Using Rpm; Finding Rpm Packages; Installing - Red Hat ENTERPRISE LINUX 4 System Administration Manual

Chapter 15. Package Management with RPM
Pristine Sources
A crucial design goal was to allow the use of "pristine" software sources, as distributed by the
original authors of the software. With RPM, you have the pristine sources along with any patches
that were used, plus complete build instructions. This is an important advantage for several
reasons. For instance, if a new version of a program comes out, you do not necessarily have to
start from scratch to get it to compile. You can look at the patch to see what you might need to
do. All the compiled-in defaults, and all of the changes that were made to get the software to build
properly, are easily visible using this technique.
The goal of keeping sources pristine may only seem important for developers, but it results in
higher quality software for end users, too.

15.2. Using RPM

RPM has five basic modes of operation (not counting package building): installing, uninstalling,
upgrading, querying, and verifying. This section contains an overview of each mode. For complete
details and options, try rpm --help or refer to
information on RPM.

15.2.1. Finding RPM Packages

Before using an RPM, you must know where to find them. An Internet search returns many RPM
repositories, but if you are looking for RPM packages built by Red Hat, Inc, they can be found at the
following locations:
• The Red Hat Enterprise Linux CD-ROMs
• The Red Hat Errata Page available at
• A Red Hat FTP Mirror Site available at
• Red Hat Network — Refer to

15.2.2. Installing

RPM packages typically have file names like foo-1.0-1.i386.rpm. The file name includes the
package name (foo), version (1.0), release (1), and architecture (i386). To install a package, log in
as root and type the following command at a shell prompt:
rpm -Uvh foo-1.0-1.i386.rpm
If installation is successful, the following output is displayed:
Preparing...
1:foo
As you can see, RPM prints out the name of the package and then prints a succession of hash marks
as the package is installed as a progress meter.
The signature of a package is checked automatically when installing or upgrading a package. The
signature confirms that the package was signed by an authorized party. For example, if the verification
of the signature fails, an error message such as the following is displayed:
132
Section 15.5, "Additional Resources"
http://www.redhat.com/apps/support/errata/
http://www.redhat.com/download/mirror.html
Chapter 16, Red Hat Network
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