RPMForge: Could not retrieve mirrorlist http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el5/en/mirrors-rpmforge error was [Errno 12] Timeout: urlopen error timed out

Earlier today I was having trouble on one of my development servers reaching the RPMForge repository which I use on CentOS Linux servers. I believe the issue to be some form of odd network issues either at the development servers location, on the repos end, or somewhere in between. Regardless of the issue at hand there is a work around that can be used which is described in more detail below.

RPMForge Errors Caused By Network Issue:

Work Around RPMForge Repository Network Issues:

Today when I experienced the network issues from the development server to the repository server to get the mirror list I was actually able to get to the mirror list in my browser from another location. This allows me to pull the latest repository list and then modify the rpmforge.repo file to use a local file instead of the network list of mirrors. Follow the directions below to modify the rpmforge mirror list from being obtained over the network to a file located in your /etc/yum.repos.d directory.

1. Modify rpmforge.repo: First edit the rpmforge.repo file which is located in the /etc/yum.repos.d/ directory. Below are example of the rpmforge.repo file before being modified followed by an example after it was modified.

   Before Modification: rpmforge.repo

   bash

   
   

   1. ### Name: RPMforge RPM Repository for Red Hat Enterprise 5 - dag
   2. ### URL: http://rpmforge.net/
   3. [rpmforge]
   4. name = Red Hat Enterprise $releasever - RPMforge.net - dag
   5. baseurl = http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el5/en/$basearch/rpmforge
   6. mirrorlist = http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el5/en/mirrors-rpmforge
   7. #mirrorlist = file:///etc/yum.repos.d/mirrors-rpmforge
   8. enabled = 1
   9. protect = 0
   10. gpgkey = file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-rpmforge-dag
   11. gpgcheck = 1

   After Modification: rpmforge.repo

   bash

   
   

   1. ### Name: RPMforge RPM Repository for Red Hat Enterprise 5 - dag
   2. ### URL: http://rpmforge.net/
   3. [rpmforge]
   4. name = Red Hat Enterprise $releasever - RPMforge.net - dag
   5. baseurl = http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el5/en/$basearch/rpmforge
   6. #mirrorlist = http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el5/en/mirrors-rpmforge
   7. mirrorlist = file:///etc/yum.repos.d/mirrors-rpmforge
   8. enabled = 1
   9. protect = 0
   10. gpgkey = file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-rpmforge-dag
   11. gpgcheck = 1

   Notice the only difference is the mirrorlist variable switches from a file obtained over the Internet to a local one.

2. Modify/Add mirrors-rpmforge: Now add the list of mirrors to the /etc/yum.repos.d directory by editing a file called mirrors-rpmforge. If you are able to obtain this list using a different source then do so and add the contents to /etc/yum.repos.d/mirrors-rpmforge. You should comment out the top line since the initial issue is caused by network issues to apt.sw.be.
   bash

   
   

   1. [root@corp yum.repos.d]# less mirrors-rpmforge
   2. #http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el5/en/$ARCH/rpmforge
   3. #outdated#http://archive.cs.uu.nl/mirror/dag.wieers/redhat/el5/en/$ARCH/rpmforge
   4. #outdated#http://ftp2.lcpe.uni-sofia.bg/freshrpms/pub/dag/redhat/el5/en/$ARCH/rpmforge
   5. #identical#http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/freshrpms/pub/dag/redhat/el5/en/$ARCH/rpmforge
   6. http://ftp-stud.fht-esslingen.de/dag/redhat/el5/en/$ARCH/rpmforge
   7. #outdated#http://mirror.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/mirror/dag/redhat/el5/en/$ARCH/rpmforge
   8. #outdated#http://mirrors.ircam.fr/pub/dag/redhat/el5/en/$ARCH/rpmforge
   9. #outdated#http://rh-mirror.linux.iastate.edu/pub/dag/redhat/el5/en/$ARCH/rpmforge
   10. http://fr2.rpmfind.net/linux/dag/redhat/el5/en/$ARCH/rpmforge
   11. #outdated#http://wftp.tu-chemnitz.de/pub/linux/dag/redhat/el5/en/$ARCH/rpmforge
   12. #outofsync#http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/apt.sw.be/redhat/el5/en/$ARCH/rpmforge

Now you should be able to update the list of available packages using the Yum Package Manager followed by installing whatever packages you prefer using one of the RPMForge mirrors.