Bug 255426 - Document why it is not possible to list packages on the pkg mirror website
Summary: Document why it is not possible to list packages on the pkg mirror website
Status: Open
Alias: None
Product: Documentation
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Website (show other bugs)
Version: Latest
Hardware: Any Any
: --- Affects Only Me
Assignee: freebsd-doc (Nobody)
URL:
Keywords: needs-patch
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2021-04-26 16:22 UTC by Mateusz Piotrowski
Modified: 2022-04-19 21:50 UTC (History)
4 users (show)

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Description Mateusz Piotrowski freebsd_committer freebsd_triage 2021-04-26 16:22:39 UTC 
In the past, we offered users a way to list and browse the packages available on the pkg mirror, e.g., at http://pkg.freebsd.org/FreeBSD:12:amd64/quarterly/All/.

Due to the cost of handling such requests, the site now returns 403 instead.

We should either present users with a static website explaining the change or at least document what happened in, e.g., FAQ.
Comment 1 Li-Wen Hsu freebsd_committer freebsd_triage 2021-04-26 16:55:59 UTC 
(In reply to Mateusz Piotrowski from comment #0)
Yes and I think it would be a good idea to create an index.html in those directories, and instruct people that the same information can be retrieved by downloading and parsing https://pkg.freebsd.org/FreeBSD:12:amd64/quarterly/packagesite.txz

I believe this need to slightly modify the pkg mirror scripts to put that static page. It may take a while to research how to do so (or asking one knows) but it is worthwhile to do so.
Comment 2 Pierre 2022-04-18 08:27:29 UTC 
Is this still current? I'd be interested to look into it.
Comment 3 Mateusz Piotrowski freebsd_committer freebsd_triage 2022-04-19 21:50:04 UTC 
(In reply to Pierre from comment #2)
I think it is still current, yes.