Going further with DNF in Fedora
April 29, 2021, updated May 5, 2021
Fedora’s DNF package manager is easy to use for everyday tasks, but it’s also easy to miss some very useful lesser known features. This article will look at how to accomplish more with the typical DNF commands you already use.
Running without the network
DNF regularly connects to the network to refresh metadataThe default in Fedora
is seven days for base repositories and six hours for update repositories. This can be changed
with the metadata_expire configuration option. . This slows down even commands that do not
need information from a repository to work.
You can run with the -C/--cacheonly option to skip the network:
dnf -C list installed 'gtk*'
Installed Packages
gtk-update-icon-cache.x86_64 3.24.28-2.fc33 @updates
gtk-vnc2.x86_64 1.0.0-3.fc33 @fedora
gtk2.x86_64 2.24.33-1.fc33 @updates
gtk3.x86_64 3.24.28-2.fc33 @updates
gtk3-devel.x86_64 3.24.28-2.fc33 @updates
gtkmm30.x86_64 3.24.4-1.fc33 @updates
gtksourceview3.x86_64 3.24.11-4.fc33 @fedora
gtksourceview4.x86_64 4.8.1-1.fc33 @updates
gtkspell3.x86_64 3.0.10-6.fc33 @fedora
This option always uses the system cache (the cache of the root user), which is presumably
more up-to-date than the cache of the local user. You will however get an error if you try to
install a package with this, since the cache normally never contains packages waiting to be
installed.
Fedora’s archive repository
The normal Fedora repositories only keep two versions of the same package: the latest (in the updates
repository), and the first one for the current version of Fedora (in the fedora repository). This
can be seen by listing duplicates of a package:
Note the only two options under Available Packages: 246.6-3 at the time Fedora 33 was released, and
246.13-1, the current version.
dnf -C list --showduplicates systemd.x86_64
Installed Packages
systemd.x86_64 246.13-1.fc33 @updates
Available Packages
systemd.x86_64 246.6-3.fc33 fedora
systemd.x86_64 246.13-1.fc33 updates
Downgrading a package
As a result, downgrading a package in Fedora, while theoretically easy, can cause surprises.
For example, trying to downgrade systemd will go all the way down seven (minor) versions, to the
version from the Fedora 33 release:
sudo dnf downgrade systemd
Dependencies resolved.
===============================================================================
Package Architecture Version Repository Size
===============================================================================
Downgrading:
systemd x86_64 246.6-3.fc33 fedora 4.0 M
systemd-container x86_64 246.6-3.fc33 fedora 498 k
systemd-devel x86_64 246.6-3.fc33 fedora 429 k
systemd-libs x86_64 246.6-3.fc33 fedora 578 k
systemd-networkd x86_64 246.6-3.fc33 fedora 467 k
systemd-pam x86_64 246.6-3.fc33 fedora 308 k
systemd-rpm-macros noarch 246.6-3.fc33 fedora 29 k
systemd-udev x86_64 246.6-3.fc33 fedora 1.5 M
Transaction Summary
===============================================================================
Downgrade 8 Packages
That usually isn’t what you want when trying to downgrade a recently updated package.
Using the archive repository
Edit (May 5, 2021): The repository is now enabled by default when installed; the section was changed to reflect this.
Fortunately Fedora includes a repository that contains all packages that ever reached the
updates repository. After installing it, and setting it as disabled by default:since this update all versions of Fedora (except rawhide) have it enabled by default. The rational is that it is normally only installed on editions that actually need it (like Fedora Silverblue).
sudo dnf install fedora-repos-archive
sudo dnf config-manager --set-disabled updates-archive
It becomes available for use, and contains everything you might expect:
dnf list --showduplicates --enablerepo=updates-archive systemd.x86_64
Installed Packages
systemd.x86_64 246.13-1.fc33 @updates
Available Packages
systemd.x86_64 246.6-3.fc33 fedora
systemd.x86_64 246.7-1.fc33 updates-archive
systemd.x86_64 246.7-2.fc33 updates-archive
systemd.x86_64 246.10-1.fc33 updates-archive
systemd.x86_64 246.13-1.fc33 updates
systemd.x86_64 246.13-1.fc33 updates-archive
The more recent 246.10-1 version is now available!
sudo dnf downgrade --enablerepo=updates-archive systemd
Dependencies resolved.
===============================================================================
Package Arch Version Repository Size
===============================================================================
Downgrading:
systemd x86_64 246.10-1.fc33 updates-archive 4.1 M
systemd-container x86_64 246.10-1.fc33 updates-archive 494 k
systemd-devel x86_64 246.10-1.fc33 updates-archive 425 k
systemd-libs x86_64 246.10-1.fc33 updates-archive 579 k
systemd-networkd x86_64 246.10-1.fc33 updates-archive 464 k
systemd-pam x86_64 246.10-1.fc33 updates-archive 307 k
systemd-rpm-macros noarch 246.10-1.fc33 updates-archive 24 k
systemd-udev x86_64 246.10-1.fc33 updates-archive 1.5 M
Transaction Summary
===============================================================================
Downgrade 8 Packages
Undoing history
This also allows to successfully undo transactions with dnf history undo and dnf history rollback:
sudo dnf history undo last
Error: The following problems occurred while running a transaction:
Cannot find rpm nevra "fedpkg-1.40-5.fc33.noarch".
