When do I need to install epel-release?

[balenshah]

I see that for packages like chromium on centos 7, I need to install epel-release. But how do I know when I need to install epel-release? Is there some logic behind it?

 

[f33dm3bits]

If you need a package from EPEL, otherwise you don't need to install it.

 

[balenshah]

Thank you.

The packages in EPEL include things like modules for Python, Perl, Ruby gems, and other extras for other programming languages. You'll find also utilities like etckeeper , ImageMagick and GraphicsMagick, and the Chromium browser builds. (Not a complete list, of course.)Nov 21, 2019

 

[Anushree B]

Check the default CentOS repositories: Start by searching for the desired package in the default CentOS repositories using the yum package manager. For example, you can run the following command to search for Chromium
yum search chromium

Look for alternative repositories: In cases where a package is not available in the default repositories, you can search for alternative repositories that might provide it. The EPEL repository is one such popular repository for CentOS. You can check the EPEL repository to see if the desired package is available there.
Install epel-release if needed: If you find that the desired package is available in the EPEL repository, you need to install the epel-release package first. This package sets up the necessary repository configuration files on your CentOS system. Once epel-release is installed, you can then install packages from the EPEL repository using yum or dnf package managers.