TECHTIP:Precautions Using includeConfigFile

From rPath Wiki

Conary has a configuration directive, includeConfigFile, that allows a system to look to a different system for some of its configuration. This can be helpful for appliance products, allowing a vendor to adjust the configuration without having to push changes to deployed appliances.

Developers have two ways of adding includeConfigFile to the Conary configuration on appliances"

• Using the rPath Mirror URL in Advanced Options in rBuilder, a feature that was removed starting with rBuilder 3.1.5 and 4.0.0
• Packaging a custom configuration file to be placed in /etc/conary/config.d/ on the appliance

However, there are limitations to this configuration, especially with regards to deployed appliances that access the Internet by proxy. Because of such limitations, appliance developers should be cautious when using includeConfigFile and be sure that appliance testing includes updating the appliance over a proxy.

For appliances using Conary version 1.2.14 and earlier, use an alternative to includeConfigFile. One alternative is a wildcard repositoryMap configuration pointing to the publicly-facing Update Service where the appliance receives its updates (note the use of HTTPS):

repositoryMap * https://rus.example.com

For appliances using Conary version 1.2.15 and later, includeConfigFile better handles deployed appliances that access the Internet by proxy. As a result, the appliance can use includeConfigFile pointing to the Conary configuration on the publicly-facing Update Service where the appliance receives its updates:

includeConfigFile http://rus.example.com/conaryrc

Despite Conary's fix in 1.2.15, appliance developers should still test the deployment scenario for each appliance product, including network configurations such as proxies.

If you are using includeConfigFile for a configuration file from an rBuilder and have useInternalConaryProxy set to False will possibly result in 404 errors. Setting conaryProxy None in conaryrc will workaround the issue.

includeConfigFile accepts (Conary version 2.0.25 and above) ~/path syntax to substitute the current user's home directory. This should be done in a development context only and not for a deployed appliance.