How to use yum to download a package without installing it

Resolution

There are two ways to download a package without installing it.

One is using the "downloadonly" plugin for yum, the other is using "yumdownloader" utility.

Downloadonly plugin for yum

1. Install the package including "downloadonly" plugin:

   (RHEL5)
   # yum install yum-downloadonly
   
   (RHEL6)
   # yum install yum-plugin-downloadonly
   

2. Run yum command with "--downloadonly" option as follows:

   # yum install --downloadonly --downloaddir=<directory> <package>
   

3. Confirm the RPM files are available in the specified download directory.

Note:

• Before using the plugin, check /etc/yum/pluginconf.d/downloadonly.conf to confirm that this plugin is "enabled=1"
• This is applicable for "yum install/yum update" and not for "yum groupinstall". Use "yum groupinfo" to identify packages within a specific group.
• If only the package name is specified, the latest available package is downloaded (such as sshd). Otherwise, you can specify the full package name and version (such as httpd-2.2.3-22.el5).
• If you do not use the --downloaddir option, files are saved by default in /var/cache/yum/ in rhel-{arch}-channel/packages
• If desired, you can download multiple packages on the same command.
• You still need to re-download the repodata if the repodata expires before you re-use the cache. By default it takes two hours to expire.

Yumdownloader

If downloading a installed package, "yumdownloader" is useful.

1. Install the yum-utils package:

   # yum install yum-utils
   

2. Run the command followed by the desired package:

   # yumdownloader <package>
   

Note:

• The package is saved in the current working directly by default; use the --destdir option to specify an alternate location.
• Be sure to add --resolve if you need to download dependencies.