Installing, managing, and removing user-space components

• RPM packages
• Modules, which are an extension to the RPM format

• Packages with an application
• Packages with the application-specific dependency libraries
• Packages with documentation for the application
• Packages with helper utilities

Procedure

• Display the global YUM configuration:

  # yum config-manager --dump

Procedure

• Use one of the following methods to influence how YUM uses plug-ins:

  • To enable or disable loading of YUM plug-ins globally, add the plugins parameter to the [main] section of the /etc/dnf/dnf.conf file.

    • Set plugins=1 (default) to enable loading of all YUM plug-ins.
    • Set plugins=0 to disable loading of all YUM plug-ins.
  • To disable a particular plug-in, add enabled=False to the [main] section in the /etc/dnf/plugins/<plug-in_name>.conf file.

  • To disable all YUM plug-ins for a particular command, append the --noplugins option to the command. For example, to disable YUM plug-ins for a single update command, enter:

    # yum --noplugins update

  • To disable certain YUM plug-ins for a single command, append the --disableplugin=plugin-name option to the command. For example, to disable a certain YUM plug-in for a single update command, enter:

    # yum update --disableplugin=<plugin_name>

  • To enable certain YUM plug-ins for a single command, append the --enableplugin=plugin-name option to the command. For example, to enable a certain YUM plug-in for a single update command, enter:

    # yum update --enableplugin=<plugin_name>

Procedure

• Exclude packages from the YUM operation by adding the following line to the /etc/yum.conf file:

  excludepkgs=<package_name_1>,<package_name_2> ...

  Alternatively, use global expressions instead of package names to define packages you want to exclude. For more information, see Specifying global expressions in yum input.

Procedure

• Depending on your scenario, use one of the following options to search the repository:

  • To search for a term in the name or summary of packages, enter:

    $ yum search <term>

  • To search for a term in the name, summary, or description of packages, enter:

    $ yum search --all <term>

    Note that searching additionally in the description by using the --all option is slower than a normal search operation.

Procedure

• List the latest versions of all available packages, including architectures, version numbers, and the repository they where installed from:

  $ yum list --all
  ...
  cups.x86_64           1:2.2.6-57.el8       @rhel-AppStream
  cups-client.x86_64    1:2.2.6-57.el8       @rhel-AppStream
  cups-devel.i686       1:2.2.6-57.el8       rhel-AppStream
  cups-devel.x86_64     1:2.2.6-57.el8       rhel-AppStream
  ...

  The @ sign in front of a repository indicates that the package in this line is currently installed.

  Alternatively, to display all available packages, including version numbers and architectures, enter:

  $ yum list --all
  ...
  cups-1:2.2.6-57.el8.x86_64
  cups-client-1:2.2.6-57.el8.x86_64
  cups-devel-1:2.2.6-57.el8.i686
  cups-devel-1:2.2.6-57.el8.x86_64
  ...

  Optionally, you can filter the output by using other options instead of --all, for example:

  • Use --installed to list only installed packages.
  • Use --available to list all available packages.
  • Use --upgrades to list packages for which newer versions are available.

• Version
• Release
• Architecture
• Package size
• Description

Procedure

• Display information about one or more available packages:

  # yum info <package_name>

  This command displays the information for the currently installed package and, if available, its newer versions that are in the repository.

Procedure

• Use one of the following methods if you use global expressions in yum commands:

  • Enclose the entire global expression in single or double quotation marks:

    # yum provides "*/<file_name>"

    Note that you must precede <file_name> either by a backslash (/) character for an absolute path or */ to use a wildcard if the full path is unknown.

  • Escape the wildcard characters by preceding them with a backslash (\) character:

    # yum provides \*/<file-name>

Prerequisites

• Optional: You know the name of the package you want to install.

• If the package you want to install is provided by a module stream, the respective module stream is enabled. For more information, see Enabling a module stream.

  Note

  If the package is provided by a module stream marked as default, yum automatically enables that module stream before installing this package.

