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Installing bcache-tools from Oracle Linux 9 Repository on Rocky Linux 9

#devops #linux #tooling #tutorial

When running Rocky Linux 9, you may want to install a package that is only available in Oracle Linux 9’s repositories — such as bcache-tools. However, enabling a whole external repository can cause compatibility issues if many packages are pulled in unintentionally. To avoid this, you can configure includepkgs so that only the desired package is allowed from the Oracle repository.

This article shows a minimal setup to safely install bcache-tools on Rocky Linux 9 using Oracle’s repositories.

Step 1: Import Oracle’s GPG Key

First, download and import the Oracle GPG key:

sudo rpm --import https://yum.oracle.com/RPM-GPG-KEY-oracle-ol9
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Step 2: Create a Repository File

Next, create a repo file that points to Oracle Linux 9’s BaseOS repository. Use includepkgs to allow only bcache-tools:

sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/ol9-oracle.repo > /dev/null <<'EOF'
[ol9-baseos]
name=Oracle Linux 9 BaseOS Latest ($basearch)
baseurl=https://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL9/baseos/latest/$basearch/
gpgcheck=1
enabled=1
includepkgs=bcache-tools
EOF
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Key points:

  • includepkgs=bcache-tools ensures only that package can be installed from this repo.
  • You can list multiple packages separated by commas, e.g. includepkgs=pkg1,pkg2.
  • Using enabled=1 is fine since the filter prevents other packages from being pulled in. If you prefer, set enabled=0 and enable it only when needed with --enablerepo.

Step 4: Install bcache-tools

Finally, install the package:

sudo dnf install bcache-tools
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Thanks to includepkgs, only bcache-tools (and any explicitly listed dependencies) will be pulled from Oracle’s repo.

Notes and Caveats

  • includepkgs is a per-repo filter and does not affect other repositories.
  • If bcache-tools depends on packages that Rocky does not provide, you must add those to the includepkgs list as well.
  • Use dnf --downloadonly or repoquery to inspect what will be installed before proceeding.
  • Remember that bcache also requires kernel support. Installing bcache-tools alone is not sufficient if your kernel does not have bcache enabled.

✅ With this method, you can safely use Oracle Linux’s repository on Rocky Linux to install just bcache-tools — without risking unintentional system-wide package replacements.

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