RPM(8)
2025-04-15
NAME
rpm - RPM Package Manager
SYNOPSIS
Querying and verifying packages
rpm {-q|--query} [select-options] [query-options] [PACKAGE_FILE ...] [PACKAGE_NAME ...]
rpm {-V|--verify} [select-options] [verify-options] [PACKAGE_NAME ...]
Installing, upgrading and removing packages
rpm {-i|--install} [transaction-options] [install-options] PACKAGE_FILE ...
rpm {-U|--upgrade} [transaction-options] [install-options] PACKAGE_FILE ...
rpm {-F|--freshen} [transaction-options] [install-options] PACKAGE_FILE ...
rpm --reinstall [transaction-options] [install-options] PACKAGE_FILE ...
rpm --restore [transaction-options] [select-options] PACKAGE_NAME ...
rpm {-e|--erase} [transaction-options] [erase-options] PACKAGE_NAME ...
Misc operations
rpm --querytags
See rpm-common(8) for operations common to all rpm executables.
DESCRIPTION
rpm is a powerful Package Manager, which can be used to build, install, query, verify, update, and erase individual 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.
OPERATIONS
Querying and verifying packages
-V, --verify
Verify package(s), comparing 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.
-q, --query
Query package files or installed package(s).
Installing, upgrading and removing packages
-i, --install
Install new package(s) without considering upgrade scenarios. This is considered special usage, normally installations should be done with --upgrade.
-U, --upgrade
Install or upgrade package(s) to a newer version. Old and/or obsoleted package(s) are removed after the new package is installed.
-F, --freshen
Upgrade package(s), but only ones for which an earlier version is installed.
--reinstall
Reinstall previously installed package(s).
--restore
Restore file metadata such as timestamp, owner, group, permissions and capabilities of files of installed package(s).
-e, --erase
Erase installed packages.
Misc operations
--querytags
Dump known querytags. Useful with the --queryformat option.
See rpm-common(8) for the operations common to all rpm executables.
ARGUMENTS
PACKAGE_FILE
Either rpm binary file or ASCII package manifest (see PACKAGE SELECTION OPTIONS), and 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 ftp and http client support.
PACKAGE_NAME
Installed package named PACKAGE_NAME. To specify the package more precisely the package name may be followed by the version or version and release both separated by a dash or an architecture name separated by a dot. See the output of rpm -qa or rpm -qp PACKAGE_FILE as an example.
OPTIONS
See rpm-common(8) for the options common to all operations.
INSTALL AND UPGRADE OPTIONS
--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.
--excludeartifacts
Don't install any files which are marked as artifacts, such as build-id links.
--excludeconfigs, --noconfigs
Do not install configuration files.
--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.
--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.
--nocontexts
Don't set SELinux contexts for files and scriptlets. Only effective if rpm-plugin-selinux(8) is installed and active.
--nocaps
Don't set file capabilities.
--noverify
Don't perform verify package files prior to installation.
--nosysusers
Don't create sysusers from packages
--oldpackage
Allow an upgrade to replace a newer package with an older one.
--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 relocation 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.
--replacepkgs
Install the packages even if some of them are already installed on this system.
ERASE OPTIONS
--allmatches
Remove all versions of the package which match PACKAGE_NAME. Normally an error is issued if PACKAGE_NAME matches multiple packages.
TRANSACTION OPTIONS
The transaction options are common to --install, --upgrade, --reinstall and --erase operations.
--deploops
Print dependency loops as warnings.
-h, --hash
Print 50 hash marks as the package archive is unpacked. Use with -v|--verbose for a nicer display.
--justdb
Update only the database, not the filesystem.
--nodb
Update only the filesystem, not the database.
--nodeps
Don't check dependencies before uninstalling the packages.
--noorder
Don't reorder the packages for an install. The list of packages would normally be reordered to satisfy dependencies.
--noplugins
Do not load and execute plugins.
--noscripts
Disables execution of package scriptlets. Equivalent to
--nopre --nopost --nopreun --nopostun --nopretrans --noposttrans --nopreuntrans --nopostuntrans
--nopre --nopost --nopreun --nopostun --nopretrans --noposttrans --nopreuntrans --nopostuntrans
Don't execute the scriptlets of the named type.
--notriggers
Disable execution of package triggers. Equivalent to
--notriggerprein --notriggerin --notriggerun --notriggerpostun
--notriggerin --notriggerun --notriggerprein --notriggerpostun
Disable execution of the trigger scriptlets of the named type.
--percent
Print percentages as files are unpacked from the package archive. This is intended to make rpm easy to run from other tools.
--test
Don't really execute anything, just go through the motions. Useful in conjunction with the -vv option for debugging.
QUERY OPTIONS
--qf QUERYFMT, --queryformat QUERYFMT
Specify the format that package information should be printed in. See QUERY FORMAT for the format description.
QUERY FORMAT
The rpm queryformat is modeled after 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 (not including 0)) 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.
Alternate output formats may be requested by following the tag with :typetag. Currently, the following types are supported:
:armor
Wrap a public key in ASCII armor.
