How can I use yum/dnf history to look into package changes?

Question

How can I use yum/dnf history to look into package changes?

Answer

On "Enterprise Linux" variants--CentOS, CloudLinux, AlmaLinux, and RockyLinux--you can utilize the 'yum' utility to manage RPM packages installed on the system. The 'history' sub-command will report information on recent installations and updates.

The base yum history command will display a list of recent "transactions" yum has recorded:

# yum history
ID     | Command line                       | Date and time      | Action(s)       | Altered
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   62  | update rsync                         | 2026-04-17 02:40 | Upgrade       |    1
   61  | install whois                          | 2026-04-17 02:32 | Install            |    2
...

As shown above, we have the yum transaction ID, the date and time yum was called, and what actions were applied by the transaction. 

You can also use pull up the history with yum for a particular package. For instance, if we want to look at the summary on the rsync package, we can use this sub-command: 

# yum history info rsync
Transaction ID : 62
Begin time     : Fri 17 Apr 2026 02:40:19 AM UTC
Begin rpmdb    : da062ff22c3bfdb99ce89c4c7e9543d129b776b3363aa16aa07aa802e6cb980e
End time       : Fri 17 Apr 2026 02:40:19 AM UTC (0 seconds)
End rpmdb      : fe28f92550c7edb7ae7b2c9580a378dbe5df9a866fb9a38805e7dd8375a72165
User           : Super User <root>
Return-Code    : Success
Releasever     : 10
Command Line   : update rsync
Persistence    : Persist
Comment        :
Packages Altered:
   Upgrade  rsync-3.4.1-2.el10_1.2.x86_64 @baseos
   Upgraded rsync-3.4.1-2.el10.x86_64     @@System

You can also use the info option with the transaction number.

# yum history info 61
Transaction ID : 61
Begin time     : Fri 17 Apr 2026 02:32:09 AM UTC
Begin rpmdb    : 3772b564115241beb282da664e8f83543efa054066d5c878ebf187b44216abeb
End time       : Fri 17 Apr 2026 02:32:10 AM UTC (1 seconds)
End rpmdb      : da062ff22c3bfdb99ce89c4c7e9543d129b776b3363aa16aa07aa802e6cb980e
User           : Super User <root>
Return-Code    : Success
Releasever     : 10
Command Line   : install whois
Persistence    : Persist
Comment        :
Packages Altered:
   Install whois-5.5.20-6.el10.x86_64     @appstream
   Install whois-nls-5.5.20-6.el10.noarch @appstream