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DNF Package Manager

DNF is the new Package-Manager for RHEL-Based Systems. It replaces yum and is the default since RHEL-8. The Syntax is more or less identical, so that the migration should be quite easy.

Install Package

[tux@server]$ dnf install <package-name>

Uninstall Packages

[tux@server]$ dnf remove <package-name>

Update all Packages

This command will show you all packages that have available updates. You can install them all at once.

[tux@server]$ dnf update

Check for Updates

This will only list installable updates without installing them.

[tux@server]$ dnf check-update

Check if Restart is Necessary

If you update core-libraries, you will need to restart your system for the changes to become effective. Otherwise the Kernel will still use the cached Version from the memory.
To check if you need a restart you can use this command.

[tux@server]$ needs-restarting

If this command is not available, it is included in the yum-utils.

[tux@server]$ dnf install yum-utils

Search for Packages

If you don’t know the exact name you can use a search-term and see all packages that have a matching name or description.

[tux@server]$ dnf search <search-term>

Get Details

You can get more information like the version and description of a package with the info parameter.

[tux@server]$ dnf info <package-name>

List installed Packages

This command will show all installed packages on your system.

[tux@server]$ dnf list installed

If you pipe it into a grep command, you can check whether a package is installed, without installing it, if it is not.

[tux@server]$ dnf list installed | grep htop

Package Groups

Most Repositories have predefined Package Groups. For Example a Desktop Environment with all it’s Utilities. That way all you can install everything you need as if it would be one package.

List Package Groups

[tux@server]$ dnf group list

Install Package Group

[tux@server]$ dnf group install "<group-name>"

Remove Package Group

[tux@server]$ dnf group remove "<group-name>"

Install local RPMs

You can also install rpm from your local disk, instead of a remote Package-Repository.

[tux@server]$ dnf install <package>.rpm
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Jannik Rehkemper

I'm an professional Linux Administrator and Hobby Programmer. My training as an IT-Professional started in 2019 and ended in 2022. Since 2023 I'm working as an Linux Administrator.