RPM(8) System Manager's Manual RPM(8)
NAME
rpm - RPM Package Manager
SYNOPSIS
QUERYING AND VERIFYING PACKAGES:
rpm {-q|--query} [select-options] [query-options]
rpm {-V|--verify} [select-options] [verify-options]
INSTALLING, UPGRADING, AND REMOVING PACKAGES:
rpm {-i|--install} [install-options] PACKAGE_FILE ...
rpm {-U|--upgrade} [install-options] PACKAGE_FILE ...
rpm {-F|--freshen} [install-options] PACKAGE_FILE ...
rpm {-e|--erase} [--allmatches] [--justdb] [--nodeps] [--noscripts]
[--notriggers] [--test] PACKAGE_NAME ...
MISCELLANEOUS:
rpm {--querytags|--showrc}
rpm {--setperms|--setugids} PACKAGE_NAME ...
select-options
[PACKAGE_NAME] [-a,--all] [-f,--file FILE]
[-g,--group GROUP] {-p,--package PACKAGE_FILE]
[--hdrid SHA1] [--pkgid MD5] [--tid TID]
[--querybynumber HDRNUM] [--triggeredby PACKAGE_NAME]
[--whatprovides CAPABILITY] [--whatrequires CAPABILITY]
query-options
[--changelog] [-c,--configfiles] [--conflicts]
[-d,--docfiles] [--dump] [--filesbypkg] [-i,--info]
[--last] [-l,--list] [--obsoletes] [--provides]
[--qf,--queryformat QUERYFMT] [-R,--requires]
[--scripts] [-s,--state] [--triggers,--triggerscripts]
verify-options
[--nodeps] [--nodigest] [--nosignature] [--noplugins]
[--noorder] [--noscripts] [--notriggers]
[--oldpackage] [--percent] [--prefix NEWPATH]
[--relocate OLDPATH=NEWPATH]
[--replacefiles] [--replacepkgs]
[--test]
DESCRIPTION
rpm is a powerful Package Manager, which can be used to build, install, query, verify, update, and erase indi‐
vidual 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.
One of the following basic modes must be selected: Query, Verify, Install/Upgrade/Freshen, Uninstall, Set Own‐
ers/Groups, Show Querytags, and Show Configuration.
GENERAL OPTIONS
These options can be used in all the different modes.
-?, --help
Print a longer usage message then normal.
--version
Print a single line containing the version number of rpm being used.
--quiet
Print as little as possible - normally only error messages will be displayed.
-v Print verbose information - normally routine progress messages will be displayed.
-vv Print lots of ugly debugging information.
--rcfile FILELIST
Each of the files in the colon separated FILELIST is read sequentially by rpm for configuration infor‐
mation. Only the first file in the list must exist, and tildes will be expanded to the value of $HOME.
The default FILELIST is /usr/lib/rpm/rpmrc:/usr/lib/rpm/redhat/rpmrc:/etc/rpmrc:~/.rpmrc.
--pipe CMD
Pipes the output of rpm to the command CMD.
--dbpath DIRECTORY
Use the database in DIRECTORY rather than the default path /var/lib/rpm
--root DIRECTORY
Use the file system tree rooted at DIRECTORY for all operations. Note that this means the database
within DIRECTORY will be used for dependency checks and any scriptlet(s) (e.g. %post if installing, or
%prep if building, a package) will be run after a chroot(2) to DIRECTORY.
-D, --define='MACRO EXPR'
Defines MACRO with value EXPR.
--undefine='MACRO'
rpm {-i|--install} [install-options] PACKAGE_FILE ...
This installs a new package.
The general form of an rpm upgrade command is
rpm {-U|--upgrade} [install-options] PACKAGE_FILE ...
This upgrades or installs the package currently installed to a newer version. This is the same as install,
except all other version(s) of the package are removed after the new package is installed.
rpm {-F|--freshen} [install-options] PACKAGE_FILE ...
This will upgrade packages, but only ones for which an earlier version is installed.
--allfiles
Installs or upgrades all the missingok files in the package, regardless if they exist.
--badreloc
Used with --relocate, permit relocations on all file paths, not just those OLDPATH's included in the
binary package relocation hint(s).
--excludepath OLDPATH
Don't install files whose name begins with OLDPATH.
--excludedocs
Don't install any files which are marked as documentation (which includes man pages and texinfo docu‐
ments).
--force
Same as using --replacepkgs, --replacefiles, and --oldpackage.
-h, --hash
Print 50 hash marks as the package archive is unpacked. Use with -v|--verbose for a nicer display.
--ignoresize
Don't check mount file systems for sufficient disk space before installing this package.
--ignorearch
Allow installation or upgrading even if the architectures of the binary package and host don't match.
--ignoreos
Allow installation or upgrading even if the operating systems of the binary package and host don't
match.
--includedocs
Install documentation files. This is the default behavior.
--justdb
Update only the database, not the filesystem.
--nodigest
Don't verify package or header digests when reading.
--noplugins
Do not load and execute plugins.
