No Doubt that Every Single "Yellow-Dog" and "Fedora Core" User knows this Awesome Tool named YUM ... In this Article we will know what is YUM and how to use it and what are the Advantages and Disadvantages that Exist in YUM ... We will also talk a little bit about the "yum.conf" File ... And Finally we will get to know some useful Links Related to YUM ... Here We Go ! ... :)

First : What is YUM ?

YUM is an Interactive, Automated Update Program which can be used for Maintaining Systems using rpm ... By Other Means; You can use YUM to Install New rpm Packages or Update Exisiting Packages. The word YUM stands for "Yellowdog Updater Modified".

Second : The "yum.conf" File :

YUM uses a Configuration File named "yum.conf" this Configuration File is found in "/etc/yum.conf" ... This "yum.conf" Contains the Configuration data needed by YUM ... Such as the Debug Level, Cache Directory and Finally and the most important are the URL's of the Fedora and YUM Repositories which are needed inorder to get the Requested Packages from them ... You can Build up a "yum.conf" File by Yourself but First you will need to Check the "yum.conf" Manual Page inorder to know more details Concerning this Configuration File cvirus@XVirus cvirus$ man yum.conf ... or you can get a Ready and Updated "yum.conf" File From http://www.fedorafaq.org/samples/yum.conf .

Third : How Can I use YUM ???

In This Part we will Get to Know the Basic Commands and Uses For YUM ... But First we have to Configure our "yum.conf" File as Stated in the Above Section and Second you have to be using the root account as we Will be Dealing with rpm's Installation and Updates or you can switch from your Account to the root account by using this Command cvirus@XVirus cvirus$ su root ... Now , Some of the Basic and Important Commands that you should Know inorder To be Able To use YUM.

(1) root@XVirus root# yum install Package1 Package2 Package3 ... This Command is Used To Install The Latest Version of a Package or a Group of Packages while Making Sure that All the Dependencies {The Packages that the Installed Package needs Inorder to work Properly} are Satisfied ... Here is A Screenshot of YUM while it is Installing "Kplayer" using this Command that we've discussed http://www.eglug.org/node/view/157 .

Note : Before you Start getting Packages From any Repository using YUM ... You Need To Download the Header Files { YUM does this Automaticly} ... Every rpm has a Header, That Header contains a complete file list, Package Descriptions, lists of what features it provides, lists of what it requires, what it Conflicts with ... In order for rpm to make a decision about what it will need to be installed, it needs the information in the header ... What Yum does is to copy the header from the Repository, then the client part of yum uses those Headers to determine what needs to be Installed/Upgraded/Erased.

(2) root@XVirus root# yum update Package1 Package2 Package3 ... This Command Updates the Listed Packages which are Given as Arguments to YUM while Ensuring that all Dependencies are Satisfied ... If this Command is Ran Without an Argument List {Packages List} ... It Updates Every Single Package Installed on your System ... Aint This Pretty Good ? hehe ... :)

(3) root@XVirus root# yum remove Package1 Package2 Package3 ... This Command is used to Remove the Specified Packages from your System as well as Removing any Packages which Depend on the Package being Removed.

Note : These are the Most Important Commands of YUM ... For More Commands Read The Manual Page cvirus@XVirus cvirus$ man yum .

Forth : What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of YUM ???

Advantages : YUM is Relatively Pretty and Relatively Nice and has Significantly less legacy Baggage than "apt" {Software Similar To YUM} ... Size of codebase in apt (find -name \*.cc | xargs wc -l): 40141 and the Size of codebase in YUM (find -name \*.py | xargs wc -l): 4681 .

Disadvantages : hmmm ... Really didn't see any Disadvantages ... Then the answer is NONE !

Finally : Some Links Related To YUM

http://www.fedoratracker.org ... Check This out ... :)

YUM Official Page ... http://linux.duke.edu/projects/yum/

Nuthin's Left ... CYA Later

CVirus