RPM Queries
Advantages of Using the RPM Package Manager
Software on a Linux system may be built from source and installed (download, extract, ./configure, make, make install). However, when software is installed this way, there is no simple way to manage it -- you cannot easily determine which packages are installed, the version of each package, which files belong to which package, and so forth. Updating and removing software is particularly problematic.
RPM provides a solution for these issues. It maintains a queryable database of installed software.
RPM is not the only package manager used on Linux -- the Debian .deb system, used with the apt tool, provides similar functionality, and this system is also used on Ubuntu. For the purposes of this course, we will be focusing on the RPM system, which is used by most commercial Linux distributions, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SuSE, and others including Mandravia and CentOS.
Querying the RPM Database
RPM's -q option performs queries on the package database. It is a powerful option, and can be used for many different types of queries.
Query Options
RPM query options break down into two broad categories:
- select-options, which determine which packages should be included in the query output
- query-options, which determine what information should be displayed about the selected packages
Keeping these two option groups distinct in your mind is the key to taking full advantage of RPM queries.
Select-Options
| Option | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -a | all installed packages | rpm -q -a |
| -f filename | package that owns filename | rpm -q -f /etc/hosts |
| -p packagefile | queries the uninstalled packagefile instead of the database | rpm -q nautilus- - .src.rpm |
| --triggeredby package | selects packages with trigger scripts that are activated by the package | rpm -q --triggeredby firefox |
| --whatprovides capability | selects packages which provide capability | rpm -q --whatprovides smtpdaemon |
| --whatrequires capability | selects packages which require capabililty | rpm -q --whatrequires bash |
Query-Options
| Option | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| --changelog | shows the changelog entries | rpm -q --changelog bash |
| -c | shows the absolute pathnames of config files | rpm -q -c sendmail |
| -d | shows the absolute pathnames of documentation files | rpm -q -d httpd |
| -l | shows the absolute pathnames of files | rpm -q -f firefox |
| --filesbypkg | same as -l but preceded by the package name | rpm -q --filesbypackage -q |
| -i | verbose information (metadata) about the package, including license, build host, summary, description, build date, install date, and so forth | rpm -q -i gedit |
| --last | shows the package name and last transaction date | rpm -q --last python |
| --requires | shows capabilities required (dependencies) | rpm -q --requires nled |
| --provides | shows capabilities provided (which may be required by other packages) | rpm -q --provides zsh |
| --scripts | shows scriptlets (preinstall, postinstall, preuninstall, postuninstall) | rpm -q --scripts evolution |
| --triggers | shows trigger scriptlets | rpm -q --triggers flash-plugin |