Section 5.3. up2date: Red Hat Update Agent

5.3. up2date: Red Hat Update Agent

The Red Hat Update Agent, up2date , installs and updates packages on RPM-based systems, primarily on Red Hat and Fedora Core Linux systems. Originally, up2date was intended for use with Red Hat Enterprise Linux and the Red Hat Network, but it has since been updated to work with yum and apt repositories as well. up2date operates on groupings of packages known as channels , based on the system architecture and Fedora Core or Red Hat Enterprise release. For example, a channel might be fedora-core-3 , containing packages for that distribution; this type of channel is a base channel. Child channels are associated with a base channel and contain extra packages, such as for an application or a set of applications. Entries for the channels are found in /etc/sysconfig/rhn/sources. This file contains an entry for each channel that associates the repository type (e.g., up2date , yum , or apt ) with a channel name , and a URL in the case of a yum repository. For an apt repository, the URL is separated by spaces into parts : service:server, path , and repository name. You can also include entries for a local directory of packages, known as a dir repository.

up2date has both a command-line and a graphical interface; it is primarily the command-line interface that we describe in this section. If you are running GNOME or KDE and have the rhn-applet installed, clicking on the icon in the panel brings up the graphical up2date interface. The rhn-applet is the Red Hat Network Notification Tool, which runs in your desktop panel and notifies you when package updates are available. The panel icon is red with a blinking exclamation point if updates are available, and blue with a check mark if your system is up to date.

The format of the up2date command is:

up2date [


options


] [


packages


]

There are two additional commands:

up2date-nox [options] [packages]
    up2date-config

Running up2date-nox is equivalent to running up2date with the --nox option; it runs without X (without the graphical interface). up2date-config runs a graphical tool for configuring up2date . You can also configure the program by editing the configuration file, /etc/sysconfig/rhn/up2date , directly. These versions of the up2date command are not described further here.

Running up2date with no packages specified brings up the graphical interface. With packages, up2date updates or installs those packages, resolving dependencies as needed. Specify packages by name; up2date determines the appropriate version, release, and distribution.

5.3.1.

5.3.1.1 Options

--arch= arch

Install the package for the specified architecture. Not valid with -u , --list , or --dry-run .

--configure

Configure the Update Agent. Puts up a graphical window that lets you configure proxy and authentication information, retrieval options, and packages and files to skip.

--channel channels

Specify the channels to use.

-d , --download

Download the specified package, but do not install it.

--dbpath path

Specify the path to an alternate RPM database. The default path is /var/lib/rpm .

--dry-run

Go through the motions , but don't actually download and install any packages.

--exclude packages

Exclude packages in the comma-separated list of packages from being installed or updated.

-f , --force

Force package installation. Override file, package, and configuration skip lists.

--get

Download the packages, but don't resolve any dependencies.

--get-source

Download the source package. Don't resolve any dependencies.

--gpg-flags

List the flags that will be used when GPG is invoked. Useful for scripts that want to invoke GPG the way up2date does.

-h , --help

Print a help message and exit.

-i , --install

Download and install the package. Override configuration option. Cannot be used with --download .

--installall

Install all available packages on the channel specified by --channel .

--justdb

Add packages to the database, but do not install them to the filesystem.

-k , --packagedir dirs

Use the colon -separated list of directories to search for packages.

-l , --list

List packages available for update. Also shows packages marked to be skipped .

--list- rollbacks

Display a list of all RPM rollbacks available. A rollback lets you return to an earlier state before you installed a package.

--nodownload

Do not download any packages. Used for testing.

--nosig

Do not use GPG to check package signatures. If specified, overrides configuration option.

--nosrc

Do not download source packages. If specified, overrides configuration option.

--nox

Do not display the graphical interface.

--proxy proxy

Specify an HTTP proxy to use.

--proxyUser= username

Specify the username to use with an authenticated HTTP proxy.

--proxyPassword= password

Specify a password to use with an authenticated HTTP proxy.

--register

Register or reregister the system.

--showall

Display a list of all packages available for download, including both packages that are already installed and those that are not.

--show-available

Display a list of all packages available for download and not currently installed.

--show-channels

Show the channels associated with a package. If used alone, show the currently subscribed channels.

--show-groups

Display a list of package groups that are available for download.

--show-orphans

List any installed packages that are not in any of the subscribed-to channels.

--show-package-dialog

When running in GUI mode, show the package installation dialog.

--solve-deps= dependencies

Download and install packages needed to resolve the specified dependencies. The dependencies are given in a comma-separated list.

--src

Download source, as well as binary, RPMs.

--serverUrl= url

Specify the URL of the server to use.

--tmpdir= directory

Specify a temporary storage directory for files and packages, overriding the configured value.

-u , --update

Do a complete system update, downloading and installing all relevant packages.

--undo

Undo the last package set update.

--upgrade-to-release= release-version

Upgrade to the specified release, where release-version indicates the channel for that release.

-v , --verbose

Display additional output.

--version

Print version information and exit.

--what-provides= dependencies

List packages that solve the comma-separated list of dependencies.