Setting up a composite repository

A composite repository is one that is reference to one or more other repositories. It allows you to provide one repository to your end users, while being able to quickly and easily change what products and versions that repository includes. The Managed services Installation Manager Repository is set up to be a composite repository.

Product binary files reside in their own directory and have a master repository.config file that aggregates all of the product binary files. The advantage that this configuration has over a single repository is that you can more easily add or remove product binary files from the overall Installation Manager repository.

The composite repository has the following directory structure:

• /opt/ibm/docker/software-repo/var/swRepo/private/IMRepo/
• /opt/ibm/docker/software-repo/var/swRepo/private/IMRepo/repository.config
• /opt/ibm/docker/software-repo/var/swRepo/private/IMRepo/<product A>
• /opt/ibm/docker/software-repo/var/swRepo/private/IMRepo/<product B>
• /opt/ibm/docker/software-repo/var/swRepo/private/IMRepo/<product C>

The repository.config file resembles the following example:

#Thu Mar 09 21:59:57 UTC 2017
LayoutPolicyVersion=0.0.0.1
LayoutPolicy=Composite
repository.url.was9=./WAS9
repository.url.was855=./WAS8
repository.url.liberty=./Liberty
repository.url.jdk8=./jdk8
repository.url.imcl186fp1=./im186fp1