1. CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration
Package Management
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

2. CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration
Topics
The Problem of Software Installation
Package Management Systems
Using RPM
Finding RPMs
Building RPMs
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

3. Software Installation
Customization
Select options like language.
Select file set.
Install new files in appropriate locations.
Modify existing configuration files.
Make software available to user.
Shell configuration (PATH, etc.)
GUI configuration (menu, icons, etc.)
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

4. CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration
What’s the problem?
What prerequisites does your software have?
What prereqs do your prereq packages have?
How do you handle conflicts?
What if two programs install/modify same file?
Does your install work on every type of computer?
How do you handle upgrades?
What if user has customized configuration?
What if ownerships/permissions have changed?
What if user needs old and new versions?
How do you uninstall software?
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

5. Package Manager Features
Build management.
Dependency tracking.
Querying.
Reversibility.
Verification.
Version control.
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

6. UNIX Package Management Systems
deb: Debian system uses dpkg and APT.
pkgadd: Solaris packaging system.
portage: Gentoo uses with emerge.
ports: BSD ports system.
RPM: Redhat packaging system.
tgz: Tarballs used by Slackware.
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

7. CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration
RPM
RPM Package Manager
Originally stood for Red Hat Package Manager
Came with Red Hat Linux 2.0 in 1995.
Distributions
Red Hat
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (also CentOS)
Fedora
Mandriva
SUSE
RPM on other OS
AIX
Novell Netware
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

8. CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration
RPM Package Names
<name>-<version>-<release>.<arch>.rpm
Name: name of the software package.
Version: version of the software package.
Release: release version of the RPM.
Arch: architecture (i386, noarch, ppc, etc.)
If Arch is src, RPM contains source code for building the package.
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

9. CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration
RPM Package Contents
Identification
Identifies package and RPM version.
Signature
Checksum and digital signature.
Header
Package and version information.
Specifies dependencies on other packages.
Payload
Actual files to install.
Stored as cpio archive compressed with gzip.
Use rpm2cpio to obtain cpio archive.
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

10. CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration
Using RPM
Install
Uninstall
Upgrade
Query
Verify
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

11. CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration
Installing a Package
Check the package and the files it wants to install.
Perform preinstallation tasks.
Uncompress the files and copy them in the proper locations
Perform post-processing tasks
Update the RPM Database
> rpm -ivh foo i386.rpm
Preparing... ########################################### [100%]
1:foo ########################################### [100%]
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

12. CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration
Upgrading a Package
Uninstall + install, retaining configuration files.
Will install a package if no older version.
Will remove all older versions.
> rpm -Uvh foo i386.rpm
Preparing... ########################################### [100%]
1:foo ########################################### [100%]
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

13. Uninstalling a Package
Completely removes package from system.
> rpm -e foo-1.0-1
> rpm –q foo
package foo is not installed.
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

14. CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration
Dependencies
Prevent install/removal if unfulfilled.
# rpm -e setup
error: Failed dependencies:
setup is needed by (installed) basesystem-8.0-1
setup >= is needed by (installed) initscripts
setup >= is needed by (installed) filesystem
setup is needed by (installed) xinetd
setup is needed by (installed) dump-0.4b28-4
# rpm -q setup
setup
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

15. Querying the RPM Database
# rpm -q telnet
telnet EL4.3
# rpm -ql telnet
/usr/bin/telnet
/usr/share/man/man1/telnet.1.gz
# rpm -qi telnet
Name : telnet Relocations: (not)
Version : Vendor: CentOS
Release : 31.EL Build Date: Tue 14 Jun 2005
Install Date: Sat 11 Feb Build Host: build5
Group : Applications/Internet Src RPM: telnet-0.17.src.rpm
Size : License: BSD
Signature : DSA/SHA1, Tue 14 Jun 2005, Key ID a53d0bab443e1821
Packager : Johnny Hughes
Summary : Client program for telnet remote login protocol.
Description :
Telnet is a popular protocol for logging into remote systems
over the Internet. The telnet package provides a command line
telnet client.
RPM database stored under /var/lib/rpm
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

