rpmstrap 0.5.2

rpmstrap is a tool for bootstrapping a basic RPM-based system. rpmstrap package is inspired by debootstrap, and allows you to build chroots and basic systems from RPM sources.
At present rpmstrap can build basic Fedora Core 2, Fedora Core 3, Fedora Core 4, Yellowdog 4, CentOS 3, CentOS 4, Mandriva and Scientific Linux systems. It also has support for custom RPM-based systems managed by PDK.
The best way to answer this is to give a couple of quick examples of its usage:
- You are developing an application which you want to test on Fedora Core 3, but you are running Debian. Use rpmstrap to build a "heidelberg" chroot and you have a scratch Fedora Core 3 which you can test your application in.
- You are running Xen and wish to run a CentOS 4 virtual server, however you do not want to use the Anaconda installer. Use rpmstrap to bootstrap your virtual server.
- You have an application you wish to package cross-platform. You already have debootstrap for a Debian chroot, but you dont have any for Fedora Core 3 or CentOS 4. Use rpmstrap to build chroots for the two RPM distros in question and package your application inside them.
- You have a risky upgrade that could hose a production Fedora Core 2 server. You want to test the upgrade to make sure nothing will go wrong (and, if it does, you want to know how to fix it). Simply create a "tettnang" chroot using rpmstrap and configure it like your production Fedora Core 2 server. Perform your upgrade inside the chroot, using it as a guinea pig.
- You wish to install CentOS 4 across a network on a system you do not have physical access to but do have remote administrative access. SSH in, rpmstrap a CentOS 4 bootstrap into a mounted filesystem, set the new boot preferences, and reboot.
Usage:
Usage: rpmstrap [OPTION]... []
Bootstrap RPM-based systems.
--arch set the target architecture (use if no uname)
[ --arch x86_64 ]
--download-only download packages, but dont perform installation
--delay insert a friendly delay in seconds between each
attempt to download an RPM
[ --delay .5 ]
--local-source specify a local source directory for RPMS
[ --local-source /home/sam/rpm ]
--pdk-source=A,B specify a PDK workspace and component to pull RPMs
from
[ --pdk-source=workspace/path/,component.xml ]
--print-rpms print the packages to be installed, and exit
--unpack-tarball acquire .rpms from a tarball instead of http
--strip-path when unpacking from tarball, use the strip path
(See the texinfo document for tar)
--list-suites list the available suites this program knows
--suite-notes show the notes associated with a specific suite
--find-best-mirror find the best mirror (warning VERY slow, may be
better to just use a slow mirror ;-)
--try-mirrors instead of just using the default mirror, try
sequentially all of the mirrors in the event of
a failure
--force force installation of RPMs even if there are
errors
--ignorearch force installation of RPMs even if they are
for different architecture
--help display this help and exit
--include=A,B,C adds specified names to the list of base packages
--exclude=A,B,C removes specified packages from the list
--pre runs a script before the installation
[ --pre pre-install.sh ]
--post runs a script after the installation has completed
[ --post post-install.sh ]
--verbose run in verbose mode
Enhancements:
- This release updates the sl402, centos3, and centos4 suite scripts.
- It adds suite script migration utilities.
- It adds functionality for rpmstrap to act as an RPM upgrade utility.