How to Install RPM Packages on CentOS

Shweta Singh -

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Introduction

Before we begin talking about how to install RPM Packages on CentOS, let's briefly understand – What is RPM Packages?

RPM (Red Hat Package Manager) packages play a vital role in managing software installations on CentOS, a popular Linux distribution. These packages contain software applications, libraries, and dependencies, ensuring smooth installation and maintenance processes.

With RPM, users can easily install, update, and remove software components, effortlessly managing their CentOS systems. Discover the power of RPM packages for seamless software management on CentOS, enhancing productivity and efficiency.

In this tutorial, you will install RPM Packages on CentOS. We will also address a few FAQs on how to install RPM Packages on CentOS.

Advantages of RPM Packages

  1. Easy Installation: RPM packages simplify software installation on systems, allowing users to quickly and effortlessly deploy applications.
  2. Dependency Management: RPM handles dependencies efficiently, automatically resolving and installing required libraries or components.
  3. Package Verification: RPM incorporates package verification mechanisms, ensuring the integrity and authenticity of installed software.
  4. Efficient Updates: RPM supports seamless updates, allowing users to easily apply patches and bug fixes to installed packages.
  5. Uninstallation: Removing RPM packages is straightforward, enabling users to cleanly uninstall software and manage system resources effectively.

Before You Begin

Make sure RPM packages are created for your system architecture and CentOS version before installing them.

This approach should not be used to replace or upgrade vital system packages such as glibc, systemd, or other services and libraries that are required for your system to run properly. This could result in mistakes and system instability.

You must be logged in as a root or a user with sudo rights to install RPM packages.

Normally, you would search for and download an RPM file using a web browser. You can download the file using your browser or a command-line tool like curl or wget once you've found it.

Installing RPM packages with yum

In CentOS, yum is the default package manager. It may be used to install, uninstall, download, query, and update packages from both the official CentOS repositories and third-party repositories.

The first step is to get the RPM file you need to install:

wget https://example.com/file.rpm

Use the yum localinstall command followed by the package name's path to install the package:

sudo yum localinstall file.rpm

You will be asked to confirm your action by yum. If you answer yes y, the RPM package will be installed if it is compatible with your system and all dependencies are met.

yum will install all dependencies if the RPM package depends on additional packages that are not already installed and are present in the repositories enabled on your system. Otherwise, yum will display a list of all missing dependencies, which you will have to manually download and install.

Instead of downloading and installing the RPM package, use the yum localinstall command to pass the URL to the RPM package:

sudo yum localinstall https://example.com/file.rpm

Use the same approach as when installing an RPM package that has already been installed with yum to update it.

If you need to delete an installed package for whatever reason, use the normal yum remove command followed by the package name:

sudo yum remove file.rpm

Installing RPM packages with rpm

rpm is a command-line program for installing, uninstalling, upgrading, querying, and verifying RPM packages.

Use the rpm -i command followed by the RPM package name to install an RPM package:

sudo rpm -ivh file.rpm

The -v option instructs rpm to display verbose output, whereas the -h option instructs rpm to display a hash-marked progress bar.

If a package depends on other packages that aren't installed on the system, rpm will show a list of all dependencies that are missing. All dependencies must be manually downloaded and installed.

You can use the URL to the RPM package as an argument instead of downloading and installing it:

sudo rpm -ivh https://example.com/file.rpm

Use the -U option to update a package:

sudo rpm -Uvh file.rpm

The rpm -U command will install the package you're trying to update if it isn't already installed.

Use the --nodeps option to install an RPM package without having all the essential dependencies installed on the system:

sudo rpm -Uvh --nodeps file.rpm

Use the rpm -e command, followed by the package name, to remove (erase) a package:

sudo rpm -e file.rpm

FAQs to Install RPM Packages on CentOS

How can I search for available RPM packages on CentOS? 

You can use the yum or dnf package manager command with the search option, followed by the package name or keywords. For example, yum search package_name will display relevant RPM packages.

How do I install an RPM package on CentOS? 

To install an RPM package, use yum or dnf followed by the install command and the package name. For example, yum install package_name will install the specified RPM package.

Can I install RPM packages from the internet? 

Yes, RPM packages can be installed from internet repositories. Configure the repository URL in the /etc/yum.repos.d/ directory, then use the regular yum install or dnf install command to download and install RPM packages.

Is it possible to update installed RPM packages?

Yes, you can update installed RPM packages using yum update or dnf update commands. This will check for available updates and upgrade the installed packages to their latest versions.

Can I install RPM packages from a local file? 

Absolutely. Use the yum or dnf command with the localinstall option, followed by the path to the local RPM file. For example, yum localinstall /path/to/package.rpm will install the specified RPM package.

How can I view the contents of an installed RPM package? 

To list the files included in an installed RPM package, use the rpm command with the -ql option and the package name. For example, rpm -ql package_name will display the contents of the RPM package.

Are there any graphical tools for managing RPM packages? 

Yes, CentOS provides graphical tools like gnome-software and yumex that offer a user-friendly interface for managing and installing RPM packages.

Conclusion

We've taught you how to install RPM packages on CentOS in this tutorial.

You should use yum instead of rpm because it automatically resolves all dependencies.

If you have any queries, please leave a comment below and we’ll be happy to respond to them.