16. Querying the RPM Database
# rpm -qc bash
/etc/skel/.bash_logout
/etc/skel/.bash_profile
/etc/skel/.bashrc
# rpm -qd sendmail
/usr/share/man/man1/mailq.sendmail.1.gz
/usr/share/man/man1/newaliases.sendmail.1.gz
/usr/share/man/man5/aliases.sendmail.5.gz
/usr/share/man/man8/mailstats.8.gz
/usr/share/man/man8/makemap.8.gz
/usr/share/man/man8/praliases.8.gz
/usr/share/man/man8/rmail.8.gz
/usr/share/man/man8/sendmail.sendmail.8.gz
/usr/share/man/man8/smrsh.8.gz
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

17. Searching all Packages
# rpm -qa | grep telnet
telnet EL4.3
# rpm -qa | grep py
python
pyOpenSSL p23
rpm-python _nonptl
pygtk
python-devel
python-ldap
pyxf86config
libxml2-python
python-elementtree
python-sqlite
dbus-python EL.5
pyparted
python-urlgrabber
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

18. CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration
Searching Packages
Find recently installed packages
rpm -qa --last
Find packages that are disk hogs
rpm -qa --qf "%{size} %{name}\n" | sort –n
The --qf (queryformat) option can print
arch, name, size, version, distribution, etc.
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

19. Querying Files and Packages
Find which package a file belongs to:
# rpm -qf /usr/bin/telnet
telnet EL4.3
# rpm -qf /etc/security/limits.conf
pam
Querying packages
Add –p to any query to apply it to a .rpm file instead of to an installed package.
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

20. Dependency Resolution
Higher level tools handle dependencies
up2date, yum, yast, urpmi
Automatic resolution + downloading.
1. Find dependencies in RPM headers.
2. Download dependencies, check their headers.
3. Repeat.
4. Install after all RPMs downloaded.
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

21. CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration
Yellow Dog Updater Modified
Rewrite of YUP from Yellow Dog Linux.
Used by many RPM-based distributions.
Automatically syncs repo metadata.
Prevents problems arising from out of data package information on local system.
Wastes time when local data up to date.
Image from
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

22. CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration
Yum Installs
yum install pkg: finds specified package, downloads it, and installs it.
yum remove pkg: remove the specified package from the system.
yum update <pkg>: updates specified package or updates all packages if no package specified.
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

23. yum list <option> <pkgspec>
Options:
available: list packages available to be installed.
installed: list installed packages like rpm –qa.
extras: lists installed packages that are not available on any currently configured repo.
recent: lists packages added to repositories in last 7 days.
updates: lists updates for any installed packages.
Package Specifications:
bash
bash-3.10
\*sh
\*.i386
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

24. CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration
Yum Commands
check-update: lists updates, returns 100 if any updates available.
clean: removes yum cache files.
deplist: list all dependencies for a package.
info: list package data like rpm –qi
yum provides: find which package provides the specified command, i.e. yum provides \*bin/ls.
yum search: lists packages whose name, summary, description, or URL matches the specified search term.
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

25. CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration
Package Sources
Sources
Local files (CD/DVD or hard disk)
Red Hat Network commercial sites for RHEL
CentOS network official mirrors for CentOS
Unofficial network repositories like RPMforge
Source configuration
up2date: /etc/sysconfig/rhn/sources
yum: /etc/yum.conf, /etc/yum/repos.d
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

26. CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration
RPMForge
RPMForge Repository provides non-official packages
Some packages don’t exist in RHEL
Other packages are more up to date than RHEL
Configure system to use RPMForge via
rpm -Uhv
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration

27. CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration
References
Debian FAQ, “Debian Package Management Tools,”
Eric Foster-Johnson, RPM Guide,
Aeleen Frisch, Essential System Administration, 3rd edition, O’Reilly, 2002.
Evi Nemeth et al, UNIX System Administration Handbook, 3rd edition, Prentice Hall, 2001.
RedHat, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 System Administration Guide,
CIT 470: Advanced Network and System Administration