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The DSM Explorer › Control Panel › Configuration Folder › Configuration Policy › Default Computer Policy (or User-Defined Policy) Node › Software Delivery Configuration Policies › Shared Policy Group › External Repositories

More Information

Manage the sources.list on the Target Computer

Define the External Debian Repository Details in CA ITCM

Install CA DSM Agent Add-on for Debian Mirror

Define the Mirror Synchronization Details

External Repositories

Manage the sources.list on the Target Computer

A sources.list file defines the list of distributions to search for a package on the target computer. The values in the Repository Name must match match with the Repository Name in the Registration.

Note: The specific distributions of native Debian packages that are installed on a target computers depends on the contents of the sources.list file residing on the target computer.

Note: The apt command uses the sources.list file to locate the repository for packages that you want to install.

Follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to Control Panel, Configuration, Configurations Policy.
  2. Create/edit a policy by navigating to DSM, Software Delivery, Shared, External Repositories, Debian, Sources.
  3. Provide the following details in the common configurations for distribution information:
    Repository Name

    Specifies the repository name.

    Note: If you select dynamic under repository assignment, do not specify the repository name.

    Repository Assignment

    Specifies the roam and move

    Dynamic

    Specifies that the repository assignment name is available in another configuration parameters. When the target computer roams/moves, the URI changes and the distribution remain the same. The management of the assigned distributions is separated from the physical locations of the mirrors.

    If the Repository Relation in Repository Table is MIRROR-Template, the host name is automatically obtained from the Dynamic Repository Repo parameter. If the repository relation is Master or MIRROR the host name is ignored.

    Example: /itrm/usd/shared/extrepo/deb/<paramater Name>

    Static

    Specifies that the repository name is available in the repository name column of the common configurations parameter.

    If the repository relation in repository table is either Master or Mirror, the sources.list automatically displays the values provided in the Repository table.

    SS

    If the Repository Relation is MIRROR-Template, the hostname will be that of the SS of the agent. If the repository relation is MASTER or MIRROR, the host name is ignored.

    Note: Verify that the repository name is available in the common configuration parameters.

    Distribution

    Specifies the distribution.

    Components

    Specifies the list of components.

    Note: Separate the components with a space.

    Repository Format

    Indicates the format of the Debian packages in the repository.

    Binary

    This is equivalent to "deb" in sources.list i.e.deb <URI> <DISTRIBUTIONS> <COMPONENTS>

    Source

    This is equivalent to "deb-src" in sources.list.

    Location: /itrm/usd/shared/extrepo/deb/Sources

Define the External Debian Repository Details in CA ITCM

Define the details of the external Debian repository that CA ITCM must connect to. CA ITCM uses this information to browse the repository, create mirrors, and deploy software packages.

Follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to Control Panel, Configuration, Configuration Policy.
  2. Right-click Default Configuration Policy and select Unseal.

    Note: The changed configuration policy must be applied to all the target computers. Hence, select the Default Configuration Policy.

    The policy becomes editable.

  3. Navigate to DSM, Software Delivery, Shared, External Repository, Debian and select Repositories on the right pane.
  4. Provide the following details for each repository that you want CA ITCM to connect to, in the Repositories table:
    Repository Name

    Specifies a unique repository name. You can specify any name but verify that the name is unique across the Repositories table.

    Repository Relation

    Specifies whether the repository is a master, mirror, or mirror template.

    Master

    Specifies that the repository is a master. A master repository is used while creating wrapper packages. CA ITCM cannot deploy native Debian packages directly. Create wrapper packages that include references to the native Debian packages and then deploy the wrapper packages.

    Following guidelines apply for master repositories:

    • Add at least one master repository to create and deploy Debian wrapper packages.
    • You can add multiple master repositories; however, you can create wrapper packages only from the first (alphabetically) available master.
    • You can configure different master repositories at the enterprise manager and domain manager level. A master repository can be an external Debian repository or another mirror repository that acts as a master for creating wrapper packages. For example, you have an external Debian repository co-located with the enterprise manager. You created mirrors of this repository on a Linux computer that is co-located with each of your domain managers. You can configure these mirrors as the master for the respective domain managers so that you can create wrapper packages from the mirrors co-located with your domain managers.
    Mirror

    Specifies that the repository is a mirror that is created from a master or another mirror.

    Mirror-Template

    Specifies that the mirror is only a template and not a physical repository. The mirror template is only a placeholder for multiple mirror repositories that have the same configuration. When you have numerous mirrors, you can create one mirror template per parent instead of creating a row each for all the mirrors. Mirror templates are used for software deployment and repository extraction but not for mirror synchronization. The host name of the computers hosting the mirrors is dynamically replaced at run time.

    Repository Type

    Specifies the repository type.

    Repository Method

    Specifies the transfer protocol that is used for transferring the packages from the repository to the target computers. Select HTTP, FTP depending on what you have configured. For more information about this configuration, see Setting Up FTP and HTTP Share for Software Packages and OS Images.

    Note: If the repository is a master and you want to browse the repository and create wrapper packages from it, configure the repository as an FTP share.

