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Synopsis: urpmi is Mageia's command line tool for managing packages and repositories (media). For example you can install, update or remove software packages with it. urpmi handles dependencies automatically i. e. it checks and resolves dependencies if necessary. For beginners the graphical tool rpmdrake is recommended over urpmi as rpmdrake is more user-friendly for inexperienced users.

Overview

In order to get a general idea of urpmi have a look at it's command line interface and some basic use cases:

The command line interface

The command line interface of urpmi is subdivided into the following basic commands:

Command	Description
urpmi	Install or update a package
urpme	Remove a package
urpmq	Search for packages or information about packages
urpmf	Search for packages which contain a given file
urpmi.update	Update a repository/medium i. e. update the list of available packages on the local system
urpmi.addmedia	Add a new repository/medium to the local system
urpmi.removemedia	Remove a repository/medium from the local system

Common use cases

The following lists provide a brief overview of some common use cases of urpmi:

Basic commands: Install, remove, update

Command	Description
urpmi PKG..	Install or update the specified package(s). PKG can also point to a local RPM file which will be installed then. If no matching package is found then a search will be performed and suggestions will be displayed.
urpme PKG..	Remove the specified package(s) and all packages which depend on it. If there is no package named PKG, a search will be performed and suggestions will be displayed.
urpmi --auto-update	Update all: Update all media first (like urpmi.update -a (see below)) and automatically select packages which can be updated and install them (like urpmi --auto-select).

Media/Repository commands

Command	Description
urpmi.update -a	Update all media i. e. update the local list of available packages
urpmi.update MED..	Update the specified media i. e. update its local list of available packages.
urpmq --list-url	Show all repositories and their URLs.
urpmq --list-media active	Show all active repositories
urpmq --list-media active --list-url	Show all active repositories and their URLs
urpmi.addmedia NAME URL	Add a new media with NAME and URL.
urpmi.removemedia NAME	Remove media.

Search commands

Command	Description
urpmq PKG	Search a package by its exact name (the search term PKG and the package name have to match exactly).
urpmq --summary -Y PKG	Search a package by its name and display a summary of the package. The option -Y disables the case-sensivity and enables the fuzzy search mode (packages are found if the search phrase and the package name match partially).
urpmq -i PKG	Display information about a package. PKG could also point to a local RPM file.
urpmq --requires PKG	Display the dependencies of a package.
urpmf FILE	Search for packages that contain a file named FILE

urpmi.addmedia

This is where the whole thing starts. You add a software repository (a.k.a. medium, mirror) using the urpmi.addmedia command. The format for adding a new repository is as follows:

urpmi.addmedia nameofmedia ftp://ftp.site.com/path/to/Mageia/RPMS

but effectively you are working behind the scenes juggling the same as if you are using drakrpm-edit-media which is the GUI in Mageia Control Center under Software Management --> Select from where software packages are downloaded when updating the system

Mageia mirrors for final release versions contain at least the following repositories (media):

• core repositories which contains free and open source software
• nonfree repositories which contains some proprietary software
• tainted repositories which contains software which may be subject to patent claims in some countries

Here is some other explanations about these categories.

Each media has five sub-medias:

• release the packages as of the release day.
• updates the packages updated since the release day for security or bug concerns, or important updates (i.e web browsers). Everyone should have this medium, even with a very slow internet connection. When adding an update medium, add the --update switch so urpmi can distinguish it from a regular medium.
• update testing which is used for temporary tests of new updates, to allow the bug reporters to validate the corrections.
• backports some packages of new versions backported from Cauldron, or updates that may need manual assistance so they can not be in updates (i.e Nextcloud server)
• backports testing which is used for temporary tests of new backports, to allow the bug reporters to validate the corrections.

Please see Mirrors policy for a complete overview of the mirror structure which can be found on most mirrors.

