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Managing software with the DNF tool

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

A guide to managing software with DNF in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

Red Hat Customer Content Services

Abstract

This document describes searching, discovering, installing, and using content in the AppStream and BaseOS repositories using the DNF tool in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9. This includes a description of how to use modules, application streams, and profiles.

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Chapter 1. Software management tools in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, software installation is ensured by the DNF tool. Red Hat continues to support the usage of the yum term for consistency with previous major versions of RHEL. If you type yum instead of dnf, the command works as expected because both are aliases for compatibility.

Note

Although RHEL 8 and RHEL 9 are based on DNF, they are compatible with YUM used in RHEL 7.

Chapter 2. Distribution of content in RHEL 9

The following sections provide an overview of software distribution in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9:

2.1. Repositories

RHEL 9 content is distributed through the two main repositories: BaseOS and AppStream. Both the BaseOS and AppStream content sets are required for a basic RHEL installation and are available with all RHEL subscriptions. For installation instructions, see the Performing a standard RHEL 9 installation document.

BaseOS
Content in the BaseOS repository is intended to provide the core set of the underlying OS functionality that provides the foundation for all installations. This content is available in the RPM format and is subject to support terms similar to those in previous releases of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
AppStream
Content in the AppStream repository includes additional user-space applications, runtime languages, and databases in support of the varied workloads and use cases.
CodeReady Linux Builder
The CodeReady Linux Builder repository is available with all RHEL subscriptions. It provides additional packages for use by developers. Packages included in the CodeReady Linux Builder repository are unsupported.

Additional resources

2.2. Application Streams

Multiple versions of user-space components are delivered as Application Streams and updated more frequently than the core operating system packages. This provides greater flexibility to customize RHEL without impacting the underlying stability of the platform or specific deployments.

Each Application Stream component has a given lifecycle, either the same as RHEL 9 or shorter, more suitable to the particular application. For RHEL life cycle information, see Red Hat Enterprise Linux Life Cycle and Red Hat Enterprise Linux Application Streams Life Cycle.

Application Streams are available in the following formats:

  • the familiar RPM format
  • as an extension to the RPM format called modules
  • as Software Collections
  • as Flatpaks.

RHEL 9 improves Application Streams experience by providing initial Application Stream versions that can be simply installed as RPM packages by using the traditional dnf install command.

Note

Certain initial Application Streams in the RPM format have a shorter life cycle than Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.

Some additional Application Stream versions will be distributed as modules with a shorter lifecycle in future minor RHEL 9 releases.

Always determine what version of an Application Stream you want to install and make sure to review the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Application Stream Lifecycle first.

Note

Not all modules are Application Streams. Dependencies of other modules are not considered Application Streams.

Additional resources

2.3. Modules

A module is a set of RPM packages that represent a component and are usually installed together. A typical module contains packages with an application, packages with the application-specific dependency libraries, packages with documentation for the application, and packages with helper utilities.

Note

Modules will be available in future minor RHEL 9 releases.

2.4. Module streams

Module streams are filters that can be imagined as virtual repositories in the AppStream physical repository. Module streams represent versions of the AppStream components. Each of the streams receives updates independently.

Module streams can be active or inactive. Active streams give the system access to the RPM packages within the particular module stream, allowing installation of the respective component version. Streams are active if they are explicitly enabled by a user action.

Only one stream of a particular module can be active at a given point in time. Thus only one version of a component can be installed on a system. Different versions can be used in separate containers.

Each module can have a default stream. Default streams make it easy to consume RHEL packages the usual way without the need to learn about modules. The default stream is active, unless the whole module has been disabled or another stream of that module enabled.

Certain module streams can depend on other module streams.

To select a particular stream for a runtime user application or a developer application, consider the following:

  • Required functionality and which component versions support that functionality
  • Compatibility
  • Life cycle length and your update plan

For per-component changes, see the Release Notes.

2.5. Module profiles

A profile is a list of recommended packages to be installed together for a particular use case such as for a server, client, development, minimal install, or other. These package lists can contain packages outside the module stream, usually from the BaseOS repository or the dependencies of the stream.

Installing packages by using a profile is a one-time action provided for the user’s convenience. It does not prevent installing or uninstalling any of the packages provided by the module. It is also possible to install packages by using multiple profiles of the same module stream without any further preparatory steps.

Each module stream can have any number of profiles, including none. For any given module stream, some of its profiles can be marked as default and are then used for profile installation actions when no profile is explicitly specified. However, existence of a default profile for a module stream is not required.