--noscripts
--nopre
--nopost
--nopreun
--nopostun
Don't execute the scriptlet of the same name. The --noscripts option is equivalent to
--nopre --nopost --nopreun --nopostun
and turns off the execution of the corresponding %pre, %post, %preun, and %postun scriptlet(s).
--notriggers
--notriggerin
--notriggerun
--notriggerprein
--notriggerpostun
Don't execute any trigger scriptlet of the named type. The --notriggers option is equivalent to
--notriggerprein --notriggerin --notriggerun --notriggerpostun
and turns off execution of the corresponding %triggerprein, %triggerin, %triggerun, and %triggerpostun
scriptlet(s).
--oldpackage
Allow an upgrade to replace a newer package with an older one.
--percent
Print percentages as files are unpacked from the package archive. This is intended to make rpm easy to
run from other tools.
--prefix NEWPATH
For relocatable binary packages, translate all file paths that start with the installation prefix in
the package relocation hint(s) to NEWPATH.
--relocate OLDPATH=NEWPATH
For relocatable binary packages, translate all file paths that start with OLDPATH in the package relo‐
cation hint(s) to NEWPATH. This option can be used repeatedly if several OLDPATH's in the package are
to be relocated.
--replacefiles
Install the packages even if they replace files from other, already installed, packages.
--allmatches
Remove all versions of the package which match PACKAGE_NAME. Normally an error is issued if PACK‐
AGE_NAME matches multiple packages.
--justdb
Update only the database, not the filesystem.
--nodeps
Don't check dependencies before uninstalling the packages.
--noscripts
--nopreun
--nopostun
Don't execute the scriptlet of the same name. The --noscripts option during package erase is equiva‐
lent to
--nopreun --nopostun
and turns off the execution of the corresponding %preun, and %postun scriptlet(s).
--notriggers
--notriggerun
--notriggerpostun
Don't execute any trigger scriptlet of the named type. The --notriggers option is equivalent to
--notriggerun --notriggerpostun
and turns off execution of the corresponding %triggerun, and %triggerpostun scriptlet(s).
--test Don't really uninstall anything, just go through the motions. Useful in conjunction with the -vv
option for debugging.
QUERY OPTIONS
The general form of an rpm query command is
rpm {-q|--query} [select-options] [query-options]
You may specify the format that package information should be printed in. To do this, you use the
--qf|--queryformat QUERYFMT
option, followed by the QUERYFMT format string. Query formats are modified versions of the standard printf(3)
formatting. The format is made up of static strings (which may include standard C character escapes for new‐
lines, tabs, and other special characters) and printf(3) type formatters. As rpm already knows the type to
print, the type specifier must be omitted however, and replaced by the name of the header tag to be printed,
enclosed by {} characters. Tag names are case insensitive, and the leading RPMTAG_ portion of the tag name may
be omitted as well.
:day Use strftime(3) "%a %b %d %Y" format.
:depflags
Format dependency comparison operator.
:deptype
Format dependency type.
:expand
Perform macro expansion.
:fflags
Format file flags.
:fstate
Format file state.
:fstatus
Format file verify status.
:hex Format in hexadecimal.
:octal Format in octal.
:perms Format file permissions.
:pgpsig
Display signature fingerprint and time.
:shescape
Escape single quotes for use in a script.
:triggertype
Display trigger suffix.
:vflags
File verification flags.
:xml Wrap data in simple xml markup.
For example, to print only the names of the packages queried, you could use %{NAME} as the format string. To
print the packages name and distribution information in two columns, you could use %-30{NAME}%{DISTRIBUTION}.
rpm will print a list of all of the tags it knows about when it is invoked with the --querytags argument.
There are two subsets of options for querying: package selection, and information selection.
PACKAGE SELECTION OPTIONS:
PACKAGE_NAME
Query installed package named PACKAGE_NAME.
-a, --all
Query all installed packages.
URL, in which case the package header will be downloaded and queried. See FTP/HTTP OPTIONS for infor‐
mation on rpm's internal ftp and http client support. The PACKAGE_FILE argument(s), if not a binary
package, will be interpreted as an ASCII package manifest unless --nomanifest option is used. In mani‐
fests, comments are permitted, starting with a '#', and each line of a package manifest file may
include white space separated glob expressions, including URL's, that will be expanded to paths that
are substituted in place of the package manifest as additional PACKAGE_FILE arguments to the query.
--pkgid MD5
Query package that contains a given package identifier, i.e. the MD5 digest of the combined header and
payload contents.
--querybynumber HDRNUM
Query the HDRNUMth database entry directly; this is useful only for debugging.
--specfile SPECFILE
Parse and query SPECFILE as if it were a package. Although not all the information (e.g. file lists) is
available, this type of query permits rpm to be used to extract information from spec files without
having to write a specfile parser.
--tid TID
Query package(s) that have a given TID transaction identifier. A unix time stamp is currently used as a
transaction identifier. All package(s) installed or erased within a single transaction have a common
identifier.
--triggeredby PACKAGE_NAME
Query packages that are triggered by package(s) PACKAGE_NAME.
--whatprovides CAPABILITY
Query all packages that provide the CAPABILITY capability.
--whatrequires CAPABILITY
Query all packages that require CAPABILITY for proper functioning.
