Provided by: dnf_4.23.0-1_all 
NAME
dnf4 - DNF Command Reference
SYNOPSIS
dnf [options] <command> [<args>...]
DESCRIPTION
DNF is the next upcoming major version of YUM, a package manager for RPM-based Linux distributions. It
roughly maintains CLI compatibility with YUM and defines a strict API for extensions and plugins.
Plugins can modify or extend features of DNF or provide additional CLI commands on top of those mentioned
below. If you know the name of such a command (including commands mentioned below), you may find/install
the package which provides it using the appropriate virtual provide in the form of dnf-command(<alias>),
where <alias> is the name of the command; e.g. dnf install 'dnf-command(versionlock)' installs a
versionlock plugin. This approach also applies to specifying dependencies of packages that require a
particular DNF command.
Return values:
• 0 : Operation was successful.
• 1 : An error occurred, which was handled by dnf.
• 3 : An unknown unhandled error occurred during operation.
• 100: See check-update
• 200: There was a problem with acquiring or releasing of locks.
Available commands:
• alias
• autoremove
• check
• check-update
• clean
• deplist
• distro-sync
• downgrade
• group
• help
• history
• info
• install
• list
• makecache
• mark
• module
• provides
• reinstall
• remove
• repoinfo
• repolist
• repoquery
• repository-packages
• search
• shell
• swap
• updateinfo
• upgrade
• upgrade-minimal
Additional information:
• Options
• Specifying Packages
• Specifying Provides
• Specifying File Provides
• Specifying Groups
• Specifying Transactions
• Metadata Synchronization
• Configuration Files Replacement Policy
• Files
• See Also
OPTIONS
-4 Resolve to IPv4 addresses only.
-6 Resolve to IPv6 addresses only.
--advisory=<advisory>, --advisories=<advisory>
Include packages corresponding to the advisory ID, Eg. FEDORA-2201-123. Applicable for the
install, repoquery, updateinfo, upgrade and offline-upgrade (dnf-plugins-core) commands.
--allowerasing
Allow erasing of installed packages to resolve dependencies. This option could be used as an
alternative to the yum swap command where packages to remove are not explicitly defined.
--assumeno
Automatically answer no for all questions.
-b, --best
Try the best available package versions in transactions. Specifically during dnf upgrade, which by
default skips over updates that can not be installed for dependency reasons, the switch forces DNF
to only consider the latest packages. When running into packages with broken dependencies, DNF
will fail giving a reason why the latest version can not be installed.
Note that the use of the newest available version is only guaranteed for the packages directly
requested (e.g. as a command line arguments), and the solver may use older versions of
dependencies to meet their requirements.
--bugfix
Include packages that fix a bugfix issue. Applicable for the install, repoquery, updateinfo,
upgrade and offline-upgrade (dnf-plugins-core) commands.
--bz=<bugzilla>, --bzs=<bugzilla>
Include packages that fix a Bugzilla ID, Eg. 123123. Applicable for the install, repoquery,
updateinfo, upgrade and offline-upgrade (dnf-plugins-core) commands.
-C, --cacheonly
Run entirely from system cache, don't update the cache and use it even in case it is expired.
DNF uses a separate cache for each user under which it executes. The cache for the root user is
called the system cache. This switch allows a regular user read-only access to the system cache,
which usually is more fresh than the user's and thus he does not have to wait for metadata sync.
--color=<color>
Control whether color is used in terminal output. Valid values are always, never and auto
(default).
--comment=<comment>
Add a comment to the transaction history.
-c <config file>, --config=<config file>
Configuration file location.
--cve=<cves>, --cves=<cves>
Include packages that fix a CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) ID (‐
http://cve.mitre.org/about/), Eg. CVE-2201-0123. Applicable for the install, repoquery,
updateinfo, upgrade and offline-upgrade (dnf-plugins-core) commands.
-d <debug level>, --debuglevel=<debug level>
Debugging output level. This is an integer value between 0 (no additional information strings) and
10 (shows all debugging information, even that not understandable to the user), default is 2.
Deprecated, use -v instead.
--debugsolver
Dump data aiding in dependency solver debugging into ./debugdata.
--disableexcludes=[all|main|<repoid>], --disableexcludepkgs=[all|main|<repoid>]
Disable excludepkgs and includepkgs configuration options. Takes one of the following three
options:
• all, disables all excludepkgs and includepkgs configurations
• main, disables excludepkgs and includepkgs defined in the [main] section
• repoid, disables excludepkgs and includepkgs defined for the given repository
Note that the --exclude option appends to the [main] excludepkgs configuration and therefore is
disabled when main or all is specified.
--disable, --set-disabled
Disable specified repositories (automatically saves). The option has to be used together with the
config-manager command (dnf-plugins-core).
--disableplugin=<plugin names>
Disable the listed plugins specified by names or globs.
--disablerepo=<repoid>
Temporarily disable active repositories for the purpose of the current dnf command. Accepts an
id, a comma-separated list of ids, or a glob of ids. This option can be specified multiple times,
but is mutually exclusive with --repo.
--downloaddir=<path>, --destdir=<path>
Redirect downloaded packages to provided directory. The option has to be used together with the -‐
-downloadonly command line option, with the download, modulesync, reposync or system-upgrade
commands (dnf-plugins-core).
--downloadonly
Download the resolved package set without performing any rpm transaction (install/upgrade/erase).
Packages are removed after the next successful transaction. This applies also when used together
with --destdir option as the directory is considered as a part of the DNF cache. To persist the
packages, use the download command instead.
-e <error level>, --errorlevel=<error level>
Error output level. This is an integer value between 0 (no error output) and 10 (shows all error
messages), default is 3. Deprecated, use -v instead.
--enable, --set-enabled
Enable specified repositories (automatically saves). The option has to be used together with the
config-manager command (dnf-plugins-core).
--enableplugin=<plugin names>
Enable the listed plugins specified by names or globs.
--enablerepo=<repoid>
Temporarily enable additional repositories for the purpose of the current dnf command. Accepts an
id, a comma-separated list of ids, or a glob of ids. This option can be specified multiple times.
--enhancement
Include enhancement relevant packages. Applicable for the install, repoquery, updateinfo, upgrade
and offline-upgrade (dnf-plugins-core) commands.
-x <package-file-spec>, --exclude=<package-file-spec>
Exclude packages specified by <package-file-spec> from the operation.
--excludepkgs=<package-file-spec>
Deprecated option. It was replaced by the --exclude option.
--forcearch=<arch>
Force the use of an architecture. Any architecture can be specified. However, use of an
architecture not supported natively by your CPU will require emulation of some kind. This is
usually through QEMU. The behavior of --forcearch can be configured by using the arch and
ignorearch configuration options with values <arch> and True respectively.
-h, --help, --help-cmd
Show the help.
--installroot=<path>
Specifies an alternative installroot, relative to where all packages will be installed. Think of
this like doing chroot <root> dnf, except using --installroot allows dnf to work before the chroot
is created. It requires absolute path.
• cachedir, log files, releasever, and gpgkey are taken from or stored in the installroot. Gpgkeys are
imported into the installroot from a path relative to the host which can be specified in the repository
section of configuration files.
• configuration file and reposdir are searched inside the installroot first. If they are not present,
they are taken from the host system. Note: When a path is specified within a command line argument
(--config=<config file> in case of configuration file and --setopt=reposdir=<reposdir> for reposdir)
then this path is always relative to the host with no exceptions.
• vars are taken from the host system or installroot according to reposdir . When reposdir path is
specified within a command line argument, vars are taken from the installroot. When varsdir paths are
specified within a command line argument (--setopt=varsdir=<reposdir>) then those path are always
relative to the host with no exceptions.
