Yum on FC1 not updating some pkgs.
 

I'm having problems with Yum not updating certain packages. When I run "yum update" I expect yum to go to the repository that I have specified in my yum.conf file, find any new packages, and upgrade them as needed. This always works fine on a new Fedora install, but then it seems to not do much after that. I expect that rpms containing new versions of software would be maintained in the repository. The machines I work with need to have every single relevant security patch available within 24 hours. So I run yum, and then the next day I scan the machines with Nessus, and it turns out they have several vulnerabilities, namely old versions of Apache, PHP, and sshd. It's as if the repository is frozen in time 6 months ago. I even make sure to specify an "updates" line in yum.conf. Same story, no updates seem to ever happen. Additionally, I would think that yum would update the kernel too. I can type "yum upgrade kernel" and it just tells me there's nothing to be done. I feel like there's something I'm missing that is pretty obvious to the rest of you gurus, but I'm just not getting it. I've read the man file, and spent quite a while online searching for clues. Can someone point me in the right direction? I sincerely appreciate your time and help.

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[main]
cachedir=/var/cache/yum
debuglevel=2
logfile=/var/log/yum.log
pkgpolicy=newest
distroverpkg=fedora-release
tolerant=1
exactarch=1
retries=20

[base]
name=Fedora Core $releasever - $basearch - Base
baseurl=mirrors.kernel.org/fedora/core/$releasever/$basearch/os

[updates-released]
name=Fedora Core $releasever - $basearch - Released Updates
baseurl=mirrors.kernel.org/fedora/core/updates/$releasever/$basearch

[updates-testing]
name=Fedora Core $releasever - $basearch - Unreleased Updates
yum updates-released mirrors.kernel.org/fedora/core/updates/1/i386

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(I had to remove the h t t p : / / from my conf lines above as this is my first post.)

have you looked at the repositories from which you are trying to update?

http://mirrors.kernel.org/fedora/cor...s/Fedora/RPMS/

-- i assume your exaggerating when you say they're out of date by 6 months, but they are a couple minor builds behind.

and in regards to kernels --
scroll halfway down and you'll see there are many choices for kernels. Not only are there different popular versions (2.4.x, 2.6.x), each kernel can be custom built according to projected system requirements. look to kernel.org for further reading.

Acutally, there are no 2.6 kernels available there. Also, all the files have "last modified" dates back in 2003. Does this literally mean that the files were put there last year and haven't been updated since? That's how it appears to me.

Is the problem that I'm not using a very up-to-date repository?

you've stumbled upon exactly what i was getting at....

two things here:
FC will build the best kernels to be in sync with its system. if you need a custom kernel, you should compile it yourself.

being up-to-date by FC standards is always a little behind. i don't know who maintains things, but some people do, and by the time they've built and posted an rpm, there's usually another update on the software. That's probably pretty common to repositories, though i've never really looked into these things.

i am lazy myself, and not paranoid about the security of my home systems. I feel that the only way to stay exactly current is to compile everything from source, and to maintain that on a system would be extremely cumbersome without some kind of program. I have accepted my mediocrity!