Learn Linux, 101: RPM and YUM package management
Add new software and keep your system current
Ian Shields
Linux Author
Freelance
21 December 2015
(First published 11 May 2010)
Learn how to install, upgrade and manage packages on your Linux® system. This tutorial
focuses on the Red Hat Package Manager (RPM) developed by Red Hat, as well as the
Yellowdog Updater Modified (YUM) originally developed to manage Red Hat Linux systems at
Duke University's Physics department. You can use the material in this tutorial to study for the
LPI 101 exam for Linux system administrator certification, or just to explore the best ways to
add new software and keep your system current.
View more content in this series
Overview
In this tutorial, learn to use the RPM and YUM tools to manage the packages on your Linux
system. Learn to:
• Install, reinstall, upgrade, and remove packages using RPM and YUM.
• Obtain information about RPM packages including version, status, dependencies, integrity,
and signatures.
• Determine what files a package provides, as well as find which package a specific file comes
from.
This tutorial helps you prepare for Objective 102.5 in Topic 102 of the Linux Professional Institute's
Junior Level Administration (LPIC-1) exam 101. The objective has a weight of 3.
Introducing package management
In the past, many Linux programs were distributed as source code, which a user would build into
the required program or set of programs, along with the required man pages, configuration files,
and so on. Nowadays, most Linux distributors use prebuilt programs or sets of programs called
packages, which ship ready for installation on that distribution. In this tutorial, you will learn about
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010, 2015
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package management tools that help you install, update, and remove packages. This tutorial
focuses on the Red Hat Package Manager (RPM), which was developed by Red Hat, as well as
the Yellowdog Updater Modified (YUM), which was originally developed to manage Red Hat
Linux systems at Duke University's Physics department. Another tutorial in this series, "Learn
Linux 101: Debian package management," covers the package management tools used on Debian
systems.
About this series
This series of tutorials helps you learn Linux system administration tasks. You can also use
the material in these tutorials to prepare for the Linux Professional Institute's LPIC-1: Linux
Server Professional Certification exams.
See "Learn Linux, 101: A roadmap for LPIC-1" for a description of and link to each tutorial in
this series. The roadmap is in progress and reflects the version 4.0 objectives of the LPIC-1
exams as updated April 15th, 2015. As tutorials are completed, they will be added to the
roadmap.
From a user perspective, the basic package management function is provided by commands.
As Linux developers have striven to make Linux easier to use, the basic tools have been
supplemented by other tools, including GUI tools, which hide some of the complexities of the basic
tools from the end user. In this tutorial and in the tutorial on Debian package management, we
focus on the basic tools, although we mention some of the other tools so you can pursue them
further.
Prerequisites
To get the most from the tutorials in this series, you should have a basic knowledge of Linux
and a working Linux system on which you can practice the commands covered in this tutorial.
Sometimes different versions of a program will format output differently, so your results may not
always look exactly like the listings and figures shown here. In particular, much of the output
we show is highly dependent on the packages that are already installed on our systems. Your
own output may be quite different, although you should be able to recognize the important
commonalities. The examples in this tutorial use a Fedora 20 system unless otherwise noted.
Package managers
RPM, YUM, and APT (for Debian systems) have many similarities. All can install and remove
packages. Information about installed packages is kept in a database. All have basic commandline functionality, while additional tools can provide more user-friendly interfaces. All can retrieve
packages from the Internet.
When you install a Linux system, you typically install a large selection of packages. The set
may be customized to the intended use of the system, such as a server, desktop, or developer
workstation. And at some time you will probably need to install new packages for added
functionality, update the packages you have, or even remove packages that you no longer need
or that have been made obsolete by newer packages. Let's look at how you do these tasks,
and at some of the related challenges such as finding which package might contain a particular
command.
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RPM
Red Hat introduced RPM in 1995. RPM is now the package management system used for
packaging in the Linux Standard Base (LSB). The rpm command options are grouped into three
subgroups for:
• Querying and verifying packages
• Installing, upgrading, and removing packages
• Performing miscellaneous functions
We will focus on the first two sets of command options in this tutorial. You will find information
about the miscellaneous functions in the man pages for RPM.
We should also note that rpm is the command name for the main command used with RPM, while
.rpm is the extension used for RPM files. So "an rpm" or "the xxx rpm" will generally refer to an
RPM file, while rpm will usually refer to the command.
YUM
YUM adds automatic updates and package management, including dependency management, to
RPM systems. In addition to understanding the installed packages on a system, YUM is like the
Debian Advanced Packaging Tool (APT) in that it works with repositories, which are collections of
packages and are typically accessible over a network connection.
Installing RPM packages
Suppose you want to compile a Fortran program and a colleague tells you to use gfortran
command. You might try gfortran --help, or you might try which gfortran, or type gfortran. But
if your system can't find gfortran, you might see output similar to that shown in .
Missing gfortran command
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ gfortran --help
bash: gfortran: command not found
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ gfortran --help
bash: gfortran: command not found...
Install package 'gcc-gfortran' to provide command 'gfortran'? [N/y] n
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ which gfortran
/usr/bin/which: no gfortran in (/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/sbin:
/home/ian/.local/bin:/home/ian/bin)
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ type gfortran
bash: type: gfortran: not found
If you did not get the helpful suggestion from the second form of output in , you might check back
with your colleague to find out which package to install. Otherwise, you might just guess that the
gfortran command is in the gfortran package. This is often a good guess, but not always the right
one and not the right one in this case. We'll see later how to find the right package. Assuming that
you know it's really in the gcc-gfortran package and that you downloaded or otherwise acquired
a copy of the package, you might try installing it using the rpm command with the -i (for install)
option, as shown in .
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Installing gcc-gfortran with rpm - take 1
[root@attic-f21 ~]# rpm -i gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.x86_64.rpm
error: Failed dependencies:
libquadmath-devel = 4.9.2-6.fc21 is needed by gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.x86_64
The rpm command knows that the package has a dependency, but unfortunately, it won't help you
resolve that dependency. You will need to get the dependent package or packages, try again, and
see if there are additional dependencies—and keep doing this until all dependencies are satisfied.
One good thing is that you can give the rpm command a list of packages to install and it will install
them all in the right order if all dependencies are satisfied. So you at least don't have to manually
install each piece in the right order.
If you've used Debian's APT, by this time you're probably wishing you had something like the aptget command, which would simply go and find what you need, including dependencies, and just
install it. For RPM-based systems, YUM (or Yellowdog Updater Modified) provides just such a
function. shows how to install gcc-gfortran and the required prerequisites using the yum command
with the install option. Note: Your dependencies may differ according to what you already have
installed on your system.
