How can I install an RPM on a machine where I don't have root permissions? I want to install a package for my use only in a personal work directory. I'm running SuSe SLES10.

Please don't flame me with "This idea is so dumb, you shouldn't do it because all requests must go through the corporate root god, may he live forever."

I know I can request this of the root god, but I'll be shot down (for immaculate, impeccable reasons, I'm sure...). Besides, he'll never get around to installing it even if he does say he'll do it.

Ross Rogers

Posted 2010-11-11T18:08:27.403

Reputation: 3 025

For a better future, look at https://appimage.org/ .

– Ross Rogers – 2018-11-14T18:59:18.280

6This isn't a duplicate at all. Overriding the path does not always allow a non-priviledged user to utilize rpm. – John T – 2010-11-11T19:08:37.483

Thanks HarryMC. I'll check that out. Also, adding link to the other ticket that people thought mine was a duplicate of. Maybe the breadcrumbs will help someone else : http://superuser.com/questions/160530/override-rpm-install-path

– Ross Rogers – 2010-11-11T22:47:42.970

Answers

cd my-dir;
rpm2cpio to-install.rpm | cpio -idv

See How To Extract an RPM Package Without Installing It (rpm extract command).

harrymc

Posted 2010-11-11T18:08:27.403

Reputation: 306 093

Wish I could just give you some reputation reward of charity. Thank you! – macetw – 2017-06-07T14:14:19.270

2I did this and cpio doesn't seem to do anything except print '1 block'. Did I do something wrong? – Nate Parsons – 2010-11-16T15:44:09.203

Thanks. Turns out I was able to install from source, so I don't need to bother with RPMs – Nate Parsons – 2010-11-16T16:11:50.833

11That just unpacks the contents of the RPM and dumps it where you are. That doesn't mean the result works (its configuration isn't where it should be, ...) – vonbrand – 2013-01-18T17:07:57.830

How to extract rpm packages contents

export ins=foo-bar.rpm
rpm2cpio $ins | cpio -idv

How to extract `tar.gz` archive

gzip -dc foo-bar.tar.gz | tar xvf –
cd foo-bar-dir

How to extract `tar.gz` packages to the current directory

export file=foo-bar.tar.gz
# Note that `xovf` switch order *matters*
gzip -dc $file | tar -xovf -

How to build binaries as a non-root

./configure --prefix=$HOME && make && make install

Yordan Georgiev

Posted 2010-11-11T18:08:27.403

Reputation: 133

Another option is to install from source, where you can usually change the install directory using the --prefix switch.

John T

Posted 2010-11-11T18:08:27.403

Reputation: 149 037

2For me this doesn't work because it tries to get a file lock on something in /var (and permission is denied). – Nir Friedman – 2017-03-24T14:33:29.927

1That's what I normally do, but I was hoping for some more automation. – Ross Rogers – 2011-02-10T19:11:51.087

I think the "real" answer to "installing" an rpm without root privilege is, you can't. BUT assuming you could actually start the install process...

RPMs install using a list of instructions provided in a specification file (.spec) that usually follow the Filesystem Hierarchy. Most paths on that hierarchy are almost always operating system paths and not user paths. So unless your username has access to all of the paths an RPM installs to, then it would certainly fail. If you create an RPM that prefixes all of its paths with /home/me (or some other path you own), then it would work. This would require acquiring a src.rpm and extracting it as explained in other answers, then rebuilding it. By the time you do that, you might just consider getting root access or building the software from scratch (usually what you do if you do not plan on distributing the software across many machines).

There are clever tricks to help you in the manual build process. For example, you can utilize the dependencies already listed in an RPM to get all of your dependencies: https://stackoverflow.com/a/13877738/1236128.

Jonathan Komar

Posted 2010-11-11T18:08:27.403

Reputation: 293

How can I install an RPM without being root?

Answers

How to extract rpm packages contents

How to extract tar.gz archive

How to extract tar.gz packages to the current directory

How to build binaries as a non-root

How to extract `tar.gz` archive

How to extract `tar.gz` packages to the current directory