CentOS How to Install RPM

Whenever you’re running a Linux distro, it’s always a challenge to find all your necessary tools directly in the default repository. Granted, all the repositories of any Linux distro comes with a pretty large collection of default software and tools. However, in some cases, you may need to get software outside the repository and install it.

In the case of CentOS and RHEL, it uses “yum” as its package manager. In case you need to grab a software package from a different source, you either need to follow the classical method (grabbing the source, building the software and installing it) or locate an installable package. For CentOS and RHEL, you should look for RPM packages.

There are also other Linux distros that use the RPM package format as the default installable package type, for example, Fedora and OpenSUSE. Keep in mind that you should look for RPM packages that are specifically built for CentOS/RHEL system. Otherwise, you may need to depend on the Fedora/OpenSUSE package. In that case, use them at your own risk (high chance of it not working properly, malfunctioning or not even installing properly).

It’s time to learn about managing an RPM package on CentOS/RHEL! My test system is CentOS 7.

Obtain an RPM

At first, find a suitable RPM package that you’ll be working with. Whatever RPM package you grab, make sure that you choose the correct one according to your system’s architecture.

I’m going with the Google Chrome RPM package.

wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_x86_64.rpm

RPM usage

Before diving into the deep end, don’t forget to enable the EPEL repository on your CentOS system!

Run this command first –

sudo yum install epel-release

Then, update your system –

sudo yum update

Installing an RPM package

By default, the following command should do the job –

sudo yum install ./ google-chrome-stable_current_x86_64.rpm

Now, let’s slow down and have a look at the command.

yum: calling the “yum” tool for performing the installation of the RPM package.
install: Perform an installation job. In this case, it’s the parsed RPM package.
./ : This is a very important part. Without this, “yum” won’t solve the dependency issues (missing/corrupted or unsatisfied dependencies).

You could also perform the action with “RPM” but working with “yum” is preferred, as it will solve all the dependency issues by default; no need to scratch your head and try to find out the required dependencies and packages etc.

Uninstalling the RPM package

If you’re no longer interested in the software you installed before, you can directly uninstall it by running the following command –

sudo yum remove <package_name>

Converting DEB to RPM

This is an interesting thing to perform but it’s possible! You can convert a DEB (default Debian/Ubuntu installation package) into an RPM package. Of course, things are pretty much bound to break down.

However, this method came in handy in the past, so feel free to keep this trick in mind!

At first, grab a test DEB package. I’ll be using the Google Chrome DEB package.

Install the converting tool – alien. It comes from the EPEL repository, so make sure that you configured EPEL on your system.

sudo yum install alien