Installing gcc-gfortran using yum
[root@attic-f21 ~]# yum install gcc-gfortran
Loaded plugins: langpacks
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package gcc-gfortran.x86_64 0:4.9.2-6.fc21 will be installed
--> Processing Dependency: libquadmath-devel = 4.9.2-6.fc21 for package: gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.x86_64
--> Running transaction check
---> Package libquadmath-devel.x86_64 0:4.9.2-6.fc21 will be installed
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
Dependencies Resolved
================================================================================
Package
Arch
Version
Repository
Size
================================================================================
Installing:
gcc-gfortran
x86_64
4.9.2-6.fc21
updates
7.7 M
Installing for dependencies:
libquadmath-devel
x86_64
4.9.2-6.fc21
updates
37 k
Transaction Summary
================================================================================
Install 1 Package (+1 Dependent package)
Total download size: 7.7 M
Installed size: 18 M
Is this ok [y/d/N]: y
Downloading packages:
(1/2): libquadmath-devel-4.9.2-6.fc21.x86_64.rpm
| 37 kB 00:00
(2/2): gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.x86_64.rpm
| 7.7 MB 00:04
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Total
1.6 MB/s | 7.7 MB 00:04
Running transaction check
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded
Running transaction (shutdown inhibited)
Installing : libquadmath-devel-4.9.2-6.fc21.x86_64
1/2
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Installing : gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.x86_64
Verifying : libquadmath-devel-4.9.2-6.fc21.x86_64
Verifying : gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.x86_64
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2/2
1/2
2/2
Installed:
gcc-gfortran.x86_64 0:4.9.2-6.fc21
Dependency Installed:
libquadmath-devel.x86_64 0:4.9.2-6.fc21
Complete!
The output in shows that YUM has found the x86_64 versions of gcc-gfortran and libquadmathdevel in a repository called "updates" (more on that shortly), and determined the total download
size. After you respond "y" to agree to the transaction, it downloaded both packages, and then
installed the dependency, followed by gcc-gfortran. You will learn more about dependencies later in
this tutorial.
Note: In , YUM found the latest version of the gcc-gfortran package which happened to be the
same level (4.9.2-6) as the one we attempted to install in . You will usually want the latest version
of a package, but you can provide additional qualifications if you need an earlier version, or the
i686 version instead of the x86_64 version. See the section on specifying package names in the
man pages for the yum command.
Package locations
In the previous section, you learned how to install an RPM package. But where do the packages
come from? How does yum know where to download packages from? The starting point is the /
etc/yum.repos.d/ directory, which usually contains several repo files. This is the default location
for repository information, but other locations may be specified in the YUM configuration file,
normally /etc/yum.conf. shows the fedora-updates.repo corresponding to the location from which
we installed gcc-gfortran on our Fedora 21 system.
A typical repo file is divided into three sections, one for normal packages, one for debug packages,
and the last for source packages. Usually, there will be several copies of a distribution's packages
available from different locations, or mirrors. So the repo file tells yum where to find the latest
list of mirrors for each section. Note that the distribution release level and machine architecture
are parametrized, so yum would download the list for my x86_64 Fedora 21 system from https://
mirrors.fedoraproject.org/metalink?repo=updates-released-f21&arch=x86_64.
In addition to the repository location, the repo file tells whether a particular repository is enabled
and whether GPG signatures should be used to check the downloaded packages.
/etc/yum.repos.d/*.repo
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ cat /etc/yum.repos.d/fedora-updates.repo
[updates]
name=Fedora $releasever - $basearch - Updates
failovermethod=priority
#baseurl=http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/updates/$releasever/$basearch/
metalink=https://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/metalink?repo=updates-released-f$releasever&arch=$
basearch
enabled=1
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metadata_expire=6h
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-fedora-$releasever-$basearch
skip_if_unavailable=False
[updates-debuginfo]
name=Fedora $releasever - $basearch - Updates - Debug
failovermethod=priority
#baseurl=http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/updates/$releasever/$basearch/debug/
metalink=https://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/metalink?repo=updates-released-debug-f$releasever&
arch=$basearch
enabled=0
gpgcheck=1
metadata_expire=6h
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-fedora-$releasever-$basearch
skip_if_unavailable=False
[updates-source]
name=Fedora $releasever - Updates Source
failovermethod=priority
#baseurl=http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/updates/$releasever/SRPMS/
metalink=https://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/metalink?repo=updates-released-source-f$releasever&
arch=$basearch
enabled=0
gpgcheck=1
metadata_expire=6h
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-fedora-$releasever-$basearch
skip_if_unavailable=False
YUM and RPM use a local database to determine what packages are installed. The metadata
about packages that is stored in the local database is retrieved from the enabled repositories.
Although you will seldom need to worry about the local database, you use the command yum clean
to clean out various parts of the locally stored information and yum makecache to create the
information in your local database for the enabled repos. You might do this if you change your repo
configuration, for example.
Removing RPM packages
If you want to remove a package, you can use the remove option of yum, or the -e option of rpm. A
test run to remove gcc-gfortran using rpm -e is shown in . If the package can be removed, there is
no output.
Test removal of gcc-gfortran
[root@attic-f21 ~]# rpm -e --test gcc-gfortran
[
Unlike the simulated removal of Debian packages using apt-get, the RPM system does not
maintain information on packages that were automatically added, so there is no trivial way to
find out which dependencies might also be removed. However, if you specify multiple packages
for removal on a single command, then packages without dependencies will be removed before
packages that have dependencies.
When you remove packages using rpm, there is no prompt before the packages are removed,
unlike when you install packages. However, if you attempt to remove a package that is required for
some other package, the operation is not performed and you get an error message as shown in .
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Removing a dependent package with rpm
[root@attic-f21 ~]# rpm -e libquadmath-devel
error: Failed dependencies:
libquadmath-devel = 4.9.2-6.fc21 is needed by (installed) gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.x86_64
If you use yum remove instead, then you will be prompted after the transaction tests are performed.
If the package you are trying to remove is a dependent package for some other installed
packages, then YUM will offer to remove those as well as the dependent package, as shown in .
Removing a dependent package with yum
[root@attic-f21 ~]# yum remove libquadmath-devel
Loaded plugins: langpacks
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package libquadmath-devel.x86_64 0:4.9.2-6.fc21 will be erased
--> Processing Dependency: libquadmath-devel = 4.9.2-6.fc21 for package: gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.x86_64
--> Running transaction check
---> Package gcc-gfortran.x86_64 0:4.9.2-6.fc21 will be erased
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
Dependencies Resolved
================================================================================
Package
Arch
Version
Repository
Size
================================================================================
Removing:
libquadmath-devel
x86_64
4.9.2-6.fc21
@updates
18 k
Removing for dependencies:
gcc-gfortran
x86_64
4.9.2-6.fc21
@updates
18 M
Transaction Summary
================================================================================
Remove 1 Package (+1 Dependent package)
Installed size: 18 M
Is this ok [y/N]: n
Exiting on user command
Your transaction was saved, rerun it with:
yum load-transaction /tmp/yum_save_tx.2015-07-27.22-01.amzaZh.yumtx
Upgrading RPM packages
Now that you know how to install and remove an RPM, let's look at upgrading RPM packages to
a newer level. You can use yum update to update your entire system, or you can specify a single
package or a wildcard specification. shows how to update all the packages whose names start with
"pop". Note the use of apostrophes to prevent shell expansion of the "*".
