The purpose of this lab is to update your Linux distribution with packages we will need for future labs. In the first lab, we installed the Mandrake 10.1 distribution of Linux, which comes with a set of available packages. During install, we chose some of those packages that we wished to include. However, it is still possible to add to our installation, either by installing additional packages off the CDs, or by downloading digitally signed packages from distribution sites on the web. This process may take some time, so you may wish to start it up and do something else in the mean time. Check back from time to time to see if the update process requires your attention.
We will update our system using the Mandrake update tool, called urpmi. This is a nifty tool that takes care of figuring out which packages are needed, downloads them from a distribution site of your choice, checks that they are digitally signed to be genuine, and installs them where they need to go in your system. Unfortunately, it is also a very complicated tool with many pieces and operational modes. We will only be using urpmi for a very limited purpose, and sticking to the recipes described below. Test out urpmi to add the linux kernel source code from CD3 (you will need to execute all the commands in this lab as the superuser):
$ uname -r $ urpmi --fuzzy 2.6.8.1-12mdk
Choosing a Distribution Source
Many of the files we need came on the distribution CDs. However, some files, including security updates that may have been released after the CDs were created, are not on the CD. We must tell urpmi where to look for them, by specifying a distribution source. Fortunately, there is a web site to help us do this. We want sources for contrib, main, and updates. If you follow the istructions on the Easy Urpmi page, using the default distribution site, you get the following three commands that need to be entered (you may wish to choose a different mirror site than the default):
$ urpmi.addmedia --update updates http://carroll.aset.psu.edu/pub/linux/distributions/mandrakelinux/official/updates/10.1/main_updates with media_info/hdlist.cz $ urpmi.addmedia main http://carroll.aset.psu.edu/pub/linux/distributions/mandrakelinux/official/10.1/i586/media/main with media_info/hdlist.cz $ urpmi.addmedia contrib http://carroll.aset.psu.edu/pub/linux/distributions/mandrakelinux/official/10.1/i586/media/contrib with media_info/hdlist.cz
Updating Mandrake 10.1
After the commands above, the download site information is stored in a configuration file. Now you can ask urpmi to download and install all the available updates. (This may take quite a while.) Answer y (yes) when it asks whether to install certain packages.
$ urpmi.update updates && urpmi --update --auto-select
Congratulations! You have now successfully updated your system software. We also want to expancd the distribution we got on the CDs by adding a few more packages.
$ urpmi libqt3-devel