Copying CD or a DVD to a home directory and using the copy in urpmi

If you don't like using the CD or a DVD when updating your system and you have room to spare in your harddrive, make a directory (for example: /home/uid/repo/), copy the x86_64/media or i586/media directories recursively from the CD or DVD there. After removing the install CD or DVD open a terminal/console and type as root:

cd /home/uid/repo genhdlist2

Now you can add the media, either via urpmi.addmedia:

urpmi.addmedia --distrib HD file://home/uid/repo

Or use the media manager via Mageia Control Center --> Software Management --> Select from where software packages are downloaded when updating the system to set up your new directory and disable all the CD or DVD entries.

Copying RPM's (including install CD or DVD) to a single directory and using the copy in urpmi

Make a directory, for example ~/RPMS, to hold all the RPM's. Then in order to copy a bunch of RPM's (from the install CD or DVD, for example) you type:

find /INSTALL_CD/ -name *.rpm -print -exec cp {} ~/RPMS \;

If you have copied the install CD or DVD to the hard drive, or have their ISO images on the drive (see Copy CD or DVD to Hard Drive on how to mount them), this can be done in one step.

In this example, the CD or DVD were mounted as /INSTALL_CD/.

cd ~/RPMS genhdlist2

It will then create a hdlist.cz file and a sythesis.hdlist.cz file based on what it finds in the directory it is in.

Find the pubkeys for the RPM's and copy them into ~/RPMS/pubkey. They should be in INSTALL_CD/media/media_info :

mkdir ~/RPMS/pubkey cp /INSTALL_CD/media/media_info/pubkey* ~/RPMS/pubkey/

then as root add the medium:

urpmi.addmedia local_rpms file://home/uid/RPMS/

Adding media for a distribution

urpmi can add important media (e.g. core, nonfree, tainted ...) from a chosen mirror with a single command. As root type in a terminal/console:

urpmi.addmedia --distrib ftp://'MIRROR_SITE'/mirror/mageia/distrib/'VERSION'/'ARCH'

in which:

• 'MIRROR_SITE' is the actual URL of the FTP-server
• 'VERSION' is the current or other version of your Mageia for which you want to the add the media
• 'ARCH' is one of: i586 or x86_64, or possibly others that do not exist for all Mageia versions (for example sparc, pcc, etc.)

Manually choosing a mirror

Mirrors are listed at https://mirrors.mageia.org/ -choose one close to you (in internet route measures)

The status page https://mirrors.mageia.org/status help in avoiding bad mirrors.

Selecting mirror automatically using aria2

It is possible to automatically select mirrors using the --mirrorlist option. This command will add important medias selecting the mirrors automatically :

urpmi.addmedia --distrib --mirrorlist '$MIRRORLIST'

Finding mirrors near you using rsync and urpmi to update

Please see: https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Finding_Mageia_rsync_servers

urpmi.update

The urpmi.update command updates the list of packages from a package repository. This list changes whenever the packages in the server change, so you need to update it whenever you want to install a new package from a changeable repository, like Mageia Cauldron (Be very careful with Cauldron packages; they might work but installing them usually does cause problems further down the road on a stable version!). If you are using a repository for a final release, it normally does not change, so you do not need to update the list whenever you install.

To update all enabled media, use

urpmi.update -a

To update specific media(s):

urpmi.update nameofmedia1 nameofmedia2 ...

i.e one specific media: urpmi.update 'Nonfree 32bit Updates', or two: urpmi.update 'Nonfree 32bit Updates' 'Nonfree Updates'. Note the citation marks.

Actually it match the given names to any media, so urpmi.update Upd will update all medias containing "Upd", i.e all updates media - even them that are not enabled!

Sometimes you would like to Install from non enabled media, i.e Backports, and to update all configured media including non enabled, a trick is to use

urpmi.update e

It works because the words core, nonfree, and tainted, all have the letter e in them ;)

urpmi.removemedia

If you want to get rid of a repository, this is the command to use:

urpmi.removemedia nameofmedia

To remove all repositories:

urpmi.removemedia -a

urpmf

With urpmf you can find any file that you may want, know what package it belongs to, see a description of the package and a bunch of other things.

Note that it only search within enabled medias, see #urpmq.