PACKAGE QUERY OPTIONS:
--changelog
Display change information for the package.
-c, --configfiles
List only configuration files (implies -l).
--conflicts
List capabilities this package conflicts with.
-d, --docfiles
List only documentation files (implies -l).
--dump Dump file information as follows (implies -l):
path size mtime digest mode owner group isconfig isdoc rdev symlink
--filesbypkg
List all the files in each selected package.
--obsoletes
List packages this package obsoletes.
--provides
List capabilities this package provides.
-R, --requires
List capabilities on which this package depends.
--scripts
List the package specific scriptlet(s) that are used as part of the installation and uninstallation
processes.
-s, --state
Display the states of files in the package (implies -l). The state of each file is one of normal, not
installed, or replaced.
--triggers, --triggerscripts
Display the trigger scripts, if any, which are contained in the package.
VERIFY OPTIONS
The general form of an rpm verify command is
rpm {-V|--verify} [select-options] [verify-options]
Verifying a package compares information about the installed files in the package with information about the
files taken from the package metadata stored in the rpm database. Among other things, verifying compares the
size, digest, permissions, type, owner and group of each file. Any discrepancies are displayed. Files that
were not installed from the package, for example, documentation files excluded on installation using the
"--excludedocs" option, will be silently ignored.
The package selection options are the same as for package querying (including package manifest files as argu‐
ments). Other options unique to verify mode are:
--nodeps
Don't verify dependencies of packages.
--nodigest
Don't verify package or header digests when reading.
--nofiles
Don't verify any attributes of package files.
--noscripts
Don't execute the %verifyscript scriptlet (if any).
--nosignature
Don't verify package or header signatures when reading.
--nolinkto
--nofiledigest (formerly --nomd5)
Don't verify the corresponding file attribute.
The format of the output is a string of 9 characters, a possible attribute marker:
c %config configuration file.
d %doc documentation file.
g %ghost file (i.e. the file contents are not included in the package payload).
l %license license file.
r %readme readme file.
from the package header, followed by the file name. Each of the 9 characters denotes the result of a compari‐
son of attribute(s) of the file to the value of those attribute(s) recorded in the database. A single "."
(period) means the test passed, while a single "?" (question mark) indicates the test could not be performed
(e.g. file permissions prevent reading). Otherwise, the (mnemonically emBoldened) character denotes failure of
the corresponding --verify test:
S file Size differs
M Mode differs (includes permissions and file type)
5 digest (formerly MD5 sum) differs
D Device major/minor number mismatch
L readLink(2) path mismatch
U User ownership differs
G Group ownership differs
T mTime differs
P caPabilities differ
MISCELLANEOUS COMMANDS
rpm --showrc
shows the values rpm will use for all of the options are currently set in rpmrc and macros configura‐
tion file(s).
rpm --setperms PACKAGE_NAME
sets permissions of files in the given package.
rpm --setugids PACKAGE_NAME
sets user/group ownership of files in the given package.
Options --setperms and --setugids are mutually exclusive.
FTP/HTTP OPTIONS
rpm can act as an FTP and/or HTTP client so that packages can be queried or installed from the internet.
Package files for install, upgrade, and query operations may be specified as an ftp or http style URL:
ftp://USER:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT/path/to/package.rpm
If the :PASSWORD portion is omitted, the password will be prompted for (once per user/hostname pair). If both
the user and password are omitted, anonymous ftp is used. In all cases, passive (PASV) ftp transfers are per‐
formed.
rpm allows the following options to be used with ftp URLs:
--ftpproxy HOST
by configuring the macro %_httpproxy.
--httpport PORT
The TCP PORT number to use for the http connection on the proxy http server instead of the default
port. This option may also be specified by configuring the macro %_httpport.
LEGACY ISSUES
Executing rpmbuild
The build modes of rpm are now resident in the /usr/bin/rpmbuild executable. Install the package containing
rpmbuild (usually rpm-build) and see rpmbuild(8) for documentation of all the rpm build modes.
FILES
rpmrc Configuration
/usr/lib/rpm/rpmrc
/usr/lib/rpm/redhat/rpmrc
/etc/rpmrc
~/.rpmrc
Macro Configuration
/usr/lib/rpm/macros
/usr/lib/rpm/redhat/macros
/etc/rpm/macros
~/.rpmmacros
Database
/var/lib/rpm/Basenames
/var/lib/rpm/Conflictname
/var/lib/rpm/Dirnames
/var/lib/rpm/Group
/var/lib/rpm/Installtid
/var/lib/rpm/Name
/var/lib/rpm/Obsoletename
/var/lib/rpm/Packages
/var/lib/rpm/Providename
/var/lib/rpm/Requirename
/var/lib/rpm/Sha1header
/var/lib/rpm/Sigmd5
/var/lib/rpm/Triggername
Temporary
/var/tmp/rpm*
SEE ALSO
popt(3),
rpm2cpio(8),
rpmbuild(8),
rpmdb(8),
rpmkeys(8),
rpmsign(8),
rpmspec(8),
rpm --help - as rpm supports customizing the options via popt aliases it's impossible to guarantee that what's
described in the manual matches what's available.
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