How to Manage Packages with DNF on CentOS 8

DNF is a package manager for CentOS, Fedora and RHEL operating systems. It is used to install, update, remove and manage packages on the RPM-based operating system. It is a next generation version of the older YUM command. Compared to YUM, DNF provides improved performance, low memory usage, speed, dependency resolution and more.

In this guide, we will show you how to use the DNF command to manage packages on CentOS 8.

# Requirements

• A server running CentOS 8 Linux operating system.
• A root password is set up on your server.

# Install and Remove a Package with DNF

DNF provides an easier way to install any package to your system. You will need to specify install followed by package-name to install the package to your system.

For example, to install the Nginx server package, run the following command:

dnf install nginx -y

If you want to reinstall any package, run the following command:

dnf reinstall nginx -y

If you want to download any package without installing it to your system, run the following command:

dnf download net-tools -y

This will download net-tools-2.0-0.52.20160912git.el8.x86_64.rpm file to your system:

Last metadata expiration check: 0:00:34 ago on Sunday 30 May 2021 06:00:45 AM EDT.
net-tools-2.0-0.52.20160912git.el8.x86_64.rpm   2.7 MB/s | 322 kB     00:00

To remove a package from your system, run the following command:

dnf remove nginx -y

Or

dnf erase nginx -y

To remove Orphan packages that are not used by any applications, run the following command:

dnf autoremove

To remove all cached packages, run the following command:

dnf clean all

# Update a Package with DNF

If you want to check your system for the update, run the following command:

dnf check-update

You should see the list of all packages that needs update:

NetworkManager.x86_64                1:1.26.0-12.el8_3                         BaseOS
NetworkManager-libnm.x86_64          1:1.26.0-12.el8_3                         BaseOS
NetworkManager-team.x86_64           1:1.26.0-12.el8_3                         BaseOS
NetworkManager-tui.x86_64            1:1.26.0-12.el8_3                         BaseOS
PackageKit.x86_64                    1.1.12-6.el8                              AppStream
PackageKit-glib.x86_64               1.1.12-6.el8                              AppStream
adcli.x86_64                         0.8.2-7.el8                               BaseOS
authselect.x86_64                    1.2.1-2.el8                               BaseOS
authselect-compat.x86_64             1.2.1-2.el8                               AppStream
authselect-libs.x86_64               1.2.1-2.el8                               BaseOS
bash.x86_64                          4.4.19-12.el8                             BaseOS
bind-export-libs.x86_64              32:9.11.20-5.el8_3.1                      BaseOS

To update a single package, run the following command:

dnf update httpd -y

If you want to upgrade all packages, run the following command:

dnf upgrade -y

If you want to synchronize all packages to the latest stable release, run the following command:

dnf distro-sync

# Search a Package with DNF

If you want to find any package in the repository, you can use the search followed by package-name.

For example, to search a package named vsftpd, run the following command:

dnf search vsftpd

You should see the following output:

Last metadata expiration check: 0:03:52 ago on Sunday 30 May 2021 06:00:45 AM EDT.
======================================================== Name Exactly Matched: vsftpd
=========================================================
vsftpd.x86_64 : Very Secure Ftp Daemon

If you want to list all available packages in your system, run the following command:

dnf list available | less

If you want to list only installed packages, run the following command:

dnf list installed

Output:

Installed Packages
NetworkManager.x86_64                1:1.22.8-4.el8                           @BaseOS
NetworkManager-libnm.x86_64          1:1.22.8-4.el8                           @BaseOS
NetworkManager-team.x86_64           1:1.22.8-4.el8                           @BaseOS
NetworkManager-tui.x86_64            1:1.22.8-4.el8                           @BaseOS
PackageKit.x86_64                    1.1.12-4.el8                             @AppStream
PackageKit-glib.x86_64               1.1.12-4.el8                             @AppStream
abattis-cantarell-fonts.noarch       0.0.25-4.el8                             @AppStream

# View Package Information

If you want to see the detail information about any package, run the following command:

dnf info nginx

You should see the following output:

Last metadata expiration check: 0:05:35 ago on Sunday 30 May 2021 06:00:45 AM EDT.
Available Packages
Name         : nginx
Epoch        : 1
Version      : 1.14.1
Release      : 9.module_el8.0.0+184+e34fea82
Architecture : x86_64
Size         : 570 k
Source       : nginx-1.14.1-9.module_el8.0.0+184+e34fea82.src.rpm
Repository   : AppStream
Summary      : A high performance web server and reverse proxy server
URL          : http://nginx.org/
License      : BSD
Description  : Nginx is a web server and a reverse proxy server for HTTP, SMTP, POP3 and
             : IMAP protocols, with a strong focus on high concurrency, performance and low
             : memory usage.

# Check DNF History

If you want to list all DNF command that you have executed on the system, run the following command:

dnf history

You should see the following output with transactions id:

ID     | Command line             | Date and time    | Action(s)      | Altered
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    12 | install net-tools        | 2021-05-30 06:11 | Upgrade        |    1
    11 | install httpd            | 2021-05-30 06:03 | Install        |    9
    10 | erase nginx -y           | 2021-05-30 06:02 | Removed        |   32
     9 | reinstall nginx -y       | 2021-05-30 06:01 | R              |    2
     8 | install nginx -y         | 2021-05-30 06:00 | Install        |   32
     7 | autoremove -y            | 2020-06-19 15:37 | Removed        |    3
     6 | update                   | 2020-06-19 15:27 | E, I, U        |  285 EE
     5 | update                   | 2020-02-24 13:24 | I, U           |  312 EE
     4 | update                   | 2019-12-10 12:32 | I, U           |   41 EE
     3 | install -y acpid nano ma | 2019-09-26 12:09 | Install        |    1
     2 | remove -y smartmontools  | 2019-09-26 12:08 | Removed        |    1
     1 |                          | 2019-09-26 10:34 | Install        |  543 EE

You can now use this transactions id to get the detailed information of that transaction:

dnf history info 12

Output:

Transaction ID : 12
Begin time     : Sunday 30 May 2021 06:11:12 AM EDT
Begin rpmdb    : 566:986ac3e49ad7a20420896a98a4a980bde118f8d5
End time       : Sunday 30 May 2021 06:11:13 AM EDT (1 seconds)
End rpmdb      : 566:e94a7335e89061eb578b51f9b8f050dcb0eb4571
User           : root <root>
Return-Code    : Success
Releasever     : 8
Command Line   : install net-tools
Packages Altered:
Upgrade  net-tools-2.0-0.52.20160912git.el8.x86_64 @BaseOS
Upgraded net-tools-2.0-0.51.20160912git.el8.x86_64 @@System

# List and Install Group Packages

To list all group packages, run the following command:

dnf grouplist

Output:

Last metadata expiration check: 0:01:56 ago on Sunday 30 May 2021 06:10:03 AM EDT.
Available Environment Groups:
   Server with GUI
   Server
   Workstation
   Virtualization Host
   Custom Operating System
 Installed Environment Groups:
   Minimal Install
 Available Groups:
   Container Management
   .NET Core Development
   RPM Development Tools
   Development Tools
   Graphical Administration Tools
   Headless Management
   Legacy UNIX Compatibility
   Network Servers
   Scientific Support
   Security Tools
   Smart Card Support
   System Tools

From the above list, install a specific group package, run the following command:

dnf groupinstall "Security Tools"

To remove a group package, run the following command;

dnf groupremove "Security Tools"

# Conclusion

In the above guide, you learned how to manage packages with DNF on CentOS 8 operating system. I hope this guide will help you to manage packages on all RPM-based operating systems.