Suppose that you want to compile a C program on your box and the compiler complains about jpeglib.h missing. All that you have to do is:

urpmf jpeglib.h

That will output, for example:

libjpeg62-devel:/usr/include/jpeglib.h mozilla-devel:/usr/include/mozilla-1.4a/jpeg/jpeglib.h

This means that the jpeglib header file is part of the package libjpeg62-devel, and can now be installed with:

urpmi libjpeg62-devel

Another example: you might want to install a mail client, but you don't know any mail client for Linux. So you want to perform a search on the summary of the packages, for terms 'mail' and 'client'. The command

urpmf --summary mail -a client returns:

evolution:Integrated GNOME mail client, calendar and address book. squirrelmail:Squirrelmail is a webmail client for PHP4. sylpheed-claws:Enhanced version of the Sylpheed e-mail client comsat:A mail checker client and comsat mail checking server. cscmail:CSCMail is a GTK email client written in Perl sylpheed:A GTK+ based, lightweight, and fast e-mail client tradeclient:Email Client with PIM features for X

The --summary option is used to perform a search on the summary, and the -a switch translates 'and'.

urpmi

This is the main package management command, which you use to install the package you want as well as the packages that it depends on:

urpmi nameofpackage

For instance, if you think that Sylpheed is a good e-mail client because it describes itself as 'lightweight', you install it with: urpmi sylpheed.

Caveat: doing urpmi nameofpackage usually but not necessarily results in the latest version of that package being installed. Urpmi will compare the version number of the installed package with that in the enabled media. The exception is that when an upgrade of a package is made available under a slightly different name while both the old and the new version remain available in the enabled media. It is sometimes necessary to do so for reasons of backward compatibility.

Here is a notable example urpmi autoconf will not result in the latest version being installed, for the highest version of that package name is autoconf2.5-2.60.

You should use the command urpmi autoconf2.5 instead, which will give you the latest 2.5*. Note that on your Mageia system, both versions should be installed: Mageia will automatically choose the one that is most appropriate. See /usr/share/doc/autoconf-2.13/IMPORTANT.README.MDK for more information on this particular example.

See several remarks about urpmq --fuzzy below to learn how to avoid such versioning problems.

System update

Another example of using urpmi is to update your system with the latest security updates/bugfixes:

# urpmi --auto-update

The command above brings the system up-to-date do the same as the following command sequence:

# urpmi.update -a && urpmi --auto-select

The && characters mean "IF the first command succeeds, then perform the second command". The first command (urpmi.update -a) updates for all media the list of available software packages. The second command (urpmi --auto-select) selects all available updates of already installed packages and initiates the update process. Urpmi will list the upgradeable packages and ask if you wish to proceed. If you want to proceed, just type y for yes or n for no and then press Enter. When the update-process is finished installing you'll get a new prompt at the bottom.

If you prefer using a graphical user interface ('GUI') use rpmdrake in the Mageia Control Center: Software Management --> Look at available updates and apply any fixes or upgrades to installed packages

System upgrade to the latest Mageia version

Urpmi can also be used to upgrade your system to a newer release of Mageia.

In short:

Remove old mirror set:

# urpmi.removemedia -a

Add new release mirror set (here as example Mageia 9):

# urpmi.addmedia --distrib --mirrorlist 'http://mirrors.mageia.org/api/mageia.9.$ARCH.list'

Start upgrading:

# urpmi --auto-update --auto --force

Important: Before starting, do read the more comprehensive instruction in Release Notes!

(And as usual also browse through rest of Release Notes and Errata.)

Also see How to choose the right Mageia upgrade method.

urpmi --parallel pushes updates to machines in your network

Updates are downloaded to one of the machines and from there pushed to the others on your network

urpmi --parallel will update all machines you specify. See man urpmi for more and man urpmi.files, as well as: http://www.happyassassin.net/2005/05/04/a-quick-guide-to-urpmi-parallel .

urpmi parallel mode does what it sounds like: you run an urpmi command and it happens on many machines in parallel. In more detail - the machine you run the command on tests its result on each machine in the group in turn, downloads all necessary packages for all machines in the group, distributes the appropriate packages to each machine, then calls urpmi on the machine to do the actual installation. It's brilliant for quickly installing software on all your machines, or even keeping them all up-to-date with a couple of commands, and it saves on bandwidth, as each necessary package is downloaded only once. The only drawback at the moment is that you cannot include the server machine in the group, which makes it a little less good for small home networks.