Cannot find rpm nevra "vim-X11-2:8.2.2637-1.fc33.x86_64".
Cannot find rpm nevra "vim-common-2:8.2.2637-1.fc33.x86_64".
Cannot find rpm nevra "vim-enhanced-2:8.2.2637-1.fc33.x86_64".
Cannot find rpm nevra "vim-filesystem-2:8.2.2637-1.fc33.noarch".
Cannot find rpm nevra "vim-minimal-2:8.2.2637-1.fc33.x86_64".
sudo dnf history undo last --enablerepo=updates-archive
Dependencies resolved.
===============================================================================
Package Arch Version Repository Size
===============================================================================
Downgrading:
fedpkg noarch 1.40-5.fc33 updates-archive 88 k
vim-X11 x86_64 2:8.2.2637-1.fc33 updates-archive 1.9 M
vim-common x86_64 2:8.2.2637-1.fc33 updates-archive 6.7 M
vim-enhanced x86_64 2:8.2.2637-1.fc33 updates-archive 1.8 M
vim-filesystem noarch 2:8.2.2637-1.fc33 updates-archive 23 k
vim-minimal x86_64 2:8.2.2637-1.fc33 updates-archive 685 k
Transaction Summary
===============================================================================
Downgrade 6 Packages
Note that the updates-archive repository should probably be kept disabled by default, because
querying it is significantly slower than other repositoriesBecause it has a lot
more metadata than normal: it only ever keeps growing in size, while the updates repository is
cleaned of old packages to keep it fast. . If you don’t mind the metadata download times, you
can remove the --enable-repo arguments above after enabling the repository
with:
sudo dnf config-manager --set-enabled updates-archive
Locking a package in place
Keeping a downgraded package around can be annoying if DNF tries to upgrade it back again all the time.
However, there is a DNF command for this, though you might have to install it first:
Yes, this can be used to locate and install DNF commands, see below.
sudo dnf install 'dnf-command(versionlock)'
Then it can be used to lock packages in place:
sudo dnf -C versionlock add 'vim*'
Adding versionlock on: vim-minimal-2:8.2.2735-1.fc33.*
Adding versionlock on: vim-powerline-0:2.8.2-1.fc33.*
Adding versionlock on: vim-filesystem-2:8.2.2735-1.fc33.*
Adding versionlock on: vim-common-2:8.2.2735-1.fc33.*
Adding versionlock on: vim-X11-2:8.2.2735-1.fc33.*
Adding versionlock on: vim-enhanced-2:8.2.2735-1.fc33.*
You can for example use it to lock a package to minor updates:
sudo dnf -C versionlock add --raw 'firefox-88.*'
Or on the contrary exclude minor updates and wait for the next major one:
sudo dnf -C versionlock exclude --raw 'firefox-88.*'
This can be used to include or exclude packages in a more precise way, compared to adding
exclude entries in the DNF configuration.
Paths instead of package names
Several DNF commands support using paths on the file-system instead of a package name.
The obvious example is provide, which displays packages that provide the file at that path:
dnf provides /etc/vimrc
Last metadata expiration check: 1:55:07 ago on Mon 26 Apr 2021 10:19:03 AM CEST.
vim-common-2:8.2.1770-1.fc33.x86_64 : The common files needed by any version of the VIM editor
Repo : fedora
Matched from:
Filename : /etc/vimrc
vim-common-2:8.2.2787-1.fc33.x86_64 : The common files needed by any version of the VIM editor
Repo : updates
Matched from:
Filename : /etc/vimrc
As a special convenience, dnf provide will prefixthis only works with provide!
the search term with /usr/bin/ if there is no match (and then /usr/sbin), so the
following will work:
dnf provides bzcat
But the path doesn’t actually have to exist locally at all. For example, when installing a package:
Note that it needs to be an absolute path here, otherwise you should use a wildcard.
sudo dnf install /usr/bin/gvim
Wildcards can also be used:
dnf provides '*/libbz2.so*'
Last metadata expiration check: 1 day, 18:45:49 ago on Sat 17 Apr 2021 07:43:37 PM CEST.
