Zypper repository metadata cache expiration configuration

Zypper manages repository metadata through a local cache to minimize network traffic during package searches and installations. This mechanism relies on synchronization intervals to determine when remote metadata should be updated locally.

In environments where remote repositories are updated frequently, the default expiration thresholds may lead to stale search results or version mismatches between the local database and the remote mirror. While zypper ref forces a synchronization, there is a need to define a precise automated behavior for metadata invalidation without manually triggering refreshes for every operation.

• What configuration parameters control the automatic expiration of the local metadata cache?
• Is there a method to synchronize specific repositories based on a custom TTL (Time to Live) rather than a global refresh setting?