This tutorial explains what is DNF package manager and lists the useful DNF command examples for package management in Fedora, RHEL, and its clones like CentOS, CentOS Stream, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux.
At the end of this guide, you will get a basic idea of how to use DNF package manager to search, install, update, upgrade and remove packages in RPM-based systems.
Table of Contents
What Is DNF?
DNF, short for Dandified YUM, is the next generation version of YUM and it has been the default package manager since Fedora 22.
DNF is intended to be the replacement for YUM in RPM-based systems such as Fedora, RHEL, and its clones such as CentOS, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux.
Compared to YUM, DNF has some significant advantages, such as support for multiple repositories, package group support, faster dependency resolving speed and consumes less memory, runs in both Python 2 and Python 3, solid API documentation, compatibility with YUM and many.
DNF Command Examples For Beginners
As of Fedora 22, yum has been replaced with DNF, so you don't need to install it if you're on Fedora. On CentOS 7 and RHEL 7, you can install it as described in the tutorial given below.
DNF usage is very similar to YUM. All commands provided here were tested on CentOS 7 minimal server edition with root user.
1. Display DNF Help
To list all main commands, plugin commands and options, run:
# dnf help
To get help about a specific command, for example 'install', run:
# dnf help install
To know about the currently installed DNF version, run:
# dnf --version
2. Managing Packages
This section explains installing, updating, listing, searching, downloading, reinstalling and removing packages.
2.1. Getting Package Information
To get the details of any installed or non-installed package, run:
# dnf info vim
2.2. Installing Packages
To install new package, for example vim, run:
# dnf install vim
We can also install multiple packages like below.
# dnf install vim nano emacs
You need to type "y" to continue the installation. If you don't want to do that each time, you can include the option "y" in the commands for the auto-confirmation.
# dnf install vim nano emacs -y
This will not wait for the user confirmation. Instead, it will take the user confirmation as Yes and simply install all packages automatically.
If you've already downloaded a .rpm file, you can install it using command:
$ sudo dnf localinstall code-1.74.2-1671533504.el7.x86_64.rpm
2.3. Listing Packages
To list all available and installed packages:
# dnf list
To list all installed packages only, we use:
# dnf list installed
To list the available packages only:
# dnf list available
2.4. Updating Packages
To check for all available updates, do:
# dnf check-update
Or,
# dnf list updates
To update a single package (Eg. bash), run:
# dnf update bash
To view if there is any update to an installed package, run:
# dnf list yum.noarch Using metadata from Sat Feb 10 14:47:22 2018 Installed Packages yum.noarch 3.4.3-150.el7.centos @System Available Packages yum.noarch 3.4.3-154.el7.centos.1 update
This command will display the currently installed version and the available update from the repository. In the above output, @system specifies the installed version and update specifies the available update from the repository.
To update multiple packages:
# dnf update package1 package2
Pass "y" option for auto confirmation.
# dnf update package1 package2 -y
To update/upgrade all packages, run:
# dnf update
# dnf upgrade
To synchronize installed packages to the latest available versions:
# dnf distro-sync
2.5. Searching Packages
To search a package from the repository, run:
# dnf search vim
This command will list all packages that matches the word "vim".
2.6. Downloading Packages
Sometimes you might want to download a package, but don't want to install it right now. If so, run:
# dnf download vim
This command will download vim-enhanced-xx.xx.x.rpm package, but won't install it.
To install the downloaded package, run:
# dnf install vim-enhanced-7.4.160-2.el7.x86_64.rpm
Or,
# dnf localinstall vim-enhanced-7.4.160-2.el7.x86_64.rpm
All other required dependencies will be downloaded and installed from the repository.
2.7. Downgrading Packages
To downgrade a package which you previously updated, run:
# dnf downgrade bash
2.8. Reinstalling Packages
Having any issues with an already installed package? No worries! You can reinstall it any time.
To reinstall a package, use:
# dnf reinstall vim
2.9. Removing Packages
To remove a package (Eg. vim) from the system, run:
# dnf remove vim
You can also use "erase" option like below.
# dnf erase vim
3. Package Groups
A package group is a collection of packages that serve a common purpose, for instance "Development Tools" or "Web server". When you install a package group, all dependent packages will be downloaded and installed. Installing groups will save you considerable amount of time.
3.1. Installing Package Groups
To list all available package groups, run:
# dnf grouplist
To install a package group, for example "Development Tools", run:
# dnf groupinstall 'Development Tools'
This command will install all packages required to setup a development environment.
3.2. Updating Package Groups
To Update a package group, run:
# dnf groupupdate 'Development Tools'
3.3. Removing Package Groups
To remove a package group, run:
# dnf groupremove 'Development Tools'
4. Working with Software Repositories
4.1. Listing installed Repositories
By default, all repositories will be added under /etc/yum.repos.d/ directory in CentOS/RHEL. You can list installed repositories using command:
# dnf repolist
The above command will only display the enabled repositories. To display all repositories ( both enabled and disabled), run:
# dnf repolist all
4.2. Adding Repositories
You can add a repository by manually creating a package.repo file under /etc/yum.repos.d/ directory. However, DNF makes it even easier.