Chapter 3. Configuring DNF

The configuration information for DNF and related utilities is stored in the /etc/dnf/dnf.conf file. This file contains one mandatory [main] section, which enables you to set DNF options that have global effect.

The following sections describe how to:

  • View the current DNF configurations.
  • Set DNF [main] options.
  • Use DNF plug-ins.

3.1. Viewing the current DNF configurations

The following procedure describes how to display the current DNF configuration.

Procedure

  • To display the current values of global DNF options specified in the [main] section of the /etc/dnf/dnf.conf file, use: 

    # dnf config-manager --dump

3.2. Setting DNF main options

The /etc/dnf/dnf.conf configuration file contains one [main] section. The key-value pairs in this section affect how DNF operates and treats repositories.

You can add additional options under the [main] section heading in /etc/dnf/dnf.conf.

For a complete list of available [main] options, see the [main] OPTIONS section of the dnf.conf(5) man page.

3.3. Using DNF plug-ins

DNF provides plug-ins that extend and enhance its operations. Certain plug-ins are installed by default.

The following procedures describe how to enable, configure, and disable DNF plug-ins.

3.3.1. Managing DNF plug-ins

The plug-in configuration files always contain a [main] section in which the enabled= option controls whether the plug-in is enabled when you run dnf commands. If this option is missing, you can add it manually to the file.

Every installed plug-in may have its own configuration file in the /etc/dnf/plugins/ directory. You can enable or disable plug-in specific options in these files.

3.3.2. Enabling and disabling DNF plug-ins

In the DNF tool, plug-ins are loaded by default.

The following procedure describes how to modify loading of DNF plug-ins, and enable or disable specific DNF plug-ins.

Procedure

  • To disable or enable loading of DNF plug-ins, ensure a line beginning with plugins= is present in the [main] section of the /etc/dnf/dnf.conf file.

    1. To disable loading of DNF plug-ins, set the value of plugins= to 0.

      Important

      Disabling all plug-ins is not advised. Certain plug-ins provide important DNF services and commands. In particular, the product-id and subscription-manager plug-ins provide support for the certificate-based Content Delivery Network (CDN). Disabling plug-ins globally is provided as a convenience option, and is advisable only when diagnosing a potential problem with DNF.

    2. To enable loading of DNF plug-ins, set the value of plugins= to 1.

  • To disable all DNF plug-ins for a particular command, append the --noplugins option to the command. For example, to disable DNF plug-ins for the update command: 

    # dnf --noplugins update

  • To disable certain DNF plug-ins for a single command, append the --disableplugin=plugin-name option to the command. For example, to disable certain DNF plug-ins for the update command: 

    # dnf update --disableplugin=plugin-name

    Replace plugin-name with the name of the plug-in.

  • To enable certain DNF plug-ins for a single command, append the --enableplugin=plugin-name option to the command. For example, to disable certain DNF plug-ins for the update command: 

    # dnf update --enableplugin=plugin-name

    Replace plugin-name with the name of the plug-in.

Chapter 4. Searching for RHEL 9 content

The following sections describe how to locate and examine content in the AppStream and BaseOS repositories in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9:

4.1. Searching for software packages

This section describes steps needed for finding a package providing a particular application or other content.

Procedure

  • To search for a package, use: 

    # dnf search term

    Replace term with a term related to the package.

    Note that the dnf search command returns term matches within the name and summary of the packages. This makes the search faster and you can search for packages you do not know the name of, but for which you know a related term.

  • To include term matches within package descriptions, use: 

    # dnf search --all term

    Replace term with a term you want to search for in a package name, summary, or description.

    Note that the dnf search --all command enables a more exhaustive but slower search.

4.2. Listing software packages

The following procedure describes how to list available packages with dnf.

Procedure

  • To list information on all installed and available packages, use: 

    # dnf list --all

  • To list all packages installed on your system, use: 

    # dnf list --installed

    Alternatively: 

    # dnf repoquery --installed

  • To list all packages in all enabled repositories that are available to install, use: 

    # dnf list --available

    Alternatively: 

    # dnf repoquery

Note that you can filter the results by appending global expressions as arguments. For more details, see Specifying global expressions in dnf input.

4.3. Listing repositories

The following procedure describes how to list repositories with dnf.

