How to use the Oracle Enterprise Linux installation media as the yum repository

If you are using Oracle Enterprise Linux (OEL) 5, the installation media comes with a yum repository on it. The repository is in the directory /media/Enterprise Linux dvd 20090127/Server/repodata for OEL 5.3 (the location may change).

It is possible to use that repository when installing new packages or components locally without accessing a remote repository or without having the need to copy the rpms to a local directory. If you did a base installation the yum package is already installed, if not you need to install it first. After yum is in place edit /etc/yum.conf to insert lines related to the repository on the installation media.


[main]
cachedir=/var/cache/yum
keepcache=0
debuglevel=2
logfile=/var/log/yum.log
distroverpkg=redhat-release
tolerant=1
exactarch=1
obsoletes=1
gpgcheck=1
plugins=1


# Note: yum-RHN-plugin doesn't honor this.
metadata_expire=1h


# Default.
# installonly_limit = 3


# PUT YOUR REPOS HERE OR IN separate files named file.repo
# in /etc/yum.repos.d
[local]
name="media"
baseurl=file:///media/Enterprise%20Linux%20dvd%2020090127/Server
enabled=1
gpgkey=file:///media/Enterprise%20Linux%20dvd%2020090127/RPM-GPG-KEY-oracle

You need to add only the last 5 lines, the other ones are already there.
After this you can use yum to add packages or components when needed. An example to install the oracle-validated rpm from this repository will be in my next post.