In most cases, software packages for Linux are stored in software repositories. After you add a software repository, you can use the package management tool provided by Linux to search for, install, and update software applications in the repository. This topic describes how to add software repositories to different Linux distributions. Alibaba Cloud software repositories are used in the following examples.

Background information

All users have free access to Alibaba Cloud software repositories, regardless of whether the users have Alibaba Cloud accounts. You can go to the Alibaba Open Source Image Site to obtain the software repository of your Linux distribution.

Add a software repository to a CentOS instance

A CentOS 7 instance is used in this example. Operations may vary based on the version of your operating system.

  1. Connect to a CentOS 7 instance. For more information, see Connection methods.
  2. Run the following command to back up the original Alibaba Cloud software repository: 
    sudo mv /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-Base.repo /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-Base.repo.backup
  3. Run one of the following commands to add the original software repository to the CentOS 7 instance: 
    • sudo wget -O /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-Base.repo http://mirrors.aliyun.com/repo/Centos-7.repo
    • sudo curl -o /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-Base.repo http://mirrors.aliyun.com/repo/Centos-7.repo
    Note
    • To view the instructions on how to add an Alibaba Cloud software repository to an instance that runs another version of CentOS, go to the Alibaba Open Source Image Site and click centos.
    • To add a software repository that is not from Alibaba Cloud, replace http://mirrors.aliyun.com/repo/Centos-7.repo in the preceding commands with the URL of the software repository that you want to add.
  4. Run the following command to generate a local cache for fast search and installation of software: 
    sudo yum clean all && sudo yum makecache
  5. Run the sudo yum repolist command to check whether the software repository is added.
    If the output shown in the following figure appears, the software repository is added to the CentOS 7 instance.

Add a software repository to an Ubuntu instance

An Ubuntu 18.04 instance is used in this example. Operations may vary based on the version of your operating system.

  1. Connect to an Ubuntu 18.04 instance. For more information, see Connection methods.
  2. Run the following command to back up the original Alibaba Cloud software repository: 
    sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.bakup
  3. Run the sudo vim /etc/apt/sources.list command to open the source.list file and add the following information to the file. For more information, see Use the Vim editor. 
    deb http://mirrors.cloud.aliyuncs.com/ubuntu/ bionic main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://mirrors.cloud.aliyuncs.com/ubuntu/ bionic main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://mirrors.cloud.aliyuncs.com/ubuntu/ bionic-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://mirrors.cloud.aliyuncs.com/ubuntu/ bionic-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://mirrors.cloud.aliyuncs.com/ubuntu/ bionic-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://mirrors.cloud.aliyuncs.com/ubuntu/ bionic-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://mirrors.cloud.aliyuncs.com/ubuntu/ bionic-proposed main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://mirrors.cloud.aliyuncs.com/ubuntu/ bionic-proposed main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://mirrors.cloud.aliyuncs.com/ubuntu/ bionic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://mirrors.cloud.aliyuncs.com/ubuntu/ bionic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
    Note
    • To view the instructions on how to add an Alibaba Cloud software repository to an instance that runs another version of Ubuntu, go to the Alibaba Open Source Image Site and click ubuntu. To add an Alibaba Cloud software repository to an ECS instance, replace http://mirrors.aliyun.com/ubuntu/ on the Help page with http://mirrors.cloud.aliyuncs.com/ubuntu. This helps reduce data transfer costs.
    • To add a software repository that is not from Alibaba Cloud, replace the URL on the Help page with the URL of the software repository that you want to add.
  4. Run the sudo apt-get update command to update the information about the software packages in the software repository.

Add a software repository to a Debian instance

A Debian 8.9 instance is used in this example. Operations may vary based on the version of your operating system.

  1. Connect to a Debian 8.9 instance. For more information, see Connection methods.
  2. Run the following command to back up the original Alibaba Cloud software repository: 
    sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.bakup
  3. Run the sudo vim/etc/apt/sources.list command to open the source.list file and add the following information to the file. For more information, see Use the Vim editor. 
    deb http://mirrors.cloud.aliyuncs.com/debian/ jessie main non-free contrib
deb http://mirrors.cloud.aliyuncs.com/debian/ jessie-proposed-updates main non-free contrib
deb-src http://mirrors.cloud.aliyuncs.com/debian/ jessie main non-free contrib
deb-src http://mirrors.cloud.aliyuncs.com/debian/ jessie-proposed-updates main non-free contrib
    Note
    • To view the instructions on how to add an Alibaba Cloud software repository to an instance that runs another version of Debian, go to the Alibaba Open Source Image Site and click debian. To add an Alibaba Cloud software repository to an ECS instance, replace http://mirrors.aliyun.com/debian/ on the Help page with http://mirrors.cloud.aliyuncs.com/debian/. This helps reduce data transfer costs.
    • To add a software repository that is not from Alibaba Cloud, replace the URL on the Help page with the URL of the software repository that you want to add.
  4. Run the sudo apt-get update command to update the information about the software packages in the software repository.

Add a software repository to a Fedora instance

  1. Connect to a Fedora instance. For more information, see Connection methods.
  2. Run the following command to back up the original Alibaba Cloud software repository: 
    sudo mv /etc/yum.repos.d/fedora.repo /etc/yum.repos.d/fedora.repo.backup
sudo mv /etc/yum.repos.d/fedora-updates.repo /etc/yum.repos.d/fedora-updates.repo.backup
  3. Run one of the following commands to add the original Fedora software repository of Alibaba Cloud to the Fedora instance: 
    • sudo wget -O /etc/yum.repos.d/fedora.repo http://mirrors.aliyun.com/repo/fedora.repo
    • sudo curl -o /etc/yum.repos.d/fedora.repo http://mirrors.aliyun.com/repo/fedora.repo
    Note To add a Fedora software repository that is not from Alibaba Cloud, replace http://mirrors.aliyun.com/repo/fedora.repo in the preceding commands with the URL of the software repository that you want to add.
  4. Run one of the following commands to add the Fedora-updates software repository of Alibaba Cloud to the Fedora instance: 
    • sudo wget -O /etc/yum.repos.d/fedora-updates.repo http://mirrors.aliyun.com/repo/fedora-updates.repo
    • sudo curl -o /etc/yum.repos.d/fedora-updates.repo http://mirrors.aliyun.com/repo/fedora-updates.repo
      Note To add a Fedora-updates software repository that is not from Alibaba Cloud, replace http://mirrors.aliyun.com/repo/fedora-updates.repo in the preceding commands with the URL of the repository that you want to add.
  5. Run the following command to generate a local cache: 
    sudo yum clean all && sudo yum makecache

What to do next

After you add a software repository, you can install software packages. For more information, see Install software packages.