Basics of using yum and RPM¶
About This Document¶
This document introduces package management tools that help you install, update, and remove packages. OSG uses RPMs (the Red Hat Packaging Manager) to package its software. While RPM is the packaging format, yum is the command you will use to do the installation. For example, yum will resolve and download the dependencies for the package you want to install; rpm will simply complain if you want to install a package that does not have all its dependencies installed.
Installation¶
Installation is done with the yum install command. Each of the individual installation guide shows you the correct command to use to do an installation. Here is an example installation with all of the output from yum.
root@host# yum install osg-ca-certs
OSG Software for Enterprise Linux 9 - x86_64 5.1 kB/s | 1.4 kB 00:00
OSG Software for Enterprise Linux 9 - Development - x86_64 1.4 MB/s | 470 kB 00:00
Dependencies resolved.
===================================================================================================
Package Architecture Version Repository Size
===================================================================================================
Installing:
osg-ca-certs noarch 1.131-1.osg24.el9 osg 242 k
Transaction Summary
===================================================================================================
Install 1 Package
Total download size: 242 k
Installed size: 483 k
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
osg-ca-certs-1.131-1.osg24.el9.noarch.rpm 1.8 MB/s | 242 kB 00:00
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 1.2 MB/s | 242 kB 00:00
OSG Software for Enterprise Linux 9 - Development - x86_64 3.0 MB/s | 3.1 kB 00:00
Importing GPG key 0xEFFC3BE6:
Userid : "OSG 24 Developer Signing Key <[email protected]>"
Fingerprint: F77F E0C7 0A9B AA73 9FD3 52C9 9DF7 5B52 EFFC 3BE6
From : /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-OSG-24-developer
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Key imported successfully
Running transaction check
Transaction check succeeded.
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded.
Running transaction
Preparing : 1/1
Installing : osg-ca-certs-1.131-1.osg24.el9.noarch 1/1
Verifying : osg-ca-certs-1.131-1.osg24.el9.noarch 1/1
Installed:
osg-ca-certs-1.131-1.osg24.el9.noarch
Complete!
Please Note: When you first install a package from the OSG repository, you will be prompted to import the GPG key. We use this key to sign our RPMs as a security measure. You should double-check the key id (above it is 824B8603) with the information on our signed RPMs. If it doesn't match, there is a problem somewhere and you should report it to the OSG via [email protected].
Verifying Packages and Installations¶
You can check if an RPM has been modified. For instance, to check to see if any files have been modified in the osg-ca-certs RPM you just installed:
user@host $ rpm --verify osg-ca-certs
The lack of any output means there were no problems. If you would like to see all the files for which there are no problems, you can do:
user@host $ rpm --verify -v osg-ca-certs
........ /etc/grid-security/certificates
........ /etc/grid-security/certificates/0119347c.0
........ /etc/grid-security/certificates/0119347c.namespaces
........ /etc/grid-security/certificates/0119347c.signing_policy
... etc ...
Each dot indicates a specific check that was made and passed. If someone had modified a file, you might see this:
user@host $ rpm --verify osg-ca-certs
..5....T /etc/grid-security/certificates/ffc3d59b.0
This means the files MD5 checksum has changed (so the contents have changed) and the timestamp is different. The complete set of changes you might see (copied from the rpm man page) are:
| Letter | Meaning |
|---|---|
S |
file Size differs |
M |
Mode differs (includes permissions and file type) |
5 |
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 |
If you don't care about some of those changes, you can tell rpm to ignore them. For instance, to ignore changes in the modification time:
user@host $ rpm --verify --nomtime osg-ca-certs
..5..... /etc/grid-security/certificates/ffc3d59b.0
Understanding a package¶
If you want to know what package a file belongs to, you can ask rpm. For instance, if you're curious what package contains the srm-ls command, you can do:
# 1. Find the exact path
user@host $ which osg-cert-request
/usr/bin/osg-cert-request
# 2. Ask rpm what package it is part of:
user@host $ rpm -q --file /usr/bin/osg-cert-request
osg-pki-tools-3.5.2-2.osg36.el9.noarch
If you want to know what other things are in a package--perhaps the other available tools or configuration files--you can do that as well:
user@host $ rpm -ql osg-pki-tools
/usr/bin/osg-cert-request
/usr/bin/osg-incommon-cert-request
/usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/osgpkitools
/usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/osgpkitools/ExceptionDefinitions.py
/usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/osgpkitools/__init__.py
... output trimmed ...
