Weight: 3
Candidates should be able to perform package management using RPM, YUM, and Zypper.
Key Knowledge Areas
- Install, re-install, upgrade and remove packages using RPM, YUM, and Zypper
- Obtain information on RPM packages such as version, status, dependencies, integrity, and signatures Determine what files a package provides, as well as find which package a specific file comes from Awareness of dnf
The following is a partial list of the used files, terms, and utilities:
Terms and Utilities
- rpm
- rpm2cpio
/etc/yum.conf/etc/yum.repos.d/- yum
- zypper
Introduction
RedHat Package Manager (RPM) and YellowDog Update Manager (YUM) are used by Fedora, RedHat, RHEL, CentOS, RocksOS, ... to manage packages. The package format is called RPM and can be managed by rpm tools but if you want to use the repositories to install, update, search, ... packages, or even upgrade the whole system, you can use the yum command. To have a deeper understanding of the repositories, please refer to the previous section (102.4); Here I assume that you know the concept.
yum
yum is the package manager used by RedHat-based systems. Its configuration files are located at /etc/yum.conf and /etc/yum.repos.d/. Below is a sample.
# cat /etc/yum.conf
[main]
cachedir=/var/cache/yum/$basearch/$releasever
keepcache=0
debuglevel=2
logfile=/var/log/yum.log
exactarch=1
obsoletes=1
gpgcheck=1
plugins=1
installonly_limit=3
And here is a sample of an actual Repo file on a Fedora system:
# cat /etc/yum.repos.d/fedora.repo
[fedora]
name=Fedora $releasever - $basearch
#baseurl=http://download.example/pub/fedora/linux/releases/$releasever/Everything/$basearch/os/
metalink=https://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/metalink?repo=fedora-$releasever&arch=$basearch
enabled=1
countme=1
metadata_expire=7d
repo_gpgcheck=0
type=rpm
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-fedora-$releasever-$basearch
skip_if_unavailable=False
[fedora-debuginfo]
name=Fedora $releasever - $basearch - Debug
#baseurl=http://download.example/pub/fedora/linux/releases/$releasever/Everything/$basearch/debug/tree/
metalink=https://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/metalink?repo=fedora-debug-$releasever&arch=$basearch
enabled=0
metadata_expire=7d
repo_gpgcheck=0
type=rpm
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-fedora-$releasever-$basearch
skip_if_unavailable=False
[fedora-source]
name=Fedora $releasever - Source
#baseurl=http://download.example/pub/fedora/linux/releases/$releasever/Everything/source/tree/
metalink=https://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/metalink?repo=fedora-source-$releasever&arch=$basearch
enabled=0
metadata_expire=7d
repo_gpgcheck=0
type=rpm
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-fedora-$releasever-$basearch
skip_if_unavailable=False
We use yum like yum [OPTIONS] [COMMAND] [PACKAGE_NAME].
One of the most important options is -y which says yes to the Y/N questions.
And here you can find some of the commands:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| update | Updates the repositories and update the names of packages, or all if nothing is named |
| install | Install a package |
| reinstall | Reinstall a package |
| list | Show a list of packages |
| info | Show information about a package |
| remove | Removes an installed package |
| search | Searches repositories for packages |
| provides | Check which packages provide a specific file |
| upgrade | Upgrades packages and removes the obsolete ones |
| localinstall | Install from a local rpm file |
| localupdate | Updates from a local rpm file |
| check-update | Checks repositories for updates to the installed packages |
| deplist | Shows dependencies of a package |
| groupinstall | Install a group, say "KDE Plasma Workspaces" |
| history | Show history of the usage |
This is a sample installation:
# yum install bzr
Last metadata expiration check: 0:00:47 ago on Tue 21 Jun 2022 06:38:00 PM +0430.
Dependencies resolved.
