Easy use of yum package manager RHEL-CentOS 6/7/8

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Easy use of yum package manager

1. YUM Introduction

YUM – Is Yellow Dog Update / Modifier, is a command line tool used as package manager. using yum we to install / update /remove the package.
Dependencies are installed automatically from the yum repository. In this section we are going to see general commands that are used for daily activities. YUM is free and open source.

2. Listing Repos

The default directory is /etc/yum.repos.d, inside we could see files with *.repo. By default OS Installation repos files are created automatically. yum repolist command will display the available repos that are configured in the repo file

root@control ~]# yum repolist
Last metadata expiration check: 0:02:41 ago on Saturday 09 May 2020 10:36:02 AM IST.
repo id repo name status
AppStream CentOS-8 - AppStream 5,318
BaseOS CentOS-8 - Base 1,661
centos-ansible-29 CentOS Configmanagement SIG - ansible-29 5
*epel Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 8 - x86_64 5,458
*epel-modular Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux Modular 8 - x86_64 0
extras CentOS-8 - Extras 16
root@control ~]#

3. Listing the packages

To display list of all packages that are available in the repository, execute the below command.

[root@control ~]# yum list available

For example if we need to display the list of samba packages available, execute the below command, if you enabled multiple repos we could see multiple packages for the same package.

[root@control ~]# yum list samba
Last metadata expiration check: 0:03:11 ago on Saturday 09 May 2020 10:36:02 AM IST.
Available Packages
samba.x86_64 4.10.4-101.el8_1 BaseOS

We can also use search option, but it will display with all matching pattern.

root@control ~]# yum search samba
Last metadata expiration check: 0:12:30 ago on Saturday 09 May 2020 10:44:23 AM IST.
===================================== Name Exactly Matched: samba ======================================
samba.x86_64 : Server and Client software to interoperate with Windows machines
samba.x86_64 : Server and Client software to interoperate with Windows machines
==================================== Name & Summary Matched: samba =====================================
samba-libs.x86_64 : Samba libraries
samba-libs.i686 : Samba libraries
samba-libs.x86_64 : Samba libraries
samba-winbind.x86_64 : Samba winbind
samba-client.x86_64 : Samba client programs
python3-samba.i686 : Samba Python3 libraries
python3-samba.x86_64 : Samba Python3 libraries
samba-client-libs.x86_64 : Samba client libraries
samba-client-libs.i686 : Samba client libraries
samba-client-libs.x86_64 : Samba client libraries
python3-samba-test.x86_64 : Samba Python libraries
samba-winbind-clients.x86_64 : Samba winbind clients
samba-winbind-modules.i686 : Samba winbind modules

4. Install the package

Install option is used to install the package, in the section we are going to install samba package.

[root@control ~]# yum install samba -y
Last metadata expiration check: 0:00:19 ago on Saturday 09 May 2020 10:44:23 AM IST.
Dependencies resolved.
Package Architecture Version Repository Size
Installing:
samba x86_64 4.10.4-101.el8_1 BaseOS 739 k
Installing dependencies:
libwbclient x86_64 4.10.4-101.el8_1 BaseOS 115 k
samba-client-libs x86_64 4.10.4-101.el8_1 BaseOS 5.1 M
samba-common noarch 4.10.4-101.el8_1 BaseOS 209 k
samba-common-libs x86_64 4.10.4-101.el8_1 BaseOS 177 k
samba-common-tools x86_64 4.10.4-101.el8_1 BaseOS 469 k
samba-libs x86_64 4.10.4-101.el8_1 BaseOS 185 k
Transaction Summary
Install 7 Packages
Total download size: 6.9 M
Installed size: 28 M
Downloading Packages:
(1/7): libwbclient-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64.rpm 83 kB/s | 115 kB 00:01
(2/7): samba-common-4.10.4-101.el8_1.noarch.rpm 72 kB/s | 209 kB 00:02
(3/7): samba-common-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64.rpm 100 kB/s | 177 kB 00:01
(4/7): samba-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64.rpm 111 kB/s | 739 kB 00:06
(5/7): samba-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64.rpm 73 kB/s | 185 kB 00:02
(6/7): samba-common-tools-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64.rpm 55 kB/s | 469 kB 00:08
(7/7): samba-client-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64.rpm 86 kB/s | 5.1 MB 01:00
Total 115 kB/s | 6.9 MB 01:01
Running transaction check
Transaction check succeeded.
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded.
Running transaction
Preparing : 1/1
Running scriptlet: samba-common-4.10.4-101.el8_1.noarch 1/7
Installing : samba-common-4.10.4-101.el8_1.noarch 1/7
Running scriptlet: samba-common-4.10.4-101.el8_1.noarch 1/7
Verifying : samba-common-tools-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64 6/7
Verifying : samba-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64 7/7
Installed:
samba-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64 libwbclient-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64
samba-client-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64 samba-common-4.10.4-101.el8_1.noarch
samba-common-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64 samba-common-tools-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64
samba-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64
Complete!
[root@control ~]#

We can 6 dependency packages has been installed, along with samba package. -y option is used to installing without asking confirmation.