What else does a package install?¶
Sometimes you need to understand what other software is installed by a package. This can be particularly useful for understanding meta-packages, which are packages such as the osg-wn-client (worker node client) that contain nothing by themselves but only depend on other RPMs. To do this, use the --requires option to rpm. For example, you can see that the worker node client (as of OSG 24 in October, 2024) will install curl, uberftp, wget, and a dozen or so other packages.
user@host $ rpm -q --requires osg-wn-client
/usr/bin/curl
/usr/bin/ldapsearch
/usr/bin/wget
/usr/bin/xrdcp
config(osg-wn-client) = 24-1.osg24.el9
fetch-crl
gfal2
gfal2-plugin-file
gfal2-plugin-http
gfal2-plugin-xrootd
grid-certificates >= 7
osg-system-profiler
python3-gfal2-util
rpmlib(CompressedFileNames) <= 3.0.4-1
rpmlib(FileDigests) <= 4.6.0-1
rpmlib(PayloadFilesHavePrefix) <= 4.0-1
rpmlib(PayloadIsZstd) <= 5.4.18-1
stashcp
vo-client
voms-clients-cpp
Finding RPM Packages¶
It is normally best to read the OSG documentation to decide which packages to install because it may not be obvious what the correct packages to install are. That said, you can use yum to find out all sort of things. For instance, you can list packages that begin with "voms":
user@host $ yum list "voms*"
Available Packages
voms.x86_64 2.1.0-0.31.rc3.2.osg24.el9 osg
voms-api-java.noarch 3.3.3-1.el9 epel
voms-api-java-javadoc.noarch 3.3.3-1.el9 epel
voms-clients-cpp.x86_64 2.1.0-0.31.rc3.2.osg24.el9 osg
voms-clients-cpp-debuginfo.x86_64 2.1.0-0.31.rc3.2.osg24.el9 osg
voms-clients-java.noarch 3.3.3-1.el9 epel
voms-debuginfo.x86_64 2.1.0-0.31.rc3.2.osg24.el9 osg
voms-debugsource.x86_64 2.1.0-0.31.rc3.2.osg24.el9 osg
voms-devel.x86_64 2.1.0-0.31.rc3.2.osg24.el9 osg
voms-doc.noarch 2.1.0-0.31.rc3.2.osg24.el9 osg
voms-mysql-plugin.x86_64 3.1.7-13.el9 epel
voms-server.x86_64 2.1.0-0.31.rc3.2.osg24.el9 osg
voms-server-debuginfo.x86_64 2.1.0-0.31.rc3.2.osg24.el9 osg
If you want to search for packages that contain VOMS anywhere in the name or description, you can use yum search:
user@host $ yum search voms
============================================ Name Exactly Matched: voms ============================================
voms.x86_64 : Virtual Organization Membership Service
=========================================== Name & Summary Matched: voms ===========================================
vo-client-lcmaps-voms.noarch : Provides a voms-mapfile-default file, mapping VOMS FQANs to Unix users suitable for
: use by the LCMAPS VOMS plugin
voms-mysql-plugin.x86_64 : VOMS server plugin for MySQL
xrootd-voms.x86_64 : VOMS attribute extractor plug-in for XRootD
================================================ Name Matched: voms ================================================
voms-doc.noarch : Virtual Organization Membership Service Documentation
voms-server.x86_64 : Virtual Organization Membership Service Server
============================================== Summary Matched: voms ===============================================
vo-client.noarch : Contains vomses file for use with user authentication
vo-client-dcache.noarch : Provides a grid-vorolemap file for use by dCache, similar to voms-mapfile-default
... etc ...
One last example, if you want to know what RPM would give you the voms-proxy-init command, you can ask yum. The * indicates that you don't know the full pathname of voms-proxy-init.
user@host $ yum whatprovides "*voms-proxy-init"
voms-clients-cpp-2.1.0-0.31.rc3.1.osg24.el9.x86_64 : Virtual Organization Membership Service Clients
Repo : osg
Matched from:
Other : *voms-proxy-init
voms-clients-cpp-2.1.0-0.31.rc3.2.osg24.el9.x86_64 : Virtual Organization Membership Service Clients
Repo : osg
Matched from:
Other : *voms-proxy-init
voms-clients-cpp-2.1.0-1.el9.x86_64 : Virtual Organization Membership Service Clients
Repo : epel
Matched from:
Other : *voms-proxy-init
voms-clients-java-3.3.3-1.el9.noarch : Virtual Organization Membership Service Java clients
Repo : epel
Matched from:
Other : *voms-proxy-init
Removing Packages¶
To remove a single RPM, you can use yum remove. Not only will it uninstall the RPM you requested, but it will uninstall anything that depends on it. For example, if I previously installed the voms-clients package, I also installed another package it depends on called voms. If I remove voms, yum will also remove voms-clients:
user@host $ sudo yum remove voms
Dependencies resolved.
