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UP2DATE(8) Red Hat Linux System Manual UP2DATE(8)
NAME
Update Agent - a program for updating packages on Red Hat Enterprise
Linux
SYNOPSIS
up2date [OPTION]... [PACKAGE NAME]...
up2date-nox [OPTION]... [PACKAGE NAME]...
DESCRIPTION
Update Agent provides a complete system for updating the RPM packages
installed on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux system. Both command line and
graphical interfaces are included.
When you run Update Agent, you will be prompted for the computer's
root password. This is because the Update Agent needs read/write
access to the RPM database, and it needs to be able to install pack-
ages when so requested. It also needs read/write access to the up2date
systemid file in /etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid , and its configuration
in /etc/sysconfig/rhn/up2date
Update Agent has a quite a few configuration options, including but
not limited to: installing packages after they are downloaded; down-
loading source RPMs along with binary RPMs; whether or not to upgrade
packages where the default configuration file(s) have been modified,
and more. You can change these settings through a graphical interface
by running up2date-config, or you can edit the configuration file
/etc/sysconfig/rhn/up2date directly. A number of the command line
arguments described below can also be used at runtime to override con-
figuration options. There is also a text mode based configuration if
invoked with with the --configure option.
If you supply package names on the command line, those particular
packages will be updated or installed if there are new versions avail-
able. Only the package name is needed, do not supply any version or
release information.
If the package is not currently installed, it will be downloaded and
installed, along with any dependencies that package requires.
--configure
Configure Update Agent options. This will allow you to adjust
things such as which files/packages to skip by default, where
to store retrieved packages, and more.
--register
Register a system with Red Hat Network. This is mainly
useful for re-registering a system, as up2date will
automatically invoke this mode if the current system
isn't registered.
-d, --download
Download packages only, do not install them. This
option is equivalent to the configuration option "Do not
install packages after retrieval." It is mutually
exclusive with the --install option.
--nodownload
Do not download packages at all. This is for testing
purposes.
-f, --force
Force package installation. This option is provided so
that you can override the file, package and configura-
tion skip lists.
-i, --install
Install packages after they are downloaded. This option
is provided so that you can override the configuration
option "Do not install packages after retrieval.". It is
mutually exclusive with the the --download option.
-l, --list
Output a list of packages which have been updated and
available for retrieval/installation.
--dry-run
Output a list of packages available for updates, and all
the dependencies they need, including obsoletes.
--showall
Show a list of all packages available from the channels
the system is currently subscribed to, including those
not currently installed.
-k, --packagedir
Specify a colon separated path of directories to look
for packages before attempting to download them.
--nosig
Do not use GPG to check package signatures (overrides
configuration option).
--src Download source RPMs as well as binary RPMs.
--nosrc
Do not download source package (overrides configuration
option).
-p, --packages
Update the packages associated with this System Profile
on Red Hat Network. Useful if you have installed,
updated, or removed packages without Update Agent, and
your package list has become unsynchronized with your
remote Profile.
--hardware
up2date hardware profile associated with this System
Profile on Red Hat Network.
--proxy
Specify an HTTP proxy to use
--proxyUser
Specify a username to use with an authenticated HTTP
proxy
--proxyPassword
Specify a password to use with an authenticated HTTP
proxy
--show-package-dialog
Show the package installation dialog in GUI mode
--get Fetch the package specified without resolving dependen-
cies
--get-source
Fetch the source package for the specified package with-
out resolving dependencies
--upgrade-to-release
Upgrade to the channel specified
--whatprovides=
Queries the RHN servers to resolve the comma separated
list of dependencies. It will return a list of packages
that will satisfy these dependencies.
--solvedeps=
Queries the RHN servers to resolve the comma separated
list of dependencies. Essentially the same as --whatpro-
vides except it will also download and install the pack-
ages that are needed to resolve the dependencies.
--show-channels
Show the channels associated with a package where appro-
priate. If used alone, it shows the currently subscribed
channels. If used with --showall or --whatprovides it
will show channels as well as package names.
