CentOS 8 Official Repository Removal: How to Fix Repository Issues and Continue Using CentOS 8

In January 2022, the CentOS team removed all CentOS 8 packages from their official mirrors. This decision left many users facing errors when attempting to update or install packages on CentOS 8 and CentOS 8 Stream. The changes affected the availability of the package repositories and impacted the stability and functionality of systems relying on CentOS 8. The main workaround to address this is to point your repository configuration to vault.centos.org, which now hosts these legacy packages.

In this article, we’ll explore why these changes were made, the impact on CentOS users, and provide a step-by-step guide to fixing these repository errors to ensure your CentOS system continues to function smoothly.

Why CentOS 8 Packages Were Removed from Official Mirrors

CentOS, which has been widely used by enterprises and developers as a stable operating system, transitioned from CentOS Linux to CentOS Stream—a move that shifted the project’s focus from a downstream, RHEL-compatible platform to an upstream, rolling-release model. This shift meant that CentOS Linux 8 reached its end of life much earlier than expected, in December 2021. As part of this change, the CentOS team also decided to remove CentOS 8 packages from their official mirrors in January 2022, consolidating them at the vault.centos.org archive instead.

Common Errors and Issues

After the removal of CentOS 8 packages, many users encountered errors when trying to update their systems or install new software. Common issues included:

• Unable to resolve mirrors: The yum or dnf package manager could not connect to the default mirrorlist, resulting in errors.
• Errors downloading metadata: For repositories like appstream, the metadata could not be retrieved, blocking further actions.
• Failed to download metadata: This error commonly appeared for the repository appstream and others, stopping the process in its tracks.

These issues stem from outdated URLs in CentOS 8’s repository configuration files, which still point to mirrors that no longer host the required packages.

Solution: Updating Repository Configuration to Use Vault.centos.org

To continue using CentOS 8 without interruptions, you can modify your repository configuration files to point to the archived repositories at vault.centos.org. Here’s a step-by-step guide to making these changes.

Step 1: Comment Out the Mirrorlist Line

1. Access your CentOS repository configuration files: These files are usually located in /etc/yum.repos.d/.

2. Comment out the mirrorlist directive: The mirrorlist directive in these files points to mirror.centos.org, which no longer hosts CentOS 8 packages. Commenting it out ensures that your system will ignore these now-defunct mirrors.

   Use the following command to comment out all mirrorlist lines in your repository files:

   
   sudo sed -i -e "s|mirrorlist=|#mirrorlist=|g" /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-*
   

   This command will go through each relevant repository file, adding a # character before the mirrorlist= line, effectively disabling it.

Step 2: Update the Base URL to Vault.centos.org

3. Duplicate and modify the baseurl line: After commenting out the mirrorlist, we need to add a new baseurl that points to vault.centos.org.

   Run this command to create a new baseurl line for each repository file and set it to the new location at vault.centos.org:

   
   sudo sed -i -e '/^#baseurl=http:\/\/mirror.centos.org/p;s|#baseurl=http://mirror.centos.org|baseurl=http://vault.centos.org|g' /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-*
   

   This command both duplicates and modifies the baseurl to reference the new archive location.

Step 3: Verify the Changes

4. Check the changes: To ensure that the edits were successful, you can verify one of the repository files. For example, check the AppStream repository file with:

   
   cat /etc/yum.repos.d/Appstream
   

   The output should show baseurl=http://vault.centos.org as the repository URL, confirming that the configuration has been updated.

Conclusion

By following the steps above, you’ll be able to continue using CentOS 8 by accessing packages from the vault archive. Although CentOS 8 has reached its end of life, this workaround keeps your system operational for a while longer. However, it’s highly recommended to consider transitioning to CentOS Stream or an alternative distribution, as CentOS 8 will no longer receive updates, including critical security patches.

With these configuration updates in place, you should see smoother performance and fewer interruptions on your CentOS 8 system. Enjoy your CentOS setup while it lasts!