Configure VMs to install RPM packages

This page describes configuring VMs to install RPM packages from an Artifact Registry Yum repository. Artifact Registry Yum repositories support yum and dnf clients.

Before you begin

If the target Yum repository does not exist, create a new repository. You can create a private repository or a public repository that does not require authentication.

Prepare a VM to access a Yum repository

To prepare a VM to access a Yum repository, use the yum or dnf client tool:

Configure a VM to access a standard Yum repository

To configure a VM to access a Yum repository, use the yum or dnf client tool:

1. Generate the VM configuration command by running the gcloud beta artifacts print-settings yum command:

   gcloud beta artifacts print-settings yum \
       --repository=REPOSITORY \
       --location=LOCATION
   

   Replace the following:

   • REPOSITORY is the name of the Artifact Registry repository.
   • LOCATION is the regional or multi-regional location of the repository.

   The output is similar to the following:

   # To configure your package manager with this repository:
   
   # Update Yum:
   sudo yum makecache
   
   # Install the Yum credential helper:
   sudo yum install yum-plugin-artifact-registry
   
   # Configure your VM to access Artifact Registry packages using the following
   # command:
   
   sudo tee -a /etc/yum.repos.d/artifact-registry.repo << EOL
   [REPOSITORY]
   name=REPOSITORY
   baseurl=https://LOCATION-yum.pkg.dev/projects/PROJECT/REPOSITORY
   enabled=1
   repo_gpgcheck=0
   gpgcheck=0
   EOL
   
   # Update Yum:
   sudo yum makecache
   

2. Configure the yum client tool to fetch packages from your repository using the tee command from the output of the print-settings command.

   For example, to install packages from the public my-repo in the project my-project and in the location us-west1, use the following command:

   sudo tee -a /etc/yum.repos.d/artifact-registry.repo << EOL
   [my-repo]
   name=My Repository
   baseurl=https://us-west1-yum.pkg.dev/projects/my-project/my-repo
   enabled=1
   repo_gpgcheck=0
   gpgcheck=0
   EOL
   

3. Update your repository sources with the following command:

   sudo yum makecache
   

Yum can now connect to the repository.

If you create additional Yum repositories, create a .repo file for each one in /etc/yum.repos.d/. Rerun sudo yum update to update repository sources.

Configure a VM to access a remote Yum repository

To configure a VM to only use a remote Yum repository instead of a standard upstream Yum repository, replace the standard repository in the VM's repository list with the remote repository.

If the standard repository is defined in the configuration file instead of a separate repository file (.repo) you can delete the entry in the configuration file and replace it with your remote, or define a new repository file in the /etc/yum.repos.d/ directory.

1. Go to the VM instances page.

2. In the row with your VM, click SSH. A new window opens with a terminal session on the VM.

3. Open the VM's /etc/yum.repos.d/ folder and find the appropriate repository file (.repo) that contains the standard upstream repository. This is sometimes referred to as the base repository. The base repository can be identified by the Yum repository name containing [base] or [baseos].

4. To replace the base repository completely, remove default settings under [base] or [baseos]. If you want to keep the standard upstream repository and add the remote repository as a fall-back option, then don't remove the default settings.

5. Add the following settings under [base] or [baseos]:

   name=YUM_REPOSITORY_NAME
   baseurl=https://LOCATION-yum.pkg.dev/remote/PROJECT_ID/REMOTE_REPOSITORY_NAME
   enabled=1
   gpgcheck=1
   

   Replace the following:

• YUM_REPOSITORY_NAME with a one word unique repository ID for your remote Yum repository. This name can match the upstream repository name if you have deleted the standard upstream repository configuration, or if you are keeping the standard upstream repository, then you can use a different name to identify it as a remote repository.
• LOCATION is the regional or multi-regional location of the repository.
• PROJECT_ID with the project ID of the VM.
• REMOTE_REPOSITORY_NAME with the human readable name of the remote repository.

Use a remote Yum repository as a backup

If you want to keep the standard upstream as the first option and add the remote repository as a fall-back option, you can keep the standard upstream in the repository file, and create a new repository file in the /etc/yum.repos.d folder.

To create a new repository file in the /etc/yum.repos.d folder, run the following command:

sudo tee -a /etc/yum.repos.d/artifact-registry.repo << EOF
[YUM_REPOSITORY_NAME]
name=REPOSITORY_NAME
baseurl=https://LOCATION-yum.pkg.dev/remote/PROJECT_ID/REMOTE_REPOSITORY_NAME
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1
EOF

Replace the following:

• YUM_REPOSITORY_NAME with a one word unique repository ID for your remote Yum repository.
• REPOSITORY_NAME with the human readable name of the repository.
• LOCATION with the regional or multi-regional location of the remote repository.
• PROJECT_ID with the project ID of the VM.
• REMOTE_REPOSITORY_NAME with the name you gave your remote repository.

For example, the following command configures the VM to fetch the repository my-repo in the project my-project and location us-west1 when Yum installs the repository my-repo.

sudo tee -a /etc/yum.repos.d/artifact-registry.repo << EOF
[my-repo]
name=My Repository
baseurl=https://us-west1-yum.pkg.dev/remote/my-project/my-repo
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1
EOF

What's next

• Learn about managing packages