Updating using yum update
[root@attic-f21 ~]# yum update 'pop*'
Loaded plugins: langpacks
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package poppler.x86_64 0:0.26.2-3.fc21 will be updated
---> Package poppler.x86_64 0:0.26.2-9.fc21 will be an update
---> Package poppler-data.noarch 0:0.4.7-1.fc21 will be updated
---> Package poppler-data.noarch 0:0.4.7-2.fc21 will be an update
---> Package poppler-glib.x86_64 0:0.26.2-3.fc21 will be updated
---> Package poppler-glib.x86_64 0:0.26.2-9.fc21 will be an update
---> Package poppler-utils.x86_64 0:0.26.2-3.fc21 will be updated
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---> Package poppler-utils.x86_64 0:0.26.2-9.fc21 will be an update
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
Dependencies Resolved
==========================================================================
Package
Arch
Version
Repository
Size
==========================================================================
Updating:
poppler
x86_64
0.26.2-9.fc21
updates
798 k
poppler-data
noarch
0.4.7-2.fc21
updates
2.2 M
poppler-glib
x86_64
0.26.2-9.fc21
updates
141 k
poppler-utils
x86_64
0.26.2-9.fc21
updates
171 k
Transaction Summary
==========================================================================
Upgrade 4 Packages
Total download size: 3.2 M
Is this ok [y/d/N]: y
Downloading packages:
Delta RPMs reduced 3.1 M of updates to 315 k (89% saved)
(1/4): poppler-data-0.4.7-1.fc21_0.4.7-2.fc21.noarch. | 70 kB 00:00
(2/4): poppler-0.26.2-3.fc21_0.26.2-9.fc21.x86_64.drp | 208 kB 00:00
(3/4): poppler-glib-0.26.2-3.fc21_0.26.2-9.fc21.x86_6 | 36 kB 00:00
(4/4): poppler-utils-0.26.2-9.fc21.x86_64.rpm
| 171 kB 00:00
Finishing delta rebuilds of 3 package(s) (3.1 M)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------Total
142 kB/s | 486 kB 00:03
Running transaction check
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded
Running transaction (shutdown inhibited)
Updating
: poppler-data-0.4.7-2.fc21.noarch
1/8
Updating
: poppler-0.26.2-9.fc21.x86_64
2/8
Updating
: poppler-glib-0.26.2-9.fc21.x86_64
3/8
Updating
: poppler-utils-0.26.2-9.fc21.x86_64
4/8
Cleanup
: poppler-utils-0.26.2-3.fc21.x86_64
5/8
Cleanup
: poppler-glib-0.26.2-3.fc21.x86_64
6/8
Cleanup
: poppler-0.26.2-3.fc21.x86_64
7/8
Cleanup
: poppler-data-0.4.7-1.fc21.noarch
8/8
Verifying : poppler-data-0.4.7-2.fc21.noarch
1/8
Verifying : poppler-glib-0.26.2-9.fc21.x86_64
2/8
Verifying : poppler-0.26.2-9.fc21.x86_64
3/8
Verifying : poppler-utils-0.26.2-9.fc21.x86_64
4/8
Verifying : poppler-data-0.4.7-1.fc21.noarch
5/8
Verifying : poppler-utils-0.26.2-3.fc21.x86_64
6/8
Verifying : poppler-glib-0.26.2-3.fc21.x86_64
7/8
Verifying : poppler-0.26.2-3.fc21.x86_64
8/8
Updated:
poppler.x86_64 0:0.26.2-9.fc21
poppler-data.noarch 0:0.4.7-2.fc21
poppler-glib.x86_64 0:0.26.2-9.fc21
poppler-utils.x86_64 0:0.26.2-9.fc21
Complete!
If you know where the RPM files are located, or have downloaded them, you can also update
them by using the rpm command. This is similar to installing, except that you use the -U or the -F
option instead of the -i option. The difference between these two options is that the -U option will
upgrade an existing package or install the package if it is not already installed, while the -F option
will only upgrade or freshen a package that is already installed. Because of this, the -U option is
frequently used, particularly when the command line contains a list of RPMs. This way, uninstalled
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packages are installed, while installed packages are upgraded. Two other options, -v (verbose)
and -h (hash marks), are often used to give progress indication. shows how to update the cairo
package and its cairo-gobject dependency using the rpm command. We have the cairo rpm already
downloaded in root's home directory, while we retrieve the cairo-gobject package from one of the
update mirrors.
Updating packages with rpm
[root@attic-f21 ~]# ls *.rpm
cairo-1.14.2-1.fc21.x86_64.rpm
[root@attic-f21 ~]# rpm -Uvh *.rpm \
> http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/updates/21/\
> x86_64/c/cairo-gobject-1.14.2-1.fc21.x86_64.rpm
Retrieving http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/updates/21/x86_64/c/cairo-g
object-1.14.2-1.fc21.x86_64.rpm
Preparing...
################################# [100%]
Updating / installing...
1:cairo-1.14.2-1.fc21
################################# [ 25%]
2:cairo-gobject-1.14.2-1.fc21
################################# [ 50%]
Cleaning up / removing...
3:cairo-gobject-1.13.1-0.4.git337ab################################# [ 75%]
4:cairo-1.13.1-0.4.git337ab1f.fc21 ################################# [100%]
Querying RPM packages
In our examples you saw that installing an rpm with the rpm command requires the full name of the
package file (or URL), such as gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.x86_64.rpm. On the other hand, installing
with yum, or removing an rpm with either command requires only the package name, such as gccgfortran. As with APT, RPM maintains an internal database of your installed packages, allowing
you to manipulate installed packages using the package name. In this section, we look at some of
the information that is available to you from this database using the -q (for query) option of the rpm
command, or the associated yum queries.
We'll reinstall the gcc-gfortran package to provide our examples.
The basic query simply asks if a package is installed, and, if so, what version. Add the -i option
and you get information about the package. Note that you need to have root authority to install,
upgrade, or remove packages, but non-root users can perform queries against the rpm database.
Displaying information about gcc-gfortran
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ yum list gcc-gfortran
Loaded plugins: langpacks
Installed Packages
gcc-gfortran.x86_64
4.9.2-6.fc21
Available Packages
gcc-gfortran.i686
4.9.2-6.fc21
@updates
updates
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ rpm -q gcc-gfortran
gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.x86_64
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ yum info gcc-gfortran
Loaded plugins: langpacks
Installed Packages
Name
: gcc-gfortran
Arch
: x86_64
Version
: 4.9.2
Release
: 6.fc21
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Size
Repo
From repo
Summary
URL
License
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
Description :
:
ibm.com/developerWorks/
18 M
installed
updates
Fortran support
http://gcc.gnu.org
GPLv3+ and GPLv3+ with exceptions and GPLv2+ with exceptions and
LGPLv2+ and BSD
The gcc-gfortran package provides support for compiling Fortran
programs with the GNU Compiler Collection.
Available Packages
Name
: gcc-gfortran
Arch
: i686
Version
: 4.9.2
Release
: 6.fc21
Size
: 7.5 M
Repo
: updates/21/x86_64
Summary
: Fortran support
URL
: http://gcc.gnu.org
License
: GPLv3+ and GPLv3+ with exceptions and GPLv2+ with exceptions and
: LGPLv2+ and BSD
Description : The gcc-gfortran package provides support for compiling Fortran
: programs with the GNU Compiler Collection.
