How to use RPM

In its simplest form, RPM can be used to install packages:

rpm -i foobar-1.0-1.i386.rpm

The next simplest command is to uninstall a package:

rpm -e foobar

One of the more complex but highly useful commands allows you to install packages via FTP. If you are connected to the net and want to install a new package, all you need to do is specify the file with a valid URL, like so:

rpm -i ftp://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/rh-2.0-beta/RPMS/foobar-1.0-1.i386.rpm

Please note, that RPM will now query and/or install via FTP.

While these are simple commands, rpm can be used in a multitude of ways. To see which options are available in your version of RPM, type:

rpm --help

You can find more details on what those options do in the RPM man page, found by typing:

man rpm