04 Creating Repositories

Repository creation is where your package lifecycle starts. Naming and backend choices affect every downstream script, CI pipeline, and consumer configuration.

4.1 Prerequisites

• Successful login flow from 03 First-Time Setup and Access.
• Clear naming strategy (for example releases, staging, testing).
• Chosen backend type (debian, rpm, maven).

4.2 Quick Start

Step 1: Create a Debian repository from CLI

athene debian create-repository main --distribution=bookworm --components=main

Step 2: Verify repository appears in browse path

athene ls debian

Step 3: Capture naming contract for your team

Document which repositories are writable by CI and which are read-only for consumers.

4.3 Key Parameters Explained

• Repository type (debian, rpm, maven): sets metadata/indexing behavior and client expectations.
• Repository name (main, releases): becomes part of URL and CLI paths.
• Debian create options (distribution, components, architectures): control apt metadata layout and consumer compatibility.

Tip

Avoid creating repos named after temporary projects. Stable lifecycle names map better to promotion workflows and reduce future migration churn.

4.4 Other Ways to Create Repositories

• Create a repository using the REST API
• Create a repository using the Web User Interface

4.5 What You Should Have Before Chapter 05

• A freshly created repository (A debian called main if you are following the examples exactly).
• Confirmation the repository exists using the ls command.

Next chapter: 05 Signing.