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ rpm -qi gcc-gfortran
Name
: gcc-gfortran
Version
: 4.9.2
Release
: 6.fc21
Architecture: x86_64
Install Date: Mon 27 Jul 2015 09:36:14 PM EDT
Group
: Development/Languages
Size
: 19126083
License
: GPLv3+ and GPLv3+ with exceptions and GPLv2+ with exceptions and LGPLv2+ and BSD
Signature
: RSA/SHA256, Fri 13 Feb 2015 09:02:15 PM EST, Key ID 89ad4e8795a43f54
Source RPM : gcc-4.9.2-6.fc21.src.rpm
Build Date : Thu 12 Feb 2015 07:40:58 AM EST
Build Host : buildhw-08.phx2.fedoraproject.org
Relocations : (not relocatable)
Packager
: Fedora Project
Vendor
: Fedora Project
URL
: http://gcc.gnu.org
Summary
: Fortran support
Description :
The gcc-gfortran package provides support for compiling Fortran
programs with the GNU Compiler Collection.
The more extensive listings show you some of the tags that can be associated with an RPM
package. You will notice that rpm and yum show slightly different information in slightly different
formats. For this tutorial, we will stick to the basic output provided by standard command options.
See the man page if you would like to use the rpm --queryformat option to build custom query
output. Try running rpm --querytags if you want to know all the tags supported by your version of
rpm.
As shown in , yum will list installed and available packages. We have the x86_64 (64-bit) version
installed, but there is also an i686 (32-bit) version available. You can also use it to list packages
that have updates available and packages with other characteristics, such as obsolete or recently
added to a repository. You can even use yum to search for packages. In , you see that the texmacs
package is not installed, but is available from the fedora repository. If you search for "texmacs" you
see four packages that mention it. You can easily see why the TeXmacs* packages were found.
Use yum info pydot to find out why the pydot package is also mentioned.
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Displaying information about texmacs
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ yum list texmacs
Loaded plugins: langpacks
Available Packages
TeXmacs.x86_64
1.0.7.19-4.fc20
fedora
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ yum search texmacs
Loaded plugins: langpacks
============================= N/S matched: texmacs =============================
TeXmacs-devel.i686 : Development files for TeXmacs
TeXmacs-devel.x86_64 : Development files for TeXmacs
sympy-texmacs.noarch : TeXmacs integration for sympy
texmacs-fedora-fonts.noarch : Fonts for TeXmacs
TeXmacs.x86_64 : Structured WYSIWYG scientific text editor
Name and summary matches only, use "search all" for everything.
For the remaining query examples, we will mostly use rpm, as it has a more extensive set of
options. Many of the examples can also be done with yum, and yum has some capabilities that are
not in the basic rpm options. See the man pages to learn more.
RPM packages and files in them
You will often want to know what is in a package or what package a particular file came from. To
list the files in the gcc-gfortran package, use the -ql option as shown in . There are many files in
this package, so we've only shown part of the output.
Displaying files in the gcc-gfortran package
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ rpm -ql gcc-gfortran
/usr/bin/f95
/usr/bin/gfortran
/usr/lib/gcc
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/32
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/32/libcaf_single.a
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/32/libgfortran.a
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/32/libgfortran.so
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/32/libgfortranbegin.a
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/finclude
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/finclude/omp_lib.f90
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/finclude/omp_lib.h
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/finclude/omp_lib.mod
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/finclude/omp_lib_kinds.mod
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/libcaf_single.a
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/libgfortran.so
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/libgfortran.spec
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/libgfortranbegin.a
/usr/libexec/gcc
/usr/libexec/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux
/usr/libexec/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2
/usr/libexec/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/f951
/usr/share/doc/gcc-gfortran
/usr/share/doc/gcc-gfortran/ChangeLog-2002.bz2
/usr/share/doc/gcc-gfortran/ChangeLog-2002.libgfortran.bz2
...
usr/share/doc/gcc-gfortran/ChangeLog.bz2
/usr/share/doc/gcc-gfortran/ChangeLog.libgfortran.bz2
/usr/share/doc/gcc-gfortran/ChangeLog.ptr.bz2
/usr/share/info/gfortran.info.gz
/usr/share/man/man1/gfortran.1.gz
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You can restrict the files listed to just configuration files by adding the -c option to your query.
Similarly, the -d option limits the display to just documentation files.
Querying package files
The above package commands query the RPM database for installed packages. If you just
downloaded a package and want the same kind of information, you can get this using the -p option
(for package file) on your query along with specifying the package file name (as used for installing
the package). shows this for the two vim packages that we downloaded earlier. We run it as root
only because the files were in root's home directory. You can add other query options, such as -l
to list files or -i to list information.
Displaying package file information for two vim packages
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ # Query vim packages
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ rpm -qp *.rpm
vim-common-7.4.475-2.fc21.x86_64
vim-enhanced-7.4.475-2.fc21.x86_64
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ # Query vim configuration files
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ rpm -qpc *.rpm
/etc/vimrc
/etc/profile.d/vim.csh
/etc/profile.d/vim.sh
Querying all installed packages
The -a option applies your query to all installed packages. This can generate a lot of output, so
you will usually use it in conjunction with one or more filters, such as sort to sort the listing, more or
less to page through it, wc to obtain package or file counts, or grep to search for packages if you
aren't sure of the name. shows the following queries:
1. A sorted list of all packages on the system
2. A count of all packages on the system
3. A count of all files in all packages on the system
4. A count of all documentation files installed with RPMs
5. A search for all packages with "fortran" (case-insensitive) as part of their name
Queries against all packages
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ rpm -qa | sort | more
aaajohan-comfortaa-fonts-2.004-4.fc21.noarch
aalib-libs-1.4.0-0.26.rc5.fc21.x86_64
abattis-cantarell-fonts-0.0.16-2.fc21.noarch
abrt-2.3.0-8.fc21.x86_64
abrt-addon-ccpp-2.3.0-8.fc21.x86_64
abrt-addon-kerneloops-2.3.0-8.fc21.x86_64
abrt-addon-pstoreoops-2.3.0-8.fc21.x86_64
abrt-addon-python-2.3.0-8.fc21.x86_64
abrt-addon-python3-2.3.0-8.fc21.x86_64
abrt-addon-vmcore-2.3.0-8.fc21.x86_64
abrt-addon-xorg-2.3.0-8.fc21.x86_64
abrt-cli-2.3.0-8.fc21.x86_64
abrt-dbus-2.3.0-8.fc21.x86_64
abrt-desktop-2.3.0-8.fc21.x86_64
abrt-gui-2.3.0-8.fc21.x86_64
abrt-gui-libs-2.3.0-8.fc21.x86_64
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abrt-java-connector-1.1.0-2.fc21.x86_64
abrt-libs-2.3.0-8.fc21.x86_64
abrt-plugin-bodhi-2.3.0-8.fc21.x86_64
abrt-python-2.3.0-8.fc21.x86_64
abrt-python3-2.3.0-8.fc21.x86_64
abrt-retrace-client-2.3.0-8.fc21.x86_64
abrt-tui-2.3.0-8.fc21.x86_64
--More-[[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ rpm -qa | wc -l
1540
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ rpm -qal | wc -l
179111
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ rpm -qad | wc -l
47711
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ rpm -qa | grep -i fortran
gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.x86_64
libgfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.x86_64
Using rpm -qa can ease the administration of multiple systems. If you redirect the sorted output to
a file on one machine, and then do the same on the other machine, you can use the diff program
to find differences.