• The pluginpath and pluginconfpath are relative to the host.
Note: You may also want to use the command-line option --releasever=<release> when creating the
installroot, otherwise the $releasever value is taken from the rpmdb within the installroot (and thus
it is empty at the time of creation and the transaction will fail). If --releasever=/ is used, the
releasever will be detected from the host (/) system. The new installroot path at the time of creation
does not contain the repository, releasever and dnf.conf files.
On a modular system you may also want to use the
--setopt=module_platform_id=<module_platform_name:stream> command-line option when creating the
installroot, otherwise the module_platform_id value will be taken from the /etc/os-release file within
the installroot (and thus it will be empty at the time of creation, the modular dependency could be
unsatisfied and modules content could be excluded).
Installroot examples:
dnf --installroot=<installroot> --releasever=<release> install system-release
Permanently sets the releasever of the system in the <installroot> directory to <release>.
dnf --installroot=<installroot> --setopt=reposdir=<path> --config /path/dnf.conf upgrade
Upgrades packages inside the installroot from a repository described by --setopt using
configuration from /path/dnf.conf.
--newpackage
Include newpackage relevant packages. Applicable for the install, repoquery, updateinfo, upgrade
and offline-upgrade (dnf-plugins-core) commands.
--noautoremove
Disable removal of dependencies that are no longer used. It sets clean_requirements_on_remove
configuration option to False.
--nobest
Set best option to False, so that transactions are not limited to best candidates only.
--nodocs
Do not install documentation. Sets the rpm flag 'RPMTRANS_FLAG_NODOCS'.
--nogpgcheck
Skip checking GPG signatures on packages (if RPM policy allows).
--noplugins
Disable all plugins.
--obsoletes
This option has an effect on an install/update, it enables dnf's obsoletes processing logic. For
more information see the obsoletes option.
This option also displays capabilities that the package obsoletes when used together with the
repoquery command.
Configuration Option: obsoletes
-q, --quiet
In combination with a non-interactive command, shows just the relevant content. Suppresses
messages notifying about the current state or actions of DNF.
-R <minutes>, --randomwait=<minutes>
Maximum command wait time.
--refresh
Set metadata as expired before running the command.
--releasever=<release>
Configure DNF as if the distribution release was <release>. This can affect cache paths, values in
configuration files and mirrorlist URLs.
--releasever_major=<major version>
Override the releasever_major variable, which is usually automatically detected or taken from the
part of $releasever before the first .. This option does not affect the $releasever variable.
--releasever_minor=<minor version>
Override the releasever_minor variable, which is usually automatically detected or taken from the
part of $releasever after the first .. This option does not affect the $releasever variable.
--repofrompath <repo>,<path/url>
Specify a repository to add to the repositories for this query. This option can be used multiple
times.
• The repository label is specified by <repo>.
• The path or url to the repository is specified by <path/url>. It is the same path as a baseurl and can
be also enriched by the repo variables.
• The configuration for the repository can be adjusted using --setopt=<repo>.<option>=<value>.
• If you want to view only packages from this repository, combine this with the --repo=<repo> or
--disablerepo="*" switches.
--repo=<repoid>, --repoid=<repoid>
Enable just specific repositories by an id or a glob. Can be used multiple times with accumulative
effect. It is basically a shortcut for --disablerepo="*" --enablerepo=<repoid> and is mutually
exclusive with the --disablerepo option.
--rpmverbosity=<name>
RPM debug scriptlet output level. Sets the debug level to <name> for RPM scriptlets. For
available levels, see the rpmverbosity configuration option.
--sec-severity=<severity>, --secseverity=<severity>
Includes packages that provide a fix for an issue of the specified severity. Applicable for the
install, repoquery, updateinfo, upgrade and offline-upgrade (dnf-plugins-core) commands.
--security
Includes packages that provide a fix for a security issue. Applicable for the install, repoquery,
updateinfo, upgrade and offline-upgrade (dnf-plugins-core) commands.
--setopt=<option>=<value>
Override a configuration option from the configuration file. To override configuration options for
repositories, use repoid.option for the <option>. Values for configuration options like
excludepkgs, includepkgs, installonlypkgs and tsflags are appended to the original value, they do
not override it. However, specifying an empty value (e.g. --setopt=tsflags=) will clear the
option.
--skip-broken
Resolve depsolve problems by removing packages that are causing problems from the transaction. It
is an alias for the strict configuration option with value False. Additionally, with the enable
and disable module subcommands it allows one to perform an action even in case of broken modular
dependencies.
--showduplicates
Show duplicate packages in repositories. Applicable for the list and search commands.
--transient
Applicable only on bootc (bootable containers) systems. Perform transactions using a transient
overlay which will be lost on the next reboot. See also the persistence configuration option.
-v, --verbose
Verbose operation, show debug messages.
--version
Show DNF version and exit.
-y, --assumeyes
Automatically answer yes for all questions.
List options are comma-separated. Command-line options override respective settings from configuration
files.
COMMANDS
For an explanation of <package-spec>, <package-file-spec> and <package-name-spec> see Specifying
Packages.
For an explanation of <provide-spec> see Specifying Provides.
For an explanation of <group-spec> see Specifying Groups.
For an explanation of <module-spec> see Specifying Modules.
For an explanation of <transaction-spec> see Specifying Transactions.
Alias Command
Command: alias
Allows the user to define and manage a list of aliases (in the form <name=value>), which can be then used
as dnf commands to abbreviate longer command sequences. For examples on using the alias command, see
Alias Examples. For examples on the alias processing, see Alias Processing Examples.
To use an alias (name=value), the name must be placed as the first "command" (e.g. the first argument
that is not an option). It is then replaced by its value and the resulting sequence is again searched for
aliases. The alias processing stops when the first found command is not a name of any alias.
In case the processing would result in an infinite recursion, the original arguments are used instead.
Also, like in shell aliases, if the result starts with a \, the alias processing will stop.
All aliases are defined in configuration files in the /etc/dnf/aliases.d/ directory in the [aliases]
section, and aliases created by the alias command are written to the USER.conf file. In case of
conflicts, the USER.conf has the highest priority, and alphabetical ordering is used for the rest of the
configuration files.
Optionally, there is the enabled option in the [main] section defaulting to True. This can be set for
each file separately in the respective file, or globally for all aliases in the ALIASES.conf file.
dnf alias [options] [list] [<name>...]
List aliases with their final result. The [<alias>...] parameter further limits the result to only
those aliases matching it.
dnf alias [options] add <name=value>...
Create new aliases.
dnf alias [options] delete <name>...
Delete aliases.
Alias Examples
dnf alias list
Lists all defined aliases.
dnf alias add rm=remove
Adds a new command alias called rm which works the same as the remove command.
dnf alias add upgrade="\upgrade --skip-broken --disableexcludes=all --obsoletes"
Adds a new command alias called upgrade which works the same as the upgrade command, with
additional options. Note that the original upgrade command is prefixed with a \ to prevent an
infinite loop in alias processing.
Alias Processing Examples
If there are defined aliases in=install and FORCE="--skip-broken --disableexcludes=all":
• dnf FORCE in will be replaced with dnf --skip-broken --disableexcludes=all install
• dnf in FORCE will be replaced with dnf install FORCE (which will fail)
If there is defined alias in=install:
• dnf in will be replaced with dnf install
• dnf --repo updates in will be replaced with dnf --repo updates in (which will fail)
Autoremove Command
Command: autoremove
Aliases for explicit NEVRA matching: autoremove-n, autoremove-na, autoremove-nevra
dnf [options] autoremove
Removes all packages from the system that were originally installed as dependencies of user-installed
packages, but which are no longer required by any such package.
dnf [options] autoremove <spec>...
