regen repodata

Script used to cause the events that will trigger a regeneration of repodata in satellite.

A link to download the script from the latest raw is available : http://bit.ly/regen-repodata

Usage info

Usage: regen-repodata.py -c channelname|-l|-a [-f]
 Requests to a satellite that a channel's repodata is regenerated
 satellite 5.3 requires that you use --db or --cleandb
 RHEL4 channels (and anterior) do not need their repodata to be generated to work.

Options:
  --version             show program's version number and exit
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -l, --list            List all channels and quit
  -c CHANNEL, --channel=CHANNEL
                        Label of the channel to querry regeneration for
  -a, --all             Causes a global regeneration instead of just one
                        channel

  Local options:
    Require to run the script directly on the satellite if used

    -f, --force         Forces the operation ; can only work if the script is
                        run on the satellite itself
    --db                Use the database instead of the api ; implies --force
    --cleandb           Get rid of the pending actions before adding the new
                        ones ; also deletes existing metadata stored in the
                        database for the channel(s) used (5.4.0+ only).
                        implies --db and --force.

  Connection options:
    Not required unless you want to bypass the details of ~/.satellite,
    .satellite or /etc/sysconfig/rhn/satellite or simply don't want to be
    asked the settings at run time

    --url=SATURL        URL of the satellite api, e.g.
                        https://satellite.example.com/rpc/api or
                        http://127.0.0.1/rpc/api ; can also be just the
                        hostname or ip of the satellite. Facultative.
    --user=SATUSER      username to use with the satellite. Should be admin of
                        the organization owning the channels. Faculative.
    --password=SATPWD   password of the user. Will be asked if not given and
                        not in the configuration file.
    --org=SATORG        name of the organization to use - design the section
                        of the config file to use. Facultative, defaults to
                        baseorg

NOTE : --db still requires access to the api to avoid adding channels that should not be generated (channels with no checksum type)

NOTE2 : it is possible to store the connection credentials in a configuration file : .satellite or ~/.satellite or /etc/sysconfig/rhn/satellite.

the format of the file should be

[default]
url=https://yoursatellitefqdn/RPC/API
[baseorg]
username=satellitelogin
password=satellitepassword

note that the content in [baseorg] isn't required ; if [default] is missing the configuration file will be ignored.

FAQ

Why use this rather than spacewalk-api

This script will refuse to queue in a job for a channel that can't have repodata generated for it. It will always use the api to check that the channels it is being asked to trigger the regeneration for have a checksum type associated to them. It also has the ability to remove other tasks from the database if incorrect requests are already in the database and can force the repodata regeneration, which can only be done either by inserting the request in the database a special way or by changing the date / removing the existing repodata.

Is this script required for normal usage?

No, not at all, satellite should regenerate the repodata as required - every single client request triggers the evaluation of whether or not the repodata should be regenerated. If using the script becomes part of your normal usage consider raising a bug, this script is meant to be used to save time in debugging repodata generation issues.