Which package owns a file?
Given that you can list all packages and all files in a package, you now have all the information
you need to find which package owns a file. However, the rpm command provides a -f (or -file) option to help you locate the package that owns an installed file. Suppose you want to know
which of the vim packages we saw earlier actually provides the vim command. You will need to
provide the full path to the file. shows how to use the which command to get the full path to the vim
command, and a handy tip for using this output as input to the rpm -qf command. Note that the
tick marks surrounding `which vim` are back-ticks. Another way of using this in the Bash shell is to
use $(which vim).
Which package supplies the vim executable
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ which vim
/usr/bin/vim
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ rpm -qf `which vim`
vim-enhanced-7.4.475-2.fc21.x86_64
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ rpm -qf $(which vim)
vim-enhanced-7.4.475-2.fc21.x86_64
RPM dependencies
You saw earlier that our attempt to erase the libquadmath-devel failed because of dependencies.
In addition to files, an RPM package may contain arbitrary capabilities that other packages may
depend on.
As you have seen, this usually works out fine. If you need to install several packages at once,
some of which may depend on others, simply use yum, or give the whole list to your rpm -Uvh
command, and it will analyze the dependencies and perform the installs in the right order.
Besides trying to install or erase a package and getting an error message, there are ways to find
out what files or capabilities a package requires or depends on.
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The rpm command provides an option to interrogate installed packages or package files to find
out what capabilities they depend on or require.This is the --requires option, which may be
abbreviated to -R. shows the capabilities required by gcc-gfortran. Add the -p option and use the
full RPM file name if you want to query the package file instead of the RPM database.
What does gcc-gfortran require
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ rpm -qR gcc-gfortran
/bin/sh
/bin/sh
/sbin/install-info
/sbin/install-info
gcc = 4.9.2-6.fc21
ld-linux-x86-64.so.2()(64bit)
ld-linux-x86-64.so.2(GLIBC_2.3)(64bit)
libc.so.6()(64bit)
libc.so.6(GLIBC_2.11)(64bit)
libc.so.6(GLIBC_2.14)(64bit)
libc.so.6(GLIBC_2.2.5)(64bit)
libc.so.6(GLIBC_2.3)(64bit)
libc.so.6(GLIBC_2.4)(64bit)
libdl.so.2()(64bit)
libdl.so.2(GLIBC_2.2.5)(64bit)
libgfortran = 4.9.2-6.fc21
libgfortran.so.3()(64bit)
libgmp.so.10()(64bit)
libm.so.6()(64bit)
libmpc.so.3()(64bit)
libmpfr.so.4()(64bit)
libquadmath = 4.9.2-6.fc21
libquadmath-devel = 4.9.2-6.fc21
libz.so.1()(64bit)
rpmlib(CompressedFileNames) <= 3.0.4-1
rpmlib(FileDigests) <= 4.6.0-1
rpmlib(PayloadFilesHavePrefix) <= 4.0-1
rpmlib(PayloadIsXz) <= 5.2-1
rtld(GNU_HASH)
It can be somewhat tricky to match capabilities to the packages that provide them. The yum
command with the deplist option can help here. If you just give a package name that is not
qualified by version, you may get a listing for other known versions. shows how to get the
dependency list for just the version of gcc-gfortran that is installed.
Using yum deplist to find what gcc-gfortran requires
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ rpm -q gcc-gfortran
gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.x86_64
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ yum deplist $(rpm -q gcc-gfortran)
Loaded plugins: langpacks
package: gcc-gfortran.x86_64 4.9.2-6.fc21
dependency: /bin/sh
provider: bash.x86_64 4.3.39-1.fc21
dependency: /sbin/install-info
provider: info.x86_64 5.2-5.fc21
dependency: gcc = 4.9.2-6.fc21
provider: gcc.x86_64 4.9.2-6.fc21
dependency: ld-linux-x86-64.so.2()(64bit)
provider: glibc.x86_64 2.20-8.fc21
dependency: ld-linux-x86-64.so.2(GLIBC_2.3)(64bit)
provider: glibc.x86_64 2.20-8.fc21
dependency: libc.so.6(GLIBC_2.4)(64bit)
provider: glibc.x86_64 2.20-8.fc21
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dependency: libdl.so.2()(64bit)
provider: glibc.x86_64 2.20-8.fc21
dependency: libdl.so.2(GLIBC_2.2.5)(64bit)
provider: glibc.x86_64 2.20-8.fc21
dependency: libgfortran = 4.9.2-6.fc21
provider: libgfortran.x86_64 4.9.2-6.fc21
provider: libgfortran.i686 4.9.2-6.fc21
dependency: libgfortran.so.3()(64bit)
provider: libgfortran.x86_64 4.9.2-6.fc21
dependency: libgmp.so.10()(64bit)
provider: gmp.x86_64 1:6.0.0-9.fc21
dependency: libm.so.6()(64bit)
provider: glibc.x86_64 2.20-8.fc21
dependency: libmpc.so.3()(64bit)
provider: libmpc.x86_64 1.0.2-3.fc21
dependency: libmpfr.so.4()(64bit)
provider: mpfr.x86_64 3.1.2-8.fc21
dependency: libquadmath = 4.9.2-6.fc21
provider: libquadmath.x86_64 4.9.2-6.fc21
provider: libquadmath.i686 4.9.2-6.fc21
dependency: libquadmath-devel = 4.9.2-6.fc21
provider: libquadmath-devel.x86_64 4.9.2-6.fc21
provider: libquadmath-devel.i686 4.9.2-6.fc21
dependency: libz.so.1()(64bit)
provider: zlib.x86_64 1.2.8-7.fc21
dependency: rtld(GNU_HASH)
provider: glibc.x86_64 2.20-8.fc21
provider: glibc.i686 2.20-8.fc21
This list also shows possible providers for each capability. You can see that most dependencies
could be provided by more than one alternative level of a package. For example, libquadmath
could come from either the 32-bit or 64-bit version of the libquadmath package. With a little
creative filtering, you can reduce this output to a list of package names as shown in .
Reducing the yum deplist output to just list package names
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ yum deplist $(rpm -q gcc-gfortran) | awk '/provider:/ { print $2 }'|sort|uniq
bash.x86_64
gcc.x86_64
glibc.i686
glibc.x86_64
gmp.x86_64
info.x86_64
libgfortran.i686
libgfortran.x86_64
libmpc.x86_64
libquadmath-devel.i686
libquadmath-devel.x86_64
libquadmath.i686
libquadmath.x86_64
mpfr.x86_64
zlib.x86_64
If you just need to know what packages need to be installed, you can always run yum install and
see the list before you are prompted to accept the installation proposal.
In addition to finding out what capabilities a package requires, you may need to find what package
provides some capability. You saw above how to find which package owns a file. shows how to
use rpm or yum to find what package provides the ld-linux-x86-64.so.2(GLIBC_2.3)(64bit) capability.
In addition to information about installed packages providing the capability, YUM also shows the
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packages or versions available in repositories. These are the original 2.20-5 version from the
fedora repository and the updated 2.20-8 version available from the updates repository.
