Start on SOW

Get Started

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

SOW builds static RPM/YUM and DEB/APT repositories; it is not an HTTP daemon. Choose one of two isolated paths:

Plain: sow create rebuilds indexes beside the packages in an ordinary directory.
Managed: a workspace tracks package membership, Dists, architecture views, policy, signing, generations, audit history, and publication targets.
Installation — Choose a release archive, RPM/DEB package, or source build; verify the installed binary.
Quick Start — Create and serve a flat repository from a directory of packages.

Installation

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

SOW is one executable: there is no service to enable and no runtime language environment. Release builds target Linux and macOS on amd64 and arm64; Linux also gets RPM and DEB packages. Windows is not supported.

Use the Download page to select the archive or Linux package that matches your operating system and architecture. It links each published artifact, its source tag, and SHA256SUMS.

Install an archive

Download one archive plus SHA256SUMS, then verify the matching line before extraction:

Quick Start

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Plain mode builds a flat repository in one directory. It does not read sow.yml, create a workspace, or keep a database.

Prepare a directory

Put RPM and/or DEB files at the directory top level. sow create does not recurse and does not move or rename package files.

mkdir -p /srv/repo
cp /path/to/packages/*.rpm /path/to/packages/*.deb /srv/repo/

If one glob has no matches, copy the formats you actually have instead.

Your First Workspace

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Managed mode keeps configuration, membership, generations, and audit state. This example starts from an empty directory.

Initialize the workspace

sow init /srv/sow
cd /srv/sow

init creates:

/srv/sow/
├── sow.yml   # configuration; schema: sow/v3
└── .sow/     # SQLite state, locks, staging, recovery, journals

Do not edit or serve .sow/. init is idempotent: rerunning it validates and converges declared repositories and Dists; it does not reset a valid workspace.

Core Concepts

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Plain or Managed

The two execution paths are separate.

	Plain	Managed
Entry point	`sow create DIR`	`init`, `repo`, `dist`, `add`, `rm`, `build`
State	package directory	`sow.yml` plus private SQLite/journals
Public layout	flat RPM/DEB indexes	Repository `pool/ + dists/`
Formats	RPM and DEB may share one directory	one format per Dist
Architecture views	no	yes
Policy and audit	no	yes
Metadata signing and publication targets	no	yes

Choose Plain when directory contents already equal the desired repository. Choose Managed when SOW must own membership, policy, generations, signing, audit, or publication.