Procedure

• Use one of the following methods to install packages:

  • To install packages from the repositories, enter:

    # yum install <package_name_1> <package_name_2> ...

    If you install packages on a system that supports multiple architectures, such as AMD64 and Intel 64, you can specify the architecture of the package by appending it to the package name:

    # yum install <package_name>.<architecture>

  • To install a package if you only know the path to the file the package provides but not the package name, you can use this path to install the corresponding package:

    # yum install <path_to_file>

  • To install a local RPM file, enter:

    # yum install <path_to_RPM_file>

    If the package has dependencies, specify the paths to these RPM files as well. Otherwise, YUM downloads the dependencies from the repositories or fails if they are not available in the repositories.

Procedure

• Use one of the following methods to install a package group:

  • To install a package group by a group name, enter one of the following commands::

    # yum group install <group_name>
    # yum install @<group_name>

  • To install a package group by the groupID, enter:

    # yum group install <group_ID>

Procedure

• Enable the module stream:

  # yum module enable <module_name>:<stream>

  Note

  If another stream of the module was previously active because it was default, it becomes inactive.

Prerequisites

• You do not have any packages installed from another stream of the same module.

Verification

• Verify that the correct module stream is enabled ([e]) and the required profile was installed ([i]):

  # yum module list postgresql
  ...
  Name                Stream          Profiles                       Summary
  postgresql          9.6             client, server [d]             PostgreSQL server and client module
  postgresql          10 [d]          client, server [d]             PostgreSQL server and client module
  postgresql          12              client, server [d]             PostgreSQL server and client module
  postgresql          13 [e]          client, server [d] [i]         PostgreSQL server and client module
  postgresql          15              client, server [d]             PostgreSQL server and client module
  postgresql          16              client, server [d]             PostgreSQL server and client module
  
  Hint: [d]efault, [e]nabled, [x]disabled, [i]nstalled

• Use -n to specify the exact name of the package.
• Use -na to specify the exact package name and architecture.
• Use -nevra to specify the exact package name, epoch, version, release, and architecture.

Procedure

• Depending on your scenario, use one of the following options to optimize the package installation process:

  • To install a package by using its exact name, enter:

    # yum install-n <package_name>

  • To install a package by using its exact name and architecture, enter:

    # yum install-na <package_name>.<architecture>

  • To install a package by using its exact name, epoch, version, release, and architecture, enter:

    # yum install-nevra <package_name>-<epoch>:<version>-<release>.<architecture>

Procedure

• Check the available updates for installed packages:

  # yum check-update

  The output returns the list of packages and their dependencies that have an update available.

• Depending on your scenario, use one of the following options to apply updates:

  • To update all packages and their dependencies, enter:

    # yum update

  • To update a single package, enter:

    # yum update <package_name>

Procedure

• Update packages from a specific package group:

  # yum group update <group_name>

Procedure

• Depending on your scenario, use one of the following options to apply updates:

  • To upgrade to the latest available packages that have security errata, enter:

    # yum update --security

  • To upgrade to the last security errata packages, enter:

    # yum update-minimal --security

Procedure

• Install the dnf-automatic package:

  # yum install dnf-automatic

Verification

• Verify the successful installation by confirming the presence of the dnf-automatic package:

  # rpm -qi dnf-automatic

• [commands]

  Sets the mode of operation of DNF Automatic.

  Warning

  Settings of the operation mode from the [commands] section are overridden by settings used by a systemd timer unit for all timer units except dnf-automatic.timer.

• [emitters]

  Defines how the results of DNF Automatic are reported.

• [command] section

  Provides the command emitter configuration.

• [command_email]

  Provides the email emitter configuration for an external command used to send email.

• [email]

  Provides the email emitter configuration.

• [base]

  Overrides settings from the main configuration file of YUM.

Prerequisites

• You specified the behavior of DNF Automatic by modifying the /etc/dnf/automatic.conf configuration file.

Procedure

• Enable and execute a systemd timer unit immediately:

  # systemctl enable --now <timer_name>

  If you want to only enable the timer without executing it immediately, omit the --now option.

