How to fix yum install not valid release error on Centos 5

Question

When I try to yum install anything I get:

-bash-3.2# yum install strace
Loading "fastestmirror" plugin
Determining fastest mirrors
 * dag: apt.sw.be
 * lxlabsupdate: download.lxlabs.com
 * rpmforge: fr2.rpmfind.net
 * lxlabslxupdate: download.lxlabs.com
YumRepo Warning: not using ftp, http[s], or file for repos, skipping - 5.2 is not a valid release or hasnt been released yet
removing mirrorlist with no valid mirrors: //var/cache/yum/base/mirrorlist.txt
Error: Cannot find a valid baseurl for repo: base

In /etc/yum.repos.d I have files:

CentOS-Base.repo         CentOS-Media.repo  mirrors-rpmforge
CentOS-Base.repo.rpmnew  lxlabs.repo        rpmforge.repo

CentOS-Base.repo:

# CentOS-Base.repo
#
# This file uses a new mirrorlist system developed by Lance Davis for CentOS.
# The mirror system uses the connecting IP address of the client and the
# update status of each mirror to pick mirrors that are updated to and
# geographically close to the client.  You should use this for CentOS updates
# unless you are manually picking other mirrors.
#
# If the mirrorlist= does not work for you, as a fall back you can try the
# remarked out baseurl= line instead.
#
#

[base]
name=CentOS-$releasever - Base
mirrorlist=http://mirrorlist.centos.org/?release=5.2&arch=$basearch&repo=os
#baseurl=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/$releasever/os/$basearch/
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-5

#released updates
[updates]
name=CentOS-$releasever - Updates
mirrorlist=http://mirrorlist.centos.org/?release=5.2&arch=$basearch&repo=updates
#baseurl=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/$releasever/updates/$basearch/
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-5
#additional packages that may be useful

[extras]
name=CentOS-$releasever - Extras
mirrorlist=http://mirrorlist.centos.org/?release=5.2&arch=$basearch&repo=extras
#baseurl=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/$releasever/extras/$basearch/
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-5

[centosplus]
name=CentOS-$releasever - Plus
mirrorlist=http://mirrorlist.centos.org/?release=$releasever&arch=$basearch&rep$
#baseurl=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/$releasever/centosplus/$basearch/
gpgcheck=1
enabled=0
gpgkey=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-5

[dag]
name=Dag RPM Repository for Centos
baseurl=http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el$releasever/en/$basearch/dag

[addons]
name=CentOS-$releasever - Addons
mirrorlist=http://mirrorlist.centos.org/?release=5.2&arch=$basearch&repo=addons
#baseurl=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/$releasever/addons/$basearch/
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-5
enabled=1

How to fix it?

Solution 1

Change ?release=5.2 to ?release=5 in your .repo files.

Solution 2

The URL in the mirrorlist property in your CentOS-Base.repo file from /etc/yum.repos.d/ is defined wrong. It has hardcoded the release version number as 5.2 instead of 5. Rather than hardcoding the version number, I would recommend using the system provided variables in the URL as shown in your baseurl entries.

So you want something like this instead for each entry (keep the existing repo= value):

mirrorlist=http://mirrorlist.centos.org/?release=5.2&arch=$basearch&repo=os

Solution 3

Add a full release version number (e.g., '5') to the file '/etc/yum/vars/releasever'. You will likely need to create the directory '/etc/yum/vars/' as well. Doing so obviates the need to directly edit any repo files, and your customized value persists through package and OS upgrades; just remember to change the value appropriately (if you upgrade to a new OS version, etc.).

Comments

[Ophidian]

Please provide the file list for your /etc/yum.repos.d/ directory and the contents of the .repo file containing the base repo.

[Tom Smykowski]

@Ophidian I've added list of files at yum.repos.d and content of CentOS-Base.repo. Is it helpful?

[Ophidian]

Very helpful, I have updated my answer