(An alternate and more flexible way may be to install urpmi-proxy http://wiki.mageia.org/en/Urpmi-proxy on one of your machines that is up most of the time. Then direct all Mageia systems (including the one that runs urpmi-proxy) to retrieve packages from that machine. That machine will then retrieve packages that any other machine asks for, and cache them, so when another machine asks for the same it is quickly retrieved from cache.)

So how to use urpmi --parallel? It's pretty simple, really. First, make sure you can ssh from the server to each client machine as root (you have to enter a passphrase or password, but can be you set up to use keys and make use of ssh-add to avoid that). Now install urpmi-parallel-ssh on the server machine. Edit /etc/urpmi/parallel.cfg to look like this:

local:ssh:toy:htpc

the first parameter is the name of the group, make this whatever you like. Leave the second as ssh. The remaining parameters are the hostnames of the machines in the group; as many as you like (but not the server machine: urpmi will just fall over its own lock files).

Next, you can use it. On the server machine, run:

urpmi --parallel local somepackage

As long as urpmi on the server has an access to all packages required by all client machines from its urpmi media, everything should now work smoothly. The easiest way to ensure this is to have all machines - server and client - use the same urpmi media.

Install from non enabled media, i.e Backports

In order to not install backported packaged by mistake, you should not have backport media enabled.

You can tell urpmi to install from a non enabled media anyway, just when you want to.

(Of course, the media need to be configured and updated, see urpmi.update)

Here is an example to install gnucash from Backports testing

urpmi --search-media 'Backports Testing' gnucash

urpme

This is the command that uninstalls software from your box. As with urpmi, it works out the dependencies and tells you if any software that's still installed depends on what you want to uninstall, giving you the chance to abort the procedure or to uninstall the package and those that depend on it. Usage is:

urpme nameofpackage

For instance, if Sylpheed is so good that you want to get rid of Evolution, your former e-mail client, you can make some place on your hard drive with urpme evolution.

Advanced usage

For removing all apparently unused packages, or for removing a whole task like a desktop environment, see Removing packages.

Do beware the warnings about possibly removing too much!

urpmq

By using urpmq you can find out a lot of information about an rpm.

• urpmq -i can give you information about the rpm's you can install. Try urpmq -i bash
• urpmq -d gets a list of all rpm's that are needed to install one piece of software.
• urpmq -d bash see which rpm's are required.
• add the -m switch to see the ones not installed on the system at the moment.
• --sources will get the sources.

• So, with urpmq -d -m --sources , you can easily get a list of url's that correspond to the rpm you need to get: quite handy if you lack a good connection to the internet.

• urpmq --list-media list all configured media, including inactive media.

To list only the active medias, add "active" on the command line, and you can add option "--list-url" to see where they are fetched from:

$ urpmq --list-media active --list-url

Core Release https://mirror.accum.se/mirror/mageia/distrib/9/x86_64/media/core/release Core Updates https://mirror.accum.se/mirror/mageia/distrib/9/x86_64/media/core/updates Nonfree Release https://mirror.accum.se/mirror/mageia/distrib/9/x86_64/media/nonfree/release Nonfree Updates https://mirror.accum.se/mirror/mageia/distrib/9/x86_64/media/nonfree/updates Tainted Release https://mirror.accum.se/mirror/mageia/distrib/9/x86_64/media/tainted/release Tainted Updates https://mirror.accum.se/mirror/mageia/distrib/9/x86_64/media/tainted/updates

This example is a 64 bit system, default medias, with tainted.

