RPM(8) Red Hat Linux RPM(8)NAMErpm - RPM Package Manager
SYNOPSIS
QUERYING AND VERIFYING PACKAGES:
rpm {-q|--query} [select-options] [query-options]
rpm {-V|--verify} [select-options] [--nodeps] [--nofiles] [--nomd5]
[--noscripts]
rpm {-K|--checksig} [--nogpg] [--nopgp] [--nomd5] PACKAGE_FILE ...
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] [--nodeps] [--noscripts] [--notriggers]
[--repackage] [--test] PACKAGE_NAME ...
BUILDING PACKAGES:
rpm {-ba|-bb|-bp|-bc|-bi|-bl|-bs} [build-options] SPECFILE ...
rpm {-ta|-tb|-tp|-tc|-ti|-tl|-ts} [build-options] TARBALL ...
rpm {--rebuild|--recompile} SOURCEPKG ...
MISCELLANEOUS:
rpm {--initdb|--rebuilddb}
rpm {--addsign|--resign} PACKAGE_FILE ...
rpm {--querytags|--showrc}
rpm {--setperms|--setugids} PACKAGE_NAME ...
SELECT-OPTIONS
[PACKAGE_NAME] [-a,--all] [-f,--file FILE] [-g,--group GROUP]
[-p,--package PACKAGE_FILE] [--querybynumber NUMBER] [--trig‐
geredby PACKAGE_NAME] [--whatprovides CAPABILITY] [--whatrequires CAPA‐
BILITY]
QUERY-OPTIONS
[--changelog] [-c,--configfiles] [-d,--docfiles] [--dump] [--files‐
bypkg] [-i,--info] [--last] [-l,--list] [--provides] [--qf,--queryfor‐
mat QUERYFMT] [-R,--requires] [--scripts] [-s,--state] [--trig‐
gers,--triggerscripts]
INSTALL-OPTIONS
[--allfiles] [--badreloc] [--excludepath OLDPATH] [--excludedocs]
[--force] [-h,--hash] [--ignoresize] [--ignorearch] [--ignoreos]
[--includedocs] [--justdb] [--nodeps] [--noorder] [--noscripts]
[--notriggers] [--oldpackage] [--percent] [--prefix NEWPATH] [--relo‐
cate OLDPATH=NEWPATH] [--repackage] [--replacefiles] [--replacepkgs]
[--test]
BUILD-OPTIONS
[--buildroot DIRECTORY] [--clean] [--nobuild] [--rmsource] [--rmspec]
[--short-circuit] [--sign] [--target PLATFORM]
DESCRIPTIONrpm is a powerful Package Manager, which can be used to build, install,
query, verify, update, and erase individual software packages. A pack‐
age 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, Sig‐
nature Check, Install/Upgrade/Freshen, Uninstall, Build Package, Build
Package from Tarball, Recompile Package, Initialize Database, Rebuild
Database, Resign, Add Signature, Set Owners/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 information. 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:/etc/rpmrc:~/.rpmrc.
--pipe CMD
Pipes the output of rpm to the command CMD.
--dbpath DIRECTORY
Use the database in DIRECTORY rathen than the default path
/var/lib/rpm
--root DIRECTORY
Use the system rooted at DIRECTORY for all operations. Note
that this means the database will be read or modified under
DIRECTORY and any %pre or %post scriptlet(s) are run after a
chroot(2) to DIRECTORY.
INSTALL AND UPGRADE OPTIONS
The general form of an rpm install command is
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 if an earlier version currently
exists. The PACKAGE_FILE may be specified as an ftp or http URL, in
which case the package will be downloaded before being installed. See
FTP/HTTP OPTIONS for information on rpm's internal ftp and http client
support.
--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 documents).
--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.
--nodeps
Don't do a dependency check before installing or upgrading a
package.
--noorder
Don't reorder the packages for an install. The list of packages
would normally be reordered to satisfy dependancies.
--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
--notriggerpostun
Don't execute any trigger scriptlet of the named type. The
--notriggers option is equivalent to
--notriggerin --notriggerun --notriggerpostun
and turns off execution of the corresponding %triggerin, %trig‐
gerun, 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 ar‐
chive. This is intended to make rpm easy to run from other
tools.
--prefix NEWPATH
For relocateable 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 relocation hint(s) to NEWPATH.
This option can be used repeatedly if several OLDPATH's in the
package are to be relocated.
--repackage
Re-package the files before erasing. The previously installed
package will be named according to the macro %_repack‐
age_name_fmt and will be created in the directory named by the
macro %_repackage_dir (default value is /var/tmp).
--replacefiles
Install the packages even if they replace files from other,
already installed, packages.
--replacepkgs
Install the packages even if some of them are already installed
on this system.
--nobuild
Do not install the package, simply check for and report poten‐
tial conflicts.
