How to configure & use YUM

What is yum ?
Yum or Yellow dog Update, Modified is a package manager that was developed by Duke University to improve the installation of RPMs. Yum searches numerous repositories for packages and their dependencies so they may be installed together in an effort to alleviate dependency issues. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 uses yum to fetch packages and install RPMs.Yum uses a configuration file at /etc/yum.conf. Also refer yum(8) man page for more information.There are multiple ways by which you can install a repository on the system and install/update packages :
- Add an existing repository
- Setup a new repository having packages populated from ISO’s downloaded from RHN
- Register the system on RHN and subscribe to the channels depending on the subscription you have.How do I use it?
Here are some useful commands.
Install a package:yum install package
Example: “yum install apache”
Remove a package:yum remove package
Example: “yum remove apache”
Update a package:yum update package
Example: “yum update apache”
Search for a package:yum search package
Example: “yum search apache”Find information about a package:yum info package
Example: “yum info apache”List packages containing a certain term:yum list term
Example: “yum list apache”
Find what package provides a particular file:yum whatprovides filename
Example: “yum whatprovides httpd.conf”