To add a new repository, run:
# dnf config-manager --add-repo repository_url
Example:
# dnf config-manager --add-repo http://springdale.math.ias.edu/data/puias/unsupported/7/x86_64/
To view the newly added repository, we do:
# dnf repolist created by dnf config-manager from http://springdale.math.ias.edu/data/puias/unsupported/7/x86_64/ 115 kB/s | 3.5 MB 00:31 Using metadata from Sat Feb 10 14:47:22 2018 repo id repo name status base CentOS-7 - Base 9,591 epel Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 7 - x86_64 12,278 extras CentOS-7 - Extras 388 springdale.math.ias.edu_data_puias_unsupported_7_x86_64_ created by dnf config-manager from http://springdale.math.ias.edu/data/puias/unsupporte 2,760 updates CentOS-7 - Updates
To view the .repo file only:
# cat /etc/yum.repos.d/springdale.math.ias.edu_data_puias_unsupported_7_x86_64_.repo [springdale.math.ias.edu_data_puias_unsupported_7_x86_64_] name=created by dnf config-manager from http://springdale.math.ias.edu/data/puias/unsupported/7/x86_64/ baseurl=http://springdale.math.ias.edu/data/puias/unsupported/7/x86_64/ enabled=1
4.3. Enabling Repositories
To enable a repository, use:
# dnf config-manager --set-enabled <repo-id>
Example:
# dnf config-manager --set-enabled epel
We can verify by running the following command to see the enabled repositories only.
# dnf repolist
Also, we can combine the enable and install options together like below.
# dnf config-manager --set-enabled epel install zsh
The above command enables the EPEL repository and installs zsh package.
4.4. Disabling Repositories
To disable a repository, for example EPEL, we use:
# dnf config-manager --set-disabled epel
We can also combine enable and disable options together like below.
# dnf --enablerepo=epel --disablerepo=updates
The above command will enable EPEL repository and disable updates repository.
Related Read:
5. Finding Which Provides Something
DNF allows you to find which package provides a specific command or file. If you don't remember exactly which package provides a particular command you wanted to use, DNF can help you.
5.1. Find Which Package Provides A Specific Command
I miss the good old "ifconfig" command. This command is deprecated and not available in the recent versions. To find which package provides this gem, run:
# dnf provides */ifconfig
Sample output:
Using metadata from Thu Feb 8 15:52:17 2018 net-tools-2.0-0.22.20131004git.el7.x86_64 : Basic networking tools Repo : base
Ahh, yes! net-tools package provides this command. So you can install this package to use ifconfig command.
5.2. Find Which Package Provides A File
Let us you want to find what package provides /bin/ls file. To do so, run:
# dnf provides */bin/ls Using metadata from Thu Jun 30 12:51:16 2016 coreutils-8.22-18.el7.x86_64 : A set of basic GNU tools commonly used in shell scripts Repo : @System coreutils-8.22-18.el7.x86_64 : A set of basic GNU tools commonly used in shell scripts Repo : base
As you see in the above output, coreutils package provides /bin/ls file.
6. Working with DNF history
Using "dnf history" command, we can view all the actions which we performed with DNF command.
# dnf history Using metadata from Sat Feb 10 14:47:22 2018 ID | Command line | Date a | Action | Altere ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 | update bash | 2018-02-10 14:55 | Update | 1 1 | install vim | 2018-02-10 14:51 | E, I | 33 EE
As you see in the above output,there were two transactions. I installed a package named "vim" and updated the package "bash". The newest transactions will appear on the top.
To view the details of a specific transaction, use its ID like below.
# dnf history list 2
We can also view the complete details of a specific transaction like below.
# dnf history info 2 Using metadata from Sat Feb 10 14:47:22 2018 Transaction ID : 2 Begin time : Sat Feb 10 14:55:38 2018 Begin rpmdb : 360:fa7bea798a10e850b2bf800182b377443b481652 End time : 14:55:39 2018 (1 seconds) End rpmdb : 360:dc9f6bb33b00fe1d74dd205586c0ff8c4674f8f7 User : root <root> Return-Code : Success Command Line : update bash Transaction performed with: Installed dnf-0.6.4-2.sdl7.noarch (unknown) Installed rpm-4.11.3-21.el7.x86_64 (unknown) Packages Altered: Upgraded bash-4.2.46-21.el7_3.x86_64 (unknown) Upgrade 4.2.46-29.el7_4.x86_64 @updates
As you see, the transaction with ID of 2 was used to update the package named "bash". We can undo this transaction at any time using command:
# dnf history undo 2
To redo the previous 'undo' transaction, just run:
# dnf history redo 2
7. Building DNF metadata Cache
DNF metadata cache will be automatically created as we install, update packages. So we don't need to manually build it. However, DNF has a built-in command to build the cache to make the future transactions quicker.
To create metadata cache, run:
# dnf makecache Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 7 - x86_64 155 kB/s | 15 MB 01:35 created by dnf config-manager from http://springdale.math.ias.edu/data/puias/unsupported/7/x86_64/ 136 kB/s | 3.5 MB 00:26 CentOS-7 - Base 195 kB/s | 9.5 MB 00:49 CentOS-7 - Updates 240 kB/s | 7.9 MB 00:33 CentOS-7 - Extras 84 kB/s | 820 kB 00:09 Metadata cache created.
8. Cleaning up
To remove unwanted/orphaned packages, run:
# dnf autoremove
To remove all cached packages, run:
# dnf clean all
Instead of clean the cache completely, you may want to do individual cleaning of metadata, dbcache, packages, plugins etc.
To remove cache files generated from the repository metadata:
# dnf clean dbcache
This forces DNF to regenerate the cache files the next time it is run.
To remove local cookie files saying when the metadata and mirrorlists were downloaded for each repo, run:
# dnf clean expire-cache
DNF will re-validate the cache for each repo the next time it is used.
To remove repository metadata:
# dnf clean metadata
Using this option will make DNF download all the metadata the next time it is run.
To remove all cached packages from the system:
# dnf clean packages
The following command tells all enabled plugins to eliminate their cached data.
# dnf clean plugins
These are just enough to get an basic usage of DNF on Fedora, RHEL and CentOS. For more details, refer the man pages.
$ man dnf
Conclusion
In this DNF command user manual, we learned essential DNF commands with examples for RPM package management in Linux.
Resource:
1 comment
Thanks for this curated info