Redhat Linux Package Management

Package Location

1. ftp internet
2. anonymous@updates.redhat.com
3. bin
4. cd 8.0
5. cd en
6. cd os
7. cd i386
   1. # rpm –q –a
   2. # rpm –q –f filename
   3. # rpm –Fvh package-name [package-name package-name…]
   4. one additional note here, I discovered 2 options for packages, SRPMS, and i386.  I believe SRPMS are the source code packages and i386 is precompiled for the intel platform.  I chose to use the i386 and it worked fine for my first upgrade.
   5. # rpm –i package-name

Package update

1. To list all the packages installed on the system

1. To list a package associated with a specific file

1. To upgrade a package

1. To install a package

Resolving a hung RPM session

1. RPM hangs will occur in the event of a corrupt database, or the existence of stale lock files as a result of performing a kill –9 on an rpm session
2. To attempt to resolve this
   1. Login to the server as root
   2. Kill off any existing rpm sessions
   3. # cd /var/lib/rpm
   4. # rm *db.00*
   5. # rpm –rebuilddb
   6. be patient, the rebuild may take some time, so let it run.  Once the rebuild completes rpm –qa should run successfully