From the course: Cert Prep: LPIC-1 Exam 101 (Version 5.0)

RPM software management overview - Linux Tutorial

From the course: Cert Prep: LPIC-1 Exam 101 (Version 5.0)

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RPM software management overview

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- [Instructor] We've talked about the RPM command and the RPM package format already in this course. RPM knows what its dependencies are, and has the ability to download software from ftp and web servers. The thing that's missing is a repository-centric view. RPM does not manage software collections in remote repositories. As such, Yum was created by Yellowdog Linux and has since been adopted by many Red Hat-based distributions, including Fedora and CentOS. Yum resolves dependencies automatically. This means it downloads and installs all software packages necessary. This includes packages that the user didn't specify if the chosen package requires them. Yum has the concept of software package groups. A group is a list of software that is usually installed together. For instance, we could have a web server group that included the web server, and other tools commonly installed with it. Yum repositories contain RPM software packages. The Yum client maintains a local list of software repositories. Users can add repositories by just adding a new Yum configuration file for them. The Yum client also maintains a local list of all available software. The package install process using Yum was pretty straightforward. First, the Yum client contacts the repositories that it's aware of, and gets their list of software packages. These lists are then cached locally, and it updates them during install operations. The user then selects the software package that they want to install. Users can select packages to install by using either CLI or Gooey tools. Yum then calculates dependencies. This would be the requested software package, and any packages that it requires. Yum then downloads all software packages and installs them using the RPM libraries, just like the RPM command does. Once the install has finished, Yum updates the RPM package database. Installing software using Yum couldn't be easier. Yum also has the concept of software groups. Yum groups contain multiple software packages. These software packages are usually installed together. All software in a group can be installed at once. All software in a group can be removed at once. Groups can contain optional software. Optional software is related software but not installed by default. Groups make configuring a system quicker. Installing a group of software with one command is much easier than installing each package individually.

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