=====================================================================================================================
Package Architecture Version Repository Size
=====================================================================================================================
Installing:
breezy x86_64 3.2.1-3.fc36 fedora 6.0 M
Installing dependencies:
libsodium x86_64 1.0.18-9.fc36 fedora 163 k
python3-bcrypt x86_64 3.2.2-1.fc36 updates 43 k
python3-certifi noarch 2021.10.8-1.fc36 fedora 15 k
python3-configobj noarch 5.0.6-27.fc36 fedora 63 k
python3-cryptography x86_64 36.0.0-3.fc36 fedora 1.0 M
python3-dulwich x86_64 0.20.32-1.fc36 fedora 408 k
python3-httplib2 noarch 0.20.3-2.fc36 fedora 122 k
python3-jeepney noarch 0.7.1-2.fc36 fedora 324 k
python3-jwt noarch 2.4.0-1.fc36 updates 41 k
python3-keyring noarch 23.6.0-1.fc36 updates 78 k
python3-lazr-restfulclient noarch 0.14.4-2.fc36 fedora 84 k
python3-lazr-uri noarch 1.0.6-2.fc36 fedora 33 k
python3-oauthlib noarch 3.0.2-12.fc36 fedora 169 k
python3-paramiko noarch 2.11.0-1.fc36 updates 303 k
python3-patiencediff x86_64 0.2.2-4.fc36 fedora 45 k
python3-pynacl x86_64 1.4.0-5.fc36 fedora 108 k
python3-secretstorage noarch 3.3.1-4.fc36 fedora 35 k
python3-wadllib noarch 1.3.6-2.fc36 fedora 60 k
Installing weak dependencies:
python3-jwt+crypto noarch 2.4.0-1.fc36 updates 8.9 k
python3-launchpadlib noarch 1.10.15.1-2.fc36 fedora 167 k
python3-oauthlib+signedtoken noarch 3.0.2-12.fc36 fedora 8.5 k
python3-pyasn1 noarch 0.4.8-8.fc36 fedora 134 k
Transaction Summary
=====================================================================================================================
Install 23 Packages
Total download size: 9.4 M
Installed size: 44 M
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
(1/23): python3-certifi-2021.10.8-1.fc36.noarch.rpm 1.8 kB/s | 15 kB 00:08
(2/23): libsodium-1.0.18-9.fc36.x86_64.rpm 15 kB/s | 163 kB 00:10
(3/23): python3-configobj-5.0.6-27.fc36.noarch.rpm 10 kB/s | 63 kB 00:06
(4/23): breezy-3.2.1-3.fc36.x86_64.rpm 262 kB/s | 6.0 MB 00:23
(5/23): python3-dulwich-0.20.32-1.fc36.x86_64.rpm 47 kB/s | 408 kB 00:08
(6/23): python3-cryptography-36.0.0-3.fc36.x86_64.rpm 77 kB/s | 1.0 MB 00:13
(7/23): python3-httplib2-0.20.3-2.fc36.noarch.rpm 105 kB/s | 122 kB 00:01
(8/23): python3-jeepney-0.7.1-2.fc36.noarch.rpm 259 kB/s | 324 kB 00:01
(9/23): python3-launchpadlib-1.10.15.1-2.fc36.noarch.rpm 74 kB/s | 167 kB 00:02
(10/23): python3-lazr-restfulclient-0.14.4-2.fc36.noarch.rpm 36 kB/s | 84 kB 00:02
(11/23): python3-lazr-uri-1.0.6-2.fc36.noarch.rpm 15 kB/s | 33 kB 00:02
(12/23): python3-oauthlib+signedtoken-3.0.2-12.fc36.noarch.rpm 4.2 kB/s | 8.5 kB 00:02
(13/23): python3-oauthlib-3.0.2-12.fc36.noarch.rpm 58 kB/s | 169 kB 00:02
(14/23): python3-patiencediff-0.2.2-4.fc36.x86_64.rpm 15 kB/s | 45 kB 00:02
(15/23): python3-pyasn1-0.4.8-8.fc36.noarch.rpm 61 kB/s | 134 kB 00:02
(16/23): python3-pynacl-1.4.0-5.fc36.x86_64.rpm 36 kB/s | 108 kB 00:03
(17/23): python3-secretstorage-3.3.1-4.fc36.noarch.rpm 12 kB/s | 35 kB 00:02
(18/23): python3-wadllib-1.3.6-2.fc36.noarch.rpm 24 kB/s | 60 kB 00:02
(19/23): python3-bcrypt-3.2.2-1.fc36.x86_64.rpm 16 kB/s | 43 kB 00:02
(20/23): python3-jwt+crypto-2.4.0-1.fc36.noarch.rpm 3.2 kB/s | 8.9 kB 00:02
(21/23): python3-jwt-2.4.0-1.fc36.noarch.rpm 16 kB/s | 41 kB 00:02
(22/23): python3-keyring-23.6.0-1.fc36.noarch.rpm 18 kB/s | 78 kB 00:04
(23/23): python3-paramiko-2.11.0-1.fc36.noarch.rpm 38 kB/s | 303 kB 00:08
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 177 kB/s | 9.4 MB 00:54
Running transaction check
Transaction check succeeded.
