I'm setting up a Rocks Cluster Linux system http://www.rocksclusters.org using Centos 5.3 as the OS. Rocks is an organizing framework for multi node systems, it tries to orchestrate kickstart installs across many systems and interaction among those many systems as a compute cluster.
One problem with administering these systems is that the OS updates can break the Rocks framework. I've tried Rocks with Centos5.4, but there is some incompatability. The Rocks system is based on Centos 5.2, it tolerates 5.3, but not 5.4. The Rocks experts seem to discourage us from making any RPM package updates, but I'm adventuresome enough to think that I can at least try to make some selective updates.
I wish I had access to a Centos update folder AS IT EXISTED before Centos 5.4 was released. The last update set that applied to 5.3,in other words. But I can't figure how to get that, because Centos servers just have the current updates under a folder marked 5. If I try to update against the current 5 server, it will pull in lots and lots of new RPMS from the Centos base, and I don't want that.
I can't afford the risk of updating against the current Centos offerings because Rocks might not work anymore, or so I'm told by the Rocks experts.
Any ideas about how to go back in time and get the last 5.3 update batch??
pj