 / i386:
rpm -Uhv http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el5/en/i386/rpmforge/RPMS/rpmforge-release-0.3.6-
1.el5.rf.i386.rpm
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 / x86_64:
rpm -Uhv http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el5/en/x86_64/rpmforge/RPMS//rpmforge-release-
0.3.6-1.el5.rf.x86_64.rpm
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 / i386:
rpm -Uhv http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el4/en/i386/rpmforge/RPMS/rpmforge-release-0.3.6-
1.el4.rf.i386.rpm
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 / x86_64:
rpm -Uhv http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el4/en/x86_64/rpmforge/RPMS/rpmforge-release-0.3.6-
1.el4.rf.x86_64.rpm
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 / i386:
rpm -Uhv http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el3/en/i386/rpmforge/RPMS/rpmforge-release-0.3.6-
1.el3.rf.i386.rpm
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 / x86_64:
rpm -Uhv http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el3/en/x86_64/rpmforge/RPMS/rpmforge-release-0.3.6-
1.el3.rf.x86_64.rpm
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2 / i386:
rpm -Uhv http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el2.1/en/i386/rpmforge/RPMS/rpmforge-release-0.3.6-
1.el2.rf.i386.rpm
• Red Hat Linux 9 / i386:
rpm -Uhv http://apt.sw.be/redhat/9/en/i386/rpmforge/RPMS/rpmforge-release-0.3.6-
1.rh9.rf.i386.rpm
• Red Hat Linux 7.3 / i386:
 rpm -Uhv http://apt.sw.be/redhat/8.0/en/i386/rpmforge/RPMS/rpmforge-release-0.3.6-
1.rh7.rf.i386.rpm
B3. How do I use Apt ?
Apt originally was developed by the Debian project to work together with DEB packages. Since
there are not many functional differences between RPM and DEB packages, Conectiva ported
Apt to use RPM.

To install Apt, download the latest package for your distribution from:
http://dag.wieers.com/packages/apt/. The configuration of Apt is inside the rpmforge-release
package.

If you've done that, the rest is simple. Update the local repository meta-data by doing:
apt-get update
You can upgrade your system with the latest packages with:
apt-get upgrade
And finally you can add new software by typing:
apt-get install <name of package>
Or search for software in the local repository meta-data:
apt-cache search <keyword> apt-cache show <name of package>
From time to time you may want to save some diskspace:
apt-get clean
Remember to update your local repository often before upgrading or installing software, so
that you can enjoy the latest and greatest.

Some people rather use a graphical program to select and install packages. Apt has a nifty
graphical front-end, called Synaptic. You can install it by doing:
apt-get install synaptic
Or download it from: http://dag.wieers.com/packages/synaptic/

B4. How do I use Yum ?

Yum is an update-tool written in python. The advantage of Yum is that it is written in Python.
The disadvantage is that there are many versions of Yum, and only recent versions work with
recent distributions. If you like to use a single tool across all distributions, it's better to use Apt.

Yum is usually already installed if you're running Fedora Core. In case you are using Red Hat
Enterprise Linux or an older Red Hat Linux distribution. You can find Yum at:
http://dag.wieers.com/packages/yum/

The configuration of Yum is inside the rpmforge-release package. You need to install it yourself.

If you've done that, the rest is simple. Upgrade your system by doing:
yum update
You can add new software by typing:
yum install <name of package>
Or update installed software:
yum update <name of package>
Or search for software in the local repository meta-data:
yum search <keyword>
Or simply list all available software:
yum list available
From time to time you may want to save some diskspace:
yum clean

B5. How do I use up2date ?

up2date is a tool written and shipped by Red Hat to update your system with the latest available
updates. Starting with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 and Fedora Core 1 it can also be used with
Apt and Yum repositories. Install up2date from your Red Hat installation and then add one of the
following statements to /etc/sysconfig/rhn/sources:
### Dag RPM Repository for Fedora Core yum dag http://apt.sw.be/fedora/3/en/$ARCH/dag
yum dag http://apt.sw.be/fedora/2/en/$ARCH/dag yum dag
http://apt.sw.be/fedora/1/en/$ARCH/dag ### Dag RPM Repository for Red Hat Enterprise Linux
yum dag http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el4/en/$ARCH/dag yum dag
http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el3/en/$ARCH/dag
Now start up2date to update your system, by doing:
up2date -u

C. Giving feedback
C1. Where can I report problems or improvements ?
You can send problem reports or improvements to any of my packages to: dag@wieers.com.

