8.2 The redhat-install-packages Command

The package management tool uses a special command, redhat-install-packages, to install packages. Although the package management tool can install only packages that reside on the installation media, the redhat-install-packages command can install RPM packages from any source. For example, you can use this command to install packages that you've downloaded from a web or FTP server.

RPM package names generally end with a .rpm extension. To install a package using the redhat-install-packages command, issue the command:

redhat-install-packages  package-file.rpm 

where package-file.rpm is the name of the package you want to install. You can install multiple packages by listing several filenames, separating each from the next with a space, like so:

redhat-install-packages  package-file1.rpm package-file2.rpm package-file3.rpm 

If a desired package requires other packages in order to operate correctly, the other packages must already be installed or must be installed at the same time as the desired package. Otherwise, installation of the desired package will fail. See the upcoming Section 8.5.3 for more information on this potential problem. However, the redhat-install-packages command will attempt to automatically install necessary packages that reside on the installation media.

Several Linux distributions publish their software as RPMs. Although the redhat-install-packages command is generally capable of installing foreign packages—that is, packages not created for Red Hat Linux—installing foreign packages may leave your system in an unusable state. You should generally install only packages created for Red Hat Linux. You can safely use the redhat-install-packages command to install such packages.