The default behavior of yum is to install the most recent version of a package from the enabled repositories. However, there are situations where it may be necessary to install a particular version or revert to an earlier version of a package that is already installed.
In this post, we will show how to make yum list all available versions of a specified package and how to instruct it to install the particular one.
Show All Versions of Package with yum
Run the following command to show all versions of a package, available in enabled repositories:
$yum list <package_name> --showduplicates
Example: # yum list glibc-locale-source --showduplicates
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Installed Packages
glibc-locale-source.x86_64 2.28-151.el8 @wd_rpm
Available Packages
glibc-locale-source.x86_64 2.28-151.el8 wd_rpm
glibc-locale-source.x86_64 2.28-164.el8_5.3 wd_rpm
Install Specific Version Of Package
To install a specific version of a package, run: $ sudo yum install <package_name>–<version_info>
Example:yum install glibc-locale-source-2.28-151.el8
If you’re looking to install a package on Linux, we strongly suggest reading this article.
Force Yum To Downgrade Package
If we already have the latest version of a package installed, but we need to downgrade it to the particular version that is older, execute:
$ sudo yum downgrade <package_name>-<version_info>
understanding RPM file name
RPM package files names consist of four elements (plus the .rpm suffix): name-version- release.architecture:
Here is one example. kernel-4.18.0-425.3.1.el8.x86_64
Name : kernel
Version : 4.18.0
Release : 425.3.1.el8
Architecture : x86_64
Size : 8.8 M
Only the package name is required for installing packages from repositories. If multiple versions exist, the package with the higher version number is installed. If multiple releases of a single version exist, the package with the higher release number is installed.
Install, uninstall & upgrade packages with yum
Here are the Yum commands for installing, removing and updating packages.
| Command | Functionality | Example command |
|---|---|---|
| install | Install a package from yum repository | yum install nginx |
| remove | Remove an installed package and its dependencies | yum remove nginx |
| erase | Similar to remove command | yum erase nginx |
| update | Update or or more packages on the system | yum update or sudo yum update gcc |
| update-to | Update or or more packages to a specific version | yum update-to ngingx-2.7-1.1 |
| upgrade | update all packages to the latest version | yum upgrade |
| reinstall | Reinstall current version of a specific package | yum reinstall httpd |
| autoremove | Remove a package and all other unnecessary packages | yum autoremove httpd |
| downgrade | Downgrade a specific package to an earlier version | yum downgrade nginx |
| swap | Remove package and install another | yum swap nginx httpd |
| localinstall | Install a package from a local repository | yum localinstall package.rpm |
| groupinstall | Install packages from a specific group | yum groupinstall “group name” |
Base Package Commands in yum
These commands will help you explore installed packages or search for packages from repositories.
| Command | Functionality | Example |
|---|---|---|
| list | List package names from repositories | sudo yum list all |
| info | Show information about a specific package | sudo yum info nginx |
| search | Search for a package name and description | sudo yum search apache |
| updateinfo | Show information about available package updates | sudo yum updateinfo baseos |
| check-update | Show available package updates from enabled repositories | sudo yum check-update |
| grouplist | Show names and available package groups | sudo yum grouplist |
| deplist | Show dependencies for a specific package | sudo yum deplist vsftpd |
| provides | Locate the package that provides a specific file | sudo yum provides “*/bin/zsh” |
| groupinfo | Show description and contents of a package group | sudo yum groupinfo “group name” |
| help | Display yum help information or help on sub command | sudo yum help or sudo yum help list |
Managing Yum Repos
For adding and managing additional repositories.
| Command | Functionality | Example |
|---|---|---|
| repolist | List the available software repositories | sudo yum repolist |
| repo-pkgs | Use packages in a specific repository | sudo yum repo-pkgs baseos list |
| repoinfo | Show information about enabled repositories | sudo yum repoinfo baseos |
| makecache | Download repository data to cache | sudo yum makecache |
Troubleshooting Yum
When things go wrong with Yum, use these commands.
| Command | Functionality | Example |
|---|---|---|
| clean | Clean out all cached package data/clean all packages metadata | sudo yum clean packages or sudo yum clean all |
| check | Check local RPM db for problems | sudo yum check |
| history | View and use yum transactions | sudo yum history list or sudo yum history undo or sudo yum history redo |
| fssnapshot | Show LVM snapshots | sudo yum fs filters |
Helpful Options
Common options to be used with Yum commands:
| Command Option | Functionality | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -y | Assume yes if prompted | sudo yum -y install nginx |
| –assumeno | Assume no if prompted | sudo yum –assumeno install nginx |
| -v | Verbose | sudo yum -v install |
| -q | Quiet | sudo yum -q install |
| –noplugins | Do not load any YUM plugins | sudo yum –noplugins install |
| –disableplugin= | Deactivate a specific plugin | sudo yum –disableplugin=ps |
| –enableplugin= | Activate a specific plugin | sudo yum –enableplugin=ps |
| –changelogs | Show changelog info of a package | sudo yum –changelogs install httpd |
| —filter=?? | Filter output for specific vendors, groups, architectures, and others. | sudo yum list available –filter=server |
| –enablerepo= | Enable a deactivated repo | sudo yum install nginx –enablerepo=?? |
| –disablerepo= | Disable an activated repo | sudo yum install nginx –deactivaterepo=?? |
| –downloadonly | Download package and no install | sudo yum install –downloadonly httpd |
yum Extra Commands
Some additional commands that you may need to use once a while:
| Commands | Functionality |
|---|---|
| reposync | Synchronize yum repo to local directory |
| show-installed | Show installed packages |
| verifytree | Check local repo for consistency |
| yumdb | Change yum database |
| yumdownloader | Download a package from repo to cwd |
| repouery | Query remote repo and local db |
| repoclosure | Get unmet dependency list |
| needs-restarting | Show processes that have been updated and require restart |