It is not hard to switch to CenOS5, just install a couple of rpm packages
and your done, but you really do not have to switch. It is possible to add
the CentOS repos to your yum configuration. Sample /etc/yum.repos.d/
CentOS5.repo (sample name) file below;

[CentOS5 base]
name=CentOS-5-Base
mirrorlist=http://mirrorlist.centos.org/?release=5&arch=$basearch&repo=os
#baseurl=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/$releasever/os/$basearch/
gpgcheck=0
enabled=0
gpgkey=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-5

[CentOS5 updates]
name=CentOS-5-Updates
mirrorlist=http://mirrorlist.centos.org/?release=5&arch=$basearch&repo=updates
gpgcheck=0
enabled=0
gpgkey=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-5

[CentOS5plus]
name=CentOS-5-Plus
mirrorlist=http://mirrorlist.centos.org/?release=5&arch=$basearch&repo=centosplus
gpgcheck=0
enabled=0
gpgkey=http://mirror.centos.org/centos/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-5

Notice the CentOS5 repos are by default disabled. This is a good idea, one
can enable the repos at anytime using the yum –enablerepo switch. It
might be a good idea to import the CentOS5 key (see the example repo file
above) and enable the gpgcheck;

rpm –import
http://isoredirect.centos.org/centos/5/os/i386/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-5

If you really want to switch to CentOS then download and install the;

For 64-bit based system:

http://isoredirect.centos.org/centos/5/os/x86_64/CentOS/centos-release-5-0.0.el5.centos.2.x86_64.rpm
http://isoredirect.centos.org/centos/5/os/x86_64/CentOS/centos-release-notes-5.0.0-2.x86_64.rpm

For 32-bit based system:

http://isoredirect.centos.org/centos/5/os/i386/CentOS/centos-release-5-0.0.el5.centos.2.i386.rpm
http://isoredirect.centos.org/centos/5/os/i386/CentOS/centos-release-notes-5.0.0-2.i386.rpm

A couple of additional packages might be needed but these should get you
started nicely. Test install them to find out if you need to add any
packages first, example;

rpm -Uvh centos-release*.rpm –test

You might want to remove the Red Hat release packages first, or you may
have to use the force or replace packages switch to really install, for
example;

rpm -Uvh centos-release*.rpm –force [–replacepkgs]

Of course the example repo file above would not be needed if you really
switch. It would be an excellent idea to first unregister any systems from
RHN before switching, this way you can re-register other systems on RHN if
desired.

"A personal computer is called a personal computer because it's yours, Anything that runs on that computer, you should have control over." Andrew Moss, Microsoft's senior director of technical policy, 2005

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