diff --git a/buildrpms.pl b/buildrpms.pl
index b4461ad4a..f6d3ed4db 100755
--- a/buildrpms.pl
+++ b/buildrpms.pl
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ my @PACKAGES = qw(
     xCAT-server
     xCAT-test
     xCAT-vlan
+    xCAT-release
 );
 
 my @TARGETS = (
@@ -628,6 +629,11 @@ sub createrepo_dir {
 # src.rpm enters the binary repomd, and index the SRPMS repo separately.
 sub index_repo {
     my ($repodir) = @_;
+    my $alias = "$repodir/xCAT-release-latest.noarch.rpm";
+
+    # The stable bootstrap filename is a direct-download convenience, not a
+    # second package. Keep it out of repository metadata.
+    unlink $alias if -f $alias;
     say "Creating repository $repodir";
     # Drop the top-level stray src.rpm and the mock logs (build.log/root.log/...)
     # that mock leaves in the resultdir, so the dir is directly deployable (upstream
@@ -640,7 +646,19 @@ sub index_repo {
 
 sub update_repo {
     my ($target) = @_;
-    index_repo("dist/$target/rpms");
+    my $repodir = "dist/$target/rpms";
+    index_repo($repodir);
+}
+
+sub write_release_alias {
+    my ($repodir) = @_;
+    my $alias = "$repodir/xCAT-release-latest.noarch.rpm";
+
+    my @release_rpms = glob("$repodir/xCAT-release-$VERSION-$RELEASE.noarch.rpm");
+    if (@release_rpms == 1) {
+        cp $release_rpms[0], $alias;
+        chmod 0644, $alias;
+    }
 }
 
 sub sign_rpms {
@@ -764,6 +782,7 @@ sub finalize_core {
         sign_repo_dir($dir, $opts{gpg_key_name});
     }
     write_repo_metadata_dir($dir);
+    write_release_alias($dir);
     return 0;
 }
 
@@ -816,6 +835,12 @@ sub main {
         write_repo_metadata($target);
     }
 
+    # Signing regenerates repository metadata, so create the direct-download
+    # alias only after the final metadata pass.
+    for my $target ($opts{targets}->@*) {
+        write_release_alias("dist/$target/rpms");
+    }
+
     exit(0);
 }
 
diff --git a/docs/source/guides/install-guides/yum/configure_xcat.rst b/docs/source/guides/install-guides/yum/configure_xcat.rst
index 2f387d155..fba2ec140 100644
--- a/docs/source/guides/install-guides/yum/configure_xcat.rst
+++ b/docs/source/guides/install-guides/yum/configure_xcat.rst
@@ -6,13 +6,14 @@ xCAT software and repo files can be obtained from: `<http://xcat.org/download.ht
 Internet Repository
 -------------------
 
-**[xcat-core]**
+Install ``xCAT-release`` to configure both the ``xcat-core`` and ``xcat-dep``
+repositories and their signing key::
 
-For the xCAT version you want to install, download the ``xcat-core.repo`` file and copy it to ``/etc/yum.repos.d``
+    dnf install https://xcat.org/files/xcat/repos/yum/latest/xcat-core/xCAT-release-latest.noarch.rpm
 
-**[xcat-dep]**
-
-From the `xCAT-dep Online Repository <http://xcat.org/files/xcat/repos/yum/xcat-dep/>`_, navigate to the correct subdirectory for the target machine and download the ``xcat-dep.repo`` file and copy it to ``/etc/yum.repos.d``.
+The dependency repository is selected automatically from the operating-system
+release and architecture reported by DNF.  The installed repository files are
+marked as configuration files, so package upgrades preserve local changes.
 
 Continue to the next section to install xCAT.
 
