LPI Linux Certification/Using Red Hat Package Management

From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection

Jump to: navigation, search

Red Hat Package Manager is a powerful package manager, which can be used to build, install, query, verify, update, and erase individual software packages. A package consists of an archive of files and meta-data used to install and erase the archive files. The meta-data includes helper scripts, file attributes, and descriptive information about the package. Packages come in two varieties: binary packages, used to encapsulate software to be installed, and source packages, containing the source code and recipe necessary to produce binary packages.

Contents

[edit] Detailed Objective

Weight: 8

Description:
Candidates should be able to perform package management using RPM based tools.

  • Key knowledge area(s):
    • Install, re-install, upgrade and remove RPM packages.
    • Obtain information on RPM packages such as version, status, dependencies, integrity and signatures.
    • Determine what files a package provides, as well as find which package a specific file comes from.
  • The following is a partial list of the used files, terms and utilities:
    • /etc/rpmrc
    • /usr/lib/rpm/*
    • rpm
    • grep

[edit] Red Hat Package Manager

Some Linux distribution uses rpm the “Red Hat Package Manager” for all its distribution software. RPM maintains a detailed database of all software installed in the system.

To install a RPM package, do:

rpm -i [package].rpm

The package will be installed only if the dependency are met and there is no conflict with another package. To upgrade a package, do:

rpm -U [package].rpm

The files of the old package version will be removed and replaced by the new files. To remove a RPM package, do:

rpm -e [package]

The package will be removed only if there are unresolved dependencies.

[edit] RPM Queries

With the -q option you can query the RPM database.

rpm -q -i apache

The -i is to get package information.\

There are several switches that you can use:

  • -l: To get a file list of a package.
$ rpm -q -l pciutils
/sbin/lspci
/sbin/setpci
/usr/share/doc/package/pciutils
...
/usr/share/pci.ids
  • -f file: Query which package a file belongs to.
$ rpm -q -f /sbin/lspci
pciutils-2.1.9-58
  • -s: File list with status information.
  • -d: list only documentation files.
  • -a: List all the installed packages.

[edit] RPM Commands

To get general information on a package or program, use rpmlocate.

rpmlocate ipcs -q -i apache

Searching for ipcs in rpm db:

util-linux-2.11n-75:
/usr/bin/ipcs
/usr/share/man/man8/ipcs.8.gz

To list all the installed packages, use rpmqpack.

rpmqpack

[edit] Source Installation

The RPM source files have generally the format package.src.rpm and can be installed the same way as binaries. The directories where they will be installed from /usr/src/packages are:

  • SOURCES: For the original sources.
  • SPECS: For the .spec file that controls the build process.
  • BUILD: All the sources are built in this directory.
  • RPMS: Where the complete binary packages are stored.
  • SRPMS: The sources.

To install the source of a package, do:

$ rpm -i mypack.src.rpm

The source files will be stored in the /usr/src/packages in directories SPEC and SOURCES. To compile the sources, do:

$ rpm -ba /usr/src/packages/SPECS/mypack.spec

The result of the compilation will be stored in the BUILD directory

[edit] Exercises

  1. Is the apache package installed?
  2. In which package are the files /bin/ls, /usr/sbin/tcpdump, and /sbin/ifconfig?
  3. From the floppy disk install the pci utilities and grub packages. Build the binaries and try to execute them. The sources should be in the /usr/src/packages/BINARY directory.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LPI_Linux_Certification/Using_Red_Hat_Package_Management"