This is an alias for the Remove Command command with clean_requirements_on_remove set to True. It
removes the specified packages from the system along with any packages depending on the packages being
removed. Each <spec> can be either a <package-spec>, which specifies a package directly, or a
@<group-spec>, which specifies an (environment) group which contains it. It also removes any
dependencies that are no longer needed.
There are also a few specific autoremove commands autoremove-n, autoremove-na and autoremove-nevra that
allow the specification of an exact argument in the NEVRA (name-epoch:version-release.architecture)
format.
This command by default does not force a sync of expired metadata. See also Metadata Synchronization.
Check Command
Command: check
dnf [options] check [--dependencies] [--duplicates] [--obsoleted] [--provides]
Checks the local packagedb and produces information on any problems it finds. You can limit the checks
to be performed by using the --dependencies, --duplicates, --obsoleted and --provides options (the
default is to check everything).
Check-Update Command
Command: check-update
Aliases: check-upgrade
dnf [options] check-update [--changelogs] [<package-file-spec>...]
Non-interactively checks if updates of the specified packages are available. If no
<package-file-spec> is given, checks whether any updates at all are available for your system. DNF
exit code will be 100 when there are updates available and a list of the updates will be printed,
0 if not and 1 if an error occurs. If --changelogs option is specified, also changelog delta of
packages about to be updated is printed.
Please note that having a specific newer version available for an installed package (and reported
by check-update) does not imply that subsequent dnf upgrade will install it. The difference is
that dnf upgrade has restrictions (like package dependencies being satisfied) to take into
account.
The output is affected by the autocheck_running_kernel configuration option.
Clean Command
Command: clean
Performs cleanup of temporary files kept for repositories. This includes any such data left behind from
disabled or removed repositories as well as for different distribution release versions.
dnf clean dbcache
Removes cache files generated from the repository metadata. This forces DNF to regenerate the
cache files the next time it is run.
dnf clean expire-cache
Marks the repository metadata expired. DNF will re-validate the cache for each repository the next
time it is used.
dnf clean metadata
Removes repository metadata. Those are the files which DNF uses to determine the remote
availability of packages. Using this option will make DNF download all the metadata the next time
it is run.
dnf clean packages
Removes any cached packages from the system.
dnf clean all
Does all of the above.
Deplist Command
dnf [options] deplist [<select-options>] [<query-options>] [<package-spec>]
Deprecated alias for dnf repoquery --deplist.
Distro-Sync Command
Command: distro-sync
Aliases: dsync
Deprecated aliases: distrosync, distribution-synchronization
dnf distro-sync [<package-spec>...]
As necessary upgrades, downgrades or keeps selected installed packages to match the latest version
available from any enabled repository. If no package is given, all installed packages are
considered.
See also Configuration Files Replacement Policy.
Downgrade Command
Command: downgrade
Aliases: dg
dnf [options] downgrade <package-spec>...
Downgrades the specified packages to the highest installable package of all known lower versions
if possible. When version is given and is lower than version of installed package then it
downgrades to target version.
Group Command
Command: group
Aliases: grp
Deprecated aliases: groups, grouplist, groupinstall, groupupdate, groupremove, grouperase, groupinfo
Groups are virtual collections of packages. DNF keeps track of groups that the user selected ("marked")
installed and can manipulate the comprising packages with simple commands.
dnf [options] group [summary] <group-spec>
Display overview of how many groups are installed and available. With a spec, limit the output to
the matching groups. summary is the default groups subcommand.
dnf [options] group info <group-spec>
Display package lists of a group. Shows which packages are installed or available from a
repository when -v is used.
dnf [options] group install [--with-optional] <group-spec>...
Mark the specified group installed and install packages it contains. Also include optional
packages of the group if --with-optional is specified. All Mandatory and Default packages will be
installed whenever possible. Conditional packages are installed if they meet their requirement.
If the group is already (partially) installed, the command installs the missing packages from the
group. Depending on the value of obsoletes configuration option group installation takes
obsoletes into account.
dnf [options] group list <group-spec>...
List all matching groups, either among installed or available groups. If nothing is specified,
list all known groups. --installed and --available options narrow down the requested list.
Records are ordered by the display_order tag defined in comps.xml file. Provides a list of all
hidden groups by using option --hidden. Provides group IDs when the -v or --ids options are used.
dnf [options] group remove <group-spec>...
Mark the group removed and remove those packages in the group from the system which do not belong
to another installed group and were not installed explicitly by the user.
dnf [options] group upgrade <group-spec>...
Upgrades the packages from the group and upgrades the group itself. The latter comprises of
installing packages that were added to the group by the distribution and removing packages that
got removed from the group as far as they were not installed explicitly by the user.
Groups can also be marked installed or removed without physically manipulating any packages:
dnf [options] group mark install <group-spec>...
Mark the specified group installed. No packages will be installed by this command, but the group
is then considered installed.
dnf [options] group mark remove <group-spec>...
Mark the specified group removed. No packages will be removed by this command.
See also Configuration Files Replacement Policy.
Help Command
Command: help
dnf help [<command>]
Displays the help text for all commands. If given a command name then only displays help for that
particular command.
History Command
Command: history
Aliases: hist
The history command allows the user to view what has happened in past transactions and act according to
this information (assuming the history_record configuration option is set).
dnf history [list] [--reverse] [<spec>...]
The default history action is listing information about given transactions in a table. Each <spec>
can be either a <transaction-spec>, which specifies a transaction directly, or a
<transaction-spec>..<transaction-spec>, which specifies a range of transactions, or a
<package-name-spec>, which specifies a transaction by a package which it manipulated. When no
transaction is specified, list all known transactions.
Note that transient transactions (see --transient) will be listed even though they do not make
persistent changes to files under /usr or to the RPM database.
The "Action(s)" column lists each type of action taken in the transaction. The possible values
are:
• Install (I): a new package was installed on the system
• Downgrade (D): an older version of a package replaced the previously-installed version
• Obsolete (O): an obsolete package was replaced by a new package
• Upgrade (U): a newer version of the package replaced the previously-installed version
• Remove (E): a package was removed from the system
• Reinstall (R): a package was reinstalled with the same version
• Reason change (C): a package was kept in the system but its reason for being installed changed
The "Altered" column lists the number of actions taken in each transaction, possibly followed by
one or two of the following symbols:
• >: The RPM database was changed, outside DNF, after the transaction
• <: The RPM database was changed, outside DNF, before the transaction
• *: The transaction aborted before completion
• #: The transaction completed, but with a non-zero status
• E: The transaction completed successfully, but had warning/error output
--reverse
The order of history list output is printed in reverse order.
dnf history info [<spec>...]
Describe the given transactions. The meaning of <spec> is the same as in the History List Command.
When no transaction is specified, describe what happened during the latest transaction.
dnf history redo <transaction-spec>|<package-file-spec>
Repeat the specified transaction. Uses the last transaction (with the highest ID) if more than one
transaction for given <package-file-spec> is found. If it is not possible to redo some operations
due to the current state of RPMDB, it will not redo the transaction.
dnf history replay [--ignore-installed] [--ignore-extras] [--skip-unavailable] <filename>
Replay a transaction stored in file <filename> by History Store Command. The replay will perform
the exact same operations on the packages as in the original transaction and will return with an
error if case of any differences in installed packages or their versions. See also the Transaction
JSON Format specification of the file format.
--ignore-installed
Don't check for the installed packages being in the same state as those recorded in the
transaction. E.g. in case there is an upgrade foo-1.0 -> foo-2.0 stored in the transaction,
but there is foo-1.1 installed on the target system.
