Verifying Package Authenticity; Managing Packages: Install, Update, And Uninstall - Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE SERVER 10 SP2 - INSTALLATION AND ADMINISTRATION Installation Manual

16.1 Verifying Package Authenticity

RPM packages have a GnuPG signature. The key including the fingerprint is:
1024D/9C800ACA 2000-10-19 SuSE Package Signing Key <build@suse.de>
Key fingerprint = 79C1 79B2 E1C8 20C1 890F
The command rpm --checksig package-1.2.3.rpm can be used to verify
the signature of an RPM package to determine whether it really originates from SUSE
or from another trustworthy facility. This is especially recommended for update packages
from the Internet. The SUSE public package signature key normally resides in /root/
.gnupg/. The key is additionally located in the directory /usr/lib/rpm/gnupg/
to enable normal users to verify the signature of RPM packages.
16.2 Managing Packages: Install,
Normally, the installation of an RPM archive is quite simple: rpm -i package.rpm.
With this command, the package is installed, but only if its dependencies are fulfilled
and there are no conflicts with other packages. With an error message, rpm requests
those packages that need to be installed to meet dependency requirements. In the
background, the RPM database ensures that no conflicts arise—a specific file can only
belong to one package. By choosing different options, you can force rpm to ignore
these defaults, but this is only for experts. Otherwise, risk compromising the integrity
of the system and possibly jeopardize the ability to update the system.
The options -U or --upgrade and -F or --freshen can be used to update a
package, for example, rpm -F package.rpm. This command removes the files of
the old version and immediately installs the new files. The difference between the two
versions is that -U installs packages that previously did not exist in the system, but -F
merely updates previously installed packages. When updating, rpm updates configuration
files carefully using the following strategy:
• If a configuration file was not changed by the system administrator, rpm installs
the new version of the appropriate file. No action by the system administrator is
required.
316 Installation and Administration
Update, and Uninstall
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