Procedure

  • To list all enabled repositories on your system, use: 

    # dnf repolist

  • To list all disabled repositories on your system, use: 

    # dnf repolist --disabled

  • To list both enabled and disabled repositories, use: 

    # dnf repolist --all

  • To list additional information about the repositories, use: 

    # dnf repoinfo

Note that you can filter the results by passing the ID or name of repositories as arguments or by appending global expressions. For more details, see Specifying global expressions in dnf input.

4.4. Displaying package information

The following procedure describes how to display package information using dnf.

Procedure

  • To display information about one or more available packages, use: 

    # dnf info package-name

    Replace package-name with the name of the package.

    Alternatively: 

    # dnf repoquery --info package-name

    Replace package-name with the name of the package.

  • To display information about one or more packages installed on your system, use: 

    # dnf repoquery --info --installed package-name

    Replace package-name with the name of the package.

Note that you can filter the results by appending global expressions as arguments. For more details, see Specifying global expressions in dnf input.

4.5. Listing package groups

The following procedure describes how to list package groups using dnf.

  • To view the number of installed and available groups, use: 

    # dnf group summary

  • To list all installed and available groups, use: 

    # dnf group list

    Note that you can filter the results by appending command line options for the dnf group list command (--hidden, --available). For more available options see the man pages.

  • To list mandatory and optional packages contained in a particular group, use: 

    # dnf group info group-name

    Replace group-name with the name of the group.

Note that you can filter the results by appending global expressions as arguments. For more details, see Specifying global expressions in dnf input.

4.6. Listing available modules

The following procedure describes how to find which modules are available and what their details are using dnf.

Procedure

  • To list module streams available to your system: 

    # dnf module list

    The output of this command lists module streams with name, stream, profiles, and summary on a separate line.

    Note

    Modules will be available in future minor RHEL 9 releases.

Additional resources

4.7. Specifying global expressions in dnf input

With dnf commands, you can filter the results by appending one or more global expressions as arguments. Global expressions must be escaped when passed as arguments to the dnf command.

The following procedure describes two ways to ensure global expressions are passed to dnf as intended.

Procedure

  • Double-quote or single-quote the entire global expression: 

    # dnf provides "*/file-name"

    Replace file-name with the name of the file.

    Note that the file-name must be preceeded either by / or */ character sequence to provide the desired outcome.

  • Escape the wildcard characters by preceding them with a backslash (\) character: 

    # dnf provides \*/file-name

    Replace file-name with the name of the file.

4.8. Additional resources

Chapter 5. Installing RHEL 9 content

The following sections describe how to install content in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9:

5.1. Installing packages

The following procedure describes how to install packages using dnf.

Procedure

  • Install the package: 

    # dnf install package-name

    Replace package-name with the name of the package.

  • To install multiple packages and their dependencies simultaneously, use: 

    # dnf install package-name-1 package-name-2

    Replace package-name-1 and package-name-2 with the names of the packages.

  • When installing packages on a multilib system (AMD64, Intel 64 machine), you can specify the architecture of the package by appending it to the package name: 

    # dnf install package-name.arch

    Replace package-name.arch with the name and architecture of the package.

  • If you know the name of the binary you want to install, but not the package name, you can use the path to the binary as an argument: 

    # dnf install /usr/sbin/binary-file

    Replace /usr/sbin/binary-file with a path to the binary file.

    dnf searches through the package lists, finds the package which provides /usr/sbin/binary-file, and prompts you as to whether you want to install it.

  • To install a previously-downloaded package from a local directory, use: 

    # dnf install /path/

    Replace /path/ with the path to the package.

5.2. Installing package groups

The following procedure describes how to install a package group by a group name or by a groupID using dnf.

Procedure

  • To install a package group by a group name, use: 

    # dnf group install group-name

    Replace group-name with the full name of the group or environmental group.

  • To install a package group by a groupID, use: 

    # dnf group install groupID

    Replace groupID with the ID of the group.

5.3. Running installed content

New commands are usually enabled after you install content from RHEL 9 repositories. If the commands originated from an RPM package or RPM packages were enabled by a module, the experience of using the command should be no different.

Procedure

  • To run the new commands use them directly: 

    $ command

5.4. Additional resources

Chapter 6. Updating RHEL 9 content

With DNF you can check if your system has any pending updates. You can list packages that need updating and choose to update a single package, multiple packages, or all packages at once. If any of the packages you choose to update have dependencies, they are updated as well.

The following sections describe how to use DNF to update content in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9:

6.1. Checking for updates

The following procedure describes how to check the available updates for packages installed on your system using dnf.