--ignore-extras
Don't check for extra packages pulled into the transaction on the target system. E.g. the
target system may not have some dependency, which was installed on the source system. The
replay errors out on this by default, as the transaction would not be the same.
--skip-unavailable
In case some packages stored in the transaction are not available on the target system,
skip them instead of erroring out.
dnf history rollback <transaction-spec>|<package-file-spec>
Undo all transactions performed after the specified transaction. Uses the last transaction (with
the highest ID) if more than one transaction for given <package-file-spec> is found. If it is not
possible to undo some transactions due to the current state of RPMDB, it will not undo any
transaction.
dnf history store [--output <output-file>] <transaction-spec>
Store a transaction specified by <transaction-spec>. The transaction can later be replayed by the
History Replay Command.
Warning: The stored transaction format is considered unstable and may change at any time. It will
work if the same version of dnf is used to store and replay (or between versions as long as it
stays the same).
-o <output-file>, --output=<output-file> Store the serialized transaction into <output-file.
Default is transaction.json.
dnf history undo <transaction-spec>|<package-file-spec>
Perform the opposite operation to all operations performed in the specified transaction. Uses the
last transaction (with the highest ID) if more than one transaction for given <package-file-spec>
is found. If it is not possible to undo some operations due to the current state of RPMDB, it will
not undo the transaction.
dnf history userinstalled
Show all packages installed by user, installed from a group or a module profile, and packages
installed outside of DNF. I.e. it lists packages that will stay on the system when Autoremove
Command or Remove Command along with clean_requirements_on_remove configuration option set to True
is executed. Note the same results can be accomplished with dnf repoquery --userinstalled, and the
repoquery command is more powerful in formatting of the output.
This command by default does not force a sync of expired metadata, except for the redo, rollback, and
undo subcommands. See also Metadata Synchronization and Configuration Files Replacement Policy.
Info Command
Command: info
Aliases: if
dnf [options] info [<package-file-spec>...]
Lists description and summary information about installed and available packages.
The info command limits the displayed packages the same way as the list command.
This command by default does not force a sync of expired metadata. See also Metadata Synchronization.
Install Command
Command: install
Aliases: in
Aliases for explicit NEVRA matching: install-n, install-na, install-nevra
Deprecated aliases: localinstall
dnf [options] install <spec>...
Makes sure that the given packages and their dependencies are installed on the system. Each <spec>
can be either a <package-spec>, or a @<module-spec>, or a @<group-spec>. See Install Examples.
If a given package or provide cannot be (and is not already) installed, the exit code will be
non-zero. If the <spec> matches both a @<module-spec> and a @<group-spec>, only the module is
installed.
When <package-spec> to specify the exact version of the package is given, DNF will install the
desired version, no matter which version of the package is already installed. The former version
of the package will be removed in the case of non-installonly package.
On the other hand if <package-spec> specifies only a name, DNF also takes into account packages
obsoleting it when picking which package to install. This behaviour is specific to the install
command. Note that this can lead to seemingly unexpected results if a package has multiple
versions and some older version is being obsoleted. It creates a split in the upgrade-path and
both ways are considered correct, the resulting package is picked simply by lexicographical order.
There are also a few specific install commands install-n, install-na and install-nevra that allow the
specification of an exact argument in the NEVRA format. As a consequence, <spec> will be not matched with
provides and file provides.
See also Configuration Files Replacement Policy.
Install Examples
dnf install tito
Install the tito package (tito is the package name).
dnf install ~/Downloads/tito-0.6.2-1.fc22.noarch.rpm
Install a local rpm file tito-0.6.2-1.fc22.noarch.rpm from the ~/Downloads/ directory.
dnf install tito-0.5.6-1.fc22
Install the package with a specific version. If the package is already installed it will
automatically try to downgrade or upgrade to the specific version.
dnf --best install tito
Install the latest available version of the package. If the package is already installed it will
try to automatically upgrade to the latest version. If the latest version of the package cannot be
installed, the installation will fail.
dnf install vim
DNF will automatically recognize that vim is not a package name, but will look up and install a
package that provides vim with all the required dependencies. Note: Package name match has
precedence over package provides match.
dnf install
https://kojipkgs.fedoraproject.org//packages/tito/0.6.0/1.fc22/noarch/tito-0.6.0-1.fc22.noarch.rpm
Install a package directly from a URL.
dnf install '@docker'
Install all default profiles of module 'docker' and their RPMs. Module streams get enabled
accordingly.
dnf install '@Web Server'
Install the 'Web Server' environmental group.
dnf install /usr/bin/rpmsign
Install a package that provides the /usr/bin/rpmsign file.
dnf -y install tito --setopt=install_weak_deps=False
Install the tito package (tito is the package name) without weak deps. Weak deps are not required
for core functionality of the package, but they enhance the original package (like extended
documentation, plugins, additional functions, etc.).
dnf install --advisory=FEDORA-2018-b7b99fe852 \*
Install all packages that belong to the "FEDORA-2018-b7b99fe852" advisory.
List Command
Command: list
Aliases: ls
Prints lists of packages depending on the packages' relation to the system. A package is installed if it
is present in the RPMDB, and it is available if it is not installed but is present in a repository that
DNF knows about.
The list command also limits the displayed packages according to specific criteria, e.g. to only those
that update an installed package (respecting the repository priority). The exclude option in the
configuration file can influence the result, but if the --disableexcludes command line option is used, it
ensures that all installed packages will be listed.
dnf [options] list [--all] [<package-file-spec>...]
Lists all packages, present in the RPMDB, in a repository or both.
dnf [options] list --installed [<package-file-spec>...]
Lists installed packages.
dnf [options] list --available [<package-file-spec>...]
Lists available packages.
dnf [options] list --extras [<package-file-spec>...]
Lists extras, that is packages installed on the system that are not available in any known
repository.
dnf [options] list --obsoletes [<package-file-spec>...]
List packages installed on the system that are obsoleted by packages in any known repository.
dnf [options] list --recent [<package-file-spec>...]
List packages recently added into the repositories.
dnf [options] list --upgrades [<package-file-spec>...]
List upgrades available for the installed packages.
dnf [options] list --autoremove
List packages which will be removed by the dnf autoremove command.
This command by default does not force a sync of expired metadata. See also Metadata Synchronization.
Makecache Command
Command: makecache
Aliases: mc
dnf [options] makecache
Downloads and caches metadata for enabled repositories. Tries to avoid downloading whenever
possible (e.g. when the local metadata hasn't expired yet or when the metadata timestamp hasn't
changed).
dnf [options] makecache --timer
Like plain makecache, but instructs DNF to be more resource-aware, meaning it will not do anything
if running on battery power, it will terminate immediately if it's too soon after the last
successful makecache run (see dnf.conf(5), metadata_timer_sync), and if the first mirror in a
repository mirrorlist fails, it will not try to synchronize the metadata from more mirrors for
that repository.
Mark Command
Command: mark
dnf mark install <package-spec>...
Marks the specified packages as installed by user. This can be useful if any package was installed
as a dependency and is desired to stay on the system when Autoremove Command or Remove Command
along with clean_requirements_on_remove configuration option set to True is executed.
dnf mark remove <package-spec>...
Unmarks the specified packages as installed by user. Whenever you as a user don't need a specific
package you can mark it for removal. The package stays installed on the system but will be removed
when Autoremove Command or Remove Command along with clean_requirements_on_remove configuration
option set to True is executed. You should use this operation instead of Remove Command if you're
not sure whether the package is a requirement of other user installed packages on the system.
dnf mark group <package-spec>...
