[Tex/LaTex] MiKTeX installer no longer connects to any server

miktexupdate

I am using the MiKTeX Update Wizard. It has been working fine until my last attempt to update. I am getting the following error:

Sorry, but something went wrong:
The remote package repository is not online. You have to choose
another repository.

url = "http://get-software.net/systems/win32/miktex/tm/packages/"

I have checked by manually entering the above in my browser, it is valid and shows up.

I also get nothing when I ask it for a list of servers to choose from.

MiKTeX still works, I just wanted to update to the latest packages. Is this a problem on my end? BTW I am using Windows 8.1, and MikTex 2.9.

Thanks for any help you can give!

Best Answer

My personal experience suggests that for a MiKTeX repository "to be online" is not only a question whether that repository is accessible via HTTP or FTP, but also whether it contains valid package data.

Contary to an old comment of @ulrike-fischer written here, every time when I start the MiKTeX Update Wizzard with a fixed repository selected, the wizzard first connects to the MiKTeX Repository Web Service. My assumption is that it verifies whether the repository contains valid package data and is therefore safe to update from.

When executing mpm --list-repositories, the MiKTeX package manager queries the same service for a list of repositories that are currently containing valid package data. Certainly sometimes it marks my preferred repository as offline even when it can still be accessed via HTTP.

The current web service response to mpm --list-repositories is:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope"
               xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
               xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <soap:Body>
    <GetRepositories4Response xmlns="http://miktex.org/2015/06/repository">
      <GetRepositories4Result />
    </GetRepositories4Response>
  </soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>

Note the empty GetRepositories4Result tag: As far as the repository web service is concerned, all MiKTeX repositories are offline and cannot be used for updating. This has probably something to do with the massive MiKTeX update from May 10, 2016.

I guess it is just a question of time before repositories will get the updated version of MiKTeX and will be flagged as online.

I have always understood that that while a MiKTeX repository can be accessed via FTP or HTTP (and individual packages downloaded to your local repo), it is sometimes centrally marked as "temporarily unusable" e.g. due to an ongoing update of packages -- you certainly do not want to have your users running update from a half-updated repository, I guess.

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