====================================================================================================================
Package Architecture Version Repository Size
====================================================================================================================
Removing:
voms x86_64 2.1.0-0.31.rc3.2.osg24.el9 @epel 432 k
Removing dependent packages:
osg-wn-client noarch 23-1.osg24.el9 @osg 211
Transaction Summary
====================================================================================================================
Remove 2 Package(s)
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Running transaction check
Transaction check succeeded.
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded.
Running Transaction
... etc ...
Removed:
voms-2.1.0-0.31.rc3.2.osg24.el9.x86_64
Complete!
Upgrading Packages¶
You can check for updates with yum check-update. For example:
root@host # yum check-update
Loaded plugins: kernel-module, priorities
957 packages excluded due to repository priority protections
kernel.x86_64 2.6.18-274.3.1.el5 fermi-security
Obsoleting Packages
ocsinventory-agent.noarch 1.1.2.1-1.el5 epel
ocsinventory-client.noarch 0.9.9-10 installed
You can do the update with yum update. Note that in this case we got more than was listed due to dependencies that needed to be resolved:
root@host # yum update
957 packages excluded due to repository priority protections
Setting up Update Process
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package kernel.x86_64 0:2.6.18-274.3.1.el5 set to be installed
---> Package ocsinventory-agent.noarch 0:1.1.2.1-1.el5 set to be updated
--> Processing Dependency: perl(Crypt::SSLeay) for package: ocsinventory-agent
--> Processing Dependency: perl(Proc::Daemon) for package: ocsinventory-agent
--> Processing Dependency: monitor-edid for package: ocsinventory-agent
--> Processing Dependency: perl(Net::IP) for package: ocsinventory-agent
--> Processing Dependency: nmap for package: ocsinventory-agent
--> Processing Dependency: perl(Net::SSLeay) for package: ocsinventory-agent
--> Running transaction check
---> Package monitor-edid.x86_64 0:2.5-1.el5.1 set to be updated
---> Package nmap.x86_64 2:4.11-1.1 set to be updated
---> Package perl-Crypt-SSLeay.x86_64 0:0.51-11.el5 set to be updated
---> Package perl-Net-IP.noarch 0:1.25-2.fc6 set to be updated
---> Package perl-Net-SSLeay.x86_64 0:1.30-4.fc6 set to be updated
---> Package perl-Proc-Daemon.noarch 0:0.03-1.el5 set to be updated
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
Beginning Kernel Module Plugin
Finished Kernel Module Plugin
--> Running transaction check
---> Package kernel.x86_64 0:2.6.18-238.1.1.el5 set to be erased
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
Dependencies Resolved
====================================================================================================================
Package Arch Version Repository Size
====================================================================================================================
Installing:
kernel x86_64 2.6.18-274.3.1.el5 fermi-security 21 M
ocsinventory-agent noarch 1.1.2.1-1.el5 epel 156 k
replacing ocsinventory-client.noarch 0.9.9-10
Removing:
kernel x86_64 2.6.18-238.1.1.el5 installed 93 M
Installing for dependencies:
monitor-edid x86_64 2.5-1.el5.1 epel 82 k
nmap x86_64 2:4.11-1.1 sl-base 680 k
perl-Crypt-SSLeay x86_64 0.51-11.el5 sl-base 45 k
perl-Net-IP noarch 1.25-2.fc6 sl-base 31 k
perl-Net-SSLeay x86_64 1.30-4.fc6 sl-base 192 k
perl-Proc-Daemon noarch 0.03-1.el5 epel 9.4 k
Transaction Summary
====================================================================================================================
Install 8 Package(s)
Upgrade 0 Package(s)
Remove 1 Package(s)
Reinstall 0 Package(s)
Downgrade 0 Package(s)
Total download size: 22 M
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
(1/8): perl-Proc-Daemon-0.03-1.el5.noarch.rpm | 9.4 kB 00:00
(2/8): perl-Net-IP-1.25-2.fc6.noarch.rpm | 31 kB 00:00
(3/8): perl-Crypt-SSLeay-0.51-11.el5.x86_64.rpm | 45 kB 00:00
(4/8): monitor-edid-2.5-1.el5.1.x86_64.rpm | 82 kB 00:00
(5/8): ocsinventory-agent-1.1.2.1-1.el5.noarch.rpm | 156 kB 00:00
(6/8): perl-Net-SSLeay-1.30-4.fc6.x86_64.rpm | 192 kB 00:00
(7/8): nmap-4.11-1.1.x86_64.rpm | 680 kB 00:00
(8/8): kernel-2.6.18-274.3.1.el5.x86_64.rpm | 21 MB 00:00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 3.5 MB/s | 22 MB 00:06
warning: rpmts_HdrFromFdno: Header V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID 217521f6
epel/gpgkey | 1.7 kB 00:00
Importing GPG key 0x217521F6 "Fedora EPEL <[email protected]>" from /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-EPEL
