Unless the --help or -h option is given, one of the above commands
must be present.
Repository configuration is honored in all operations.
install
Is used to install the latest version of a package or
group of packages while ensuring that all dependencies are
satisfied. If no package matches the given package name(s), they are
assumed to be a shell glob and any matches are then installed.
update
If run without any packages, update will update every currently
installed package. If one or more packages are specified, Yum will
only update the listed packages. While updating packages, yum
will ensure that all dependencies are satisfied. If no package
matches the given package name(s), they are assumed to be a shell glob
and any matches are then installed.
If the --obsoletes flag is present yum will include package
obsoletes in its calculations - this makes it better for distro-version
changes, for example: upgrading from somelinux 8.0 to somelinux 9.
check-update
Implemented so you could know if your machine had any updates that needed to
be applied without running it interactively. Returns exit value of 100 if
there are packages available for an update. Also returns a list of the pkgs
to be updated in list format. Returns 0 and no packages are available for
update.
upgrade
Is the same as the update command with the --obsoletes flag set. See update
for more details.
remove or erase
Are used to remove the specified packages from the system
as well as removing any packages which depend on the package being
removed.
list
Is used to list various information about available
packages; more complete details are available in the List Options
section below.
provides or whatprovides
Is used to find out which package provides some feature
or file. Just use a specific name or a file-glob-syntax wildcards to list
the packages available or installed that provide that feature or file.
search
Is used to find any packages matching a string in the description, summary,
packager and package name fields of an rpm. Useful for finding a package
you do not know by name but know by some word related to it.
info
Is used to list a description and summary information about available
packages; takes the same arguments as in the List Options
section below.
clean
Is used to clean up various things which accumulate in the
yum cache directory over time. More complete details can be found in
the Clean Options section below.
shell
Is used to enter the 'yum shell', when a filename is specified the contents of
that file is executed in yum shell mode. See yum-shell(8) for more info
resolvedep
Is used to list packages providing the specified dependencies, at most one
package is listed per dependency.
localinstall
Is used to install a set of local rpm files. If required the enabled
repositories will be used to resolve dependencies.
localupdate
Is used to update the system by specifying local rpm files. Only the specified
rpm files of which an older version is already installed will be installed,
the remaining specified packages will be ignored.
If required the enabled repositories will be used to resolve dependencies.
deplist
Produces a list of all dependencies and what packages provide those
dependencies for the given packages.
GENERAL OPTIONS
Most command line options can be set using the configuration file as
well and the descriptions indicate the necessary configuration option
to set.
-h, --help
Help; display a help message and then quit.
-y
Assume yes; assume that the answer to any question which would be asked
is yes.
Configuration Option: assume-yes
-c [config file]
Specifies the config file location - can take http, ftp urls and local file
paths.
-d [number]
Sets the debugging level to [number] - turns up or down the amount of things that are printed. Practical range: 0 - 10
Configuration Option: debuglevel
-e [number]
Sets the error level to [number] Practical range 0 - 10. 0 means print only critical errors about which you must be told. 1 means print all errors, even ones that are not overly important. 1+ means print more errors (if any) -e 0 is good for cron jobs.
Configuration Option: errorlevel
-R [time in minutes]
Sets the maximum amount of time yum will wait before performing a command - it randomizes over the time.
-C
Tells yum to run entirely from cache - does not download or update any
headers unless it has to to perform the requested action.
--version
Reports the yum version number and exits.
--installroot=root
Specifies an alternative installroot, relative to which all packages will be
installed.
Configuration Option: installroot
--enablerepo=repoidglob
Enables specific repositories by id or glob that have been disabled in the
configuration file using the enabled=0 option.
Configuration Option: enabled
--disablerepo=repoidglob
Disables specific repositories by id or glob.
Configuration Option: enabled
--obsoletes
This option only has affect for an update, it enables yum's obsoletes
processing logic. For more information see the update command above.
Configuration Option: obsoletes
--exclude=package
Exclude a specific package by name or glob from updates on all repositories.
Configuration Option: exclude
--noplugins
Run with all plugins disabled.
Configuration Option: plugins
LIST OPTIONS
The following are the ways which you can invoke yum in list
mode. Note that all list commands include information on the
version of the package.
yum list [all | glob_exp1] [glob_exp2] [...]
List all available and installed packages.
yum list available [glob_exp1] [...]
List all packages in the yum repositories available to be installed.
yum list updates [glob_exp1] [...]
List all packages with updates available in the yum repositories.
yum list installed [glob_exp1] [...]
List the packages specified by args. If an argument does not
match the name of an available package, it is assumed to be a
shell-style glob and any matches are printed.
yum list extras [glob_exp1] [...]
List the packages installed on the system that are not available in any yum
repository listed in the config file.
yum list obsoletes [glob_exp1] [...]
List the packages installed on the system that are obsoleted by packages
in any yum repository listed in the config file.
yum list recent
List packages recently added into the repositories.
Specifying package names
All the list options mentioned above take file-glob-syntax wildcards or package
names as arguments, for example yum list available 'foo*' will list
all available packages that match 'foo*'. (The single quotes will keep your
shell from expanding the globs.)
CLEAN OPTIONS
The following are the ways which you can invoke yum in clean
mode. Note that "all files" in the commands below means
"all files in currently enabled repositories".
If you want to also clean any (temporarily) disabled repositories you need to
use --enablerepo='*' option.
yum clean packages
Eliminate any cached packages from the system. Note that packages are not automatically deleted after they are downloaded.
yum clean headers
Eliminate all of the header files which yum uses for dependency resolution.
yum clean metadata
Eliminate all of the files which yum uses to determine the remote
availability of packages. Using this option will force yum to download all the
metadata the next time it is run.
yum clean dbcache
Eliminate the sqlite cache used for faster access to metadata.
Using this option will force yum to recreate the cache the next time
it is run.
yum clean all
Runs yum clean packages and yum clean headers as above.
MISC
Specifying package names
A package can be referred to for install,update,list,remove etc with any
of the following:
name name.arch name-ver name-ver-rel name-ver-rel.arch name-epoch:ver-rel.arch epoch:name-ver-rel.arch
For example: yum remove kernel-2.4.1-10.i686
PLUGINS
Yum can be extended through the use of plugins. A plugin is a Python ".py" file
which is installed in one of the directories specified by the pluginpath
option in yum.conf. For a plugin to work, the following conditions must be met:
1. The plugin module file must be installed in the plugin path as just
described.
2. The global plugins option in /etc/yum.conf must be set to `1'.
3. A configuration file for the plugin must exist in
/etc/yum/pluginconf.d/<plugin_name>.conf and the enabled setting in this
file must set to `1'. The minimal content for such a configuration file is:
[main]
enabled = 1
See the yum.conf(5) man page for more information on plugin related
configuration options.
There of course aren't any bugs, but if you find any, you should first
consult the Faq mentioned above and then email the mailing list:
yum@lists.linux.duke.edu or filed in bugzilla.
