Software Installation In Linux Part 2 – yum In Linux With Examples

Last updated: July 2020

UNDERSTANDING THE SUBJECT MATTER

Having understood all the concepts and terminologies of software installation in Linux part 1, including what yum in Linux is, it will be a good idea to start part 2 with the installation of software using the yum package manager.

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ACTION TIME

The yum package manager as we mentioned in part 1 is a tool that manages a software/package in Linux. Below are the basic examples one can do with the yum package manager.

How To Use yum install / How To Install Packages/Software In Linux Command line (RHEL/centOS 7&8)

• To install a package, you use the command,

yum install <package-name>

For example, to install the package httpd, you use the command,

[root@lab02 ~]# yum install httpd

• To install more than one package at the same time, for example, if you want to install the package httpd and vsftpd at the same time, you use the command,

[root@lab02 ~]# yum install httpd vsftpd

• To install a package without a confirmation to type Y/D/N, you use the command,

[root@lab02 ~]# yum install httpd -y

If you are sure of the package, yum in Linux can allow you to install a package without having to always type y for confirmation all the time.

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How To Use yum To Install A Package Group on RHEL/CentOS 7&8

• To install a package group, you use the command,

yum group install <package_group>

For example, to install the package group, “Smart Card Support”, you use the command,

[root@lab02 ~]# yum group install "Smart Card Support"

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How To Use yum To Display A Package Information On RHEL/CentOS 7&8

• To display a package information, you use the command,

yum info <package-name>

For example, to display the information of the package httpd, you use the command,

[root@lab02 ~]# yum info httpd

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How To Use yum To Delete / Remove A Package On RHEL/CentOS 7&8

• To remove a package, you use the command,

yum remove <package name>

For example, to delete the package, sshd, you use the command,

[root@lab02 ~]# yum remove httpd

• To remove a package without the prompt, Y/D/N for you to confirm the removal, you use the command,

[root@lab02 ~]# yum remove httpd -y

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How To Use yum To Remove / Delete A Package Group On RHEL/CentOS 7&8

• To remove a package group, you use the command,

yum group remove <group-name>

For example, to remove the package group, Smart Card Support, you use the command,

[root@lab02 ~]# yum group remove "Smart Card Support"

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How To Use yum To Check For An Available Update On RHEL/CentOS 7&8

• To check if an update is available, you use the command,

[root@lab02 ~]# yum check-update

Bear in mind that the command above will check for the updates of all the packages installed on the system with their dependencies.

• To check for an update of a partiular package and its dependencies, for example, the kernel package, you use the command,

[root@lab02 ~]# yum check-update kernel

Updating Subscription Management repositories.
Last metadata expiration check: 0:23:17 ago on Sun 19 Jan 2020 02:59:51 PM UTC.

kernel.x86_64          4.18.0-147.3.1.el8_1           rhel-8-for-x86_64-baseos-rpms
kernel.x86_64          4.18.0-147.3.1.el8_1           rhui-rhel-8-for-x86_64-baseos-rhui-rpms
[root@lab02 ~]#

The output of the command displays the new update of the kernel package and the repositories it can found. In this case, it can be found in “rhel-8-for-x86_64-baseos-rpms” repository and “rhui-rhel-8-for-x86_64-baseos-rhui-rpms” repository.

NOTE: There are other ways to check for a kernel update without using yum in Linux

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How To Use yum To Update A Software/Package On RHEL/CentOS 7&8

• To update all the software/packages on the system, you use the command,

[root@lab02 ~]# yum update

• However, you may want to update just one or two software/packages. To do that, you use the command,

yum update <package>

For example, if you want to update the lvm2 package, you use the command,

[root@lab02 ~]# yum update lvm2

• You may also want to update a package group. For example, if you want to update the package group “Virtualization”, you use the command,

[root@lab02 ~]# yum group update Virtualization

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How To Use yum to List A Software/Package On RHEL/centOS 7&8

• To list all packages available, both the ones installed and not installed, you use the command,

yum list --all

[root@lab02 ~]# yum list - -all

• To list all the packages installed on your system, you use the command,

yum list --installed

[root@lab02 ~]# yum list - -installed

• To list available packages for installation in all enabled repositories, you use the command,

yum list --available

[root@lab02 ~]# yum list --available

• To list all the repositories that are enabled on your system, you use the command,

[root@lab02 ~]# yum repolist

• To list all the repositories that are enabled on your system with better information compared with the command above, you use the command,

[root@lab02 ~]# yum repoinfo

• To list all the repositories , both enabled and disabled on your system, you use the command,

yum repolist --all

[root@lab02 ~]# yum repolist - -all

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How To Use yum To Enable and Disable A Repository On RHEL/CentOS 7&8

• To enable a repository, you use the command,

yum-config-manager - -enable <repository>

For example, to enable the repository, rhel-7-server-extras-rpms, you use the command,

[root@Linuxserver ~]# yum-config-manager - -enable rhel-7-server-extras-rpms

NOTE: subscription-manager can also be used to enable a repository without using yum in Linux

• To disable a repository, rhel-7-server-extras-rpms , you use the command,

yum-config-manager --disable <repository>

[root@Linuxserver ~]# yum-config-manager - -disable rhel-7-server-extras-rpms

NOTE: subscription-manager can also be used to disable a repository without using yum in Linux

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How To Use yum To Search For A Package On RHEL/CentOS 7&8

• To search for a package, installed or not installed, to also search for a package that you don’t really know what the package name is but have an idea, you use the command,

yum search <package>

For example, to search for the package httpd, you use the command,

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How To Use yum To List Package Groups On RHEL/CentOS 7&8

• To list the summary of the package group information on the system, you use the command,

• To list all the package groups on the system, you use the command,

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How To Use yum To Manage Recent yum Transactions On RHEL/CentOS 7&8

• To list the 20 most recent yum transaction, you use the command,

• To get a detailed information about the last yum transaction done on the system, use the command,

To be specific in getting the detailed information about a particular transaction, you can use the transaction ID this way,

yum history info <id>

• To undo a recent yum transaction, use the command,

If you know the transaction ID, you can use the command this way,

yum history undo <ID>

• To redo a recent transaction, you use the command,

If you know the transaction ID, you can use the command this way,

yum history redo <ID>

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How To Use yum To Install A Package straightaway From A Disabled Repository

To install a package from a disabled repository, the idea is that you will have to enable it and at the same time install the package. It is simultaneous.

• For example, if you want to install the package, “preupg” from a disabled repository, “rhel7-server-extras-rpms”, you use the command,

yum --enablerepo=<repo> install <package>

[root@Linuxserver ~]# yum --enablerepo=rhel-7-server-extras-rpms install preupg

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How To Clean The yum Cache Using The yum Command On RHEL/CentOS 7&8

• To clean the yum cache, use the command,

In RHEL/CentOS 7, by default, the cache files is stored in “/var/cache/yum” while in RHEL/CentOS 8, the cache file is stored in “/var/cahe/dnf“

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How To Use The yum Shell To Execute multiple yum Commands On RHEL/CentOS 7&8

• yum in Linux also allows you to use a shell to write multiple commands. To use the the yum shell, you use the command,

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How To Use yum To get A Package Binaries

To get the binaries of a package, you use the command,

yum provides <package>

OR

yum whatprovides <package> 

For example, to use yum provides on the httpd package, you will use the command,

yum search and yum provides are similar commands. yum search will display all the strings associated with a package name while yum provides will not only display the strings, but will also display the binaries associated with a package.

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