As part of improvements to download.opensuse.org experience, currently new pilot service is available for using with zypper.

https://mirrorcache.opensuse.org

Its primary task is to redirect zypper requests to a mirror in client's country, similar to what MirrorBrain project does.

You can try to replace in /etc/zypp/repos.d/*.repo

http://download.opensuse.org

with

http://mirrorcache.opensuse.org

or

https://mirrorcache.opensuse.org

If you are in Europe or America, the best experience is expected with these addresses:

mirrorcache-eu.opensuse.org (Europe)

mirrorcache-na.opensuse.org (North America)

Since it is still a pilot, the service comes without any guarantee or obligations.

Reasons to try it may have those who:

- live in North America and don't want to be redirected to send cross-continent requests when possible;

- want to stick to https connection (mirrorcache will try to find a mirror in the same country, which supports https);

- are on ipv4-only or ipv6-only connection (mirrorcache will try to find a mirror which supports ipv4 or ipv6, depending on the request's connection);

- redirection from d.o.o leads to a mirror, which actually doesn't have the requested file (it is rare, but can happen);

Additional reasons may have those who:

- want to help with improving d.o.o experience and provide feedback;

- are interested in mirror management, for which admin's UI is available, and non-admin UI is planned (so a user can add and manage own mirror without global admin rights);

  https://mirrorcache.opensuse.org/app/server

  (login using UI menu and ask me for admin rights if you want to use it or see more advanced controls, like job details).

- need some related functionality: it is possible that it can be easily achievable with mirrorcache.

Further read about differences from MirrorBrain:

  https://github.com/andrii-suse/MirrorCache/blob/master/doc/mb_compare.md

How caching works:

- caching happens on folder level, so e.g., when zypper tries to access file, unknown for mirrorcache - it will be redirected to d.o.o, then a background job will collect info about mirrors. Thereafter further requests to the same folder will be properly redirected to a mirror in the client's country, honoring http/https scheme and ipv4/ipv6 connection used:

  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/andrii-suse/MirrorCache/master/doc/flow.svg

- requests to remodata/repomd.xml are not cached, so zypper always gets the latest version of packages.

If you are interested in current source code

 (most of architecture is stolen from OpenQA):

  https://github.com/andrii-suse/MirrorCache

In case of questions or any feedback do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards,

--

Andrii Nikitin <andrii.nikitin@suse.com>

DevOPS Automation and Build Service Engineer

SUSE Software Solutions Germany GmbH

Maxfeldstr. 5

90409 Nuremberg

Germany

(HRB 247165, AG München)