What packages provide ld-linux-x86-64.so.2(GLIBC_2.3)(64bit) capability
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ rpm -q --whatprovides
'ld-linux-x86-64.so.2(GLIBC_2.3)(64bit)'
glibc-2.20-8.fc21.x86_64
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ yum whatprovides 'ld-linux-x86-64.so.2(GLIBC_2.3)(64bit)'
Loaded plugins: langpacks
glibc-2.20-5.fc21.x86_64 : The GNU libc libraries
Repo
: fedora
Matched from:
Provides
: ld-linux-x86-64.so.2(GLIBC_2.3)(64bit)
glibc-2.20-8.fc21.x86_64 : The GNU libc libraries
Repo
: updates
Matched from:
Provides
: ld-linux-x86-64.so.2(GLIBC_2.3)(64bit)
glibc-2.20-8.fc21.x86_64 : The GNU libc libraries
Repo
: @updates
Matched from:
Provides
: ld-linux-x86-64.so.2(GLIBC_2.3)(64bit)
RPM package file integrity
To ensure their integrity, RPM packages include a digest, such as MD5 or SHA1, and are usually
digitally signed. Packages that are digitally signed need a public key for verification. To check the
integrity of an RPM package file, use the --checksig (abbreviated to -K) option of rpm. You will
usually find it useful to add the -v option for more verbose output. shows an example for the vimenhanced RPM.
Checking the integrity of the vim-enhanced package file
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ rpm -vK vim-enhanced-7.4.475-2.fc21.x86_64.rpm
vim-enhanced-7.4.475-2.fc21.x86_64.rpm:
Header V3 RSA/SHA256 Signature, key ID 95a43f54: OK
Header SHA1 digest: OK (696e492a4ee7a672cb3851d220de804dce0c9484)
V3 RSA/SHA256 Signature, key ID 95a43f54: OK
MD5 digest: OK (6bc225b37f43e7e7075668d04a73b9ea)
You may get an output line like that shown in , This means that you have a signed package, but
you do not have the needed public key in your RPM database. Different versions of RPM may
present the verification differently.
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ rpm -K audacity-freeworld-2.1.1-1.fc21.x86_64.rpm
audacity-freeworld-2.1.1-1.fc21.x86_64.rpm: RSA sha1 ((MD5) PGP) md5 NOT OK (MISSING KEYS:
(MD5) PGP#6446d859)
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ rpm -vK audacity-freeworld-2.1.1-1.fc21.x86_64.rpm
audacity-freeworld-2.1.1-1.fc21.x86_64.rpm:
Header V3 RSA/SHA256 Signature, key ID 6446d859: NOKEY
Header SHA1 digest: OK (231ac5339a8084ba84a4a25d2a996f5d52434935)
V3 RSA/SHA256 Signature, key ID 6446d859: NOKEY
MD5 digest: OK (188d9cc3bfa2ac9b87483e387c8e74b6)
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In this case, I downloaded the audacity package from the rpmfusion repository, but I have not
installed that repository or its keys on my system.
If a package is signed and you want to verify it against a signature, then you will need to locate
the appropriate signature file and import it into your RPM database. You should first download the
key and then check its fingerprint before importing it using the rpm --import command. For more
information, see the RPM man pages. You will also find more information on signed binaries at the
RPM home page.
Verifying an installed package
Like checking the integrity of an rpm, you can also check the integrity of your installed files using
rpm -V. This step makes sure that the files haven't been modified since they were installed from
the rpm. As shown in , there is no output from this command if the package is still good, but you
can add the -v option to get much more detailed output.
Verifying the installed vim-common package
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ rpm -V vim-common
Let's become root and corrupt our vim-common installation by deleting /usr/bin/xxd and replacing /
usr/share/vim/vim74/syntax/bindzone.vim with /bin/bash. Let's try the verification again. The results
are shown in .
Tampering with the vim-common package
[root@attic-f21 ~]# rpm -qf /usr/bin/xxd /usr/share/vim/vim74/syntax/bindzone.vim
vim-common-7.4.475-2.fc21.x86_64
vim-common-7.4.475-2.fc21.x86_64
[root@attic-f21 ~]# rm /usr/bin/xxd
rm: remove regular file ‘/usr/bin/xxd’? y
[root@attic-f21 ~]# cp /bin/bash /usr/share/vim/vim74/syntax/bindzone.vim
cp: overwrite ‘/usr/share/vim/vim74/syntax/bindzone.vim’? y
[root@attic-f21 ~]# rpm -V vim-common
missing
/usr/bin/xxd
S.5....T.
/usr/share/vim/vim74/syntax/bindzone.vim
This output shows us that the /usr/share/vim/vim74/syntax/bindzone.vim file fails MD5 sum, file
size, and mtime tests. One way to solve the problem would be to remove the package and then
reinstall it, but there are other packages that depend on vim-common and that are installed and
still OK. The solution is to forcibly reinstall it using the --force option of rpm, or the reinstall
function of yum. shows how to reinstall with yum, and then verify that the package is now okay and
the deleted file has been restored.
Reinstalling the vim-common package
[root@attic-f21 ~]# yum reinstall vim-common
Loaded plugins: langpacks
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package vim-common.x86_64 2:7.4.475-2.fc21 will be reinstalled
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
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Dependencies Resolved
================================================================================
Package
Arch
Version
Repository
Size
================================================================================
Reinstalling:
vim-common
x86_64
2:7.4.475-2.fc21
fedora
5.9 M
Transaction Summary
================================================================================
Reinstall 1 Package
Total download size: 5.9 M
Installed size: 21 M
Is this ok [y/d/N]: y
Downloading packages:
vim-common-7.4.475-2.fc21.x86_64.rpm
Running transaction check
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded
Running transaction (shutdown inhibited)
Installing : 2:vim-common-7.4.475-2.fc21.x86_64
Verifying : 2:vim-common-7.4.475-2.fc21.x86_64
| 5.9 MB
00:03
1/1
1/1
Installed:
vim-common.x86_64 2:7.4.475-2.fc21
Complete!
[root@attic-f21 ~]# rpm -V vim-common
[root@attic-f21 ~]# ls /usr/bin/xxd
/usr/bin/xxd
If you need more force
Usually the package management system keeps your packages in order. However, if you manage
to delete some file that is an important part of a package—and reinstalling the package without
removing does not fix the problem—then you may need to remove the package before reinstalling.
For such a case, you probably want to delete the existing copy and reinstall it, without needing to
uninstall and reinstall all the packages that depend on it. For this, you can use the rpm command's
--nodeps option to bypass dependency checking when you remove a package. shows how this
might work if you accidentally removed the /usr/bin/xxd file, which is part of the vim-common
package, as we did earlier.
