Red Hat RPM guide - Eric Foster–Johnson

Reviewed and approved by the experts at Red Hat, this in–depth guide offers a complete education on Red Hat Package Manager, or RPM. Veteran software developer Eric Foster–Johnson supplies everything you need to know to create applications that rely on RPM, or to package and deploy software in RPM format.

First, you will learn how the package management approach, along with specific RPM tools, enables more efficient user control. Then you’ll move step by step through preparing software for release in an easy–to–manage RPM format, explore programming interfaces and supplemental software that can enhance RPM operation, and acquire the knowledge you need to extend RPM functionality.

With its detailed coverage, comprehensive appendices, and handy at–a–glance references, this book is a resource you’ll consult many times over.

Proven Red Hat RPM Solutions

• Understand the package concept, the history of RPM, its design, and its terminology


• Query the RPM database and verify installed packages and files


• Install, remove, and upgrade software using RPM


• Back up an RPM database and repair a damaged one


• Examine package dependencies and transactions and understand how to use them


• Learn to build and package RPMs, optimize builds, sign built packages, and avoid common packaging mistakes


• Discover how to automate RPM with scripts and learn when scripting is appropriate


• Program RPM with C, Python, and Perl


• Extend RPM on non–Red Hat Linuxes, create non–Linux RPMs, and customize RPM behavior

"Finally, the missing guide to RPM. For system administrators and developers, this is the book from which to learn how best to exploit RPM’s features."

Chip Turner,
Senior Software Engineer, Red Hat