Procedure

  • Run the following command to see which packages installed on your system have available updates: 

    # dnf check-update

    The output returns the list of packages and their dependencies that have an update available.

6.2. Updating packages

The following procedure describes how to update a single package, a package group, or all packages and their dependencies using dnf.

Procedure

  • To update all packages and their dependencies, use: 

    # dnf upgrade

  • To update a single package, use: 

    # dnf upgrade package-name

    Replace package-name with the name of the package.

  • To update a package group, use: 

    # dnf group upgrade group-name

    Replace group-name with the name of the package group.

Important

When applying updates to the kernel, dnf always installs a new kernel regardless of whether you are using the dnf upgrade or dnf install command.

6.3. Updating security-related packages

The following procedure describes how to update security-related packages using dnf.

Procedure

  • To upgrade to the latest available packages that have security errata, use: 

    # dnf upgrade --security

  • To upgrade to the last security errata packages, use: 

    # dnf upgrade-minimal --security

Chapter 7. Automating software updates in RHEL 9

To check and download package updates automatically and regularly, you can use the DNF Automatic tool that is provided by the dnf-automatic package.

DNF Automatic is an alternative command-line interface to DNF that is suited for automatic and regular execution using systemd timers, cron jobs, and other such tools.

DNF Automatic synchronizes package metadata as needed, checks for updates available, and then performs one of the following actions depending on how you configure the tool:

  • Exit
  • Download updated packages
  • Download and apply the updates

The outcome of the operation is then reported by a selected mechanism, such as the standard output or email.

The following sections describe how to automate software updates in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9:

7.1. Installing DNF Automatic

The following procedure describes how to install the DNF Automatic tool.

Procedure

  • Install the dnf-automatic package: 

    # dnf install dnf-automatic

Verification

  • Verify the successful installation by confirming the presence of the dnf-automatic package: 

    # rpm -qi dnf-automatic

7.2. DNF Automatic configuration file

By default, DNF Automatic uses /etc/dnf/automatic.conf as its configuration file to define its behavior.

The configuration file is separated into the following topical sections:

  • [commands] section

    Sets the mode of operation of DNF Automatic.

  • [emitters] section

    Defines how the results of DNF Automatic are reported.

  • [command_email] section

    Provides the email emitter configuration for an external command used to send email.

  • [email] section

    Provides the email emitter configuration.

  • [base] section

    Overrides settings from the main configuration file of DNF.

With the default settings of the /etc/dnf/automatic.conf file, DNF Automatic checks for available updates, downloads them, and reports the results as standard output.

Warning

Settings of the operation mode from the [commands] section are overridden by settings used by a systemd timer unit for all timer units except dnf-automatic.timer.

Additional resources

7.3. Enabling DNF Automatic

To run DNF Automatic, you must always enable and start a specific systemd timer unit. You can use one of the timer units provided in the dnf-automatic package, or you can write your own timer unit depending on your needs.

The following procedure describes how to enable DNF Automatic.

Prerequisites

  • You specified the behavior of DNF Automatic by modifying the /etc/dnf/automatic.conf configuration file.

Procedure

  • To select, enable, and start a systemd timer unit that downloads available updates, use: 

    # systemctl enable dnf-automatic-download.timer

# systemctl start dnf-automatic-download.timer

  • To select, enable, and start a systemd timer unit that downloads and installs available updates, use: 

    # systemctl enable dnf-automatic-install.timer
    # systemctl start dnf-automatic-install.timer

  • To select, enable, and start a systemd timer unit that reports available updates, use: 

    # systemctl enable dnf-automatic-notifyonly.timer
    # systemctl start dnf-automatic-notifyonly.timer

  • To select, enable, and start a systemd timer unit that downloads, downloads and installs, or reports available updates, use: 

    # systemctl enable dnf-automatic.timer
    # systemctl start dnf-automatic.timer

  • Optionally, select, enable, and start a systemd timer unit in one command using the --now option. For example: 

    # systemctl enable --now dnf-automatic-download.timer
Note

You can also run DNF Automatic by executing the /usr/bin/dnf-automatic file directly from the command line or from a custom script.

Verification

  • Verify that the timer is enabled: 

    # systemctl status <systemd timer unit>

Additional resources

7.4. Overview of the systemd timer units included in the dnf-automatic package

The systemd timer units take precedence and override the settings in the /etc/dnf/automatic.conf configuration file when downloading and applying updates.

For example if you set: 

download_updates = yes

in the /etc/dnf/automatic.conf configuration file, but you have activated the dnf-automatic-notifyonly.timer unit, the packages will not be downloaded.