Updating packages with rpm
[root@attic-f21 ~]# rm /usr/bin/xxd
rm: remove regular file ‘/usr/bin/xxd’? y
[root@attic-f21 ~]# # Oops! we needed that file
[root@attic-f21 ~]# rpm -Fvh vim-common-7.4.475-2.fc21.x86_64.rpm
[root@attic-f21 ~]# ls /usr/bin/xxd
ls: cannot access /usr/bin/xxd: No such file or directory
[root@attic-f21 ~]# # Oh! Freshening the package didn't replace the missing file
[root@attic-f21 ~]# rpm -e vim-common
error: Failed dependencies:
vim-common = 2:7.4.475-2.fc21 is needed by (installed) vim-enhanced-2:7.4.475-2.fc21.x86_64
[root@attic-f21 ~]# # Can't remove vim-common because vim-enhanced needs it
[root@attic-f21 ~]# rpm -e --nodeps vim-common
warning: file /usr/bin/xxd: remove failed: No such file or directory
[root@attic-f21 ~]# # Bypassing the dependency check allowed removal
[root@attic-f21 ~]# # No surprise that /usr/bin/xxd was not found
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[root@attic-f21 ~]# # Update (or install) vim-common again
[root@attic-f21 ~]# rpm -Uvh vim-common-7.4.475-2.fc21.x86_64.rpm
Preparing...
################################# [100%]
Updating / installing...
1:vim-common-2:7.4.475-2.fc21
################################# [100%]
[root@attic-f21 ~]# ls /usr/bin/xxd
/usr/bin/xxd
[root@attic-f21 ~]# # And /usr/bin/xxd is back
So now you have some approaches to updating or repairing if accidents happen and the ordinary
update process fails. Note that you can also bypass dependency checking when installing an
RPM, but this not usually a good idea.
Downloading RPMs from repositories
Although yum will automatically retrieve packages from repositories, you may want to download
RPMs and save them, perhaps to install them on a non-networked system, or to examine their
contents, or for some other reason. You can use the yumdownloader command to do this as shown
in . In our case, the gcc-gfortran.x86_64 package is already installed, so there are no additional
packages to download.
Downloading the gcc-gfortran package
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ yumdownloader --resolve gcc-gfortran.x86_64
Loaded plugins: langpacks
--> Running transaction check
---> Package gcc-gfortran.x86_64 0:4.9.2-6.fc21 will be reinstalled
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.x86_64.rpm
| 7.7 MB
00:04
The --resolve option of yumdownloader will cause other required packages to be downloaded,
too. To illustrate this also shows the files downloaded using the --resolve option when we
download gcc-gfortran. Note that we did not specify an architecture (x86_64 or i686), so the
default download is for the i686 version.
Downloading the gcc-gfortran package
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ yumdownloader --resolve gcc-gfortran
Loaded plugins: langpacks
updates/21/x86_64/metalink
| 14 kB 00:00
--> Running transaction check
---> Package gcc-gfortran.i686 0:4.9.2-6.fc21 will be installed
--> Processing Dependency: libz.so.1(ZLIB_1.2.3.3) for package: gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.i686
--> Processing Dependency: libz.so.1 for package: gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.i686
--> Processing Dependency: libmpfr.so.4 for package: gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.i686
--> Processing Dependency: libmpc.so.3 for package: gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.i686
--> Processing Dependency: libm.so.6 for package: gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.i686
--> Processing Dependency: libgmp.so.10 for package: gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.i686
--> Processing Dependency: libgfortran.so.3 for package: gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.i686
--> Processing Dependency: libdl.so.2(GLIBC_2.1) for package: gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.i686
--> Processing Dependency: libdl.so.2(GLIBC_2.0) for package: gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.i686
--> Processing Dependency: libdl.so.2 for package: gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.i686
--> Processing Dependency: libc.so.6(GLIBC_2.4) for package: gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.i686
--> Processing Dependency: ld-linux.so.2(GLIBC_2.3) for package: gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.i686
--> Processing Dependency: ld-linux.so.2 for package: gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.i686
---> Package gcc-gfortran.x86_64 0:4.9.2-6.fc21 will be reinstalled
--> Running transaction check
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---> Package glibc.i686 0:2.20-8.fc21 will be installed
--> Processing Dependency: libfreebl3.so(NSSRAWHASH_3.12.3) for package: glibc-2.20-8.fc21.i686
--> Processing Dependency: libfreebl3.so for package: glibc-2.20-8.fc21.i686
---> Package gmp.i686 1:6.0.0-9.fc21 will be installed
--> Processing Dependency: libstdc++.so.6(GLIBCXX_3.4.11) for package: 1:gmp-6.0.0-9.fc21.i686
--> Processing Dependency: libstdc++.so.6(GLIBCXX_3.4) for package: 1:gmp-6.0.0-9.fc21.i686
--> Processing Dependency: libstdc++.so.6(CXXABI_1.3) for package: 1:gmp-6.0.0-9.fc21.i686
--> Processing Dependency: libstdc++.so.6 for package: 1:gmp-6.0.0-9.fc21.i686
--> Processing Dependency: libgcc_s.so.1(GCC_3.0) for package: 1:gmp-6.0.0-9.fc21.i686
--> Processing Dependency: libgcc_s.so.1 for package: 1:gmp-6.0.0-9.fc21.i686
---> Package libgfortran.i686 0:4.9.2-6.fc21 will be installed
--> Processing Dependency: libquadmath.so.0(QUADMATH_1.0) for package: libgfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.i686
--> Processing Dependency: libquadmath.so.0 for package: libgfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.i686
---> Package libmpc.i686 0:1.0.2-3.fc21 will be installed
---> Package mpfr.i686 0:3.1.2-8.fc21 will be installed
---> Package zlib.i686 0:1.2.8-7.fc21 will be installed
--> Running transaction check
---> Package libgcc.i686 0:4.9.2-6.fc21 will be installed
---> Package libquadmath.i686 0:4.9.2-6.fc21 will be installed
---> Package libstdc++.i686 0:4.9.2-6.fc21 will be installed
---> Package nss-softokn-freebl.i686 0:3.19.2-1.0.fc21 will be installed
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
(1/12): gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.i686.rpm
| 7.5 MB 00:04
(2/12): glibc-2.20-8.fc21.i686.rpm
| 4.1 MB 00:02
(3/12): gmp-6.0.0-9.fc21.i686.rpm
| 420 kB 00:01
(4/12): libgcc-4.9.2-6.fc21.i686.rpm
| 97 kB 00:00
(5/12): libgfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.i686.rpm
| 270 kB 00:00
(6/12): gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.x86_64.rpm
| 7.7 MB 00:09
(7/12): libmpc-1.0.2-3.fc21.i686.rpm
| 56 kB 00:01
(8/12): libquadmath-4.9.2-6.fc21.i686.rpm
| 243 kB 00:00
(9/12): mpfr-3.1.2-8.fc21.i686.rpm
| 211 kB 00:00
(10/12): libstdc++-4.9.2-6.fc21.i686.rpm
| 314 kB 00:00
(11/12): nss-softokn-freebl-3.19.2-1.0.fc21.i686.rpm
| 195 kB 00:00
(12/12): zlib-1.2.8-7.fc21.i686.rpm
| 97 kB 00:00
Compare the list of downloaded packages to the 64-bit entries in list we built in .
Using rpm2cpio
If you download an RPM and need to examine its contents, rather than install it, you can use the
rpm2cpiocommand to convert the contents to a cpio archive and then filter that through the cpio
command to extract individual files or all the files in the package. shows how to do this for the gccgfortran package and then shows some of the files (and directories) that were unpacked. See the
man pages for rpm2cpio and cpio for additional details on these commands.
