Software Package Management

As I understand it, you will be ask to upgrade the kernel as a part of the install. This is easy but the kernel is the oddest of the packages to install. If you need to install a single package you just

  rpm -i packagename.rpm

You can also give RPM a URL (YOU WILL NOT HAVE THIS ABILITY DURING THE TEST.)

  rpm -i ftp://ID:password@hostname.dom/path/package.rpm

or

  rpm -i http://hostname.dom/path/package.rpm

RPM can be used to verify a file or program has not been modified since it was installed. I have download bad packages / programs that replace a library file with an older version. To check all the files contained in a RPM pachage use:

  rpm --verify -p /path/package.rpm

To check just a single file

  rpm --verify --file /path/file

To upgrade a package (replace new with old) use the -U option in RPM. If you use just the -i command both package will be installed unless they conflect with each other.

If you have a problem with a given file and need to reload it, it is good to know what package it belongs to. You can get this with the command:

  rpm -qf /path/file

You might also need to list the contents of a package:

  rpm -ql  package