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 modifed versions of the standard printf(3)
formatting. The format is made up of static strings (which may include
standard C character escapes for newlines, 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 insesitive, and the RPMTAG_ portion of the tag name
may be omitted as well.
Alternate output formats may be requested by following the tag with
:typetag. Currently, the following types are supported: octal, date,
shescape, perms, fflags, and depflags. 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.
-f, --file FILE
Query package owning FILE.
-g, --group GROUP
Query packages with the group of GROUP.
-p, --package PACKAGE_FILE
Query an (uninstalled) package PACKAGE_FILE. The PACKAGE_FILE
may be specified as an ftp or http style URL, in which case the
package header will be downloaded and queried. See FTP/HTTP
OPTIONS for information 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. Comments are
permitted, starting with a '#', and each line of a package mani‐
fest file may include white space seperated glob expressions,
including URL's with remote glob expressions, that will be
expanded to paths that are substituted in place of the package
manifest as additional PACKAGE_FILE arguments to the query.
--querybynumber NUMBER
Query the NUMBERth 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.
--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 requires CAPABILITY for proper function‐
ing.
PACKAGE QUERY OPTIONS:
--changelog
Display change information for the package.
-c, --configfiles
List only configuration files (implies -l).
-d, --docfiles
List only documentation files (implies -l).
--dump Dump file information as follows:
path size mtime md5sum mode owner group isconfig isdoc rdev symlink
This option must be used with at least one of -l, -c, -d.
--filesbypkg
List all the files in each selected package.
-i, --info
Display package information, including name, version, and
description. This uses the --queryformat if one was specified.
--last Orders the package listing by install time such that the latest
packages are at the top.
-l, --list
List files in package.
--provides
List capabilities this package provides.
-R, --requires
List packages 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] [--nodeps] [--nofiles] [--nomd5]
[--noscripts]
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, MD5 sum, permissions, type, owner and group of each
file. Any discrepencies are displayed. Files that were not installed
from the package, for example, documentation files excluded on instal‐
lation using the "--excludedocs" option, will be silently ignored.
The package selection options are the same as for package querying
(including package manifest files as arguments). Other options that
can be used only in verify mode are:
--nodeps
Don't verify dependencies.
--nofiles
Don't verify files.
--nomd5
Don't verify file MD5 checksums.
--noscripts
Don't execute the %verifyscript scriptlet (if any).
The format of the output is a string of 8 characters, a possible "c"
denoting a configuration file, and then the file name. Each of the 8
characters denotes the result of a comparison 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 "?" indi‐
cates 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 MD5 sum differs
D Device major/minor number mis-match
L readLink(2) path mis-match
U User ownership differs
G Group ownership differs
T mTime differs
SIGNATURE CHECKING
The general form of an rpm signature check command is
rpm--checksig [--nogpg] [--nopgp] [--nomd5] PACKAGE_FILE ...
This checks the GPG signature of package PACKAGE_FILE to ensure its
integrity and origin. GPG configuration information is read from con‐
figuration files. See the section on GPG SIGNATURES for details.
ERASE OPTIONS
The general form of an rpm erase command is
rpm {-e|--erase} [--allmatches] [--nodeps] [--noscripts] [--notriggers]
[--repackage] [--test] PACKAGE_NAME ...
The following options may also be used:
--allmatches
Remove all versions of the package which match PACKAGE_NAME.
Normally an error is issued if PACKAGE_NAME matches multiple
packages.
--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 equivalent 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).
--repackage
Re-package the files before erasing. The previously installed
package will be named according to the macro %_repack‐
age_name_fmt and will be created in the directory named by the
macro %_repackage_dir (default value is /var/tmp).
--test Don't really uninstall anything, just go through the motions.
Useful in conjunction with the -vv option for debugging.
BUILD OPTIONS
The general form of an rpm build command is
rpm {-bSTAGE|-tSTAGE} [build-options] FILE ...
The argument used is -b if a spec file is being used to build the pack‐
age and -t if rpm should look inside of a (possibly compressed) tar
file for the spec file to use. After the first argument, the next char‐
acter (STAGE) specifies the stages of building and packaging to be done
and is one of:
-ba Build binary and source packages (after doing the %prep, %build,
and %install stages).
-bb Build a binary package (after doing the %prep, %build, and
%install stages).
-bp Executes the "%prep" stage from the spec file. Normally this
involves unpacking the sources and applying any patches.
-bc Do the "%build" stage from the spec file (after doing the %prep
stage). This generally involves the equivalent of a "make".
-bi Do the "%install" stage from the spec file (after doing the
%prep and %build stages). This generally involves the equiva‐
lent of a "make install".
-bl Do a "list check". The "%files" section from the spec file is
macro expanded, and checks are made to verify that each file
exists.
-bs Build just the source package.