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Running rpm_check_debug
Running Transaction Test
Finished Transaction Test
Transaction Test Succeeded
Running Transaction
Installing : perl-Net-SSLeay 1/10
Installing : nmap 2/10
Installing : monitor-edid 3/10
Installing : perl-Crypt-SSLeay 4/10
Installing : perl-Net-IP 5/10
Installing : perl-Proc-Daemon 6/10
Installing : kernel 7/10
Installing : ocsinventory-agent 8/10
ule, priorities
957 packages excluded due to repository priority protections
kernel.x86_64 2.6.18-274.3.1.el5 fermi-security
Obsoleting Packages
ocsinventory-agent.noarch 1.1.2.1-1.el5 epel
ocsinventory-client.noarch 0.9.9-10 installed
Erasing : ocsinventory-client 9/10
warning: /etc/ocsinventory-client/ocsinv.conf saved as /etc/ocsinventory-client/ocsinv.conf.rpmsave
Cleanup : kernel 10/10
Removed:
kernel.x86_64 0:2.6.18-238.1.1.el5
Installed:
kernel.x86_64 0:2.6.18-274.3.1.el5 ocsinventory-agent.noarch 0:1.1.2.1-1.el5
Dependency Installed:
monitor-edid.x86_64 0:2.5-1.el5.1 nmap.x86_64 2:4.11-1.1 perl-Crypt-SSLeay.x86_64 0:0.51-11.el5
perl-Net-IP.noarch 0:1.25-2.fc6 perl-Net-SSLeay.x86_64 0:1.30-4.fc6 perl-Proc-Daemon.noarch 0:0.03-1.el5
Replaced:
ocsinventory-client.noarch 0:0.9.9-10
Complete!
Advanced topic: Only geting OSG updates¶
If you only want to get updates from the OSG repository and no other repositories, you can tell yum to do that with the following command:
root@host # yum --disablerepo=* --enablerepo=osg update
Advanced topic: Getting debugging information for installed software¶
If you run into a problem with our software and have a hankering to debug it directly (or perhaps we need to ask you for some help), you can install so-called "debuginfo" packages. These packages will provide debugging symbols and source code so that you can do things like run gdb or pstack to get information about a program.
Installing the debuginfo package requires three steps.
-
Install the
yum-utilspackage, which contains thedebuginfo-installutility.root@host # yum install yum-utils ... ==================================================================================================================== Package Architecture Version Repository Size ==================================================================================================================== Installing: yum-utils noarch 4.3.0-5.el9_2 baseos 35 k Transaction Summary ==================================================================================================================== Install 1 Package Total download size: 35 k Installed size: 23 k Is this ok [y/N]: y ... Installed: yum-utils-4.3.0-5.el9_2.noarch -
Figure out which package installed the program you want to debug. One way to figure it out is to ask RPM. For example, if you want to debug grid-proxy-init:
user@host $ rpm -qf `which voms-proxy-init` voms-clients-cpp-2.1.0-0.27.rc3.el9.x86_64 -
Install the debugging information for that package. Continuing this example:
root@host # debuginfo-install voms-clients-cpp ... ==================================================================================================================== Package Architecture Version Repository Size ==================================================================================================================== Installing: voms-clients-cpp-debuginfo x86_64 2.1.0-0.27.rc3.el9 epel-debuginfo 437 k voms-debugsource x86_64 2.1.0-0.27.rc3.el9 epel-debuginfo 195 k Installing dependencies: voms-debuginfo x86_64 2.1.0-0.27.rc3.el9 epel-debuginfo 928 k Transaction Summary ==================================================================================================================== Install 3 Packages Total download size: 1.5 M Installed size: 6.0 M Is this ok [y/N]: y ... Installed: voms-clients-cpp-debuginfo-2.1.0-0.27.rc3.el9.x86_64 voms-debuginfo-2.1.0-0.27.rc3.el9.x86_64 voms-debugsource-2.1.0-0.27.rc3.el9.x86_64This last step will select the right package name, then use
yumto install it.
Troubleshooting¶
Yum not finding packages¶
If you is not finding some packages, e.g.:
Error Downloading Packages:
packageXYZ: failure: packageXYZ.rpm from osg: [Errno 256] No more mirrors to try.
then you can try cleaning up Yum's cache:
root@host # yum clean all --enablerepo=*
Yum complaining about missing keys¶
If yum is complaining you can re-import the keys in your distribution:
root@host # rpm --import /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY*
References¶
- The main Yum web site
- A good description of the commands for RPM and Yum can be found at Learn Linux 101: RPM and Yum Package Management.