What Can I do with RPM?

RPM is a very useful tool and, as you can see, has several options. The best way to make sense of them is to look at some examples. I covered simple install/uninstall above, so here are some more examples:

You want to install or upgrade an RPM, you would:

rpm -Uvh koules-1.2-2.i386.rpm

Don't use -i[vh] - there's no advantage to it and if the RPM concerned is already installed, it may confuse either or both of RPM and you.

Let's say you delete some files by accident, but you aren't sure what you deleted. If you want to verify your entire system and see what might be missing, you would do:

rpm -Va

Let's say you run across a file that you don't recognize. To find out which package owns it, you would do:

rpm -qf /usr/X11R6/bin/xjewel

The output would be:

xjewel-1.6-1

You find a new koules RPM, but you don't know what it is. To find out some information on it, do:

rpm -qpi koules-1.2-2.i386.rpm

The output would be:

Name : koules Distribution: Red Hat Linux Colgate
Version : 1.2 Vendor: Red Hat Software
Release : 2 Build Date: Mon Sep 02 11:59:12 1996
Install date: (none) Build Host: porky.redhat.com
Group : Games Source RPM: koules-1.2-2.src.rpm
Size : 614939
Summary : SVGAlib action game with multiplayer, network, and sound support
Description :
This arcade-style game is novel in conception and excellent in execution.
No shooting, no blood, no guts, no gore. The play is simple, but you still must develop skill to play. This version uses SVGAlib to run on a graphics console.

Now you want to see what files the koules RPM installs. You would do:

rpm -qpl koules-1.2-2.i386.rpm

The output is:

/usr/doc/koules
/usr/doc/koules/ANNOUNCE
/usr/doc/koules/BUGS
/usr/doc/koules/COMPILE.OS2
/usr/doc/koules/COPYING
/usr/doc/koules/Card
/usr/doc/koules/ChangeLog
/usr/doc/koules/INSTALLATION
/usr/doc/koules/Icon.xpm
/usr/doc/koules/Icon2.xpm
/usr/doc/koules/Koules.FAQ
/usr/doc/koules/Koules.xpm
/usr/doc/koules/README
/usr/doc/koules/TODO
/usr/games/koules
/usr/games/koules.svga
/usr/games/koules.tcl
/usr/man/man6/koules.svga.6

These are just several examples. More creative ones can be thought of really easy once you are familiar with RPM.

Written by EmacsDctr (John Zuska) -- thanks, man.