Available Repositories for CentOS
There are several repositories provided by CentOS and 3rd party developers that offer software packages that are not included in the default base and updates repositories. While the list below may not be 100% complete, it should be thorough, and provide a good working knowledge of what each repository offers. These repositories have varying levels of stability, support, and cooperation within the CentOS community.
Additional CentOS Provided Repositories
CentOSPlus (CentOSPlus) - This repository is for items that actually upgrade certain base CentOS components. This repo will change CentOS to not be exactly like the upstream providers content. The CentOS development team has tested every item in this repo, and they build and work with CentOS. They have not been tested by the upstream provider, and are not available in the upstream products. This repository is shipped with CentOS, but not enabled by default.
Popular packages from this repository include: postfix with database support, a rebuilt kernel with added drivers and filesystem support, php5 and mysql5.
CentOS Extras - This repository is for items that provide additional functionality to CentOS without breaking upstream compatibility or updating base components. The CentOS development team has tested every item in this repository, and they build and work with CentOS. They have not been tested by the upstream provider, and are not available in the upstream products. This repository is shipped with CentOS, and is enabled by default.
Popular packages from this repository include: The horde framework and packages, freenx, apt, XFCE, and yumex.
CS/GFS - This repository is a rebuild of the upstream provider's Cluster Suite and Global File System for CentOS-4, and supports the x86 and x86_64 architectures. The CentOS development team has tested every item in this repository, and they build and work under CentOS-4. This repository is not shipped with CentOS by default, although the repository config file can be found at http://mirror.centos.org/centos-4/4/csgfs/CentOS-csgfs.repo.
CentOS-Testing - This repository is a proving grounds for packages on their way to CentOSPlus and CentOS Extras. They may or may not replace core CentOS packages, and are not guaranteed to function properly. These packages build, and install, but are waiting for feedback from testers as to functionality and stability. Packages in this repository will come and go during the development period, so it should not be left enabled or used on production systems. This repository is intentionally not shipped with CentOS by default, although the repository config files can be found at:
CentOS 4: http://dev.centos.org/centos/4/CentOS-Testing.repo
CentOS 5: http://dev.centos.org/centos/5/CentOS-Testing.repo
CentOS-Fasttrack - This repository will contain Bugfix and Enhancement updates, issued from time to time, and between update sets that may be rolled into the next update set. See this Readme file for more details. This repository has a repository config file located here for CentOS-4.
3rd Party Repositories
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WARNING: These repositories are not provided nor supported by CentOS. If something from them breaks, you get to keep the pieces. |
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Note: You should seriously consider using the Priorities (or ProtectBase) yum plugin if you are going to use a 3rd Party Repository. (The Priorities and ProtectBase plugins both prevent 3rd party repos replacing base packages, but Priorities is much more flexible and therefore the recommended plugin.) |
RPMForge - This repository is a collaboration of Dag, Dries, and other packagers. They provide over 4000 packages for CentOS, including mplayer, xmms-mp3, and other popular media tools. You can find more information about rpmforge at http://rpmforge.net/ or read the instructions on Installing RPMForge
This repository is considered by many in the community to be stable and safe.
Request Tracker - This repository provides a yum based install for the popular request tracker ticketing system and its dependencies. This repository is available at http://campus.fct.unl.pt/paulomatos/rt/repository/3.4.x/rt-3.4.x.repo and the centos news article is at http://www.centos.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=114
Note: - If you are planning to use this repository and have ProtectBase configured for your base repositories, you need to "protect" this repository also, as it has to overwrite at least two packages from the base distribution (namely mod_perl). And it has some contents that would be overwritten by the rpmforge repository, if the rt repository isn't "protected".
Note: - If you are using this repository and the rpmforge repository and you don't have the Protectbase or Priorities plugin installed, you have to put the following exclude into your /etc/yum.repos.d/rpmforge.repo file:
exclude=perl-DBIx-SearchBuilder
Otherwise installation will complain about "Missing Dependency: perl(DBD::Oracle) is needed by package perl-DBIx-SearchBuilder."
KBS-Extras - This site provides a rebuild of Fedora Extras for CentOS, as well as number of other packages. This repository is available at http://centos.karan.org and has a reputation for being stable and safe.
kde-redhat.sf.net - This repository provides more recent (bleeding-edge) versions of KDE for use on redhat based systems. This repository has a decent reputation, and a sizable support community.
Note: - This will update MANY items to newer versions including all of KDE, QT, samba, etc. This seems to work OK on all machines I have tried, but your machine will be far from CentOS with many changes to the [Base] CentOS Operating System. Information concerning setup is available here: http://kde-redhat.sourceforge.net/
ATrpms - This repository provides many bleeding-edge applications and media utilities such as myth-tv. This repository is available at http://atrpms.net/
This repository has been reported to replace system packages and may cause stability issues. Use at your own risk. - this is only true for CentOS 4 and below.
The CentOS 5/RHEL 5 repository from atrpms.net is safe to use, if you only use the stable version. Packages in there do not overwrite system packages.
If you also enable testing and bleeding, you are on your own again - these two do overwrite system packages.
Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL) - This repository (See http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/EPEL) provides rebuilds of Fedora packages for EL4 and EL5. Install the appropriate epel-release for EL4 or epel-release for EL5 package to configure. This repo has made efforts not to replace system packages and in some cases has endeavored to directly address CentOS compatibility, but may not mix well with other 3rd party repos. So, make SURE you are using the Priorities yum plugin if you are using EPEL ... especially if you are using it with other 3rd party repos.