--show-groups
Show all the component groups that are instal-
lable via up2date.
--installall=
Used to install all the packages from a
given channel.
--show-orphans
List all packages currently installed that
are not present in channels the server is
subscribed to.
--show-available
List all packages available in the chan-
nels the server is subscribed to, but are
not currently installed.
--channel
Specify a specific channel.
--list-rollbacks
Shows all currently available RPM roll-
backs.
--tmpdir=
allows you to override the configured
package/temporary file storage directory.
This can be useful if you are about to
download a lot of packages but you do not
have enough space to store them in the
default location.
--serverUrl=
Specify what server URL to use.
--gpg-flags
Shows the flags that GPG will be invoked
with (the keyring, the home directory,
etc). Intended for usage in scripts that
want to invoke GPG the same way up2date
does.
-u, --update
Completely update the system. All rele-
vant packages will be downloaded (and pos-
sibly installed, if you have configured
Update Agent to do so).
--nox do not even attempt to display the GUI.
--undo If rpm transaction rollbacks are enabled,
attempt to rollback the last rpm transac-
tion. This feature may be deprecated in
future releases.
--arch=
Force a particular arch of package
to be installed, instead of letting
up2date choose. -h, --help display
help on command line arguments and
exit.
-v, --verbose
print more information about what
Update Agent is doing.
--justdb
only add packages to the
database,do not install them to the
filesystem. --dbpath Specify a
path where an alternative RPM
database to use is found.
--version
output version information and
exit.
RETURN CODES
Update Agent returns 0 on success, 1 on
error.
FILES
/etc/sysconfig/rhn/up2date
Configuration settings for
Update Agent.
/etc/sysconfig/rhn/sources
Configuration settings for
external package reposito-
ries
/etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid
Unique system identification
certificate for Red Hat Net-
work.
/etc/sysconfig/rhn/up2date-
keyring.gpg
The default keyring used
specifically for up2date, if
used with versions of RPM
that support it (rpm-4.0.4
or higher)
/var/spool/up2date
The spool directory where
RPM/up2date stores package
lists, package headers and
packages.
/var/spool/repackage
The spool directory where
RPM/up2date stores rollback
RPMs.
/var/log/up2date
This is the log file for
up2date.
/usr/share/rhn/RHNS-CA-CERT
The default SSL certificate
authority public certificate
used by up2date to validate
the Red Hat Network SSL
servers.
/usr/share/rhn/RPM-GPG-KEY
A copy of the Red Hat, Inc
RPM package signing GPG pub-
lic key. This is the GPG key
that can be used to verify a
package is signed by Red
Hat, Inc.
EXAMPLES
The following example starts up the
interactive GUI client.
up2date
The following example shows up2date
being used in non-interactive batch
mode.
up2date -u
This example shows up2date being
used to discover which packages
solve a set of dependencies manu-
ally on a Red Hat Linux 7.0
machine.
up2date --whatprovides "/bin/bash,gimp,libhistory.so.4.1"
bash-2.04-11
readline-4.1-5
gimp-1.1.25-1
This example shows how to start up
the text based config tool.
up2date --nox --configure
This example shows how to use
up2date to install a package with
many dependencies that aren't cur-
rently installed.
up2date kdebase
This example shows how to install
all the packages from the channel
foobar-1.0-i386
up2date --installall --channel foobar-1.0-i386
This example shows how to list all
the currently installed packages
that are not part of channels the
system is currently subscribed to.
up2date --show-orphans
SEE ALSO
Configuration is performed through
up2date-config. The Update Agent
is tightly coupled with Red Hat
Network. Visit for access or to sign up.
AUTHORS
Written by Preston Brown , Cristian Gafton ,
and Adrian Likins
REPORTING BUGS
Report bugs to
.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 1999-2002 Red Hat, Inc.
This is free software; see the
source for copying conditions.
There is NO warranty; not even for
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
4th Berkeley Distribution Wed 29 November 2000 UP2DATE(8)
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