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Bug 20469 - x86 install instructions for use of proxy cause problems with emerge / portage
Summary: x86 install instructions for use of proxy cause problems with emerge / portage
Status: RESOLVED FIXED
Alias: None
Product: [OLD] Docs-user
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Gentoo Linux x86 Installation Guide (show other bugs)
Hardware: x86 Linux
: High normal (vote)
Assignee: Sven Vermeulen (RETIRED)
URL: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/gentoo-x...
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2003-05-05 06:51 UTC by Jeff Hayes
Modified: 2003-05-08 03:00 UTC (History)
0 users

See Also:
Package list:
Runtime testing required: ---


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Description Jeff Hayes 2003-05-05 06:51:25 UTC
Following the web page instructions verbatim for a Stage 3 install onto a
Pentium I MMX machine I ran into problems using emerge.
Probelm 1 - Stage 4 "Maybe it Just Works" should advise people to check the
content of the /etc/resolve.conf file. In my case I have a hardware Cable Modem
+ router + ethernet hub that does DHCP and NAT for me. This means that the
automatic network configuration attempt worked .. but did not create a
completely useful resolve.conf for me. It was missing the domain name and had an
unexplained line, like this:

nameserver 192.168.2.1
search Jartisan

Jartiasn is my local workgroup which was probably detected from the MS network
machines running Windows 2K and Windows 98 on this home network

I hand edited the file to have a first line of "domain pandora.be" so that it
would know where it was.

Problem 2 - Proxy was not necessary!
Listing 4.8 of Stage 4 shows that setting the proxy info is a requirement but in
fact this is not always so.  Following these instructions all the way to Stage 8
results in the first use of emerge compaining that it gets Error 403 Forbidden
from the proxy server.

Reproducible: Always
Steps to Reproduce:
1. follow the install instructions on the web page verbtim
2.
3.

Actual Results:  
I got the 403 Forbidden errors as mentioned above.

Knowing my ISP is pretty advanced in its internet service awareness I unset the
env vars for http_proxy etc. and retried the emerge sync command in Stage 9. Now
it ran  just fine.

NOTE - I had also edited make.conf before executing the commands of Listing 8.3
to have the correct settings for my machine and to specify a Belgian Gentoo
mirror as the first item in the source hunting trail. It may be that my Belgian
ISP gives special treatment to .be addresses .. but I do not think so.

Expected Results:  
worked with the proxy in use, but it did not so the Stege 4 docs should have
warned me to try something like "emerge -up portage" (to update something
innocuous) as a connection test BEFORE telling me to do the proxy settings.  If
an ISP allows it users to have direct access to an RSYNC server then they do NOT
need proxy settings. In my case something about the Rsync request caused my ISPs
proxy server to reject the connection. 
Nothing blocked my direct connection to the Belgian mirror.

Emerge should be able to work with and without a proxy
Comment 1 Sven Vermeulen (RETIRED) gentoo-dev 2003-05-06 05:00:04 UTC
I'll take a look at this, I also have Pandora, but couldn't rsync without proxy-settings. Perhaps this has changed. 
Comment 2 Sven Vermeulen (RETIRED) gentoo-dev 2003-05-06 12:47:50 UTC
Concerning the first problem, the document sais:

"""
You may want to also try pinging your ISP's DNS server (found in /etc/resolv.conf), and a Web site of choice, just to make sure that your packets are reaching the net, DNS name resolution is working correctly, etc.
"""

So ppl should already check /etc/resolv.conf. In your case you'll notice that the nameservers where incorrect and such. Or you change it manually, or you follow the next step (net-config eth0), if that doesn't work: dhcp, if that doesn't work manual...

Eventually you'll have a working network configuration. 
Comment 3 Sven Vermeulen (RETIRED) gentoo-dev 2003-05-06 12:57:28 UTC
Concerning proxies: if a proxy denies access to some servers because they can be reached without the proxy, then that's a problem of the proxy and not of the client. In other words: proxy.pandora.be is wrong. It can also be that belnet itself denies access from proxies (because it doesn't want it's content proxied). That's an error on belnet's behalf. So there are plenty of reasons why you get this behaviour.

It's not easy to write documentation that contains all possible situations.

I'll change the wording in the document so that ppl should first check it without setting the environment variables, and if that doesn't work they should follow the guidelines. 
Comment 4 Sven Vermeulen (RETIRED) gentoo-dev 2003-05-08 03:00:05 UTC
Fixed in CVS.