  You can use the following timers:

  • dnf-automatic-download.timer: Downloads available updates.
  • dnf-automatic-install.timer: Downloads and installs available updates.
  • dnf-automatic-notifyonly.timer: Reports available updates.
  • dnf-automatic.timer: Downloads, downloads and installs, or reports available updates.

Verification

• Verify that the timer is enabled:

  # systemctl status <timer_name>

• Optional: Check when each of the timers on your system ran the last time:

  # systemctl list-timers --all

Procedure

• Remove particular packages:

  # yum remove <package_name_1> <package_name_2> ...

Procedure

• Use one of the following methods to install a package group:

  • To remove a package group by a group name, enter one of the following commands::

    # yum group remove <group_name>
    # yum remove @<group_name>

  • To remove a package group by the groupID, enter:

    # yum group remove <group_ID>

• Use -n to specify the exact name of the package.
• Use -na to specify the exact package name and architecture.
• Use -nevra to specify the exact package name, epoch, version, release, and architecture.

Procedure

• Depending on your scenario, use one of the following options to optimize the package removal process:

  • To remove a package by using its exact name, enter:

    # yum remove-n <package_name>

  • To remove a package by using its exact name and architecture, enter:

    # yum remove-na <package_name>.<architecture>

  • To remove a package by using its exact name, epoch, version, release, and architecture, enter:

    # yum remove-nevra <package_name>-<epoch>:<version>-<release>.<architecture>

• List the latest transactions.
• List the latest operations for a selected package.
• Display details of a particular transaction.

Procedure

• Depending on your scenario, use one of the following options to display transaction information:

  • To display a list of all the latest YUM transactions, enter:

    # yum history

    The output contains the following information:

    • The Action(s) column displays which type of action was performed during a transaction, for example, Install (I), Upgrade (U), Remove (E), and other actions.

    • The Altered column displays the number of actions performed during the transaction. The number of actions can also be followed by the result of the transaction.

      For more information about the values of the Action(s) and Altered columns, see the yum(8) man page on your system.

  • To display a list of all the latest operations for a selected package, enter:

    # yum history list <package_name>

  • To display details of a particular transaction, enter:

    # yum history info <transaction_id>

• Revert a single YUM transaction by using the yum history undo command.
• Revert all YUM transactions performed between the specified transaction and the last transaction by using the yum history rollback command.

Procedure

• Enable a repository:

  # yum-config-manager --enable <repository_id>

Procedure

• Disable a repository:

  # yum-config-manager --disable <repository_id>

• Enabling a module stream can result in enabling further module streams.
• Installing a module stream profile or installing packages from a stream can result in enabling further module streams and installing further packages.
• Removing a package can result in removing further packages. If these packages were provided by modules, the module streams remain enabled in preparation for further installation, even if no packages from these streams are installed any more. This mirrors the behavior of an unused YUM repository.

Procedure

• Reset the module state:

  # yum module reset <module_name>

  The module is returned to the initial state. Information about an enabled stream and installed profiles is erased but no installed content is removed.

Prerequisites

• You understand the concept of an active module stream.

Procedure

• Disable the module:

  # yum module disable <module_name>

  Replace module-name with the name of the module that you want to disable.

  The yum command asks for confirmation and then disables the module with all its streams. All of the module streams become inactive. No installed content is removed.

Prerequisites

• The system is fully updated.
• No packages installed on the system are newer than the packages available in the repository.

Prerequisites

• You understand the concept of an active module stream.

Verification

• Verify the default stream and profile settings:

  # yum module list postgresql
  (…​)
  Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 for x86_64 - AppStream (RPMs)
  Name             Stream       Profiles                Summary
  postgresql       9.6          client, server          PostgreSQL server and client module
  postgresql       10           client, server          PostgreSQL server and client module
  postgresql       12           client, server          PostgreSQL server and client module
  postgresql       13 [d]       client, server [d]      PostgreSQL server and client module
  postgresql       15           client, server          PostgreSQL server and client module
  …​
  Hint: [d]efault, [e]nabled, [x]disabled, [i]nstalled