How to repair an RPM database

Introduction

Incomplete or inconsistent data may be written to the rpmdb when a crash event occurs for an RPM or YUM transaction that was updating the RPM database, causing RPM database corruption. The reason for the crash could be a variety of reasons, such as killing the process prematurely or resource, or disk issues. 

A corrupt RPM database can cause a myriad of issues related to package management. Software such as EasyApache4 and YUM will also not work until the RPM database is in a functional state. Due to this, one of cPanel & WHM's tasks during update sessions includes performing a check of the database and attempting a repair if needed. However, sometimes you may need to run this process manually.

Procedure

This check may be performed from WHM or the command line.

WHM

1. Navigate to "Home / Software / Rebuild RPM Database"
2. Click the "Proceed >>" button.

For more details:

Rebuild RPM Database

Command-line

1. Log in as root.
2. Run the find_and_fix_rpm_issues script.

   /scripts/find_and_fix_rpm_issues

If the script times out or does not respond, please review the following article:

What to do if the "/scripts/find_and_fix_rpm_issues" command timeouts or doesn't respond?

If the WHM and the script are unable to repair the RPM database, a manual repair is needed. The following link provides details on how to do so:

RPM Database Recovery

The above-provided link is not affiliated with cPanel LLC. Any instructions and/or suggestions provided there should be followed at your own risk. cPanel support cannot perform these actions due to potential data loss. If further assistance is needed, please reach out to a qualified systems administrator.

If manually repairing the RPM database fails, the database needs to be restored from a backup.

For more details:

The find_and_fix_rpm_issues Script