Unpacking the gcc-gfortran package with rpm2cpio
[[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ mkdir gcc-gfortran
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ cd gcc-gfortran
[ian@attic-f21 gcc-gfortran]$ rpm2cpio ../gcc-gfortran-4.9.2-6.fc21.x86_64.rpm | cpio -idv
./usr/bin/f95
./usr/bin/gfortran
./usr/lib/gcc
./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux
./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2
./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/32
./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/32/libcaf_single.a
./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/32/libgfortran.a
./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/32/libgfortran.so
./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/32/libgfortranbegin.a
./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/finclude
./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/finclude/omp_lib.f90
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./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/finclude/omp_lib.h
./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/finclude/omp_lib.mod
./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/finclude/omp_lib_kinds.mod
./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/libcaf_single.a
./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/libgfortran.so
./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/libgfortran.spec
./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/libgfortranbegin.a
./usr/libexec/gcc
./usr/libexec/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux
./usr/libexec/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2
./usr/libexec/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/f951
./usr/share/doc/gcc-gfortran
./usr/share/doc/gcc-gfortran/ChangeLog-2002.bz2
./usr/share/doc/gcc-gfortran/ChangeLog-2002.libgfortran.bz2
...
./usr/share/doc/gcc-gfortran/ChangeLog.bz2
./usr/share/doc/gcc-gfortran/ChangeLog.libgfortran.bz2
./usr/share/doc/gcc-gfortran/ChangeLog.ptr.bz2
./usr/share/info/gfortran.info.gz
./usr/share/man/man1/gfortran.1.gz
37373 blocks
[ian@attic-f21 gcc-gfortran]$ find . | head
.
./usr
./usr/lib
./usr/lib/gcc
./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux
./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2
./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/libcaf_single.a
./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/finclude
./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/finclude/omp_lib.h
./usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/4.9.2/finclude/omp_lib.mod
Finding RPMs
We saw earlier that YUM offers a search capability, which searches descriptions as well as
package names. If you need to find what package contains a program that you do not have
installed, there are a few other ways:
• You can guess what package might contain it and download the package without installing.
Once you have the package, you can interrogate it.
• You can search the Internet.
• You may be able to use the command-not-found capability described below.
If you can't find a particular RPM through your system tools, a good Internet resource for locating
RPMs is the Rpmfind.Net server.
Command not found
When the Bash shell searches for a command and does not find it, then the shell searches for
a shell function named command_not_found_handle. If the command_not_found_handle function
exists, it is invoked with the original command and original arguments as its arguments, and
the function's exit status becomes the exit status of the shell. If the function is not defined, the
shell prints an error message and returns an exit status of 127. The function is usually set in the
system /etc/bash.bashrc file or another profile file such as /etc/profile.d/PackageKit.sh. shows how
we searched for the command-not-found capability. If it is not already installed on your system, you
now know how to install it.
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Locating and installing the command-not-found capability
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ yum search command-not-found
Loaded plugins: langpacks
======================= N/S matched: command-not-found ========================
PackageKit-command-not-found.x86_64 : Ask the user to install command line
: programs automatically
Name and summary matches only, use "search all" for everything.
shows how the function handle is defined after installing PackageKit-command-not-found. If the
function cannot perform the search, then it mimics the standard system behavior and returns 127.
The command_not_found_handle
[ian@attic-f21 ~]$ type command_not_found_handle
command_not_found_handle is a function
command_not_found_handle ()
{
local runcnf=1;
local retval=127;
[[ $- =~ i ]] || runcnf=0;
[ ! -S /var/run/dbus/system_bus_socket ] && runcnf=0;
[ ! -x /usr/libexec/packagekitd ] && runcnf=0;
if [ $runcnf -eq 1 ]; then
/usr/libexec/pk-command-not-found "$@";
retval=$?;
else
echo "bash: $1: command not found";
fi;
return $retval
}
At the beginning of this tutorial, we showed you two different outputs from gfortran --help. The
first showed you a response with command_not_found_handle disabled and the second was with
it enabled. Go back and review to see the difference.
Other tools
In addition to yum and rpm, your distributor may provide other tools for installing packages from the
repository or updating your entire system. These tools may be graphical or command line or both.
Some examples include:
• YaST (SUSE)
• up2date (Red Hat)
• Mandrake Software Management (Mandriva)
Usually these tools will handle multiple package updates in an automatic or semi-automatic
fashion. They may also provide capabilities to display contents of repositories or search for
packages. Consult the documentation for your distribution for more details.
dnf
With Fedora 22, Red Hat replaced the venerable yum with a new tool called dnf (for dandified
yum). It has been in Fedora packages since Fedora 18 as a tech preview. According to the project
page:
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The reason of initiating DNF project was because of the biggest three pitfalls of
Yum: undocumented API, broken dependency solving algorithm and inability to
refactor internal functions. The last mentioned issue is connected with the lack of
documentation.
Most of the command line interface is similar or identical to yum and the tools are also similar or
have equivalents. Using yum commands on system that uses dnf will usually work, albeit with a
warning that the yum command is deprecated and you should use dnf.
While dnf is not yet part of the LPI objectives, you should be aware of it as a replacement for yum.
PackageKit
No discussion of package installation would be complete without mentioning PackageKit, which
is a system designed to make installing and updating software easier. The intent is to unify all
the software graphical tools used in different distributions. PackageKit uses a system activated
daemon, which means that the daemon is activated only when needed. PackageKit has version
for Gnome (gnome-packagekit) and KDE KPackageKit). The command-not-found handle
described above is also part of PackageKit. It includes the commands pkcon to perform package
management functions from the console, and pkmon to monitor package kit activity. It also includes
graphical tools for adding software packages, or for updating your system. shows an example of
the Gnome PackageKit (/usr/bin/gpk-application) graphical interface.
Gnome PackageKit graphical interface on Fedora 21
At the time of writing, recent Fedora releases have replaced PackageKit with a new Software
package, called gnome-software. The project claims:
The new tool, named gnome-software, is designed from the beginning for installing
applications. It will present applications with information that is relevant to users
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(icons, screenshots, reviews, descriptions, ratings,...) instead of information that is
relevant for packagers (dependencies, package size, file lists,...).
This does not work with all packages, only checks for updates on a specific schedule, and requires
unnecessary reboots. See Bug 1064717 for an explanation of why this is as designed. You can
install the gnome-packagekit-installer and gnome-packagekit-updater packages to get PackageKit
functionality.
There is a lot more to the RPM and YUM package management systems than covered here.
RELATED TOPICS:
developerWorks roadmap for LPIC-1
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Linux Professional Institute
RPM
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About the author
Ian Shields
Ian Shields is a freelance Linux writer. He retired from IBM at the Research Triangle
Park, NC. Ian joined IBM in Canberra, Australia, as a systems engineer in 1973,
and has worked in Montreal, Canada, and RTP, NC in both systems engineering
and software development. He has been using, developing on, and writing about
Linux since the late 1990s. His undergraduate degree is in pure mathematics and
philosophy from the Australian National University. He has an M.S. and Ph.D. in
computer science from North Carolina State University. He enjoys orienteering and
likes to travel.
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010, 2015
(www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml)
Trademarks
(www.ibm.com/developerworks/ibm/trademarks/)
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