Marks the specified packages as installed by group. This can be useful if any package was
installed as a dependency or a user and is desired to be protected and handled as a group member
like during group remove.
Module Command
Command: module
Modularity overview is available at man page dnf.modularity(7). Module subcommands take <module-spec>...
arguments that specify modules or profiles.
dnf [options] module install <module-spec>...
Install module profiles, including their packages. In case no profile was provided, all default
profiles get installed. Module streams get enabled accordingly.
This command cannot be used for switching module streams. Use the dnf module switch-to command for
that.
dnf [options] module update <module-spec>...
Update packages associated with an active module stream, optionally restricted to a profile. If
the profile_name is provided, only the packages referenced by that profile will be updated.
dnf [options] module switch-to <module-spec>...
Switch to or enable a module stream, change versions of installed packages to versions provided by
the new stream, and remove packages from the old stream that are no longer available. It also
updates installed profiles if they are available for the new stream. When a profile was provided,
it installs that profile and does not update any already installed profiles.
This command can be used as a stronger version of the dnf module enable command, which not only
enables modules, but also does a distrosync to all modular packages in the enabled modules.
It can also be used as a stronger version of the dnf module install command, but it requires to
specify profiles that are supposed to be installed, because switch-to command does not use default
profiles. The switch-to command doesn't only install profiles, it also makes a distrosync to all
modular packages in the installed module.
dnf [options] module remove <module-spec>...
Remove installed module profiles, including packages that were installed with the dnf module
install command. Will not remove packages required by other installed module profiles or by other
user-installed packages. In case no profile was provided, all installed profiles get removed.
dnf [options] module remove --all <module-spec>...
Remove installed module profiles, including packages that were installed with the dnf module
install command. With --all option it additionally removes all packages whose names are provided
by specified modules. Packages required by other installed module profiles and packages whose
names are also provided by any other module are not removed.
dnf [options] module enable <module-spec>...
Enable a module stream and make the stream RPMs available in the package set.
Modular dependencies are resolved, dependencies checked and also recursively enabled. In case of
modular dependency issue the operation will be rejected. To perform the action anyway please use
--skip-broken option.
This command cannot be used for switching module streams. Use the dnf module switch-to command for
that.
dnf [options] module disable <module-name>...
Disable a module. All related module streams will become unavailable. Consequently, all installed
profiles will be removed and the module RPMs will become unavailable in the package set. In case
of modular dependency issue the operation will be rejected. To perform the action anyway please
use --skip-broken option.
dnf [options] module reset <module-name>...
Reset module state so it's no longer enabled or disabled. Consequently, all installed profiles
will be removed and only RPMs from the default stream will be available in the package set.
dnf [options] module provides <package-name-spec>...
Lists all modular packages matching <package-name-spec> from all modules (including disabled),
along with the modules and streams they belong to.
dnf [options] module list [--all] [module_name...]
Lists all module streams, their profiles and states (enabled, disabled, default).
dnf [options] module list --enabled [module_name...]
Lists module streams that are enabled.
dnf [options] module list --disabled [module_name...]
Lists module streams that are disabled.
dnf [options] module list --installed [module_name...]
List module streams with installed profiles.
dnf [options] module info <module-spec>...
Print detailed information about given module stream.
dnf [options] module info --profile <module-spec>...
Print detailed information about given module profiles.
dnf [options] module repoquery <module-spec>...
List all available packages belonging to selected modules.
dnf [options] module repoquery --available <module-spec>...
List all available packages belonging to selected modules.
dnf [options] module repoquery --installed <module-spec>...
List all installed packages with same name like packages belonging to selected modules.
Provides Command
Command: provides
Aliases: prov, whatprovides, wp
dnf [options] provides <provide-spec>
Finds the packages providing the given <provide-spec>. This is useful when one knows a filename
and wants to find what package (installed or not) provides this file. The <provide-spec> is
gradually looked for at following locations:
1. The <provide-spec> is matched with all file provides of any available package:
$ dnf provides /usr/bin/gzip
gzip-1.9-9.fc29.x86_64 : The GNU data compression program
Matched from:
Filename : /usr/bin/gzip
2. Then all provides of all available packages are searched:
$ dnf provides "gzip(x86-64)"
gzip-1.9-9.fc29.x86_64 : The GNU data compression program
Matched from:
Provide : gzip(x86-64) = 1.9-9.fc29
3. DNF assumes that the <provide-spec> is a system command, prepends it with /usr/bin/, /usr/sbin/
prefixes (one at a time) and does the file provides search again. For legacy reasons (packages
that didn't do UsrMove) also /bin and /sbin prefixes are being searched:
$ dnf provides zless
gzip-1.9-9.fc29.x86_64 : The GNU data compression program
Matched from:
Filename : /usr/bin/zless
4. If this last step also fails, DNF returns "Error: No Matches found".
This command by default does not force a sync of expired metadata. See also Metadata Synchronization.
Reinstall Command
Command: reinstall
Aliases: rei
dnf [options] reinstall <package-spec>...
Installs the specified packages, fails if some of the packages are either not installed or not
available (i.e. there is no repository where to download the same RPM).
Remove Command
Command: remove
Aliases: rm
Aliases for explicit NEVRA matching: remove-n, remove-na, remove-nevra
Deprecated aliases: erase, erase-n, erase-na, erase-nevra
dnf [options] remove <package-spec>...
Removes the specified packages from the system along with any packages depending on the packages
being removed. Each <spec> can be either a <package-spec>, which specifies a package directly, or
a @<group-spec>, which specifies an (environment) group which contains it. If
clean_requirements_on_remove is enabled (the default), also removes any dependencies that are no
longer needed.
dnf [options] remove --duplicates
Removes older versions of duplicate packages. To ensure the integrity of the system it reinstalls
the newest package. In some cases the command cannot resolve conflicts. In such cases the dnf
shell command with remove --duplicates and upgrade dnf-shell sub-commands could help.
dnf [options] remove --oldinstallonly
Removes old installonly packages, keeping only latest versions and version of running kernel.
There are also a few specific remove commands remove-n, remove-na and remove-nevra that allow the
specification of an exact argument in the NEVRA format. As a consequence, <spec> will be not matched with
provides and file provides.
Remove Examples
dnf remove acpi tito
Remove the acpi and tito packages.
dnf remove $(dnf repoquery --extras --exclude=tito,acpi)
Remove packages not present in any repository, but don't remove the tito and acpi packages (they
still might be removed if they depend on some of the removed packages).
dnf remove --duplicates
Remove older versions of duplicated packages (an equivalent of yum's package-cleanup --cleandups).
Repoinfo Command
Command: repoinfo
An alias for the repolist command that provides more detailed information like dnf repolist -v.
Repolist Command
Command: repolist
dnf [options] repolist [--enabled|--disabled|--all]
Depending on the exact command lists enabled, disabled or all known repositories. Lists all
enabled repositories by default. Provides more detailed information when -v option is used.
This command by default does not force a sync of expired metadata. See also Metadata Synchronization.
Repoquery Command
Command: repoquery
Aliases: rq
Aliases for explicit NEVRA matching: repoquery-n, repoquery-na, repoquery-nevra
dnf [options] repoquery [<select-options>] [<query-options>] [<package-file-spec>]
Searches available DNF repositories for selected packages and displays the requested information
about them. It is an equivalent of rpm -q for remote repositories.
dnf [options] repoquery --groupmember <package-spec>...
List groups that contain <package-spec>.
dnf [options] repoquery --querytags
Provides the list of tags recognized by the --queryformat repoquery option.