@@ -28,4 +29,3 @@ Local Repository
 .. include:: ../common_sections.rst
    :start-after: BEGIN_configure_xcat_local_repo_xcat-dep_RPM
    :end-before: END_configure_xcat_local_repo_xcat-dep_RPM
-
diff --git a/xCAT-release/RPM-GPG-KEY-xCAT b/xCAT-release/RPM-GPG-KEY-xCAT
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d5071b497
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xCAT-release/RPM-GPG-KEY-xCAT
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
+
+mQINBGoVuo4BEACyWa5VKaOgIWorLhOcUE4ExlG/MwVYTX0dLeYxPc/wzwkR3iAR
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+-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
diff --git a/xCAT-release/xCAT-release.spec b/xCAT-release/xCAT-release.spec
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..27e5792ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xCAT-release/xCAT-release.spec
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+Summary: xCAT DNF repository configuration
+Name: xCAT-release
+Version: %{?version:%{version}}%{!?version:%(cat Version)}
+Release: %{?release:%{release}}%{!?release:%(cat Release)}
+License: EPL
+URL: https://xcat.org/
+Source0: xCAT-release-%{version}.tar.gz
+BuildArch: noarch
+Requires: dnf
+
+%description
+Installs the xCAT core and dependency DNF repository definitions and the public
+signing key used to verify their packages and repository metadata.
+
+%prep
+%setup -q -n xCAT-release
+
+%build
+
+%install
+rm -rf %{buildroot}
+mkdir -p %{buildroot}%{_sysconfdir}/yum.repos.d
+mkdir -p %{buildroot}%{_sysconfdir}/pki/rpm-gpg
+install -m 0644 xcat-core.repo %{buildroot}%{_sysconfdir}/yum.repos.d/xcat-core.repo
+install -m 0644 xcat-dep.repo %{buildroot}%{_sysconfdir}/yum.repos.d/xcat-dep.repo
+install -m 0644 RPM-GPG-KEY-xCAT %{buildroot}%{_sysconfdir}/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-xCAT
+
+%files
+%config(noreplace) %{_sysconfdir}/yum.repos.d/xcat-core.repo
+%config(noreplace) %{_sysconfdir}/yum.repos.d/xcat-dep.repo
+%{_sysconfdir}/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-xCAT
+
+%changelog
+* Sat Jul 11 2026 xCAT Project <xcat-user@lists.sourceforge.net>
+- Add the xCAT repository bootstrap package
diff --git a/xCAT-release/xcat-core.repo b/xCAT-release/xcat-core.repo
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c6add8aa4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xCAT-release/xcat-core.repo
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+[xcat-core]
+name=xCAT Core packages
+baseurl=https://xcat.org/files/xcat/repos/yum/latest/xcat-core
+enabled=1
+gpgcheck=1
+repo_gpgcheck=1
+gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-xCAT
diff --git a/xCAT-release/xcat-dep.repo b/xCAT-release/xcat-dep.repo
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6da572b2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xCAT-release/xcat-dep.repo
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+[xcat-dep]
+name=xCAT dependencies
+baseurl=https://xcat.org/files/xcat/repos/yum/latest/xcat-dep/rh$releasever/$basearch
+enabled=1
+gpgcheck=1
+repo_gpgcheck=1
+gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-xCAT
diff --git a/xCAT-test/unit/xcat_release_package.t b/xCAT-test/unit/xcat_release_package.t
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f81b44148
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xCAT-test/unit/xcat_release_package.t
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env perl
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+
+use Digest::SHA qw(sha256_hex);
+use File::Spec;
+use FindBin;
+use Test::More;
+
+my $repo_root = File::Spec->rel2abs(File::Spec->catdir($FindBin::Bin, '..', '..'));
+
+my $spec = read_file('xCAT-release/xCAT-release.spec');
+like($spec, qr/^Name:\s+xCAT-release$/m, 'package has the expected name');
+like($spec, qr/^Source0:\s+xCAT-release-%\{version\}\.tar\.gz$/m, 'source archive follows the package name');
+like($spec, qr/^BuildArch:\s+noarch$/m, 'package is architecture independent');
+like($spec, qr/^Requires:\s+dnf$/m, 'package is limited to DNF-based systems');
+like($spec, qr/^%config\(noreplace\) .*xcat-core\.repo$/m, 'core repo preserves local changes');
+like($spec, qr/^%config\(noreplace\) .*xcat-dep\.repo$/m, 'dependency repo preserves local changes');
+like($spec, qr{RPM-GPG-KEY-xCAT}, 'package installs the signing key');
+
+my $core = read_file('xCAT-release/xcat-core.repo');
+assert_repo_security($core, 'core');
+like(
+    $core,
+    qr{^baseurl=https://xcat\.org/files/xcat/repos/yum/latest/xcat-core$}m,
+    'core repo uses the stable HTTPS endpoint'
+);
+
+my $dep = read_file('xCAT-release/xcat-dep.repo');
+assert_repo_security($dep, 'dependency');
+like(
+    $dep,
+    qr{^baseurl=https://xcat\.org/files/xcat/repos/yum/latest/xcat-dep/rh\$releasever/\$basearch$}m,
+    'dependency repo follows the DNF release and architecture variables'
+);
+
+my $key = read_file('xCAT-release/RPM-GPG-KEY-xCAT');
+like($key, qr/^-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----$/m, 'signing key is ASCII armored');
+is(
+    sha256_hex($key),
+    '72076f25ce4929d34a67e305327a37f89c964d3cbf1821e3afad4907c9d91249',
+    'packaged key matches the published xCAT signing key'
+);
+
+my $builder = read_file('buildrpms.pl');
+like($builder, qr/^\s+xCAT-release\s*$/m, 'default RPM build includes xCAT-release');
+like(
+    $builder,
+    qr{\$repodir/xCAT-release-latest\.noarch\.rpm},
+    'stable bootstrap alias follows the package name'
+);
+like(
+    $builder,
+    qr{\$repodir/xCAT-release-\$VERSION-\$RELEASE\.noarch\.rpm},
+    'stable bootstrap alias selects the xCAT-release RPM'
+);
+like(
+    $builder,
+    qr/unlink \$alias.*?createrepo_dir\(\$repodir/s,
+    'stable bootstrap alias is excluded from repository metadata'
+);
+like(
+    $builder,
+    qr/cp \$release_rpms\[0\], \$alias/,
+    'repository export creates the stable bootstrap filename'
+);
+my $sign_call = rindex($builder, 'sign_rpms($target)');
+my $alias_call = rindex($builder, 'write_release_alias("dist/$target/rpms")');
+ok(
+    $sign_call >= 0 && $alias_call > $sign_call,
+    'stable bootstrap alias is created after signed metadata is finalized'
+);
+like(
+    $builder,
+    qr/sub finalize_core \{.*?write_repo_metadata_dir\(\$dir\);.*?write_release_alias\(\$dir\);/s,
+    'assembled core repository creates the stable alias after final metadata'
+);
+
+done_testing();
+
+sub assert_repo_security {
+    my ($content, $label) = @_;
+    like($content, qr/^enabled=1$/m, "$label repo is enabled");
+    like($content, qr/^gpgcheck=1$/m, "$label repo verifies packages");
+    like($content, qr/^repo_gpgcheck=1$/m, "$label repo verifies repository metadata");
+    like(
+        $content,
+        qr{^gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-xCAT$}m,
+        "$label repo uses the packaged signing key"
+    );
+}
+
+sub read_file {
+    my ($file) = @_;
+    my $path = File::Spec->catfile($repo_root, split m{/}, $file);
+    open(my $fh, '<', $path) or die "open $path: $!";
+    my $contents = do { local $/; <$fh> };
+    close($fh) or die "close $path: $!";
+    return $contents;
+}