The following options may also be used:
--buildroot DIRECTORY
When building a package, override the BuildRoot tag with direc‐
tory DIRECTORY.
--clean
Remove the build tree after the packages are made.
--nobuild
Do not execute any build stages. Useful for testing out spec
files.
--rmsource
Remove the sources after the build (may also be used standalone,
e.g. "rpm --rmsource foo.spec").
--rmspec
Remove the spec file after the build (may also be used stand‐
alone, eg. "rpm --rmspec foo.spec").
--short-circuit
Skip straight to specified stage (i.e., skip all stages leading
up to the specified stage). Only valid with -bc and -bi.
--sign Embed a GPG signature in the package. This signature can be used
to verify the integrity and the origin of the package. See the
section on GPG SIGNATURES for configuration details.
--target PLATFORM
When building the package, interpret PLATFORM as arch-vendor-os
and set the macros %_target, %_target_arch, and %_target_os
accordingly.
REBUILD AND RECOMPILE OPTIONS
There are two other ways to invoke building with rpm:
rpm {--rebuild|--recompile} SOURCEPKG ...
When invoked this way, rpm installs the named source package, and does
a prep, compile and install. In addition, --rebuild builds a new
binary package. When the build has completed, the build directory is
removed (as in --clean) and the the sources and spec file for the pack‐
age are removed.
SIGNING A PACKAGE
rpm {--addsign|--resign} PACKAGE_FILE ...
The --addsign option generates and inserts new signatures for each
package. Any existing signatures will be discarded.
The --resign option generates and appends signatures for the listed
packages while preserving the existing signatures.
GPG SIGNATURES
In order to use the signature feature, rpm must be configured to run
GPG and be able to find a public key ring with Red Hat (or other ven‐
dor) public keys. By default, rpm uses the same conventions as GPG to
find key rings, namely the $GPGPATH environment variable. If your key
rings are not located where GPG expects them to be, you will need to
configure the macro %_gpg_path to be the location of the GPG key rings
to use.
If you want to be able to sign packages you create yourself, you also
need to create your own public and secret key pair (see the GPG man‐
ual). You will also need to configure the macros
%_signature
The signature type. Right now only gpg and pgp are supported.
%_gpg_name
The name of the "user" whose key you wish to use to sign your
packages.
When building packages you then add --sign to the command line. You
will be prompted for your pass phrase, and your package will be built
and signed. For example, to be able to use GPG to sign packages as the
user "John Doe <jdoe@foo.com>" from the key rings located in
/etc/rpm/.gpg using the executable /usr/bin/gpg you would include
%_signature gpg
%_gpg_path /etc/rpm/.gpg
%_gpg_name John Doe <jdoe@foo.com>
%_gpgbin /usr/bin/gpg
in a macro configuration file. Use /etc/rpm/macros for per-system con‐
figuration and ~/.rpmmacros for per-user configuration.
REBUILD DATABASE OPTIONS
The general form of an rpm rebuild database command is
rpm {--initdb|--rebuilddb} [-v] [--dbpath DIRECTORY] [--root DIRECTORY]
Use --initdb to create a new database, use --rebuilddb to rebuild the
database indices from the installed package headers.
SHOWRC
The command
rpm--showrc
shows the values rpm will use for all of the options are currently set
in rpmrc and macros configuration file(s).
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 omit‐
ted, anonymous ftp is used. In all cases, passive (PASV) ftp transfers
are performed.
rpm allows the following options to be used with ftp URLs:
--ftpproxy HOST
The host HOST will be used as a proxy server for all ftp trans‐
fers, which allows users to ftp through firewall machines which
use proxy systems. This option may also be specified by config‐
uring the macro %_ftpproxy.
--ftpport HOST
The TCP PORT number to use for the ftp connection on the proxy
ftp server instead of the default port. This option may also be
specified by configuring the macro %_ftpport.
rpm allows the following options to be used with http URLs:
--httpproxy HOST
The host HOST will be used as a proxy server for all http trans‐
fers. This option may also be specified 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.
FILES
/usr/lib/rpm/rpmrc
/etc/rpmrc
~/.rpmrc
/usr/lib/rpm/macros
/etc/rpm/macros
~/.rpmmacros
/var/lib/rpm/Conflictname
/var/lib/rpm/Basenames
/var/lib/rpm/Group
/var/lib/rpm/Name
/var/lib/rpm/Packages
/var/lib/rpm/Providename
/var/lib/rpm/Requirename
/var/lib/rpm/Triggername
/var/tmp/rpm*
SEE ALSOpopt(3),
rpm2cpio(8),
rpmbuild(8),
http://www.rpm.org/
AUTHORS
Marc Ewing <marc@redhat.com>
Jeff Johnson <jbj@redhat.com>
Erik Troan <ewt@redhat.com>
Red Hat, Inc. 06 June 2001 RPM(8)
