Chapter 4 · Repositories and Package Management·v1.0.0·Updated 7/6/2026·~9 min
What's changed: Initial version (topic 1.04, subtopics 1.04.1–1.04.4)
4.4RPM Package Management
Key points
Learn direct handling and querying of rpm packages without a repository: obtaining version/status/dependency/integrity/signature information with rpm (-q family), listing a package's files (-ql), and reverse lookup of a file's owner (-qf).
Beneath yum, rpm does the actual work (the same relationship dpkg has to apt). It resolves no dependencies, but its query features for installed packages are rich—you reach for it directly in audits and troubleshooting.
4.4.1The -q query family
- Basics:
rpm -q pkg(version),rpm -qa(all installed—rpm -qa | grep httpdis the idiom),rpm -qi(details). - File directions:
rpm -ql pkg(package → file list),rpm -qf /path(file → owning package). - Dependencies with
rpm -qR(requires). Inspect a file not yet installed by adding-p(rpm -qlp package.rpm). - Integrity/signature:
rpm -V pkg(verification—detects size/hash/permission changes),rpm --checksig package.rpm(signature check).
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