Third-Party and Private Software Sources
A third-party software source is a yum repository provided by an independent software vendor (ISV) or independent hardware vendor (IHV). A private software source is a yum repository provided by the customer. Both types can be used by Oracle Linux OCI and non-OCI instances.
When you add a third-party or private source to OS Management Hub, you provide the URL for the yum repository and identify the OS and architecture that it supports. You can enable GPG checking and provide the URI for GPG keys to verify package integrity.
You can choose to mirror third-party and private software sources to management stations. Mirroring of software sources to individual stations occurs when an association exists between a software source and a station. See Which software sources are mirrored?.
Repository URL and GPG Key
When you add a third-party or private software source, you supply the URL to the repository. You can also provide a GPG key URI to validate content when a package is installed. Instances using the third-party or private source need to be able to reach the repository URL and the GPG key URI. That doesn't mean all instances must reach the internet. URLs and URIs can be internal to your tenancy or data center.
If you've enabled mirroring for the source, management stations must be able to reach the repository URL to mirror packages. On-premises or third-party cloud instances then retrieve updates and packages from the management station and don't require direct access to the software source URL.
All managed instances must be able to reach the GPG URI when GPG checking is enabled.
- What is a GPG key?
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GPG stands for GNU Privacy Guard. It's an open source standard for encryption. For yum repositories, GPG keys are used to verify software when packages are installed. Use of GPG keys is a recommended security best practice. The key can be downloaded, or internally or externally hosted. See What is a URI?
- What is a URI?
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A URI is a Uniform Resource Identifier. It identifies a resource. In the case of a GPG key, the URI is the file location of the key. This could be locally on the system, on the internal network, or externally hosted at a URL (a subtype of URI). When adding the software source, OS Management Hub accepts
https://,http://, orfile://locations for the GPG key URI.
Supported Actions with Third-Party and Private Sources
OS Management Hub supports the core software source functions for third-party and private sources, including attaching and detaching sources, applying updates, and installing packages. The service doesn't collect metadata from third-party or private yum repositories which means some operations aren't available, such as viewing available packages.
You can install packages from third-party and private software sources by providing the package name or a package list. Packages available from third-party or private software sources don't appear in the available packages list for an instance. However, once installed, those packages display on the installed packages list and available updates list for an instance. Patches from third-party and private software sources are included in update jobs.
| Operation | Supported? |
|---|---|
| Add, modify, remove third-party and private sources from OS Management Hub | Yes |
| Include third-party and private sources in registration profiles | Yes |
| Mirror third-party and private sources to management stations | Yes |
| Browse or search for packages in third-party and private sources | No |
| Include third-party and private sources in custom and versioned custom sources | No |
| Attach and detach third-party and private sources for instances and groups | Yes |
| Install and remove packages from third-party and private sources for instances and groups | Yes |
| View and apply updates from third-party and private sources for instances and groups | Yes |
| Manage modules in third-party and private sources | No |
Third-party and private sources aren't supported in lifecycle environments.
Advanced YUM Repository Settings
When configuring a third-party or private source, you can provide advanced YUM directives. To learn more about advanced YUM directives, see the following resources:
- Oracle Linux 7: Yum Repository Configuration
- Oracle Linux 8 and 9: Editing Yum Repository Configuration Files
Or, see the dnf.conf(5) or yum.conf(5) man pages on an Oracle Linux system.