Set up an HTTP Repository from RHEL DVD

RHEL can be installed from various different sources. One of them is over the network, from an HTTP accessible repository. Here's how to create such a repository:

  1. You will first need to install httpd from the RHEL DVD. See Install packages from RHEL DVD with yum on how to do that.

  2. After you have installed httpd, enable it and start it:

    chkconfig httpd on
    service httpd start
    

    At this point, you should be able to open http://localhost/ from the same system on which you are working.

  3. Create a directory for the repository:

    mkdir /var/www/html/rhel
    
  4. Copy all the files from the DVD to the repository. Assuming that either the DVD or the .iso image is mounted at /media/rhel:

    cp --recursive --archive /media/rhel/. /var/www/html/rhel/
    
  5. Change the SELinux context of the files in the repository:

    chcon --recursive --reference=/var/www/html/ /var/www/html/rhel/
    
  6. At this point the repository is only accessible from the system on which it runs, since iptables by default does not allow HTTP traffic from other hosts. To open this access, edit your /etc/sysconfig/iptables and add this line before the COMMIT command:

    -A INPUT -m state --state NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
    

    ...and reload the firewall:

    service iptables reload
    

    Alternatively, you can do from the command line:

    iptables -I INPUT -m state --state NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
    service iptables save
    

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