Package managers

With OpenVZ, you can run many different Linux distributions on a single box. One particular thing in which distributions differ is package management. This article summarizes how to perform various common package management tasks on a different distributions.

Commands

Action	RPM RHEL, Fedora, CentOS, Mandriva, SUSE, ...	DEB Debian, Ubuntu	Ebuild Gentoo, Sabayon	Pacman Arch Linux
Basic queries
List of all installed packages	rpm -qa	dpkg -l	equery list	pacman -Qi
List of installed packages matching substr	rpm -qa \*substr\*	dpkg -l \*substr\*	equery list substr
Basic information about an installed package	rpm -qi package	dpkg -p package	eix package	pacman -Qi package
List of files in a given package	rpm -ql package	dpkg -L package	equery files package	pacman -Ql package
Advanced queries
Which package a file belongs to?	rpm -qf file	dpkg -S file	equery belongs file	pacman -Qo file
Check the hash (i.e. MD5 etc.) sums of an installed package	rpm -V package	debsums -ca package	equery check package
Show pre/post install/uninstall scripts from a package	rpm -q --scripts package	less /var/lib/dpkg/info/package.{pre,post,config}*	cat `equery which package`
Show change log for a package	rpm -q --changelog package	zcat /usr/share/doc/package/changelog.Debian.gz aptitude [-t release] changelog package	view /usr/portage/category/package/ChangeLog	pacman -Qc package
Local package installation/upgrade/removal
Install a package from local package_file	rpm -ihv package_file*.rpm yum localinstall package_file*.rpm	dpkg -i package_file*.deb	emerge --usepkg|-k package emerge --usepkgonly|-K package	pacman -U package
Upgrade a package from local package_file	rpm -Uhv package_file*.rpm	dpkg -i package_file*.deb	emerge --update --usepkg|-k package emerge --update --usepkgonly|-K package	pacman -U package
Remove an installed package	rpm -e package yum remove|erase package	dpkg -r package dpkg -P package	emerge --unmerge package emerge --prune package	pacman -R package
Package installation from repositories
Install a package	yum install package urpmi package	apt-get update && apt-get install package aptitude update && aptitude install package	emerge -av package	pacman -S package
Install a debug information files for a package	debuginfo-install package	???	FEATURES="splitdebug installsources" emerge -av package
Only download a package from repository, do not install	First install the yum-downloadonly plugin by running: yum install yum-downloadonly And then: yum install|update package -y --downloadonly --downloaddir=/opt	apt-get install --download-only --reinstall package aptitude download package	emerge -avf package	pacman -Sw package
Get information about package interdependencies
What a given package provides?	rpm -q --provides package	dpkg-query -W -f='${Provides}\n' package	equery files package (package must be installed first)	pacman -Ql package (package must be installed first)
What a given package requires?	rpm -q --requires package	dpkg-query -W -f='${Depends}\n' package	equery depgraph --depth=1 package	pacman -Si package
Which installed package(s) provide a given dependency?	rpm -q --whatprovides dependency	dpkg-query -W -f='${Package}: ${Provides}\n' '*' | grep ': .*package'	equery belongs dependency
Which installed package(s) require a given dependency?	rpm -q --whatrequires dependency	dpkg-query -W -f='${Package}: ${Depends}\n' '*' | grep ': .*package' aptitude why package	equery depends package
Show what prevents installation of a package	(yum/rpm tells with --verbose option -v)	aptitude why-not package	emerge -pv package
Get package source files	yumdownloader --source package	apt-get source package	emerge -f package	abs repository/package
Working with package files
Unpack a package file to local directory	rpm2cpio file.rpm | cpio -id	dpkg -x file.deb .	N/A
Check package file integrity (checksums, signatures...)	rpm -K file.rpm (yum/rpm also checks GPG-signature and checksums automatically every time the package is installed or upgraded)	debsums package	emerge -f package	tar -xzf package if package.pkg.tar.gz or tar -xJf package if package.pkg.tar.xz
Repository queries
Find a package in a repository which /some/file belongs to	yum provides /some/file	First run: apt-file update and then: apt-file search /some/file	N/A
Find a package based on some string or part of the string descriping it	yum search \*substr\*	apt-cache search \*substr\*	eix -S substr	pacman -Ss substr
Shows the full description of package	yum info package	apt-cache show package	eix package	pacman -Si package

Relevant directories and files

Red Hat, Fedora, CentOS

• yum config: /etc/yum.conf.
• yum repos: /etc/yum.repos.d/.
• rpm configs and macros: /etc/rpm/, /usr/lib/rpm/,
• rpm DB: /var/lib/rpm/

Debian/Ubuntu

• List of repositories and mirror sites: /etc/apt/sources.list, /etc/apt/sources.list.d/.

Gentoo

• emerge configs: /etc/make.conf, /etc/portage/.
• Portage tree: /usr/portage.
• Binary packages (FEATURES="buildpkg" enabled in make.conf): /usr/portage/packages.
• Default directory to download sources to: /usr/portage/distfiles.
• Default Portage working directory: /var/lib/portage/.

See also

Debian

• Debian FAQ: package management tools
• APT HOWTO