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded.
Running transaction
Preparing : 1/1
Installing : python3-cryptography-36.0.0-3.fc36.x86_64 1/23
Installing : python3-lazr-uri-1.0.6-2.fc36.noarch 2/23
Installing : python3-jeepney-0.7.1-2.fc36.noarch 3/23
Installing : python3-httplib2-0.20.3-2.fc36.noarch 4/23
Installing : python3-secretstorage-3.3.1-4.fc36.noarch 5/23
Installing : python3-keyring-23.6.0-1.fc36.noarch 6/23
Installing : python3-wadllib-1.3.6-2.fc36.noarch 7/23
Installing : python3-jwt-2.4.0-1.fc36.noarch 8/23
Installing : python3-jwt+crypto-2.4.0-1.fc36.noarch 9/23
Installing : python3-oauthlib-3.0.2-12.fc36.noarch 10/23
Installing : python3-oauthlib+signedtoken-3.0.2-12.fc36.noarch 11/23
Installing : python3-lazr-restfulclient-0.14.4-2.fc36.noarch 12/23
Installing : python3-launchpadlib-1.10.15.1-2.fc36.noarch 13/23
Installing : python3-bcrypt-3.2.2-1.fc36.x86_64 14/23
Installing : python3-pyasn1-0.4.8-8.fc36.noarch 15/23
Installing : python3-patiencediff-0.2.2-4.fc36.x86_64 16/23
Installing : python3-configobj-5.0.6-27.fc36.noarch 17/23
Installing : python3-certifi-2021.10.8-1.fc36.noarch 18/23
Installing : python3-dulwich-0.20.32-1.fc36.x86_64 19/23
Installing : libsodium-1.0.18-9.fc36.x86_64 20/23
Installing : python3-pynacl-1.4.0-5.fc36.x86_64 21/23
Installing : python3-paramiko-2.11.0-1.fc36.noarch 22/23
Installing : breezy-3.2.1-3.fc36.x86_64 23/23
Running scriptlet: breezy-3.2.1-3.fc36.x86_64 23/23
Verifying : breezy-3.2.1-3.fc36.x86_64 1/23
Verifying : libsodium-1.0.18-9.fc36.x86_64 2/23
Verifying : python3-certifi-2021.10.8-1.fc36.noarch 3/23
Verifying : python3-configobj-5.0.6-27.fc36.noarch 4/23
Verifying : python3-cryptography-36.0.0-3.fc36.x86_64 5/23
Verifying : python3-dulwich-0.20.32-1.fc36.x86_64 6/23
Verifying : python3-httplib2-0.20.3-2.fc36.noarch 7/23
Verifying : python3-jeepney-0.7.1-2.fc36.noarch 8/23
Verifying : python3-launchpadlib-1.10.15.1-2.fc36.noarch 9/23
Verifying : python3-lazr-restfulclient-0.14.4-2.fc36.noarch 10/23
Verifying : python3-lazr-uri-1.0.6-2.fc36.noarch 11/23
Verifying : python3-oauthlib+signedtoken-3.0.2-12.fc36.noarch 12/23
Verifying : python3-oauthlib-3.0.2-12.fc36.noarch 13/23
Verifying : python3-patiencediff-0.2.2-4.fc36.x86_64 14/23
Verifying : python3-pyasn1-0.4.8-8.fc36.noarch 15/23
Verifying : python3-pynacl-1.4.0-5.fc36.x86_64 16/23
Verifying : python3-secretstorage-3.3.1-4.fc36.noarch 17/23
Verifying : python3-wadllib-1.3.6-2.fc36.noarch 18/23
Verifying : python3-bcrypt-3.2.2-1.fc36.x86_64 19/23
Verifying : python3-jwt+crypto-2.4.0-1.fc36.noarch 20/23