There are also a few specific repoquery commands repoquery-n, repoquery-na and repoquery-nevra that allow
the specification of an exact argument in the NEVRA format (does not affect arguments of options like
--whatprovides <arg>, ...). As a consequence, <spec> will be not matched with file provides.
Select Options
Together with <package-file-spec>, control what packages are displayed in the output. If
<package-file-spec> is given, limits the resulting set of packages to those matching the specification.
All packages are considered if no <package-file-spec> is specified.
<package-file-spec>
Package specification in the NEVRA format (name[-[epoch:]version[-release]][.arch]) or a file
provide. See Specifying Packages.
-a, --all
Query all packages (for rpmquery compatibility, also a shorthand for repoquery '*' or repoquery
without arguments).
--arch <arch>[,<arch>...], --archlist <arch>[,<arch>...]
Limit the resulting set only to packages of selected architectures (default is all architectures).
In some cases the result is affected by the basearch of the running system, therefore to run
repoquery for an arch incompatible with your system use the --forcearch=<arch> option to change
the basearch.
--duplicates
Limit the resulting set to installed duplicate packages (i.e. more package versions for the same
name and architecture). Installonly packages are excluded from this set.
--unneeded
Limit the resulting set to leaves packages that were installed as dependencies so they are no
longer needed. This switch lists packages that are going to be removed after executing the dnf
autoremove command.
--available
Limit the resulting set to available packages only (set by default).
--disable-modular-filtering
Disables filtering of modular packages, so that packages of inactive module streams are included
in the result.
--extras
Limit the resulting set to packages that are not present in any of the available repositories.
-f <file>, --file <file>
Limit the resulting set only to the package that owns <file>.
--installed
Limit the resulting set to installed packages only. The exclude option in the configuration file
might influence the result, but if the command line option --disableexcludes is used, it ensures
that all installed packages will be listed.
--installonly
Limit the resulting set to installed installonly packages.
--latest-limit <number>
Limit the resulting set to <number> of latest packages for every package name and architecture.
If <number> is negative, skip <number> of latest packages. For a negative <number> use the
--latest-limit=<number> syntax.
--recent
Limit the resulting set to packages that were recently edited.
--repo <repoid>
Limit the resulting set only to packages from a repository identified by <repoid>. Can be used
multiple times with accumulative effect.
--unsatisfied
Report unsatisfied dependencies among installed packages (i.e. missing requires and existing
conflicts).
--upgrades
Limit the resulting set to packages that provide an upgrade for some already installed package.
--userinstalled
Limit the resulting set to packages installed by the user. The exclude option in the configuration
file might influence the result, but if the command line option --disableexcludes is used, it
ensures that all installed packages will be listed.
--whatdepends <capability>[,<capability>...]
Limit the resulting set only to packages that require, enhance, recommend, suggest or supplement
any of <capabilities>.
--whatconflicts <capability>[,<capability>...]
Limit the resulting set only to packages that conflict with any of <capabilities>.
--whatenhances <capability>[,<capability>...]
Limit the resulting set only to packages that enhance any of <capabilities>. Use --whatdepends if
you want to list all depending packages.
--whatobsoletes <capability>[,<capability>...]
Limit the resulting set only to packages that obsolete any of <capabilities>.
--whatprovides <capability>[,<capability>...]
Limit the resulting set only to packages that provide any of <capabilities>.
--whatrecommends <capability>[,<capability>...]
Limit the resulting set only to packages that recommend any of <capabilities>. Use --whatdepends
if you want to list all depending packages.
--whatrequires <capability>[,<capability>...]
Limit the resulting set only to packages that require any of <capabilities>. Use --whatdepends if
you want to list all depending packages.
--whatsuggests <capability>[,<capability>...]
Limit the resulting set only to packages that suggest any of <capabilities>. Use --whatdepends if
you want to list all depending packages.
--whatsupplements <capability>[,<capability>...]
Limit the resulting set only to packages that supplement any of <capabilities>. Use --whatdepends
if you want to list all depending packages.
--alldeps
This option is stackable with --whatrequires or --whatdepends only. Additionally it adds all
packages requiring the package features to the result set (used as default).
--exactdeps
This option is stackable with --whatrequires or --whatdepends only. Limit the resulting set only
to packages that require <capability> specified by --whatrequires.
--srpm Operate on the corresponding source RPM.
Query Options
Set what information is displayed about each package.
The following are mutually exclusive, i.e. at most one can be specified. If no query option is given,
matching packages are displayed in the standard NEVRA notation.
-i, --info
Show detailed information about the package.
-l, --list
Show the list of files in the package.
-s, --source
Show the package source RPM name.
--changelogs
Print the package changelogs.
--conflicts
Display capabilities that the package conflicts with. Same as --qf "%{conflicts}.
--depends
Display capabilities that the package depends on, enhances, recommends, suggests or supplements.
--enhances
Display capabilities enhanced by the package. Same as --qf "%{enhances}"".
--location
Show a location where the package could be downloaded from.
--obsoletes
Display capabilities that the package obsoletes. Same as --qf "%{obsoletes}".
--provides
Display capabilities provided by the package. Same as --qf "%{provides}".
--recommends
Display capabilities recommended by the package. Same as --qf "%{recommends}".
--requires
Display capabilities that the package depends on. Same as --qf "%{requires}".
--requires-pre
Display capabilities that the package depends on for running a %pre script. Same as --qf
"%{requires-pre}".
--suggests
Display capabilities suggested by the package. Same as --qf "%{suggests}".
--supplements
Display capabilities supplemented by the package. Same as --qf "%{supplements}".
--tree Display a recursive tree of packages with capabilities specified by one of the following
supplementary options: --whatrequires, --requires, --conflicts, --enhances, --suggests,
--provides, --supplements, --recommends.
--deplist
Produce a list of all direct dependencies and what packages provide those dependencies for the
given packages. The result only shows the newest providers (which can be changed by using
--verbose).
--nvr Show found packages in the name-version-release format. Same as --qf
"%{name}-%{version}-%{release}".
--nevra
Show found packages in the name-epoch:version-release.architecture format. Same as --qf
"%{name}-%{epoch}:%{version}-%{release}.%{arch}" (default).
--envra
Show found packages in the epoch:name-version-release.architecture format. Same as --qf
"%{epoch}:%{name}-%{version}-%{release}.%{arch}"
--qf <format>, --queryformat <format>
Custom display format. <format> is the string to output for each matched package. Every occurrence
of %{<tag>} within is replaced by the corresponding attribute of the package. The list of
recognized tags can be displayed by running dnf repoquery --querytags.
--recursive
Query packages recursively. Has to be used with --whatrequires <REQ> (optionally with --alldeps,
but not with --exactdeps) or with --requires <REQ> --resolve.
--resolve
resolve capabilities to originating package(s).
Repoquery Examples
dnf repoquery 'light*'
Display NEVRAs of all available packages matching light*
dnf repoquery-na 'light*.noarch'
Display NEVRAs of all available packages matching name light* and architecture noarch (accepts
only arguments in the "<name>.<arch>" format)
dnf repoquery --requires lighttpd
Display requires of all lighttpd packages
dnf repoquery --requires python --resolve
Display packages providing the requires of python packages
dnf repoquery --source lighttpd
Display source rpm of lighttpd package
dnf repoquery --file /etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf
Display package name that owns the given file
dnf repoquery --queryformat '%{name}.%{arch} : %{reponame}' lighttpd
Display name, architecture and the containing repository of all lighttpd packages
dnf repoquery --whatprovides webserver
Display all available packages providing "webserver"
dnf repoquery --whatprovides webserver --arch i686
Display all available packages providing "webserver" but only for "i686" architecture
dnf repoquery --duplicates
Display duplicate packages
dnf repoquery --disablerepo="*" --enablerepo="*-source" --arch=src --whatrequires <provide>
Display source packages that require a <provide> for a build
Repository-Packages Command
Command: repository-packages
Deprecated aliases: repo-pkgs, repo-packages, repository-pkgs
The repository-packages command allows the user to run commands on top of all packages in the repository
named <repoid>. However, any dependency resolution takes into account packages from all enabled
repositories. The <package-file-spec> and <package-spec> specifications further limit the candidates to
only those packages matching at least one of them.