The dnf-automatic package includes the following systemd timer units:

Table 7.1. systemd timers included in the dnf-automatic package

Timer unitFunctionOverrides settings in the /etc/dnf/automatic.conf file?

dnf-automatic-download.timer

Downloads packages to cache and makes them available for updating.

Note: This timer unit does not install the updated packages. To perform the installation, you must execute the dnf update command.

Yes

dnf-automatic-install.timer

Downloads and installs updated packages.

Yes

dnf-automatic-notifyonly.timer

Downloads only repository data to keep the repository cache up-to-date and notifies you about available updates.

Note: This timer unit does not download or install the updated packages

Yes

dnf-automatic.timer

The behavior of this timer when downloading and applying updates is specified by the settings in the /etc/dnf/automatic.conf configuration file.

Default behavior is the same as for the dnf-automatic-download.timer unit: it downloads packages, but does not install them.

No

Additional resources

Chapter 8. Removing RHEL 9 content

The following sections describe how to remove content in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9:

8.1. Removing installed packages

The following procedure describes how to remove packages using dnf.

Procedure

  • To remove a particular package and all unused dependent packages, use: 

    # dnf remove package-name

    Replace package-name with the name of the package.

    Note that the package is removed together with any other dependent packages.

  • To remove multiple packages and their unused dependencies simultaneously, use: 

    # dnf remove package-name-1 package-name-2

    Replace package-name-1 and package-name-2 with the names of the packages.

Note

dnf is not able to remove a package without removing dependent packages.

8.2. Removing package groups

The following procedure describes how to remove a package either by the group name or the groupID.

Procedure

  • To remove a package group by the group name, use: 

    # dnf group remove group-name

    Replace group-name with the full name of the group.

  • To remove a package group by the groupID, use: 

    # dnf group remove groupID

    Replace groupID with the ID of the group.

8.3. Additional resources

Chapter 9. Handling package management history

With the dnf history command, you can review the following information

  • Timeline of DNF transactions
  • Dates and times the transactions occurred
  • Number of packages affected by the transactions
  • Whether the transactions succeeded or were aborted
  • If the RPM database was changed between the transactions

The dnf history command can also be used to undo or redo the transactions.

The following section describes how to use dnf to handle package management history in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9:

9.1. Listing transactions

The following procedure describes how to list the latest DNF transactions, the latest operations for a selected package, and details of a particular transaction.

Procedure

  • To display a list of all the latest DNF transactions, use: 

    # dnf history

  • To display a list of all the latest operations for a selected package, use: 

    # dnf history list package-name

    Replace package-name with the name of the package. You can filter the command output by appending global expressions. For more details, see Specifying global expressions in dnf input.

  • To display details of a particular transaction, use: 

    # dnf history info transactionID

    Replace transactionID with the ID of the transaction.

9.2. Reverting transactions

The following procedure describes how to revert a selected transaction or the last transaction using dnf.

Procedure

  • To revert a particular transaction, use: 

    # dnf history undo transactionID

    Replace transactionID with the ID of the transaction.

  • To revert the last transaction, use: 

    # dnf history undo last

Note that the dnf history undo command only reverts the steps that were performed during the transaction. If the transaction installed a new package, dnf history undo uninstalls it. If the transaction uninstalled a package, dnf history undo reinstalls it. The dnf history undo command also attempts to downgrade all updated packages to their previous versions, if the older packages are still available.

9.3. Repeating transactions

The following procedure describes how to repeat a selected transaction or the last transaction using dnf.

Procedure

  • To repeat a particular transaction, use: 

    # dnf history redo transactionID

    Replace transactionID with the ID of the transaction.

  • To repeat the last transaction, use: 

    # dnf history redo last

Note that the dnf history redo command only repeats the steps that were performed during the transaction.

Chapter 10. Managing custom software repositories

The configuration information for DNF and related utilities are stored in the /etc/dnf/dnf.conf file. This file contains one or more [repository] sections, which allow you to set repository-specific options.

It is recommended to define individual repositories in new or existing .repo files in the /etc/yum.repos.d/ directory.

Note that the values you define in individual [repository] sections of the /etc/dnf/dnf.conf file override values set in the [main] section.

The following sections describe how to manage custom software repositories in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9:

10.1. Setting DNF repository options

The /etc/dnf/dnf.conf configuration file contains the [repository] sections, where repository is a unique repository ID. The [repository] sections allow you to define individual DNF repositories.

