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HTML rendering created 2026-01-16 by Michael Kerrisk, author of The Linux Programming Interface. For details of in-depth Linux/UNIX system programming training courses that I teach, look here. Hosting by jambit GmbH. |
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RPM(8) System Manager's Manual RPM(8)
rpm - RPM Package Manager
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.
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.
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.
Obsolete compatibility aliases
These are obsolete popt(3) aliases for backwards compatibility
only, and their use is discouraged.
--initdb, --rebuilddb, --verifydb
See rpmdb(8).
--addsign, --delsign, --resign
See rpmsign(1).
-K, --checksig, --import
See rpmkeys(8).
--specfile
See rpmspec(1).
See rpm-common(8) for the operations common to all rpm
executables.
PACKAGE_FILE
Either an rpm package or an rpm-manifest(5) file. May also 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.
See rpm-common(8) for the options common to all operations.
--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 filesystems 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.
--allmatches
Remove all versions of the package which match PACKAGE_NAME.
Normally an error is issued if PACKAGE_NAME matches multiple
packages.
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.
--qf QUERYFMT, --queryformat QUERYFMT
Output format of each queried package, as described by
rpm-queryformat(7). If omitted, uses the format defined by
%_query_all_fmt in rpm-config(5).
There are three subsets of options for querying: package
selection, file selection and information selection.
-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 filenames with POSIX1.e capabilities.
--fileclass
List filenames with their classes (libmagic classification).
--filecolor
List filenames with their colors (0 for noarch, 1 for 32bit, 2
for 64 bit).
--fileprovide
List filenames with their provides.
--filerequire
List filenames 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 rpm-manifest(5) files.
-p, --package PACKAGE_FILE
Query an (uninstalled) package PACKAGE_FILE.
--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 timestamp 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.
--changelog
Display change information for the package.
--changes
Display change information for the package with full
timestamps.
--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.
-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.
The package and file selection options are the same as for package
querying (including rpm-manifest(5) 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.
--verify
The format of the output is a string of 9 result characters a
possible attribute from the package, followed by the filename.
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:
Result 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
Attribute Description
a %artifact - an implicit side-effect file (eg. build-id
links)
c %configuration file
d %documentation file
g %ghost file
l %license file
m %missingok - file missing is not a verify failure
n %config(noreplace) - do not replace (a %config file)
r %readme file
s rpm-spec(5) file in a source package
On success, 0 is returned, a nonzero failure code otherwise.
rpm -Uvh hello-2.0-1.noarch.rpm
Install or upgrade hello-2.0-1.noarch.rpm package with verbose
output and progress meters. -Uvh is probably the most common
of all the rpm operations.
rpm -Uvh --excludedocs --root /srv/test mydist-23.mft
Install packages described by the mydist-23.mft
rpm-manifest(5) file into the alternative system root at
/srv/test, excluding all documentation files.
rpm -Fvh *.rpm
Freshen installed packages from a local directory, with
verbose output and progress meters.
rpm -i kernel-6.15.4-200.x86_64.rpm
Install kernel-6.15.4-200.x86_64.rpm package quietly. On some
Linux distributions, different kernel versions are intended to
be installed in parallel like this, without erasing older ones
to ensure there's a bootable kernel in case of problems. It's
one of the few cases where -i is the right thing to use.
rpm -evh --allmatches libhello
Erase all versions of package libhello on the system, with
verbose output and progress meters. Typically there is only
one version of a package installed at a time, but in some
cases it's possible to have different versions or different
architectures of a package installed in parallel, in which
case --allmatches can be handy.
rpm -vh --reinstall hello-2.0-1.noarch.rpm
Reinstall previously installed hello-2.0-1.noarch.rpm package,
with verbose output and progress labels. Useful if eg. the
files of a package get corrupted or erased accidentally.
rpm -v --restore --all
Restore permissions of files in all installed packages to
their packaged specifications, with verbose output.
rpm --verify --noconfig openssh-server
Verify the integrity of the installed openssh-server package,
ignoring changes in configuration.
rpm -qa
List all installed packages, using the default formatting.
rpm -qlv --noartifact glibc
List the files of the glibc package in style similar to ls(1)
command output with ls -l, omitting "artifact" files such as
build-id's which are not usually the main interest.
rpm -q --qf "[%{filenames} %{filedigests}\n]" openssh-server
List filenames and their corresponding digests of installed
openssh-server package.
rpm -qp --scripts --triggers --filetriggers
myserver-1.0-1.x86_64.rpm
Show all scriptlets and triggers from the
myserver-1.0-1.x86_64.rpm package file. Before installing
unknown packages, at least do this!
rpm --target ppc64le --eval "%optflags"
Print the expansion of the %optflags macro for the ppc64le
architecture.
See rpm-common(8), rpm-config(5) and rpm-rpmrc(5).
rpm-common(8), popt(3), rpm2cpio(1), rpmbuild(1), rpmdb(8),
rpmkeys(8), rpmsign(1), rpmspec(1), rpm-queryformat(7)
rpm-manifest(5) rpm-version(7) rpm-plugins(8)
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.
http://www.rpm.org/
This page is part of the rpm (RPM Package Manager) project.
Information about the project can be found at
⟨https://github.com/rpm-software-management/rpm⟩. It is not known
how to report bugs for this man page; if you know, please send a
mail to man-pages@man7.org. This page was obtained from the
project's upstream Git repository
⟨https://github.com/rpm-software-management/rpm.git⟩ on
2026-01-16. (At that time, the date of the most recent commit
that was found in the repository was 2026-01-15.) If you discover
any rendering problems in this HTML version of the page, or you
believe there is a better or more up-to-date source for the page,
or you have corrections or improvements to the information in this
COLOPHON (which is not part of the original manual page), send a
mail to man-pages@man7.org
RPM 6.0.90 2026-01-16 RPM(8)
Pages that refer to this page: rpm2archive(1), rpm2cpio(1), rpmbuild(1), rpmdeps(1), rpmgraph(1), rpmlua(1), rpm-setup-autosign(1), rpmsign(1), rpmspec(1), yum-versionlock(1), rpm-config(5), rpm-manifest(5), rpm-rpmrc(5), daemon(7), rpm-dependency-generators(7), rpm-design(7), rpm-macros(7), rpm-queryformat(7), rpm-scriptlets(7), rpm-version(7), rpm-common(8), rpmdb(8), rpmkeys(8), rpm-plugin-ima(8), rpm-plugin-prioreset(8), rpm-plugins(8), rpm-plugin-selinux(8), rpm-plugin-syslog(8), rpm-plugin-systemd-inhibit(8), yumdb(8)
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HTML rendering created 2026-01-16 by Michael Kerrisk, author of The Linux Programming Interface. For details of in-depth Linux/UNIX system programming training courses that I teach, look here. Hosting by jambit GmbH. |
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