The info subcommand lists description and summary information about packages depending on the packages'
relation to the repository. The list subcommand just prints lists of those packages.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> check-update [<package-file-spec>...]
Non-interactively checks if updates of the specified packages in the repository are available. DNF
exit code will be 100 when there are updates available and a list of the updates will be printed.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> info [--all] [<package-file-spec>...]
List all related packages.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> info --installed [<package-file-spec>...]
List packages installed from the repository.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> info --available [<package-file-spec>...]
List packages available in the repository but not currently installed on the system.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> info --extras [<package-file-specs>...]
List packages installed from the repository that are not available in any repository.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> info --obsoletes [<package-file-spec>...]
List packages in the repository that obsolete packages installed on the system.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> info --recent [<package-file-spec>...]
List packages recently added into the repository.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> info --upgrades [<package-file-spec>...]
List packages in the repository that upgrade packages installed on the system.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> install [<package-spec>...]
Install packages matching <package-spec> from the repository. If <package-spec> isn't specified at
all, install all packages from the repository.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> list [--all] [<package-file-spec>...]
List all related packages.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> list --installed [<package-file-spec>...]
List packages installed from the repository.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> list --available [<package-file-spec>...]
List packages available in the repository but not currently installed on the system.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> list --extras [<package-file-spec>...]
List packages installed from the repository that are not available in any repository.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> list --obsoletes [<package-file-spec>...]
List packages in the repository that obsolete packages installed on the system.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> list --recent [<package-file-spec>...]
List packages recently added into the repository.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> list --upgrades [<package-file-spec>...]
List packages in the repository that upgrade packages installed on the system.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> move-to [<package-spec>...]
Reinstall all those packages that are available in the repository.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> reinstall [<package-spec>...]
Run the reinstall-old subcommand. If it fails, run the move-to subcommand.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> reinstall-old [<package-spec>...]
Reinstall all those packages that were installed from the repository and simultaneously are
available in the repository.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> remove [<package-spec>...]
Remove all packages installed from the repository along with any packages depending on the
packages being removed. If clean_requirements_on_remove is enabled (the default) also removes any
dependencies that are no longer needed.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> remove-or-distro-sync [<package-spec>...]
Select all packages installed from the repository. Upgrade, downgrade or keep those of them that
are available in another repository to match the latest version available there and remove the
others along with any packages depending on the packages being removed. If
clean_requirements_on_remove is enabled (the default) also removes any dependencies that are no
longer needed.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> remove-or-reinstall [<package-spec>...]
Select all packages installed from the repository. Reinstall those of them that are available in
another repository and remove the others along with any packages depending on the packages being
removed. If clean_requirements_on_remove is enabled (the default) also removes any dependencies
that are no longer needed.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> upgrade [<package-spec>...]
Update all packages to the highest resolvable version available in the repository. When versions
are specified in the <package-spec>, update to these versions.
dnf [options] repository-packages <repoid> upgrade-to [<package-specs>...]
A deprecated alias for the upgrade subcommand.
Search Command
Command: search
Aliases: se
dnf [options] search [--all] <keywords>...
Search package metadata for keywords. Keywords are matched as case-insensitive substrings,
globbing is supported. By default lists packages that match all requested keys (AND operation).
Keys are searched in package names and summaries. If the --all option is used, lists packages
that match at least one of the keys (an OR operation). In addition the keys are searched in the
package descriptions and URLs. The result is sorted from the most relevant results to the least.
This command by default does not force a sync of expired metadata. See also Metadata Synchronization.
Shell Command
Command: shell
Aliases: sh
dnf [options] shell [filename]
Open an interactive shell for conducting multiple commands during a single execution of DNF. These
commands can be issued manually or passed to DNF from a file. The commands are much the same as
the normal DNF command line options. There are a few additional commands documented below.
config [conf-option] [value]
• Set a configuration option to a requested value. If no value is given it prints the
current value.
repo [list|enable|disable] [repo-id]
• list: list repositories and their status
• enable: enable repository
• disable: disable repository
transaction [list|reset|solve|run]
• list: resolve and list the content of the transaction
• reset: reset the transaction
• run: resolve and run the transaction
Note that all local packages must be used in the first shell transaction subcommand (e.g. install
/tmp/nodejs-1-1.x86_64.rpm /tmp/acpi-1-1.noarch.rpm) otherwise an error will occur. Any disable,
enable, and reset module operations (e.g. module enable nodejs) must also be performed before any
other shell transaction subcommand is used.
Swap Command
Command: swap
dnf [options] swap <remove-spec> <install-spec>
Remove remove-spec and install install-spec in one transaction. Each <spec> can be either a
<package-spec>, which specifies a package directly, or a @<group-spec>, which specifies an
(environment) group which contains it. Automatic conflict solving is provided in DNF by the
--allowerasing option that provides the functionality of the swap command automatically.
Updateinfo Command
Command: updateinfo
Aliases: upif
Deprecated aliases: list-updateinfo, list-security, list-sec, info-updateinfo, info-security, info-sec, summary-updateinfo
dnf [options] updateinfo [--summary|--list|--info] [<availability>] [<spec>...]
Display information about update advisories.
Depending on the output type, DNF displays just counts of advisory types (omitted or --summary),
list of advisories (--list) or detailed information (--info). The -v option extends the output.
When used with --info, the information is even more detailed. When used with --list, an additional
column with date of the last advisory update is added.
<availability> specifies whether advisories about newer versions of installed packages (omitted or
--available), advisories about equal and older versions of installed packages (--installed),
advisories about newer versions of those installed packages for which a newer version is available
(--updates) or advisories about any versions of installed packages (--all) are taken into account.
Most of the time, --available and --updates displays the same output. The outputs differ only in
the cases when an advisory refers to a newer version but there is no enabled repository which
contains any newer version.
Note, that --available takes only the latest installed versions of packages into account. In case
of the kernel packages (when multiple version could be installed simultaneously) also packages of
the currently running version of kernel are added.
To print only advisories referencing a CVE or a bugzilla use --with-cve or --with-bz options. When
these switches are used also the output of the --list is altered - the ID of the CVE or the
bugzilla is printed instead of the one of the advisory.
If given and if neither ID, type (bugfix, enhancement, security/sec) nor a package name of an
advisory matches <spec>, the advisory is not taken into account. The matching is case-sensitive
and in the case of advisory IDs and package names, globbing is supported.
Output of the --summary option is affected by the autocheck_running_kernel configuration option.
Upgrade Command
Command: upgrade
Aliases: up
Deprecated aliases: update, upgrade-to, update-to, localupdate
dnf [options] upgrade
Updates each package to the latest version that is both available and resolvable.
dnf [options] upgrade <package-spec>...
Updates each specified package to the latest available version. Updates dependencies as necessary.
When versions are specified in the <package-spec>, update to these versions.
dnf [options] upgrade @<spec>...
Alias for the dnf module update command.
If the main obsoletes configure option is true or the --obsoletes flag is present, dnf will include
package obsoletes in its calculations. For more information see obsoletes.
See also Configuration Files Replacement Policy.
