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Using the Red Hat Package Manager
Red Hat Linux provides a tool named Red Hat Package Manager for working with RPM packages. The package manager graphical tool provides all the functions for managing RPMs. It’s like putting an automatic transmission on a car: The Package Manger does the shifting for you.Okay, the package manager does the shifting for you, but you still have to drive it. The package manager provides easy access to RPM functions, such as install, upgrade, uninstall, query, and verify. This section describes how to use the package manager to rev up your RPM.To start the package manager, click the GNOME Menu button and choose System SettingsAdd/Remove Applications. If you aren’t logged in as root, type the root password in the Input window when you’re prompted. A progress window appears briefly while the package manager determines which packages you have installed. After “thinking,” the Package Management window appears.The package manager displays all the Red Hat package groups installed by default on your system. Individual packages are organized into groups, such as the X Window System and GNOME. When the check box to the left of a group is active, designated by a plus sign (+), one or more packages from that group is installed. The number to the right of the package group shows how many packages of the total number in that group are installed.Clicking the Details option opens the GNOME Desktop Environment Package Details window, which shows all the base and optional packages in the group; short, one-line descriptions of each package are also displayed next to each package. Base packages are always installed with a package group. Optional packages are, well, optionally installed.This may be a For Dummies book, but you, of course, are no dummy. It’s obvious what the GNOME RPM buttons, displayed along the top of the GNOME RPM window, are used for. This section describes how to use them for their intended functions.
Installing an RPM package from a CD-ROM
When you install your Red Hat Linux system, all the software that is copied to your hard drive from the CD-ROM comes from RPM packages. When you want to add software from the companion DVD or an RPM repository, such as www. freshmeat.net, or from Red Hat, at www.redhat.com, you can do so by using the Install button. To install an RPM package from a CD-ROM, follow these steps:
Start the package manager: Choose System ToolsAdd/Remove Packages.
Enter the root password in the Information window if you’re prompted.
When the Add and Remove Software window opens, select the package group you want to install.
For example, if you want to install the Mozilla e-mail client, you have to do some exploring first. Scroll down to the Graphical Internet package group. The short description next to the package group says “This group includes graphical e-mail, Web, and chat clients,” which indicates that you’re on the right path.
Click the Details button to find out the details of the package you’re installing.
For example, select the Graphical Internet group and the Graphical Internet Package Details window opens. You see that the Mozilla mail client is included.
Select the radio button next to the menu option.
Click the Close button to return to the Package Management window.
Click the Install button and the Preparing Systems Update window opens.
The package manager determines which additional packages are needed by the package you’re installing. After the dependencies are determined, the Completed System Preparation window displays the number of packages to be installed and how much disk space they require.
Click the Continue button.
The Information window opens and you’re prompted to insert the DVD.
Insert the CD and click OK.
The System Update Progress Installing window shows a progress meter.
Insert additional CDs, if prompted, and click the OK button in the Information window.
After the installation process is finished, the System Update Process window shows the Update Complete message.
Click the OK button to return to the Add and Remove Software window.
Using Nautilus to install a package
You can use the Nautilus file manager to install packages too. Nautilus acts as a front end to Red Hat Package Manager. You use Nautilus to select the packages you want to manipulate and the rest is taken care of for you.These instructions describe how to use Nautilus to install an RPM package or packages from a CD-ROM:
Insert a CD containing the RPM packages you want to install.
You can install a package from your hard disk too. If you have a package stored, for example, in your home directory, skip to Step 3.
Insert the CD-ROM and a Nautilus window showing the CD opens.
Find the package you want to install and double-click the package you want to install.
If you’re not logged in as root, you’re prompted to enter the root password. Enter the password if and when you’re prompted.
Click the Continue button when the Completed System Preparation window opens.
If the package to be installed requires other packages, they’re displayed in the Completed System Preparation window; they get installed too. You can also see more information about the packages to be installed by clicking the Details button.
The Updating system window opens and shows the progress of the package-installation process.
Red Hat installs the package for you, and the Updating System window closes. You’re prompted to insert other CD-ROMs if necessary.
Technical StuffUntil the advent of the RPM (and the Debian package manager on Debian Linux systems), Linux software was distributed only by tar archives, which are sometimes referred to as tarballs, or more descriptively, hairballs. The tar file storage mechanism stores one or more files in a single file in a tar format. A tar file has the .tar file suffix; if the tar file is compressed, it has a suffix like .tgz or .tar. gz. Using the tar-based distribution system is sufficient if your software doesn’t change often and you’re young. But when you need to upgrade or change software or work with complex software systems, tar becomes quite difficult to work with. Rather than spend your life spitting up hairballs, use systems such as RPM to greatly simplify your life.
Removing an RPM package
You can remove Red Hat packages as easily as you install them. Use the RPM erase (-e) function, which is the opposite of the install (-i) function. The package manager removes a package when you unselect an installed package. These steps describe how to remove a package:
Click the GNOME Menu button and choose System SettingsAdd/Remove Packages.
Enter the root password in the Information window, if you’re prompted.
The Package Management window opens.
Click the Remove Software button to open the Remove Package Groups menu.
Click the Remove button to select the package group that contains the package you want to remove.
For example, to remove a package in the Mail Server group, select the option to the left of the Mail Server group, if it’s blank. (Leave the radio button alone if it’s already selected.)
Select the radio button to the left of the package you want to remove.
The check mark disappears.
Click the Remove Packages button.
The Preparing System Update dialog box opens briefly, and you return to the Completed System Preparation window.
Click the Continue button.
The package (or packages) is removed
Click the Continue button in the Completed System Preparation window.
The package (or packages) is removed.
After the package-removal process is finished, click the OK button.
You return to the Add or Remove Software window.
RememberBe sure that you really want to get rid of the package because when you remove a package, it’s gone — as in gone. Okay, okay, maybe we’re being a little dramatic. You can always go online to a site like www.freshmeat.net or www.redhat.com. From there, you can download more packages to install. We recommend that you do so. Some new tool is always coming out that can help optimize your Red Hat Linux computing experience.