bzip2-devel-1.0.8-4.fc33.i686 : Libraries and header files for apps which will use bzip2
Repo : fedora
Matched from:
Filename : /usr/lib/libbz2.so
bzip2-devel-1.0.8-4.fc33.x86_64 : Libraries and header files for apps which will use bzip2
Repo : fedora
Matched from:
Filename : /usr/lib64/libbz2.so
bzip2-libs-1.0.8-4.fc33.i686 : Libraries for applications using bzip2
Repo : fedora
Matched from:
Filename : /usr/lib/libbz2.so.1
Filename : /usr/lib/libbz2.so.1.0.8
bzip2-libs-1.0.8-4.fc33.x86_64 : Libraries for applications using bzip2
Repo : fedora
Matched from:
Filename : /usr/lib64/libbz2.so.1
Filename : /usr/lib64/libbz2.so.1.0.8
This can be particularly useful to re-install locally modified files:
Note that this will not work for most configuration files in
/etc since packages are usually instructed to leave local configuration changes alone.
sudo dnf reinstall '/usr/share/themes/*'
sudo dnf reinstall '/boot/*'
Rich dependencies
Packages in Fedora can provide more that file paths. They also expose richer information about what becomes available once the package is installed.
Missing libraries
Packages expose native library dependencies directly, so an error message like this:
error while loading shared libraries: libbz2.so.1: \
cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Can be diagnosed with:
dnf provides 'libbz2.so.*'
Last metadata expiration check: 2:03:46 ago on Tue Apr 20 08:19:21 2021.
bzip2-libs-1.0.8-4.fc33.i686 : Libraries for applications using bzip2
Repo : fedora
Matched from:
Provide : libbz2.so.1
bzip2-libs-1.0.8-4.fc33.x86_64 : Libraries for applications using bzip2
Repo : @System
Matched from:
Provide : libbz2.so.1()(64bit)
bzip2-libs-1.0.8-4.fc33.x86_64 : Libraries for applications using bzip2
Repo : fedora
Matched from:
Provide : libbz2.so.1()(64bit)
Build dependencies
When manually compiling programs, build systems often use pkgconfig to locate
dependencies. The same dependency names can be used with DNF, regardless of the
actual name of the package:
# before compiling a program that requires dbus
sudo dnf install 'pkgconfig(dbus-1)'
Dependencies resolved.
===============================================================================
Package Arch Version Repository Size
===============================================================================
Installing:
dbus-devel x86_64 1:1.12.20-2.fc33 fedora 36 k
Installing dependencies:
libpkgconf x86_64 1.7.3-5.fc33 updates 36 k
pkgconf x86_64 1.7.3-5.fc33 updates 41 k
pkgconf-m4 noarch 1.7.3-5.fc33 updates 14 k
pkgconf-pkg-config x86_64 1.7.3-5.fc33 updates 10 k
xml-common noarch 0.6.3-55.fc33 fedora 31 k
Transaction Summary
===============================================================================
Install 6 Packages
Fonts
Packaged fonts can be installed by name:
sudo dnf install font(firasans)
# or all the fira fonts:
sudo dnf install font(fira*)
Thus you can list all fonts packaged in Fedora with:
dnf provides 'font(*)' | grep Provide | sort -u
DNF commands
You sometimes see DNF commands that are not available on a system by default—in blog posts for example. Those can be installed by DNF with:
sudo dnf install 'dnf-command(torproxy)'
Libraries from various ecosystems
It is sometimes useful to have a library installed in the standard Python/Ruby/… environment provided by Fedora. The naming of packages is usually consistent enough that you can guess where to find something, but you can also use the following:
sudo dnf install 'rubygem(bundler)'
sudo dnf install 'perl(Socket)'
sudo dnf install 'python3dist(httplib2)'
sudo dnf install 'ocaml(Rope)'
MIME handlers
DNF can be used to find applications capable of opening a file, using its mime-type:
# what is that unknown file?
file -b --mime-type pres.ppt
application/vnd.ms-powerpoint
# how can I open it?
dnf provides 'mimehandler(application/vnd.ms-powerpoint)'
calligra-okular-odpgenerator-3.2.1-4.fc33.i686 : OpenDocument presenter support for okular
Repo : fedora
Matched from:
Provide : mimehandler(application/vnd.ms-powerpoint)
calligra-okular-odpgenerator-3.2.1-4.fc33.x86_64 : OpenDocument presenter support for okular
Repo : fedora
Matched from:
Provide : mimehandler(application/vnd.ms-powerpoint)
calligra-stage-3.2.1-4.fc33.x86_64 : A full-featured presentation program
Repo : fedora
Matched from:
Provide : mimehandler(application/vnd.ms-powerpoint)
libreoffice-impress-1:7.0.1.2-5.fc33.x86_64 : LibreOffice Presentation Application
Repo : fedora
Matched from:
Provide : mimehandler(application/vnd.ms-powerpoint)
libreoffice-impress-1:7.0.5.2-1.fc33.x86_64 : LibreOffice Presentation Application
Repo : updates
Matched from:
Provide : mimehandler(application/vnd.ms-powerpoint)
Wrapping up
These are just some of DNF’s less used features that can help managing your system. Hopefully this has been useful to make your life on the command line easier.
For a more complete tour of DNF see the DNF documentation and the Core DNF Plugins Documentation.