diff --git a/pisi-index b/pisi-index
index d30535a8..72bb54ce 100755
--- a/pisi-index
+++ b/pisi-index
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import sys
 from optparse import OptionParser
 
 #sys.path.append("./lib")
-import pisi.install
+from pisi.index import Index
 import pisi.util
 from pisi.ui import ui
 
@@ -38,5 +38,9 @@ def main():
 
     ui.info('* Building index of PISI files under ' + repo_dir + '\n')
 
+    index = Index()
+    index.index(repo_dir)
+    index.write('pisi-index.xml')
+                    
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     main()
diff --git a/pisi/index.py b/pisi/index.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c9df931d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pisi/index.py
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+
+from package import Package
+from xmlfile import XmlFile
+import metadata
+from ui import ui
+import util
+from config import config
+
+class Index(XmlFile):
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        XmlFile.__init__(self,"PISI")
+        self.sources = []
+        self.packages = []
+
+    def write(self, filename):
+        """Write index file"""
+        self.newDOM()
+        for pkg in self.packages:
+            self.addChild(pkg.elt(self))
+        self.writexml(filename)
+        
+    def index(self, repo_dir):
+
+        import os
+        from os.path import join, getsize
+        for root, dirs, files in os.walk(repo_dir):
+            for fn in files:
+                if fn.endswith('.pisi'):
+                    ui.info('Adding ' + fn + ' to package index\n')
+                    self.add_package(join(root, fn))
+
+    def add_package(self, path):
+        package = Package(path, 'r')
+        # extract control files
+        util.clean_dir(config.install_dir())
+        package.extract_PISI_files(config.install_dir())
+
+        md = metadata.MetaData()
+        md.read(config.install_dir() + '/metadata.xml')
+        # check package semantics
+        if md.verify():
+            self.packages.append(md.package)
+        else:
+            ui.error('Package ' + fn + ' metadata corrupt\n')