Verifying : python3-jwt-2.4.0-1.fc36.noarch 21/23
Verifying : python3-keyring-23.6.0-1.fc36.noarch 22/23
Verifying : python3-paramiko-2.11.0-1.fc36.noarch 23/23
Installed:
breezy-3.2.1-3.fc36.x86_64 libsodium-1.0.18-9.fc36.x86_64
python3-bcrypt-3.2.2-1.fc36.x86_64 python3-certifi-2021.10.8-1.fc36.noarch
python3-configobj-5.0.6-27.fc36.noarch python3-cryptography-36.0.0-3.fc36.x86_64
python3-dulwich-0.20.32-1.fc36.x86_64 python3-httplib2-0.20.3-2.fc36.noarch
python3-jeepney-0.7.1-2.fc36.noarch python3-jwt-2.4.0-1.fc36.noarch
python3-jwt+crypto-2.4.0-1.fc36.noarch python3-keyring-23.6.0-1.fc36.noarch
python3-launchpadlib-1.10.15.1-2.fc36.noarch python3-lazr-restfulclient-0.14.4-2.fc36.noarch
python3-lazr-uri-1.0.6-2.fc36.noarch python3-oauthlib-3.0.2-12.fc36.noarch
python3-oauthlib+signedtoken-3.0.2-12.fc36.noarch python3-paramiko-2.11.0-1.fc36.noarch
python3-patiencediff-0.2.2-4.fc36.x86_64 python3-pyasn1-0.4.8-8.fc36.noarch
python3-pynacl-1.4.0-5.fc36.x86_64 python3-secretstorage-3.3.1-4.fc36.noarch
python3-wadllib-1.3.6-2.fc36.noarch
Complete!
You can also use the wildcards:
# yum update 'cal*'
Fun fact: Fedora Linux uses
dnfas its package manager and will translate youryumcommands to itsdnfequivalents.
yumdownloader
This tool will download rpms from repositories without installing them. If you need to download all the dependencies too, use the --resolve switch:
yumdownloader --resolve bzr
RPM
The rpm command can run ACTIONs on individual RPM files. You can use it like rpm ACTION [OPTION] rpm_file.rpm
One of common options is -v for verbose output and these are the common ACTIONs:
| Short Form | Long Form | Description |
|---|---|---|
| -i | --install | Installs a package |
| -e | --erase | Removes a package |
| -U | --upgrade | Installs/Upgrades a package |
| -q | --query | Checks if the package is installed |
| -F | --freshen | Only update if it's already installed |
| -V | --verify | Check the integrity of the installation |
| -K | --checksig | Checks the integrity of an rpm package |
Please note that each action might have its specific options.
Install and update
In most cases, we use -U which Installs or upgrades a package.
- RPM does not have a database of automatic package installation, so it can not remove the automatically installed dependencies.
If you have an rpm with all of its dependencies, you can install them using rpm -Uvh *.rpm. This will tell rpm not to complain about the dependencies if it is presented in other files. Here the -h creates 50 hash signs to show the progress.