5. Verify the installation

To verify the installation we can use rpm command or yum history command.

Query the package using rpm command, execute the below command.

[root@control ~]# rpm -qa samba
samba-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64

Also you can grep for the samba package, this also show other packages with matching pattern

[root@control ~]# rpm -qa |grep samba
samba-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64
samba-common-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64
samba-common-4.10.4-101.el8_1.noarch
samba-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64
samba-client-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64
samba-common-tools-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64

In certain situation we need to know when was the successful installation of the package has been installed, use the –last option
It will show package name and version, and the install date.

[root@control ~]# rpm -qa samba --last
samba-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64 Sat May 9 10:45:48 2020

6. Detailed information of a package

Suppose if we want to know the package information like Release, License, Build information, Packager, we can use -i option,

[root@control ~]# rpm -qi samba
Name : samba
Epoch : 0
Version : 4.10.4
Release : 101.el8_1
Architecture: x86_64
Install Date: Sat May 9 10:45:48 2020
Group : Unspecified
Size : 2524153
License : GPLv3+ and LGPLv3+
Signature : RSA/SHA256, Tue Dec 24 01:04:27 2019, Key ID 05b555b38483c65d
Source RPM : samba-4.10.4-101.el8_1.src.rpm
Build Date : Thu Dec 12 02:12:36 2019
Build Host : x86-01.mbox.centos.org
Relocations : (not relocatable)
Packager : CentOS Buildsys bugs@centos.org
Vendor : CentOS
URL : http://www.samba.org/
Summary : Server and Client software to interoperate with Windows machines
Description :
Samba is the standard Windows interoperability suite of programs for Linux and
Unix.
[root@control ~]#

In few scenarios if we check the configuration file from which package the file exists. -qif is query information file

[root@control ~]# rpm -qif /etc/samba/smb.conf
Name : samba-common
Epoch : 0
Version : 4.10.4
Release : 101.el8_1
Architecture: noarch
Install Date: Sat May 9 10:45:47 2020
Group : Unspecified
Size : 132320
License : GPLv3+ and LGPLv3+
Signature : RSA/SHA256, Tue Dec 24 01:04:51 2019, Key ID 05b555b38483c65d
Source RPM : samba-4.10.4-101.el8_1.src.rpm
Build Date : Thu Dec 12 02:15:51 2019
Build Host : aarch64-06.mbox.centos.org
Relocations : (not relocatable)
Packager : CentOS Buildsys bugs@centos.org
Vendor : CentOS
URL : http://www.samba.org/
Summary : Files used by both Samba servers and clients
Description :
samba-common provides files necessary for both the server and client
packages of Samba.
[root@control ~]#

7. YUM history

yum history is used to display all the yum transactions with the history ID

[root@control ~]# yum history
ID     | Command line             | Date and time    | Action(s)      | Altered
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    29 | install samba -y         | 2020-05-09 10:45 | Install        |    7   
    28 | update --exclude=java-1. | 2020-05-06 01:36 | I, U           |   48 EE
    27 | remove httpd             | 2020-05-06 01:25 | Removed        |    6   
    26 | history undo 24          | 2020-05-06 01:25 | Removed        |    5   
    25 | install httpd            | 2020-05-06 01:20 | Install        |    6   
    24 | install bind-utils       | 2020-05-06 00:36 | Install        |    5   
    23 | remove bind-utils        | 2020-05-06 00:35 | Removed        |    5   
    22 | install bind-utils       | 2020-05-06 00:35 | Install        |    5   

For example if we want to see what is happened in the ID no 29, execute the below command

This will show the executed command, in this case we have used yum install samba -y, we could see the same in the Command Line row. Which user has executed the command

[root@control ~]# yum history info 29
Transaction ID : 29
Begin time     : Saturday 09 May 2020 10:45:46 AM IST
Begin rpmdb    : 885:2bdffe9b697913d3794f07400b6b4c7d4c0e486c
End time       : Saturday 09 May 2020 10:45:49 AM IST (3 seconds)
End rpmdb      : 892:cd685d218565ccd09e4f52b86391a4a0ab749e47
User           : root
Return-Code    : Success
Releasever     : 8
Command Line   : install samba -y
Packages Altered:
    Install libwbclient-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64        @BaseOS
    Install samba-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64              @BaseOS
    Install samba-client-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64  @BaseOS
    Install samba-common-4.10.4-101.el8_1.noarch       @BaseOS
    Install samba-common-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64  @BaseOS
    Install samba-common-tools-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64 @BaseOS
    Install samba-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64         @BaseOS
[root@control ~]# 

8. Revert back the changes with YUM

The undo option we can revert back the changes, make sure changes can be reverted only you have installed or removed using yum only, rpm commands cannot be revoked.

