Linux RPM Notes

• Linux Packages
• RPM Commands
• RPM Notes
• RPM Tools
• Debian / Ubuntu Tools

Linux Packages

The Linux RPM system is so convoluted and difficult to use that I've had to resort to this page of notes on how to do things.

RPMs are a great example of how to make something actually difficult to use. For an alternative, take a look at the NetBSD Package System. It actually works, it is simple, and you don't need to make a list of "how to do things with it"... You just do them.

You need to be careful installing things if you need multiple versions on the system. Upgrade or Freshen (upgrade only things which are already installed) delete the old version of a package.

Both kind of systems have a native package format that holds packages.

• rpm -- redhat package manager
• dpkg -- debian package

Then, the cool thing is that both of them have automated package managers which figure out dependencies and other problems, and take care of download the packages that you need to install the package that you want!

• yum -- ???
• apt -- automatic package tool

Notes on package stuff, trying to find when a package was installed:

• List packages by installation date

RPM Commands

List all Installed Packages

rpm -q -a

Find which package a file belongs to

rpm -q -f filename

List files in an installed RPM

rpm -q -l package_name

List files in an uninstalled RPM

rpm -q -l -p package_file.rpm

What packages does this uninstalled RPM require

rpm -q -R -p package_file.rpm
rpm -qpR package_file.rpm

Which base version of linux is installed on this box

cat /etc/redhat-release

List files in a RPM

rpm2cpio package_file.rpm | cpio -t

List RPMs in order of install

rpm -qa --last

RPM Notes

• How to make RPM auto-install dependencies
• Creating local yum repositories
• Automatic dependency creation
• RPM dependencies versus auto-apt stuff
• Using rpm2cpio
• RPM package label format

Package Label

<name>-<version>-<release>.<os>.<architecture>.rpm

name

Name of the package, which can contain dashes, or even a version number of the software. For example apache-1.x versus apache-2.x as big non-compatible variations of the apache web server. A typical package name addition is -devel, which indicates a package has the headers for compiling to use that package, instead of just linking against the package for pre-compiled things.

version

Version of the package, which can contain dots and dashes. This is the version of the software, so when a software revs or a new beta becomes available, or a patch comes out, this is what changes.

release

The release can be thought of as and indivdual release of the version. That could be a recompilation, version of tool patched by the distributor (which is still the same version), built with different dependencies, or whatever.

os

A keyword indicating the "OS" the package is intended for. A few examples:

• fc19 -- fedora core 19
• rhel6 -- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

architecture

What architecture on a platform this thing is build for. Typical values on rhel are:

• i386
• x86_64
• i686
• ppc
• noarch

RPM Tools

• RPM Find DB tool
• Installing / Using spacewalk for installs and mirrors
• RPM.ORG Notes on RPM options

Yum Notes

Yum is an automated package tool along the lines of apt for use with RedHat Packages. It takes care of dependencies and other issues that you would otherwise have to do manually by checking RPM dependencies and downloading and installing them all in the correct order.

Yum stands for YellowDog Update Manager, go figure.

• Get yum to install a specific package version
• Yum Info

List package versions

yum --showduplicates list package-name

Remove an installed package

yum remove package-name

[Setup to] version-lock a package so it won't be upgraded

yum install yum-versionlock
yum versionlock package-name

Find what RPM has a file

yum whatprovides /a/path

Debian / Ubuntu Tools

Debian & Ubuntu use a different package format than the RPM favored by RedHat-like linux systems. It's called dpkg. The funky thing is that most users on those platforms use the automated tool apt instead of the base package format.

List all Installed Packages

dpkg --get-selections

List Installaed Packages, including version info

dpkg --list 'shell-regexp'

Find which package a file belongs to

dpkg -S filename

List files in an installed package

dpkg -L package_name

Get status of an installed package

dpkg -s package_name

List info in an uninstalled .DEB

dpkg --info package_file.deb

What packages does this uninstalled .DEB require

apt install --simulate package_file.deb

Which base version of linux is installed on this box

cat /etc/debian_version

List / Extract files in a .DEB

dpkg --fsys-tarfile package_file.deb | tar tf -

Find a dpkg with a file

dpkg-query -S file

Find a dpkg with a name

dpkg-query -l name