To edit media, launch media configuration drakrpm-edit-media, (alternatively use Mageia Control Center). If you wish to also select or deselect a media for updates (i.e you are running cauldron), issue drakrpm-edit-media --expert.

Note: * urpmq only search active repositories - You have to configure and make active full distribution medias for urpmq to be able to find all of our packages. Use 32 bit repos on 64 bit systems only if needed (i.e for Steam), and if any package from a 32 bit repo have been installed, keep that repo and its update repo enabled in order to not potentially hinder future updates. Tainted repos contain programs that may be encumbered by patents, check legality in your country. Backport basically only contain packages backported from next Mageia.

Warning! When using urpmq to look for packages, make sure you understand the difference between using it with or without the option --fuzzy. You might miss some packages you were looking for if you are not careful. If urpmq finds a package with the exact name than the one you queried, it will return this package only and by default, you will not see other packages which include the same name.

For example: Imagine your best pal told you about 0ad, a real-time strategy (RTS) game of ancient warfare.

$ urpmq -r 0ad

0ad-0.0.23b-16.mga8 0ad-0.0.25-1.mga8 0ad-0.0.25b-1.mga8 0ad-0.0.25b-1.1.mga8

Great! There is a Mageia package with this exact name! But you don't see other packages which include this name! So we query again: notice the missing 'd' at the end of the package name:

$ urpmq -r 0a

No package named 0a

This time the query result is very different: We see not one but two packages. Compare the following query to the previous two.

$ urpmq -r --fuzzy 0ad

0ad-0.0.25b-1.1.mga8 0ad-data-0.0.25b-1.mga8

urpmq -r --fuzzy is also great to see what other available version there may be to a package: sometimes a new major version does not provide full backward compatibility. For this reason, the newer version will be distributed under a slightly different package name. Now, you are sure not to miss anything.

$ urpmq -r --fuzzy fvwm

fvwm-crystal-3.7.0-1.mga8 fvwm2-2.6.9-4.mga8 fvwm2-config-mageia-2.6.9-4.mga8 fvwm2-doc-2.6.9-4.mga8 fvwm3-1.0.2-1.1.mga8 fvwm3-config-mageia-1.0.2-1.1.mga8 fvwm3-doc-1.0.2-1.1.mga8 task-fvwm2-1-7.mga8

You see: the new release is packaged in another name (name including increasing version number)

Using Graphical interfaces

gurpmi

gurpmi is the graphical front-end for urpmi and can be used on the commandline to install/search a package from a medium or at the prompt. It is also used by rpmdrake to display messages that need user interaction.

rpmdrake

Mageia offers a set of nice graphical tools to perform the same tasks. Rpmdrake is the one called from Mageia Control Center to Add/Remove programs. There you also start an update and select repositories. See our official documentation.

manatools

A not yet complete rewrite of Mageia Control Center, added in Mageia 5 Try mpan or mana to launch.

dnfdragora

DNF is the rising star in package management. Dnfdragora is the graphical interface.

See Using DNF how to set up and use it, and note the current caveats.

A question of security

What are the security issues

Urpmi must be run as root in order to install the packages. A clever but malicious person could possibly trick a not so clever Mageia user (I know that all the Mageia users are clever, but let's assume that there is one gullible Mageia user somewhere, just for the sake of the argument) to install a package that looks like a regular package used by many but that contains a Trojan Horse, some evil code. Once installed, the application may unleash some virus, worm or even some spyware... So far, there hasn't been any news of any such exploit having been attempted, but in a few years time, when GNU/Linux will be the most widely used OS, it is possible that some people would want to try to perform such a feat. Fortunately, they will fail, because a sane concern for security has always been part of the GNU/Linux community. Most packages are signed by the packagers to prove the authenticity. Please see: GnuPG for more details.

Besides a malicious person trying to trick you into installing their malware, what is more likely to happen is that you try to install some package that got corrupted, either during ftp transfer, or because of a scratch on your installation CD/DVD... Before installing, urpmi will check the integrity of the package using the MD5 Hash code and the included gpg package key. See relevant section below for details.