    Hostname

    Specifies the host name of the computer that hosts the repository. For mirror template repositories, do not specify the host name because the host name is dynamically provided at run time. Even if you specify, the host name is ignored for mirror templates.

    Root

    Specifies the root node of the repository.

  5. Repeat step 4 to add more repositories.
  6. Save and seal the policy. Verify that the policy is applied on all the target computers.

    The repositories information is updated on all target computers.

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Define the Mirror Synchronization Details

The synchronization job requires that you define the mirror synchronization details for each mirror repository. The job uses these details to synchronize the mirrors.

Follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to Control Panel, Configuration. Right-click Configuration Policy and select New Policy.

    You need a new policy for mirror synchronization so that you can apply the synchronization details only to the computers that host the mirrors.

  2. Navigate to DSM, Software Delivery, Shared, External Repositories, Debian and double-click Mirror Synchronization.
  3. Provide the following details for mirroring a repository in the mirror synchronization table:
    Parent Repository name

    Specifies the parent repository you want to mirror.

    Note: Verify that the parent repository name you specify in this field exactly matches the name specified in the Default Configuration Policy, DSM, Software Delivery, Shared, External Repositories, Debian, Repositories configuration table. If the names do not match, the synchronization job fails at run time.

    Distributions

    Specifies the list of the distributions from the selected repository that must be mirrored. You can specify more than one value by separating each value with a space.

    Components

    Specifies the list of the components from the selected repository that must be mirrored. You can specify more than one value by separating each value with a space.

    Architectures

    Specifies the list of the architectures from the selected repository that must be mirrored. You can specify more than one value by separating each value with a space.

    Location

    Specifies the location where you want to create the mirror repository.

    Note: Verify that this location is exposed as both HTTP and FTP shares. For more information about setting up HTTP and FTP shares, see Setting Up HTTP and FTP Share for Software Packages and OS Images.

    Additional Arguments

    Specifies the additional arguments that are used while launching the debmirror utility.

    Status

    Specifies whether you want to synchronize the mirror or not. If you are not using a mirror repository actively, you can disable the synchronization without deleting the mirror.

  4. Save and seal the policy. Apply the policy to computers that host the mirror repository.

    The mirror synchronization details are defined and the configuration is applied on the mirror computers.

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Install CA DSM Agent Add-on for Debian Mirror

Install the add-on package on computers that host the mirror repository. The add-on enables the computer for mirror synchronization.

Important! Mirror synchronization fails if you do not install the add-on package.

Follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to Software, Software Package Library, DSM Software Packages in DSM Explorer.
  2. Right-click the package CA DSM Agent add-on for Debian Mirror 1.0 and select Deploy.
  3. Follow the instructions in the wizard. Specify the following information in the wizard:
  4. Click Finish on the last page.

    A software job is created for each computer that you selected.

  5. Monitor the job status in All Computers, computer_name, Jobs, Software Jobs.

    When the job is completed, the job status changes to SW Installed.

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Manage the sources.list on the Target Computer

A sources.list file defines the list of distributions to search for a package on the target computer. The values in the Repository Name must match match with the Repository Name in the Registration.

Note: The specific distributions of native Debian packages that are installed on a target computers depends on the contents of the sources.list file residing on the target computer.

Note: The apt command uses the sources.list file to locate the repository for packages that you want to install.

Follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to Control Panel, Configuration, Configurations Policy.
  2. Create/edit a policy by navigating to DSM, Software Delivery, Shared, External Repositories, Debian, Sources.
  3. Provide the following details in the common configurations for distribution information:
    Repository Name

    Specifies the repository name.

    Note: If you select dynamic under repository assignment, do not specify the repository name.

    Repository Assignment

    Specifies the roam and move

    Dynamic

    Specifies that the repository assignment name is available in another configuration parameters. When the target computer roams/moves, the URI changes and the distribution remain the same. The management of the assigned distributions is separated from the physical locations of the mirrors.

    If the Repository Relation in Repository Table is MIRROR-Template, the host name is automatically obtained from the Dynamic Repository Repo parameter. If the repository relation is Master or MIRROR the host name is ignored.

    Example: /itrm/usd/shared/extrepo/deb/<paramater Name>

    Static

    Specifies that the repository name is available in the repository name column of the common configurations parameter.

    If the repository relation in repository table is either Master or Mirror, the sources.list automatically displays the values provided in the Repository table.

    SS

    If the Repository Relation is MIRROR-Template, the hostname will be that of the SS of the agent. If the repository relation is MASTER or MIRROR, the host name is ignored.

    Note: Verify that the repository name is available in the common configuration parameters.

    Distribution

    Specifies the distribution.

    Components

    Specifies the list of components.

    Note: Separate the components with a space.

    Repository Format

    Indicates the format of the Debian packages in the repository.

    Binary

    This is equivalent to "deb" in sources.list i.e.deb <URI> <DISTRIBUTIONS> <COMPONENTS>

    Source

    This is equivalent to "deb-src" in sources.list.

    Location: /itrm/usd/shared/extrepo/deb/Sources