Linux software management systems

yum basics

yum how to has some yum basics. yum is a software installation tool for Red Hat Enterprise Linux & Fedora Linux.

List all installed packages:

# yum list installed

List might be large you can pipe to scroll through list:

# yum list installed | more
# yum list installed | less

You may also redirect output to file:

# yum list installed > /tmp/yum-installed

List certain packages:

# yum list vsftpd
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
 * addons: mirror.trouble-free.net
 * base: mirror.steadfast.net
 * extras: mirror.trouble-free.net
 * updates: styx.biochem.wfubmc.edu
Available Packages
vsftpd.x86_64                      2.0.5-16.el5_5.1                      updates

yum group commands

List available package groups:

# yum grouplist

Display details about a package group:

# yum groupinfo 'FTP Server'
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror
Setting up Group Process
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
 * addons: mirror.trouble-free.net
 * base: mirror.steadfast.net
 * extras: mirror.trouble-free.net
 * updates: styx.biochem.wfubmc.edu

Group: FTP Server
 Description: These tools allow you to run an FTP server on the system.
 Mandatory Packages:
   vsftpd
 Optional Packages:
   xferstats

Install the packages in a group on your system:

# yum groupinstall 'FTP Server'
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
 * addons: mirror.trouble-free.net
 * base: mirror.steadfast.net
 * extras: mirror.trouble-free.net
 * updates: styx.biochem.wfubmc.edu
Setting up Group Process
Checking for new repos for mirrors
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package vsftpd.x86_64 0:2.0.5-16.el5_5.1 set to be updated
addons/filelists                                         |  197 B     00:00     
base/filelists_db                                        | 4.0 MB     00:00     
extras/filelists_db                                      | 220 kB     00:00     
updates/filelists_db                                     | 1.4 MB     00:04     
--> Finished Dependency Resolution

Dependencies Resolved

================================================================================
 Package        Arch           Version                    Repository       Size
================================================================================
Installing:
 vsftpd         x86_64         2.0.5-16.el5_5.1           updates         139 k

Transaction Summary
================================================================================
Install       1 Package(s)
Upgrade       0 Package(s)

Total download size: 139 k
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
vsftpd-2.0.5-16.el5_5.1.x86_64.rpm                       | 139 kB     00:00     
Running rpm_check_debug
Running Transaction Test
Finished Transaction Test
Transaction Test Succeeded
Running Transaction
  Installing     : vsftpd                                                   1/1 

Installed:
  vsftpd.x86_64 0:2.0.5-16.el5_5.1                                              

Complete!

Remove the packages in a group from your system:

# yum groupremove 'FTP Server'
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror
Setting up Group Process
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
 * addons: mirror.trouble-free.net
 * base: mirror.steadfast.net
 * extras: mirror.trouble-free.net
 * updates: styx.biochem.wfubmc.edu
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package vsftpd.x86_64 0:2.0.5-16.el5_5.1 set to be erased
--> Finished Dependency Resolution

Dependencies Resolved

================================================================================
 Package        Arch           Version                  Repository         Size
================================================================================
Removing:
 vsftpd         x86_64         2.0.5-16.el5_5.1         installed         283 k

Transaction Summary
================================================================================
Remove        1 Package(s)
Reinstall     0 Package(s)
Downgrade     0 Package(s)

Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
Running rpm_check_debug
Running Transaction Test
Finished Transaction Test
Transaction Test Succeeded
Running Transaction
  Erasing        : vsftpd                                                   1/1 

Removed:
  vsftpd.x86_64 0:2.0.5-16.el5_5.1                                              

Complete!

yum help & output

Note that not all commands are documented. Example is installed.

# yum -h
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror
You need to give some command
usage: yum [options] COMMAND

List of Commands:

check-update   Check for available package updates
clean          Remove cached data
deplist        List a package's dependencies
downgrade      downgrade a package
erase          Remove a package or packages from your system
groupinfo      Display details about a package group
groupinstall   Install the packages in a group on your system
grouplist      List available package groups
groupremove    Remove the packages in a group from your system
help           Display a helpful usage message
info           Display details about a package or group of packages
install        Install a package or packages on your system
list           List a package or groups of packages
localinstall   Install a local RPM
makecache      Generate the metadata cache
provides       Find what package provides the given value
reinstall      reinstall a package
repolist       Display the configured software repositories
resolvedep     Determine which package provides the given dependency
search         Search package details for the given string
shell          Run an interactive yum shell
update         Update a package or packages on your system
upgrade        Update packages taking obsoletes into account


options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -t, --tolerant        be tolerant of errors
  -C                    run entirely from cache, don't update cache
  -c  [config file]     config file location
  -R  [minutes]         maximum command wait time
  -d  [debug level]     debugging output level
  --showduplicates      show duplicates, in repos, in list/search commands
  -e  [error level]     error output level
  -q, --quiet           quiet operation
  -v, --verbose         verbose operation
  -y                    answer yes for all questions
  --version             show Yum version and exit
  --installroot=[path]  set install root
  --enablerepo=[repo]   enable one or more repositories (wildcards allowed)
  --disablerepo=[repo]  disable one or more repositories (wildcards allowed)
  -x [package], --exclude=[package]
                        exclude package(s) by name or glob
  --disableexcludes=[repo]
                        disable exclude from main, for a repo or for
                        everything
  --obsoletes           enable obsoletes processing during updates
  --noplugins           disable Yum plugins
  --nogpgcheck          disable gpg signature checking
  --disableplugin=[plugin]
                        disable plugins by name
  --enableplugin=[plugin]
                        enable plugins by name
  --skip-broken         skip packages with depsolving problems
  --color=COLOR         control whether color is used

To Linux