Sometimes, when using urpmi, people end up having rows of:

rpmdb: /var/lib/rpm/Pubkeys: unexpected file type or format rpmdb: /var/lib/rpm/Pubkeys: unexpected file type or format rpmdb: /var/lib/rpm/Pubkeys: unexpected file type or format rpmdb: /var/lib/rpm/Pubkeys: unexpected file type or format rpmdb: /var/lib/rpm/Pubkeys: unexpected file type or format rpmdb: /var/lib/rpm/Pubkeys: unexpected file type or format rpmdb: /var/lib/rpm/Pubkeys: unexpected file type or format rpmdb: /var/lib/rpm/Pubkeys: unexpected file type or format

It is unclear what the origin of the problem is: maybe the file has become corrupted during an upgrade or when an urpmi process was killed by an impatient user.

The solution is to remove the file rpmdb: /var/lib/rpm/Pubkeys and import the public keys again.

MD5 Hash

The MD5 hash is a code within the rpm package that lets rpm checks whether the package hash is okay or not. If for any reason the file is corrupted, rpm (and urpmi) will refuse to install it; rpmdrake will prompt the user whether or not it may proceed.

Here is a recent example:

[root@localhost yourusername]# urpmi kdesdk rpmdb: /var/lib/rpm/Pubkeys: unexpected file type or format error: cannot open Pubkeys index using db3 - Invalid argument (22) The following packages have bad signatures: /var/cache/urpmi/rpms/kdesdk-3.1.3-9mdk.i586.rpm: Invalid signature ((SHA1) DSA sha1 MD5 GPG GPG#70771ff3 NOT OK) Do you want to continue installation ? (y/N) y installing /var/cache/urpmi/rpms/kdesdk-3.1.3-9mdk.i586.rpm error: /var/cache/urpmi/rpms/kdesdk-3.1.3-9mdk.i586.rpm: MD5 digest: BAD Expected(97f2ba5a91888cd3af40f89be6b65868) != (393221db35071aa90eaa73816a9a5ba8) unable to install package /var/cache/urpmi/rpms/kdesdk-3.1.3-9mdk.i586.rpm

Notice the two lines Invalid signature ((SHA1) DSA sha1 MD5 GPG GPG#70771ff3 NOT OK) and MD5 digest: BAD Expected(97f2ba5a91888cd3af40f89be6b65868) != (393221db35071aa90eaa73816a9a5ba8). The file kdesdk-3.1.3-9mdk.i586.rpm is corrupted and will not be installed.

The solution is to remove the file from /var/cache/urpmi/rpms/ and download it again. Try again to install it with urpmi or rpm --import <filename>

If it still does not work, it means that your mirror has a corrupted file. Try downloading it manually from two or three other mirrors and save it in the /var/cache/urpmi/rpms/ folder. Always manually remove the previously downloaded file before attempting to use another mirror. Then install it again with urpmi.

It happens that the same corrupted file is mirrored in every FTP-server. If you've tried several servers and you always run into the same problem, check in a Mageia user forum or mailing list whether other users have the same problem with the same file. If this is the case, probably a new file will be released soon.

Troubleshooting

RPM database locked

If you get "urpmi database is locked" while trying to install a package, it usually means that another process is using the database. This could be for example:

• One of the Mageia software management applications:
  • rpmdrake aka "Install & remove software"
  • drakrpm-edit-media aka "Configure media sources for install & update"
• mgaapplet, the update applet, updating the urpmi database in the background (this is the applet responsible for the icon in the system tray notifying the users of the availability of updates)
• A urpmi/rpm process installing or uninstalling a package

Starting from the Mageia 1 release urpmi will display the whole command line of the process using the urpmi database, that makes it easier to identify it.

If you are sure you have not started any other urpmi commands or software management windows then it's probably mgaapplet updating the urpmi database and checking for updates in the background. Simply wait a while, and try again.

If the problem persists, then check what's using it, this command should do the job (as said above urpmi will display the command line of the process locking the urpmi database):

ps aux | grep rpm

you can kill the process but you must be cautious so as not to harm the urpmi/rpm database. e.g. if it's urpmi.update, you can kill it, as this command only updates the urpmi database, and if it quits without finishing it'll update the db the next time it's run.