[root@control ~]# yum history undo 29
Last metadata expiration check: 0:13:45 ago on Saturday 09 May 2020 10:44:23 AM IST.
Undoing transaction 29, from Saturday 09 May 2020 10:45:46 AM IST
Install libwbclient-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64 @BaseOS
Install samba-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64 @BaseOS
Install samba-client-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64 @BaseOS
Install samba-common-4.10.4-101.el8_1.noarch @BaseOS
Install samba-common-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64 @BaseOS
Install samba-common-tools-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64 @BaseOS
Install samba-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64 @BaseOS
Dependencies resolved.
Package Architecture Version Repository Size
Removing:
libwbclient x86_64 4.10.4-101.el8_1 @BaseOS 102 k
samba x86_64 4.10.4-101.el8_1 @BaseOS 2.4 M
samba-client-libs x86_64 4.10.4-101.el8_1 @BaseOS 23 M
samba-common noarch 4.10.4-101.el8_1 @BaseOS 129 k
samba-common-libs x86_64 4.10.4-101.el8_1 @BaseOS 321 k
samba-common-tools x86_64 4.10.4-101.el8_1 @BaseOS 1.3 M
samba-libs x86_64 4.10.4-101.el8_1 @BaseOS 437 k
Transaction Summary
Remove 7 Packages
Freed space: 28 M
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Running transaction check
Transaction check succeeded.
Removed:
libwbclient-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64 samba-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64
samba-client-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64 samba-common-4.10.4-101.el8_1.noarch
samba-common-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64 samba-common-tools-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64
samba-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64
Complete!
[root@control ~]#

9. Removing a package

IF we need to remove a package, in few scenarios the dependency packages will also be removed, we are going to remove samba package, we can see total 7 packages are removed.

[root@control ~]# yum remove samba
Dependencies resolved.
Package Architecture Version Repository Size
Removing:
samba x86_64 4.10.4-101.el8_1 @BaseOS 2.4 M
Removing unused dependencies:
libwbclient x86_64 4.10.4-101.el8_1 @BaseOS 102 k
samba-client-libs x86_64 4.10.4-101.el8_1 @BaseOS 23 M
samba-common noarch 4.10.4-101.el8_1 @BaseOS 129 k
samba-common-libs x86_64 4.10.4-101.el8_1 @BaseOS 321 k
samba-common-tools x86_64 4.10.4-101.el8_1 @BaseOS 1.3 M
samba-libs x86_64 4.10.4-101.el8_1 @BaseOS 437 k
Transaction Summary
Remove 7 Packages
Freed space: 28 M
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Removed:
samba-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64 libwbclient-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64
samba-client-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64 samba-common-4.10.4-101.el8_1.noarch
samba-common-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64 samba-common-tools-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64
samba-libs-4.10.4-101.el8_1.x86_64
Complete!
[root@control ~]#

10. Conclusion

YUM is user friend tool for the package management, we can verify all the activities with history command.

[root@control ~]# yum history
ID     | Command line             | Date and time    | Action(s)      | Altered
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    32 | remove samba             | 2020-05-09 11:01 | Removed        |    7   
    31 | install samba            | 2020-05-09 11:00 | Install        |    7   
    30 | history undo 29          | 2020-05-09 10:58 | Removed        |    7   
    29 | install samba -y         | 2020-05-09 10:45 | Install        |    7   
    28 | update --exclude=java-1. | 2020-05-06 01:36 | I, U           |   48 EE
    27 | remove httpd             | 2020-05-06 01:25 | Removed        |    6   
    26 | history undo 24          | 2020-05-06 01:25 | Removed        |    5   
    25 | install httpd            | 2020-05-06 01:20 | Install        |    6   
    24 | install bind-utils       | 2020-05-06 00:36 | Install        |    5   
    23 | remove bind-utils        | 2020-05-06 00:35 | Removed        |    5   
    22 | install bind-utils       | 2020-05-06 00:35 | Install        |    5   

Easy use of yum package manager, Hope you have easy understanding how to use , let us know your views and suggestions.

Also refer Storage Migration using LVM https://computercarriage.com/2020/05/25/storage-migration-using-lvm/

Refer the yum cheat sheet from Redhat https://access.redhat.com/sites/default/files/attachments/rh_yum_cheatsheet_1214_jcs_print-1.pdf

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