To lower the burden of my workload, I would appreciate if you could:

• Investigate into the problem, or think about a good implementation for your improvement
and send me and analysis of your findings. This will greatly speed up a fixed/new
package.
• Look at the scripts/config files and documentation that ship with the package, you can do
that using:
rpm -qc <package>
resp.
rpm -qd <package>
In most cases a solution may be at hand without needing my help.
• Check if I'm the packager. In some cases I'm not the authority of a package. In that case,
address your mail to the real packager and include me as a recipient.
 • Think about whether this is a packaging problem or a problem with the software.
○ If it is a software problem/suggestion, talk directly to the developers. Point them
at the public buildlogs and the SPEC files so that they can analyse the problem
much faster.
○ If it is a packaging problem, let me know how I can fix it.
○ If you're unsure, mail the developers and include me too. Address only one of us
so that there is no confusion about who's in charge.
You can find contact information, buildlogs and the SPEC file in the matching package-
directory.
C2. Where can I discuss about these packages ?
If you have a general question, a compatibility problem or want to discuss something with other
users, you can post on the RPMforge users mailinglist.

C3. Where can I contribute packages ?

If you have made packages yourself, but want them to be part of the RPMforge repository, please
send a mail to the RPMforge suggest mailinglist. And add a reference to the source RPM or
SPEC file. Also state if you want to maintain this package in the future or not.

If you are interested to help out in the development of packages or follow the discussions, you
can join the RPMforge packagers mailinglist and join the RPMforge svn-commits mailinglist

D. Compatibility and mixing repositories

D1. What about compatibility with Fedora ?
My Fedora repository is designed to work 100% with the Fedora Core packages. You should
have no problems applying these packages to Fedora Core. If you do find a problem, please let
me know asap so that I can look into it.

Beware that this repository is not compatible with fedora.us or livna.org. I would like to be
compatible with these repositories, but they have a policy to not work together with other
repositories. Compatibility works in 2 directions and if one party is refusing to care, it's
impossible to make it work. I still hope fedora.us and livna.org change their minds and drop this
policy. In the meantime I advise you not to use these 2 repositories.

One of the many examples is that they introduce new packages that already existed in my
repository for 2 years. Sadly, they then use other package names so that it clashes with my
already available packages. In many cases it is hard or even impossible to work around that. With
other repositories we care about such clashes and discuss and prevent this from happening.
Other repositories are willing to fix inter-repository compatibility, fedora.us and livna.org
are not.

Other reasons for not choosing fedora.us packages: only i386 is supported (no x86_64, pcc, sparc
or alpha packages), only Fedora Core packages are provided (no support for RHEL, Yellow Dog,
Aurora, SuSE), no open development or publicized SPEC files (following development is very
hard), only resulting source RPMs are availble.

D2. What repositories can I mix ?

Most repositories should already work well together. If you do find a problem, the best thing to
get this fixed is by reporting this to both repository maintainers. If it is a genuine problem, it will
be fixed promptly.

The repositories I mix myself are: FreshRPMS, Dries, NewRPMS and PlanetCCRMA.

FreshRPMS, PlanetCCRMA, Dries and DAG (RPMforge.net) build their packages together from
the same sources. This ensures much greater cooperation and compatibility and will eventually
lead to a merger. If you are a skilled packager and interested to join, don't hesitate to
contact us.
E. Rebuilding Packages
E1. How to rebuild packages ?
The best way to rebuild these packages for a distribution is to specify what distribution you're
building for. RPM has no knowledge in what distribution it is operating and therefor we rely on
the rebuilder to tell it:
rpmbuild --rebuild --define 'dist fc2' package.src.rpm
The following keywords are allowed: rh6, rh7, rh8, rh9, el2, el3, el4, fc1, fc2, fc3, yd2, yd3, yd4

In some occasions we allow to add or remove features. look inside the SPEC file for more
details.
rpmbuild --rebuild --with mysql --without db3 package.src.rpm

E2. How to rebuild kernel-module packages ?

When rebuilding kernel-module packages, it is important to have the correct build environment
set up. You need to have the kernel-source package installed. If you have several kernel-source
packages installed, you have to tell rpmbuild which one to use:
rpmbuild --rebuild --define 'kernel 2.4.21-15.0.4.EL' package.src.rpm
If you don't do this, rpmbuild may take the last one that rpm -q returns.

If you're simply rebuilding against the current kernel, this should suffice:
rpmbuild --rebuild --define 'kernel $(uname -r)' --target $(uname -m) package.src.rpm
Z. Miscellaneous Items
Z1. Why are packages now tagged 'rf' ?
Since February 2004 I've been merging my packages with FreshRPMS and Dries. Since our aim
is to merge our packages, we decided as a next step to tag our packages alike. This common
repotag will indicate that the packages are build from a common repository.

The rf repotag is short for RPMforge, which is the name of the new project.