yum: enable a disabled repository

Question

I've found out I can use yum --enablerepo= to temporarily enable a disabled Yum repository, but I want to permanently enable a repository.

Is there a preferred Yum command to enable a disabled repository, or should I edit the .repo file under /etc/yum.repos.d?

Using RHEL 5.5.

Answer 1

No: the configuration files must be edited with a text editor. Yum does not have commands or options to edit the configuration.

Answer 2

If you're using PackageKit on top of yum, you can do it with pkcon:

% pkcon repo-disable myrepo
Enabling repository           [=========================]         
Waiting in queue              [=========================]         
Waiting for authentication    [=========================]         
Waiting in queue              [=========================]         
Starting                      [=========================]         
Getting information           [=========================]         
% pkcon repo-enable myrepo
Enabling repository           [=========================]         
Waiting in queue              [=========================]         
Waiting for authentication    [=========================]         
Waiting in queue              [=========================]         
Starting                      [=========================]         
Getting information           [=========================]         
Downloading repository information[=========================]         

Note that, as the output indicates, running the command as a regular user typically means you'll be prompted for authentication before it'll complete.