1.2.3 Synchronizing Software Channels

The software described in this documentation is either no longer supported or is in extended support.
Oracle recommends that you upgrade to a current supported release.

1.2.3 Synchronizing Software Channels

Once you have configured the software channels, you can synchronize the software either by performing an immediate manual synchronization or by scheduling a recurring synchronization job.

As a minimum, Oracle recommends that you update the Oracle Linux latest channels daily.

The initial synchronization of the Oracle Linux channels can take several days to complete. Oracle recommends that you perform an initial manual synchronization to populate the channels, and then configure a recurring job to keep them updated.

Synchronizing Software Channels Using the Spacewalk Web Interface

Go to Channels, then Manage Software Channels, and select the required channel.
Select Repositories, and then Sync.
Synchronize the software.
To perform an immediate manual synchronization, click the Sync Now button.
To schedule a recurring synchronization job, select the preferred schedule, and click the Schedule button.

Synchronizing Software Channels Using the Command Line

Use the spacewalk-repo-sync tool to synchronize software channels. You must be root to use this tool. You can run the tool manually or in a cron job. If you run the tool in a cron job, remember to include the -q or --quiet option. For more information , see the spacewalk-repo-sync(8) manual page.

The -p option allows you to synchronize a parent channel and all of its children in one operation:

# spacewalk-repo-sync -p parent_channel

For example:

# spacewalk-repo-sync -p oraclelinux7-x86_64

If you additionally specify the --latest option, the server synchronizes only the latest packages that are available.

 spacewalk-repo-sync -p oraclelinux7-x86_64 --latest

To synchronize a single channel to which a repository has been assigned, use the -c option to specify the channel:

# spacewalk-repo-sync -p channel

You can also use the --latest option here as well, for example:

# spacewalk-repo-sync -p oraclelinux7-x86_64-uek-r4 --latest

To synchronize a channel with a specified ULN repository:

# spacewalk-repo-sync -c <Spacewalk channel label> -u uln:///<ULN channel label>

For example:

# spacewalk-repo-sync -c oraclelinux6_x86_64_latest -u uln:///ol6_x86_64_latest

To synchronize a channel with a specified Oracle Linux yum server repository:

# spacewalk-repo-sync -c <Spacewalk channel label> -u http://<repo URL>

For example:

# spacewalk-repo-sync -c oraclelinux6_x86_64_latest \
  -u https://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL6/latest/x86_64/ \