yum simulate install

Question

Coming from an ubuntu perspective, if I want to check to see what additional packages will be installed/upgraded I can use apt-get --simulate install <package name>

Is there something similar for yum? Our Red hat box (yum) is our production server, so I would like to see exactly what will be happening before I actually install some package.

Couldn't really find a good solution, someone suggested:

yum --assumeno install <package name>

but this returned:

Command line error: no such option: --assumeno

yum version: 3.2.22

OS version: Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 5.6 (Tikanga)

Any ideas or suggestions would be welcome.

score 37 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 22 '12 at 17:07

37

you can do a yum install without the -y switch (if you use it):

yum install <package>

this will grab a list of packages and dependancies required. Before installing it will ask you if you want to install or not, just answer no and no changes will be made.

Alternatively you can do

yum deplist <package>

to list all the dependancies of a package and see what needs to be installed without downloading or installing anything.

answered Mar 22 '12 at 17:07

LloydOliver

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`yum install` isn't a reliable way to check dependencies as it will exit if there is a conflict. – taco Nov 14 '15 at 20:17
this does not work if the package is already in the system – transang Oct 16 '17 at 14:18
This doesn't work if another instance of yum is already running. – Philipp Ludwig Aug 08 '18 at 12:05

score 20 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 22 '12 at 16:59

20

You can use the check-update option to yum to see if there is an update available for the package. It will tell you if there is an update available (and to what version) for the specified package.

So you could do something like:

yum check-update <package>

to see the info for a specific package, and:

yum check-update

to see the info for the whole system.

answered Mar 22 '12 at 16:59

Zypher

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Well in this case the package is not yet installed. – Michael Mar 22 '12 at 17:03

score 13 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 08 '18 at 12:20

13

You can do a dry run using

yum -y update --setopt tsflags=test

if you

specify optional transaction flags (tsflags) on the yum command line with the added option --tsflags.

edited Jun 08 '18 at 12:20

U880D

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answered Dec 19 '17 at 11:21

Duno

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Thanks; this is the only one I liked for what I needed - a dry run presented to the user that would return an exit code if anything failed. Sadly, `yum` seems to have no idea it didn't _actually happen_, so I put a big notice before it "this is just a test run!" – Aaron D. Marasco Sep 29 '20 at 23:51

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 22 '12 at 17:01

3

yum install --assumeno packagename

answered Mar 22 '12 at 17:01

johnshen64

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Still getting: `Command line error: no such option: --assumeno` – Michael Mar 22 '12 at 17:04
maybe you need to upgrade your yum version. what is your OS? – johnshen64 Mar 22 '12 at 17:20
1

Just to note, yum on CentOS6 is 3.2.29, and doesn't support the --assumeno option. If he's running 3.2.22, it might be CentOS5 (or equivalent). – cjc Mar 22 '12 at 17:25
OS is: `Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 5.6 (Tikanga)` – Michael Mar 22 '12 at 17:41
2

to fully simulate it, you could also consider installing it to an alternative directory, such as a chroot environment with --installroot=root. i would create a vm (kvm, virtualbox, vmplayer etc.) with the exact os and do the testing that way, before modifying the actual production OS. others have already suggested that by default yum does not do install until you answer yes, but that is a bit risky i think. – johnshen64 Mar 22 '12 at 17:46
@johnshen64 has the best answer yet. Make it a top level answer and it should get the votes – Rondo Sep 17 '14 at 02:50

cjc · Answer 5 · 2012-03-22T17:43:37.290

yum's default behavior is to ask you yes/on before actually installing. There's an "--assumeyes" mainly because it bugs you with "yes/no" prompts.

For example:

# yum install s3cmd
# stuff removed
Setting up Install Process
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package s3cmd.noarch 0:1.0.1-1.el6 will be installed
--> Finished Dependency Resolution

Dependencies Resolved

=========================================================================================================================
 Package                    Arch                        Version                          Repository                 Size
=========================================================================================================================
Installing:
 s3cmd                      noarch                      1.0.1-1.el6                      epel                       94 k

Transaction Summary
=========================================================================================================================
Install       1 Package(s)

Total download size: 94 k
Installed size: 320 k
Is this ok [y/N]: n

Similarly for just "yum update".

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 06 '20 at 14:03

2

If you want to use it in script:

yes n | yum update

Respect for RHEL5 users. :)

answered Mar 06 '20 at 14:03

Maciej Wawrzyńczuk

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yum simulate install

6 Answers6