Upgrade-Minimal Command
Command: upgrade-minimal
Aliases: up-min
Deprecated aliases: update-minimal
dnf [options] upgrade-minimal
Updates each package to the nearest available version that provides a bugfix, enhancement or a fix
for a security issue (security).
dnf [options] upgrade-minimal <package-spec>...
Updates each specified package to the nearest available version that provides a bugfix,
enhancement or a fix for security issue (security). Updates dependencies as necessary.
SPECIFYING PACKAGES
Many commands take a <package-spec> parameter that selects a package for the operation. The
<package-spec> argument is matched against package NEVRAs, provides and file provides.
<package-file-spec> is similar to <package-spec>, except provides matching is not performed. Therefore,
<package-file-spec> is matched only against NEVRAs and file provides.
<package-name-spec> is matched against NEVRAs only.
Globs
Package specification supports the same glob pattern matching that shell does, in all three above
mentioned packages it matches against (NEVRAs, provides and file provides).
The following patterns are supported:
* Matches any number of characters.
? Matches any single character.
[] Matches any one of the enclosed characters. A pair of characters separated by a hyphen denotes a
range expression; any character that falls between those two characters, inclusive, is matched. If
the first character following the [ is a ! or a ^ then any character not enclosed is matched.
Note: Curly brackets ({}) are not supported. You can still use them in shells that support them and let
the shell do the expansion, but if quoted or escaped, dnf will not expand them.
NEVRA Matching
When matching against NEVRAs, partial matching is supported. DNF tries to match the spec against the
following list of NEVRA forms (in decreasing order of priority):
• name-[epoch:]version-release.arch
• name.arch
• name
• name-[epoch:]version-release
• name-[epoch:]version
Note that name can in general contain dashes (e.g. package-with-dashes).
The first form that matches any packages is used and the remaining forms are not tried. If none of the
forms match any packages, an attempt is made to match the <package-spec> against full package NEVRAs.
This is only relevant if globs are present in the <package-spec>.
<package-spec> matches NEVRAs the same way <package-name-spec> does, but in case matching NEVRAs fails,
it attempts to match against provides and file provides of packages as well.
You can specify globs as part of any of the five NEVRA components. You can also specify a glob pattern to
match over multiple NEVRA components (in other words, to match across the NEVRA separators). In that
case, however, you need to write the spec to match against full package NEVRAs, as it is not possible to
split such spec into NEVRA forms.
Specifying NEVRA Matching Explicitly
Some commands (autoremove, install, remove and repoquery) also have aliases with suffixes -n, -na and
-nevra that allow to explicitly specify how to parse the arguments:
• Command install-n only matches against name.
• Command install-na only matches against name.arch.
• Command install-nevra only matches against name-[epoch:]version-release.arch.
SPECIFYING PROVIDES
<provide-spec> in command descriptions means the command operates on packages providing the given spec.
This can either be an explicit provide, an implicit provide (i.e. name of the package) or a file provide.
The selection is case-sensitive and globbing is supported.
Specifying File Provides
If a spec starts with either / or */, it is considered as a potential file provide.
SPECIFYING GROUPS
<group-spec> allows one to select (environment) groups a particular operation should work on. It is a
case insensitive string (supporting globbing characters) that is matched against a group's ID, canonical
name and name translated into the current LC_MESSAGES locale (if possible).
SPECIFYING MODULES
<module-spec> allows one to select modules or profiles a particular operation should work on.
It is in the form of NAME:STREAM:VERSION:CONTEXT:ARCH/PROFILE and supported partial forms are the
following:
• NAME
• NAME:STREAM
• NAME:STREAM:VERSION
• NAME:STREAM:VERSION:CONTEXT
• all above combinations with ::ARCH (e.g. NAME::ARCH)
• NAME:STREAM:VERSION:CONTEXT:ARCH
• all above combinations with /PROFILE (e.g. NAME/PROFILE)
In case stream is not specified, the enabled or the default stream is used, in this order. In case
profile is not specified, the system default profile or the 'default' profile is used.
SPECIFYING TRANSACTIONS
<transaction-spec> can be in one of several forms. If it is an integer, it specifies a transaction ID.
Specifying last is the same as specifying the ID of the most recent transaction. The last form is
last-<offset>, where <offset> is a positive integer. It specifies offset-th transaction preceding the
most recent transaction.
PACKAGE FILTERING
Package filtering filters packages out from the available package set, making them invisible to most of
dnf commands. They cannot be used in a transaction. Packages can be filtered out by either Exclude
Filtering or Modular Filtering.
Exclude Filtering
Exclude Filtering is a mechanism used by a user or by a DNF plugin to modify the set of available
packages. Exclude Filtering can be modified by either includepkgs or excludepkgs configuration options in
configuration files. The --disableexcludes command line option can be used to override excludes from
configuration files. In addition to user-configured excludes, plugins can also extend the set of excluded
packages. To disable excludes from a DNF plugin you can use the --disableplugin command line option.
To disable all excludes for e.g. the install command you can use the following combination of command
line options:
dnf --disableexcludes=all --disableplugin="*" install bash
Modular Filtering
Please see the modularity documentation for details on how Modular Filtering works.
With modularity, only RPM packages from active module streams are included in the available package set.
RPM packages from inactive module streams, as well as non-modular packages with the same name or provides
as a package from an active module stream, are filtered out. Modular filtering is not applied to packages
added from the command line, installed packages, or packages from repositories with module_hotfixes=true
in their .repo file.
Disabling of modular filtering is not recommended, because it could cause the system to get into a broken
state. To disable modular filtering for a particular repository, specify module_hotfixes=true in the
.repo file or use --setopt=<repo_id>.module_hotfixes=true.
To discover the module which contains an excluded package use dnf module provides.
METADATA SYNCHRONIZATION
Correct operation of DNF depends on having access to up-to-date data from all enabled repositories but
contacting remote mirrors on every operation considerably slows it down and costs bandwidth for both the
client and the repository provider. The metadata_expire (see dnf.conf(5)) repository configuration option
is used by DNF to determine whether a particular local copy of repository data is due to be re-synced. It
is crucial that the repository providers set the option well, namely to a value where it is guaranteed
that if particular metadata was available in time T on the server, then all packages it references will
still be available for download from the server in time T + metadata_expire.
To further reduce the bandwidth load, some of the commands where having up-to-date metadata is not
critical (e.g. the list command) do not look at whether a repository is expired and whenever any version
of it is locally available to the user's account, it will be used. For non-root use, see also the
--cacheonly switch. Note that in all situations the user can force synchronization of all enabled
repositories with the --refresh switch.
CONFIGURATION FILES REPLACEMENT POLICY
The updated packages could replace the old modified configuration files with the new ones or keep the
older files. Neither of the files are actually replaced. To the conflicting ones RPM gives additional
suffix to the origin name. Which file should maintain the true name after transaction is not controlled
by package manager but is specified by each package itself, following packaging guideline.
FILES
Cache Files
/var/cache/dnf
Main Configuration
/etc/dnf/dnf.conf
Repository
/etc/yum.repos.d/
SEE ALSO
• dnf.conf(5), DNF Configuration Reference
• dnf-PLUGIN(8) for documentation on DNF plugins.
• dnf.modularity(7), Modularity overview.
• dnf-transaction-json(5), Stored Transaction JSON Format Specification.
• DNF project homepage (https://github.com/rpm-software-management/dnf/)
• How to report a bug (https://github.com/rpm-software-management/dnf/wiki/Bug-Reporting)
• YUM project homepage (http://yum.baseurl.org/)
AUTHOR
See AUTHORS in DNF source distribution.
COPYRIGHT
2012-2020, Red Hat, Licensed under GPLv2+
4.23.0 Mar 09, 2025 DNF4(8)