Note

Do not give custom repositories names used by the Red Hat repositories to avoid conflicts.

For a complete list of available [repository] options, see the [repository] OPTIONS section of the dnf.conf(5) man page.

10.2. Adding a DNF repository

To define a new repository, you can either:

  • Add a [repository] section to the /etc/dnf/dnf.conf file.

  • Add a [repository] section to a .repo file in the /etc/yum.repos.d/ directory.

    Installed RPMs or software management tools, for example, Subscription Manager, can provide their own .repo file.

Note

Define your repositories in a .repo file instead of /etc/dnf/dnf.conf as all files with the .repo file extension in this directory are read by dnf.

The following procedure describes how to add a DNF repository to your system.

Procedure

  • Add a repository to your system: 

    # dnf config-manager --add-repo repository_URL

    Replace repository_url with URL pointing to the repository.

Warning

Obtaining and installing software packages from unverified or untrusted sources other than Red Hat certificate-based Content Delivery Network (CDN) constitutes a potential security risk, and could lead to security, stability, compatibility, and maintainability issues.

10.3. Enabling a DNF repository

The following procedure describes how to enable a DNF repository added to your system.

Procedure

  • Enable a repository: 

    # dnf config-manager --enable repositoryID

    Replace repositoryID with the unique repository ID.

Additional resources

Listing repositories

10.4. Disabling a DNF repository

The following procedure describes how to disable a DNF repository added to your system.

Procedure

  • Disable a repository: 

    # dnf config-manager --disable repositoryID

    Replace repositoryID with the unique repository ID.

Additional resources

Listing repositories

Appendix A. DNF commands list

This chapter lists DNF commands for listing, installing, and removing content in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.

A.1. Commands for listing content in RHEL 9

The following table lists the commonly used DNF commands for finding content and its details in RHEL 9:

CommandDescription

dnf search term

Search for a package using term related to the package

dnf repoquery package

Search available DNF repositories for a selected package

dnf list

List information on all installed and available packages

dnf list --installed

dnf repoquery --installed

List all packages installed on your system

dnf list --available

dnf repoquery

List all packages in all enabled repositories that are available to install

dnf repolist

List all enabled repositories on your system

dnf repolist --disabled

List all disabled repositories on your system

dnf repolist --all

List both enabled and disabled repositories

dnf repoinfo

List additional information about the repositories

dnf info package-name

dnf repoquery --info package_name

Display details of an available package

dnf repoquery --info --installed package_name

Display details of a package installed on your system

dnf module list

List modules and their current status

Note that if the package is available outside any modules, the output of this command is empty.

dnf group summary

View the number of installed and available groups

dnf group list

List all installed and available groups

dnf group info group-name

List mandatory and optional packages included in a particular group

A.2. Commands for installing content in RHEL 9

The following table lists the commonly used DNF commands for installing content in RHEL 9:

CommandDescription

dnf install package-name

Install a package.

If the package is provided by a module stream, dnf resolves the required module stream and enables it automatically while installing this package. This also happens recursively for all package dependencies. If more module streams satisfy the requirement, the default ones are used.

dnf install package-name-1 package-name-2

Install multiple packages and their dependencies simultaneously

dnf install package-name.arch

Specify the architecture of the package by appending it to the package name when installing packages on a multilib system (AMD64, Intel 64 machine)

dnf install /usr/sbin/binary-file

Install a binary using the path to the binary as an argument

dnf install /path/

Install a previously downloaded package from a local directory

dnf install package-url

Install a remote package using a package URL

Enable the module when you want to make the packages available to the system but do not currently want to install any of them.

Some modules might not define default streams. In such cases, you must explicitly specify the stream.

If the module defines a default stream, you can omit the stream and colon.

Note that running this command does not install any RPM packages.

Note that some modules do not define default streams.

Note that running this command also enables the specified stream.

dnf group install group-name

Install a package group by a group name

dnf group install groupID

Install a package group by the groupID

A.3. Commands for removing content in RHEL 9

The following table lists the commonly used DNF commands for removing content in RHEL 9:

CommandDescription

dnf remove package-name

Remove a particular package and all dependent packages

dnf remove package-name-1 package-name-2

Remove multiple packages and their unused dependencies simultaneously

dnf group remove group-name

Remove a package group by the group name

dnf group remove groupID

Remove a package group by the groupID

Note that running this command can remove critical packages from your system.

Note that running this command does not remove packages from the specified module.

Note that running this command does not remove packages from the specified module.

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