In some cases - if you know what you are doing - you can use --nodeps to prevent the dependency check or even use --force to force the install / upgrade despite all the issues & complains.
Query
A normal query is like this:
[root@fedora tmp]# rpm -q breezy-3.2.1-3.fc36.x86_64.rpm
breezy-3.2.1-3.fc36.x86_64
[root@fedora tmp]# rpm -q breezy
breezy-3.2.1-3.fc36.x86_64
[root@fedora tmp]# rpm -q emacs
package emacs is not installed
And you can use these options to spice it up:
| Short | Long | Description |
|---|---|---|
| -c | --configfiles | Show the packages configuration files |
| -i | --info | Detailed info about a pacakge |
| -a | --all | Show all Installed packages |
| --whatprovides | Shows what packages provide this file | |
| -l | --list | Query the list of files a package installs |
| -R | --requires | Show dependencies of a package |
| -f | --file | Query package owning file |
Verify
You can verify your packages and see if they are installed correctly or not. You can use the -Vv option for verbose output or just use the -V to verify and see only the issues. This is the output after I edited the /bin/tmux manually:
[root@fedora tmp]# rpm -V tmux
S.5....T. /usr/bin/tmux
And this is part of the man rpm's -V section:
S Size differs
M Mode differs (includes permissions and file type)
5 digest (formerly MD5 sum) differs
D Device major/minor number mismatch
L readLink(2) path mismatch
U User ownership differs
G Group ownership differs
T mTime differs
P caPabilities differ
You can also check the integrity of an rpm package with -K:
# rpm -Kv breezy-3.2.1-3.fc36.x86_64.rpm
breezy-3.2.1-3.fc36.x86_64.rpm:
Header V4 RSA/SHA256 Signature, key ID 38ab71f4: OK
Header SHA256 digest: OK
Header SHA1 digest: OK
Payload SHA256 digest: OK
V4 RSA/SHA256 Signature, key ID 38ab71f4: OK
MD5 digest: OK
The above output shows that this file is valid.
Uninstall
[root@fedora tmp]# rpm -e tmux
error: Failed dependencies:
tmux is needed by (installed) anaconda-install-env-deps-36.16.5-1.fc36.x86_64
- rpm removes the package without asking!
- rpm won't remove a package that is needed by another package
Extract RPM Files
rpm2cpio
The cpio is an archive format (Just like zip or rar or tar). You can use the rpm2cpio command to convert RPM files to cpio and then use the cpio tool to extract them:
[root@fedora tmp]# rpm2cpio breezy-3.2.1-3.fc36.x86_64.rpm > breezy.cpio
[root@fedora tmp]# cpio -idv < breezy.cpio
./usr/bin/brz
./usr/bin/bzr
./usr/bin/bzr-receive-pack
./usr/bin/bzr-upload-pack
./usr/bin/git-remote-brz
./usr/bin/git-remote-bzr
[...]
Zypper
The SUSE Linux and its sibling openSUSE use ZYpp as their package manager engine. You can use YAST or Zypper tools to communicate with it.
These are the main commands used in zypper:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| help | General help |
| install | Installs a package |
| info | Displays information of a package |
| list-updates | Shows available updates |
| lr | Shows repository information |
| packages | List all available packages or packages from a specific repo |
| what-provides | Show the owner of a file |
| refresh | Refreshes the repositories information |
| remove | Removes a package from the system |
| search | Searches for a package |
| update | Checks the repositories and updates the installed packages |
| verify | Checks a package and its dependencies |
You can shorten the command when using
zypper, sozypper se tmuxwill search for tmux.
Other tools
YUM and RPM are the main package managers on Fedora, RHEL & Centos but other tools are also available. As mentioned, SUSE uses YaST, and some modern desktops (KDE & Gnome) use PackageKit which is a graphical tool. It is also good to note that the dnf suite is also gaining popularity and is pre-installed on Fedora systems.
| ← 102.4 Use Debian package management | 102.6 Linux as a virtualization guest → |