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YUM Package Manager Cheatsheet

A comprehensive cheat sheet for the YUM package manager, covering essential commands, options, and troubleshooting tips for managing software packages on RPM-based Linux distributions.

Basic Commands

Package Information

yum info <package>

Displays detailed information about a specific package, including its version, release, size, and description.

Example:
yum info httpd

yum list installed

Lists all installed packages on the system.

Example:
yum list installed

yum list available

Lists all packages available for installation from the configured repositories.

Example:
yum list available

yum list updates

Lists available updates for installed packages.

Example:
yum list updates

yum search <keyword>

Searches for packages based on a keyword in the package name or description.

Example:
yum search security

yum provides <file>

Finds which package provides a specific file.

Example:
yum provides /usr/bin/ls

Package Management

yum install <package>

Installs the specified package and its dependencies.

Example:
yum install vim

yum update <package>

Updates the specified package to the latest available version.

Example:
yum update firefox

yum update

Updates all installed packages to the latest available versions.

Example:
yum update

yum remove <package>

Removes the specified package.

Example:
yum remove thunderbird

yum autoremove

Removes orphaned dependencies that are no longer required.

Example:
yum autoremove

yum history

Displays the history of YUM transactions.

Example:
yum history

Repository Management

Repository Configuration

Repository configuration files are located in /etc/yum.repos.d/. Each .repo file defines a repository.

Example:
/etc/yum.repos.d/epel.repo

Key attributes in a .repo file:

  • [repositoryid] - Unique ID for the repository.
  • name - Human-readable name for the repository.
  • baseurl - URL where package data is located.
  • enabled - Whether the repository is enabled (1) or disabled (0).
  • gpgcheck - Whether GPG signature checking is enabled (1) or disabled (0).
  • gpgkey - URL of the GPG key for verifying packages.

Repository Commands

yum repolist

Lists all enabled repositories.

Example:
yum repolist

yum repoinfo <repo>

Displays information about a specific repository.

Example:
yum repoinfo epel

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

Enables a specific repository for a single command.

Example:
yum --enablerepo=epel install htop

yum --disablerepo=<repo> update

Disables a specific repository for a single command.

Example:
yum --disablerepo=epel update

Managing Repository Priorities

You can set priorities for repositories to prefer packages from certain repositories over others. This is done by installing the yum-plugin-priorities package and adding a priority option to the .repo file.

Example:
priority=1 (Higher priority)

Advanced Usage

Package Groups

yum groupinstall <group>

Installs a group of related packages.

Example:
yum groupinstall "Development Tools"

yum groupupdate <group>

Updates packages within a group.

Example:
yum groupupdate "Web Server"

yum grouplist

Lists available package groups.

Example:
yum grouplist

yum groupremove <group>

Removes a group of packages.

Example:
yum groupremove "Legacy UNIX Compatibility"

Downgrading Packages

yum downgrade <package>

Downgrades a package to the previous version.

Example:
yum downgrade httpd

package-cleanup --oldkernels --count=2

This command, often used in conjunction with YUM, removes old kernel packages, keeping only the specified number of latest kernels. This helps to free up disk space.

Example: Keeping the two latest kernel versions:
package-cleanup --oldkernels --count=2

Other Useful Options

yum clean all - Clears all cached package data.
yum clean packages - Cleans only package files.
yum clean headers - Cleans only package headers.

yum check - Checks the RPM database for problems.

yum reinstall <package> - Reinstalls the specified package.

Example:
yum reinstall bash

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Problem: Package not found.

Solution: Ensure the repository containing the package is enabled. Use yum repolist to check and --enablerepo to enable it for the install command.

Problem: Dependency issues.

Solution: YUM usually resolves dependencies automatically. If issues persist, try yum install yum-utils followed by package-cleanup --dupes and package-cleanup --problems.

Problem: GPG key errors.

Solution: Import the correct GPG key for the repository. Find the key URL in the repo file and use rpm --import <keyurl>.

YUM History

yum history list

Lists all YUM transactions with their IDs.

Example:
yum history list

yum history info <id>

Shows detailed information about a specific transaction.

Example:
yum history info 5

yum history undo <id>

Attempts to undo a specific transaction.

Example:
yum history undo 7

yum history redo <id>

Attempts to redo a specific transaction.

Example:
yum history redo 8
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