Home Package management Yum Extender NG: A Graphical Front-end Tool For YUM/DNF

Yum Extender NG: A Graphical Front-end Tool For YUM/DNF

Simplify your package management with Yum Extender NG, the user-friendly graphical front-end for YUM/DNF on Linux.

By sk
Published: Updated: 12.2K views

Yum or DNF is a command-line package management utility for RPM-based Linux systems, such as Fedora, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), CentOS, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux. However, for those who prefer a graphical user interface, there are a few GUI front-ends available for Yum/dnf. These front-ends provide a user-friendly interface for package management tasks, including installation, removal, and updates of software packages. Yum Extender NG or Yumex-ng is one such front-end for Yum/dnf, which provides an intuitive interface for managing packages in a user-friendly way. In this guide, I will explain what is Yum Extender NG and walk you through the steps to install and use Yumex-ng in Linux.

What is Yum Extender NG?

Yum Extender NG, also known as Yumex-ng, is a graphical user interface (GUI) for the popular Yum/DNF package manager used in RPM-based Linux distributions. It provides an intuitive interface that allows users to easily install, remove, and manage software packages on their system.

Yum Extender NG is an upgraded and rewritten version of the old Yum Extender (or Yumex) with a more modern look and feel, utilizing GTK4/Libadwaita. The "NG" in Yum Extender NG stands for "Next Gen."

Yumex-ng simplifies the process of installing, removing, upgrading, and updating packages with a simple yet fully functional GUI. It’s designed for users who may not be comfortable using the command line interface of Yum/DNF. With Yumex-ng, users can browse and search for software packages, view detailed information about each package, and easily install or remove them with just a few clicks.

One notable feature of Yumex-ng is its ability to automatically handle dependencies. When a user selects a package to install, Yumex-ng will detect and install any required dependencies, saving time and effort compared to manually installing each package and its dependencies separately.

Yumex-ng also offers filtering and sorting options, enabling users to quickly find the software they need based on criteria such as package name, category, or repository. Users can customize the package list view by choosing which columns to display and sorting the packages in ascending or descending order.

Another useful feature of Yumex-ng is its support for multiple repositories. Users can easily add and manage additional software repositories, which is helpful if they need to install software not available in their system's default repositories.

Yumex-ng is highly customizable, with many options for tweaking the interface and application behavior. Users can adjust the font and color scheme, enable or disable features, and even customize the command-line options used by Yumex-ng when running in the background.

Yumex-ng is a free, open-source program written in Python. It can be used on any Linux distribution that supports Yum/DNF package managers.

Install Yum Extender NG / Yumex-ng in Fedora Linux

I tested the following steps on latest Fedora 38 desktop. I hope this will work on other Fedora versions as well.

Yum Extender NG, or Yumex-ng, can be installed via Fedora Copr repository.

Add the Yumex-ng copr repository using command:

$ sudo dnf copr enable timlau/yumex-ng

Install Yumex using command:

$ sudo dnf install yumex

If the old yumex-dnf package is installed, it will automatically remove it from your system. That's it. Yum Extender has been installed. Let us go ahead and see how to use it.

How to Use Yum Extender NG?

Yum Extender NG usage is very simple and straight forward. Open Yumex from the dash or menu.

Launch Yum Extender
Launch Yum Extender

This will launch the yumex-ng graphical user interface (GUI), allowing you to manage your system's packages.

You can also launch yumex-ng from the command line by entering the following command:

$ sudo yumex

Here it is the default interface of Yumex-ng.

Yum Extender Default Interface
Yum Extender Default Interface

With yumex-ng installed and configured, you can now start using it to manage your system's packages. Browse through the available packages, select the ones you want to install or update, and click on the 'Apply' button to make the changes.

Filter Packages

By default, Yumex-ng will show only the installed packages. The installed packages will be shown in green color. If you want to show all other packages, click the "Select Package filters" icon on the top left of the Yumex-ng interface.

Select Package Filters in Yumex-ng
Select Package Filters in Yumex-ng

Now you can select either Updates to display the packages that need to be updated or All (both installed and not-installed) from filters section. I am going to list all packages.

Show All Packages
Show All Packages

Now choose any non-installed package and click the "Apply" button to install it.

Display Flatpaks

With the new version, you can also browse the installed flatpak applications as well.

To display flatpak apps, click the "Flatpaks" section on the top. If you have installed any flatpak applications, they will be shown here. If not, you will just see an empty screen.

Show Flatpaks
Show Flatpaks

To install new a flatpak app, click the + (plus) button and follow the on-screen instructions. Before installing flatpaks, you should have added a remote repository as described in the Flatpak installation guide.

Queue Section

This section shows the list of applications marked for installation, updation and deletion.

Queue Section
Queue Section

View Repositories

To view the repositories, click the three horizontal bar icon and select Preferences option.

Open Preferences
Open Preferences

Navigate to the Repositories section, where you can enable or disable repositories.

Repositories Section in Yum Extender NG
Repositories Section in Yum Extender NG

Conclusion

Yumex-ng is a user-friendly package management tool that greatly simplifies the process of installing, removing, and managing software packages on RPM-based Linux systems. Whether you're new to Linux or an experienced user, Yumex-ng is worth exploring.

By following the steps in this guide, you can quickly install and configure Yumex-ng on your Linux system and start managing your packages with ease.

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5 comments

Ian May 8, 2023 - 6:49 am

I couldn’t get this to work on Fedora38. How do I deinstall it? I deleted the dnf-daemon directory but It still comes up in the menu. It doesn’t appear in the software manager or dnfdragora. I can’t find it in the menu manager ap so where is it coming from? I tried running yumex from the command line but it said command not found.
Thanks

Reply
sk May 9, 2023 - 6:11 pm

I just updated the installation instructions for Yum Extender. Please check. It should work now on Fedora 38.

Reply
Fred August 28, 2024 - 6:21 pm

Can yumex-ng be installed on RHEL 9?
Following the tutorial for Fedora the copr project cannot be installed.

Error: It wasn’t possible to enable this project.
Repository ‘epel-9-x86_64’ does not exist in project ‘timlau/yumex-ng’.
Available repositories: ‘fedora-40-aarch64’, ‘fedora-39-x86_64’, ‘fedora-39-aarch64’, ‘fedora-41-x86_64’, ‘fedora-rawhide-x86_64’, ‘fedora-rawhide-aarch64’, ‘fedora-40-x86_64’, ‘fedora-41-aarch64’

Thank you.

Reply
sk August 29, 2024 - 11:50 am

I don’t think if one can add Yumex-ng Copr repository in RHEL systems. As per the project’s website, Yumex-ng currently supports Fedora 39, 40, 41 and rawhide systems.

Reply
Fred August 29, 2024 - 4:37 pm

Thank you. The latest RHEL 9.4 “Plow” with Gnome 40.4.0 has a GUI network panel that seems too minimalistic in my opinion. I will keep looking for something I think more appropriate for RH’s flagship OS.

Reply

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