:arraysize
Display number of elements in array tags.
:base64
Encode binary data using base64.
:date
Use strftime(3) "%c" format.
: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.
:hashalgo
Display hash algorithm name.
:hex
Format in hexadecimal.
:octal
Format in octal.
:humaniec
Human readable number (in IEC 80000). The suffix K = 1024, M = 1048576, ...
:humansi
Human readable number (in SI). The suffix K = 1000, M = 1000000, ..
:json
Wrap data in JSON.
:perms
Format file permissions.
:pgpsig
Display signature fingerprint and time.
:shescape
Escape single quotes for use in a script.
:string
Display string format. (default)
:tagname
Display tag name.
:tagnum
Display tag number.
: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 three subsets of options for querying: package selection, file selection and information selection.
PACKAGE SELECTION OPTIONS
-a, --all [SELECTOR ...]
Query all installed packages.
Optional SELECTOR's in the form of tag=pattern can be provided to narrow the selection, for example name="b*" to query packages whose name starts with "b".
--dupes
List duplicated packages.
-f, --file FILE
Query package owning installed FILE.
--filecaps
List file names with POSIX1.e capabilities.
--fileclass
List file names with their classes (libmagic classification).
--filecolor
List file names with their colors (0 for noarch, 1 for 32bit, 2 for 64 bit).
--fileprovide
List file names with their provides.
--filerequire
List file names with their requires.
-g, --group GROUP
Query packages with the group of GROUP.
--noglob
Do not glob arguments when installing package files.
--nomanifest
Don't process non-package files as manifests.
-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 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 manifests, 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.
--path PATH
Query package(s) owning PATH, whether the file is installed or not. Multiple packages may own a PATH, but the file is only owned by the package installed last.
--querybynumber HDRNUM
Query the HDRNUM database entry directly; this is useful only for debugging.
--specfile SPECFILE
Obsolete, use rpmspec(1) instead.
--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.
--whatobsoletes CAPABILITY
Query all packages that obsolete CAPABILITY for proper functioning.
--whatprovides CAPABILITY
Query all packages that provide the CAPABILITY capability.
--whatrequires CAPABILITY
Query all packages that require CAPABILITY for proper functioning.
--whatconflicts CAPABILITY
Query all packages that conflict with CAPABILITY.
--whatrecommends CAPABILITY
Query all packages that recommend CAPABILITY.
--whatsuggests CAPABILITY
Query all packages that suggest CAPABILITY.
--whatsupplements CAPABILITY
Query all packages that supplement CAPABILITY.
--whatenhances CAPABILITY
Query all packages that enhance CAPABILITY.
PACKAGE QUERY OPTIONS
--changelog
Display change information for the package.
--changes
Display change information for the package with full time stamps.
--conflicts
List capabilities this package conflicts with.
--dump
Dump file information as follows (implies -l):
path size mtime digest mode owner group isconfig isdoc rdev symlink
--enhances
List capabilities enhanced by package(s).
--filesbypkg
List all the files in each selected package.
--filetriggers
List filetrigger scriptlets from package(s).
-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.
--obsoletes
List packages this package obsoletes.
--provides
List capabilities this package provides.
--recommends
List capabilities recommended by package(s).
-R, --requires
List capabilities on which this package depends.
--suggests
List capabilities suggested by package(s).
--supplements
List capabilities supplemented by package(s).
--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.
--xml
Format package headers as XML.
FILE SELECTION OPTIONS
-A, --artifactfiles
Only include artifact files (implies -l).
-c, --configfiles
Only include configuration files (implies -l).
-d, --docfiles
Only include documentation files (implies -l).
-L, --licensefiles
Only include license files (implies -l).
--noartifact
Exclude artifact files.
--noconfig
Exclude config files.
--noghost
Exclude ghost files.
VERIFY OPTIONS
The package and file selection options are the same as for package querying (including package manifest files as arguments). 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) --nosize --nomtime --nomode --nordev
Don't verify the corresponding file attribute.
--nouser --nogroup
Don't verify file user/group ownership. Note that only local passwd(5) and group(5) databases are consulted.
--nocaps
Don't verify file capabilities.
OUTPUT
--verify
The format of the output is a string of 9 characters, a possible attribute marker:
Marker | %files attribute | Description |
a | %artifact | a build side-effect file (such as buildid links) |
c | %config | configuration file |
d | %doc | documentation file |
g | %ghost | ghost file (i.e. the file contents are not included in the package payload) |
l | %license | license file |
m | %missingok | file missing is not a verify failure |
n | %config(noreplace) | do not replace config file |
r | %readme | readme file |
s | N/A | spec file in source package |
from the package header, followed by the file name. Each of the 9 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 "?" (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:
Character | Description |
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 |
EXIT STATUS
On success, 0 is returned, a non-zero failure code otherwise.
FILES
See rpm-common(8), rpm-config(5) and rpm-rpmrc(5).
SEE ALSO
rpm-common(8), popt(3), rpm2cpio(1), rpmbuild(1), rpmdb(8), rpmkeys(8), rpmsign(1), rpmspec(1)
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.