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, Mandrake, SUSE, ...	DEB Debian, Ubuntu	Ebuild Gentoo, Sabayon
Basic queries
List of all installed packages	rpm -qa	dpkg -l	equery list
List of installing packages matching substr	rpm -qa \*substr\*	dpkg -l \*substr\*	equery list substr
Basic information about an installed package	rpm -qi package	dpkg -p package	-???-
List of files in a given package	rpm -ql package	dpkg -L package	equery files package
Advanced queries
Which package a file belongs to?	rpm -qf file	dpkg -S file	equery belongs 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}*	-???-
Show change log for a package	rpm -q --changelog package	zcat /usr/share/doc/package/changelog.Debian.gz aptitude [-t release] changelog 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	-???-
Upgrade a package from local package_file	rpm -Uhv package_file*.rpm	dpkg -i package_file*.deb	-???-
Remove an installed package	rpm -e package yum remove|erase package	dpkg -r package dpkg -P package	emerge --unmerge package emerge --prune 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
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	emerge -avf package
Get information about package interdependencies
What a given package provides?	rpm -q --provides package	dpkg-query -W -f='${Provides}\n' package	-???-
What a given package requires?	rpm -q --requires package	dpkg-query -W -f='${Depends}\n' package	-???-
Which installed package(s) provide a given dependency?	rpm -q --whatprovides dependency	dpkg-query -W -f='${Package}: ${Provides}\n' '*' | grep ': .*package'	-???-
Which installed package(s) require a given dependency?	rpm -q --whatrequires dependency	dpkg-query -W -f='${Package}: ${Depends}\n' '*' | grep ': .*package' aptitude why package	-???-
Show what prevents installation of a package	-???-	aptitude why-not package	-???-
Get package source files	-???-	apt-get source 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	-???-	N/A
Repository queries
Find a package which /some/file belongs to	yum provides /some/file	First run: apt-file update and then: apt-file search /some/file	N/A

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.

See also

Debian

• Debian FAQ: package management tools
• APT HOWTO