Deleting the urpmi LOCK files manually is not recommended nor needed

urpmi uses f-lock to lock the urpmi database when a urpmi process is running, this means that urpmi can detect if the LOCK files (/var/lib/urpmi/.LOCK and /var/lib/rpm/RPMLOCK) are "stale" (i.e. a process was running before and created the LOCK files but didn't exit cleanly and so didn't delete the LOCK files); when urpmi detects "stale" lock files it simply deletes them and creates new ones. So you should never need to delete those LOCK files manually, instead you should follow the above steps to investigate/fix the "urpmi database is locked" message, if you ever see it.

Rebuild your database

If the database becomes inconsistent (an inconsistency can lead rpm to tell you that a "package is already installed" when it is actually not, and vice-versa) then you can rebuild the rpm database using this command: rpm --rebuilddb

* It is a good idea to regularly back up your /var/lib/rpm directory. Then you can always revert to a previously good database and reinstall the packages that came later with:

rpm -ivh --justdb --noscripts --notriggers

Failed downloads

Failed downloads may hinder a successful update.

To remove bad rpm files use urpmi --clean.

Or use urpmi --resume to continue an interrupted download.

The "medium <medium_name> uses an invalid list" error

rm /var/lib/urpmi/list.<medium_name>

This will stop the error from happening without interfering with package installation.

RPM package verification

A really useful tool for checking a broken system is to verify the packages against the rpm database.

rpm -Va

This will tell you which packages have changed since you installed them (i.e. it lists all the ways in which your system is inconsistent with the rpm database) For example, if you have a power failure during boot, some files may become corrupt. (Or just if you have done something daft). Knowing this, you can fix your system to be as good as new by re-installing the packages concerned. (This can even be done on an unbootable system, if you use a rescue CD to boot and fix it.)

To check a single package use rpm -V packagename (name is enough, version numbers etc. can be left out).

To reinstall a package, use the command:

urpmi --replacepkgs packagename

You can also use the command urpmi --no-install packagename to download the rpm file(s) without installation and then use:

rpm -i --replacepkgs /var/cache/urpmi/rpms/packagename.rpm

to install the package (assuming that packagename.rpm is the name of the rpm file).

To verify one or more package's proper md5sum, hash and gpg signature:

rpm -K foo.123.rpm, or rpm -K foo*

RPM sources

In order to work on sources files of a package, you can use urpmi to download the SRPMS rpm file:

urpmi.addmedia core_src https://mirror.accum.se/mirror/mageia/distrib/9/SRPMS/core/release

and then you can install it:

urpmi --install-src packagename

If you add --noclean, you will keep it on the rpm build top directory. Please notice that you don't need to be root to download the src.rpm, just type:

/usr/sbin/urpmi --install-src packagename

and you will get the unpackaged SRPM in ~/rpmbuild . Now you can rebuild your binary.

rpm-build -bb ~/rpmbuild/SPECS/packagename.spec

Early bird slow

If msec is verifying your system it uses the rpm database, but that is done at nice 19, and usually very early in the morning. On a slow box this can take a long time. If ps -e shows msec, rpmv, grep and sort , you can speed up rpmdrake / urpmi by renicing rpmw, grep and sort to 0.

Other places to learn more about urpmi

Below are other resources with more detailed information about urpmi:

• Issue only the urpm* command itself to get a short help
• man pages: check the man pages for all the options. Those are the most up-to-date sources of information (Remember: they can also be opened in many browsers, just enter: man:urpmi in the addressfield).
• Also read the instructions in the Mageia release notes for the version you want to upgrade to.

See installed packages using rpm

• rpm -qa lists all installed packages. Pipe it through grep, i.e rpm -qa | grep drak to see all with "drak" in their name.
• "What source package was drakrpm built from?" rpm -qif `which drakrpm`

Other ways to install programs in Mageia

See Ways to install programs