Package not found errors when running mgr-create-bootstrap-repo for Red Hat Expanded Support 6

This document (7018794) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Manager 3
SUSE Manager 2.1

Situation

Running the command:

mgr-create-bootstrap-repo

and selecting the distribution:

RES6-x86_64

results in the following errors being returned:

ERROR: package 'python-simplejson' not found
ERROR: package 'python-markupsafe' not found
ERROR: package 'python-babel' not found
If the installation media was imported into a custom channel, try to run again with --with-custom-channel option

Resolution

It is needed to create a custom channel for the SLES Expanded Support ISO.

As a first step, the ISO needs to be mounted in a specified location, and the change needs to be made persistent by for example adding the following to "/etc/fstab" (adjust as needed for the local environment):

/media/isos/SLES-ES-6.7-x86_64-DVD.iso /media/rhel6 auto loop 0 0

Mount the new mount point specified in "/etc/fstab" by executing:

mount -a

Now the custom channel needs to be created, this can be accomplished by using the web UI of SUSE Manager:

Channels, Manage Software Channels, Create Channel

Channel name, label and summary need to be entered using self-describing names, such as "RES x86_64 Server 6.7 ISO" and "res-x86_64-server-6.7-iso". It is also important not to forget to set "RHEL x86_64 server 6" as the parent channel. These are the mandatory fields.

After the channel has been created, it can be populated using the following example command (the names have to be adjusted according to the environment):

spacewalk-repo-sync -c res-x86_64-server-6.7-iso -u file:///path/to/rhel_iso_directory

Once the files have been mirrored, which may take a couple of hours, the command mgr-create-bootstrap-repo should then succeed. Note however that the option to include custom channels needs to be added as a parameter:

mgr-create-bootstrap-repo --with-custom-channels

Cause

Some new and additional packages are needed in the bootstrap repositories and those packages are not available in the repositories provided by SUSE, since only patches and/or updates are there. Packages without any updates are only available in the original ISO, which needs to be manually added as explained.

Additional Information

Note that it is considered "best-practice" to have an empty channel (with no packages) as parent channel, and mirror the ISO as a custom (and different) child channel.

Disclaimer

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