How to use yum to manage packages – cPanel

Question

How do you use yum to manage packages?

Answer

On "Enterprise Linux" variants, such as CentOS, CloudLinux, AlmaLinux, and RockyLinux, you can utilize the 'yum' utility to manage RPM packages installed on the system. On EL8 and above, it is recommended to use 'dnf' rather than 'yum,' however, both will work.

Ubuntu-based systems should review similar instructions for the APT package manager:

How to list and search available software packages on Ubuntu

You can add, remove, and swap packages with the yum utility, as well as search and browse packages.

Note: On EL8 and above-based systems, you can replace yum with dnf in the examples below.

Install a package

You can install a package using the following command, where PACKAGE is the name of the package you wish to install:

# yum install PACKAGE

For example, if you want to install the PHP 7.4 intl package:

# yum install ea-php74-php-intl

Remove a package

You can remove a package with the following command, where PACKAGE is the name of the package you wish to remove:

# yum remove PACKAGE

For example, you can remove the PHP 7.4 intl package by running:

# yum remove ea-php74-php-intl

Note: Always review the packages that will be removed, as the package you are attempting to remove may be a dependency of other packages. Removing needed packages could potentially result in irreparable damage to the server.

Update a package

You can update a package using the following command, where PACKAGE is the name of the package you wish to update:

# yum update PACKAGE

For example, to update the sudo package, you would run:

# yum update sudo

Update all packages

You can update all packages by running the following command:

# yum update

Replace packages

If you are trying to replace a package with a different version, rather than remove and reinstall all of the packages that depend on it, you can swap the package:

# yum swap -- install $NEW -- remove $OLD

Note: You need to replace "$NEW" and "$OLD" with the packages you want to replace

Or, if you need to handle multiple packages, you can enter the yum shell:

# yum shell
install $NEW1 $NEW2 $NEW3
update $UPDATE1 $UPDATE2
run