How to create a repository(not just custom) using your hard drive

Question

I don't know if many people know about this, so I am giving this a shot. There are three major articles on wiki.archlinux.org: Custom local repository,
Using a CD-ROM as a repository, and Offline Installation of Packages. These are available online through the WIKIs at archlinux.org.
I was first confused because when I was reading "Offline installation of packages", I didn't know what these ".db.tar.gz" files where. I came mainly from a Debian / Ubuntu
background (I actually tried many distros before this), so getting used to the way the repository works and no graphical install manager for it. However, I enjoyed a challenge and
I found out that these are database packages that contain descriptions and locations on where these files are located. The ones on the ftp server are already compiled. I don't know if,
however they are compiled with the most recent versions.
   With all that said, I thought you had to have it all in one directory in order for this to work, but as it turns out, location is not really an issue. I decided to have a directory reside on the root.
I chose root because it's only for the install of my own packages. I could have done it as a seperate user account, such as "repos" in PCLinuxOS (another distro I tried). I didn't want to have a seperate account for this. Therefore, I created "/root/repository". Within this directory I created directories for all repository archives. I basically did a "cd /mnt/dvd" and migrated to the particular repository directories. I would copy all the "pkg.tar.gz" files into their respective directories with "cp * ~/repository/<name-of-dir>". For intance, I started with the "core" directory, because there was some things I didn't install in the core directory during installation and if the packages needed it, it was there. This follows for the rest of the directories, such as "community", "testing", and "unstable", etc.You can go to the ftp mirrors to find out what directories are available. The main point is that your files should be in the format ".pkg.tar.gz". These are package files that get converted into a sort of database format that as I mentioned, informs the system the description and where the files are located, and so on.
   The command to perform this, is "tar -xvf /root/repository/core/core.db.tar.gz *.pkg.tar.gz". You can replace core with whatever repository you are adding. So, for example, "extra.db.tar.gz" would be in the "extra" directory. This information is located in the "Offline installation of packages".  The command to create this database is called, "repo-add".
The format for this command is "repo-add /path/to/dir.db.tar.gz *.pkg.tar.gz". So, if it's the core packages you would "cd ~/repository/core" and "repo-add core.db.tar.gz *.pkg.tar.gz".
  Then, you need to edit the "/etc/pacman.conf" configuration file for pacman. I basically would comment all out except for the repositories I need. So, for example "[core]" and "/etc/pacman.d/core" would tell where normally the servers are located for these files. This information is located int the "Custom local repository" article.using the "repo-add" command.
   Furthermore, I edited each server file located in "/etc/pacman.d/<repository>" where repository is core, extra, etc. I would perform,  "nano /etc/pacman.d/core" for example and comment out all servers. I then add a "local repository" by typing in "file:///root/repository/core", saved it, and then did a "pacman -Sy" to update the repository database. Now, I can do "pacman -S <package-name>" where package-name is whatever I wanted to install. Voila! Please let me know of any suggestions, questions, insights, or comments. I hope I'm not missing anything in this article. I do remember using "rm -rf * in the "/var/lib/pacman/<repository>"directories and using "tar xvf <repository>.db.tar.gz". I don't if that something to do with it, though. Be careful with the "rm -rf *" command, because you can erase your hard drive if you are not careful, for those who aren't informed.
P.S. Please note all these are done with the root user.

Answer 1

pressh wrote:
gradgrind wrote:
smitty wrote:pressh, I understand and appreciate your point of view... well taken! Are you implying that I should have written in steps, such as 1, 2, and 3? Also, should I have got ridden of the redundant information if it is contained in the Wiki article and / or  taken out the commands on how to apply them and left only with the explanation? Is this what you imply? Sorry if I seem redundant with these questions, but I'm curious so I can improve for the future. I am new to this and open to any suggestion and comments.
Maybe you could either edit the existing wiki pages where they were not clear to you, or else add a new wiki page, or both. Certainly give the whole a clearer (visual) structure, and (if they don't already exist) add links between the connected wiki pages.
Yes that is partly what I mean. Further you could get rid of the information that is not really needed to follow the guide (for example what the command 'repo-add' does. People could if they are interested look it up in the script itself, or you could add it here and link to it).
And yes a bit of structure would be nice. You don't have to nessesarily call it 1,2,3, as long as it has some kind of structure in it (the visual point is very important here). You could take a look at existing wiki pages on the web and see how most of them (not all of them are good of course) are structured.
That's a good point, too. How do I found out what articles are more effective? I am doing research on this particular matter at the moment and came across articles that have tips on technical writing. Could this help in the long run? Or, is it better to get feedback from other users and improve that way? In other words, do first, and ask later, as one user point out?