installing rpm's

[inkedmn]

let me start off by saying that i know this is the most basic of questions. i have searched the NHF's and the posts, and i still can't figure this out...

i downloaded an rpm last night, and i tried for about an hour to the application installed and running, but to no avail.

i logged in as root, ran the : rpm pagackname.rpm and it scrolled down a bunch of files, but i can't figure out if i did it right and/or how to actually open the application.

if somebody could give me a step-by-step on how to install an RPM (or direct me to a site where i could find such a thing), i would be SO grateful.

thanks very much

brett

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don't hate me because i'm almost MCSE...

[Linuxman]

This may be an answer you're not looking for, but when I install rpms, I use kpackage, the kde gui front end to rpm. Did you try that?

[inkedmn]

yet another sign of my newbieness-

i don't know where that is, but i will look for it.

because i'm a TOTAL microsoft kid, i suppose i'm trying to make this as windoze-esque as i can (icons on the desktop, etc). i'm not scared of the command-line stuff if that's necessary, but GUI is everybody's best friend.

after i install the package (assuming i can), how do i actually run it?

thanks again

brett

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don't hate me because i'm almost MCSE...

[dhaze]

To run kpackage open a terminal window and type kpackage

To run the rpm after you install it open a terminal window and type the name of the program

[wclardy]

brett,

"man rpm" will tell you more than you ever wanted to know, but the basics are:

"rpm -q somepackage" tells you what version (if any) you have installed.

"rpm -U somepackage" will upgrade/replace an existing installation. Using "-F" instead of "-U" makes rpm "freshen" your installation.

"rpm -i somepackage" will install somepackage.



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I'm always here, but sometimes you go away.

[ColdPack]

What program were you tring to install.
Maybe I can help you with that.
Ya see, when you install a program, they don't put an icon on the desktop. That's for you to do. That's another day.
Right now, tell me the program and I (or someone) can probably help you with it.
Often, depending on where you got the package from, there will be some sort of README file that tells you what it does and how to use it (ie. how to even start the program).



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What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists?
In that case, I definitely overpaid for my carpet.
-- Woody Allen, "Without Feathers"

[inkedmn]

i downloaded yahoo messenger (i figured it was small and fairly quick to download). i'm at work right now and i don't have any of the info. i got it from : http://messenger.yahoo.com/messenger/download/unix.html

thanks for your help
brett

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don't hate me because i'm almost MCSE...

[njcajun]

ok - this ISN'T hard...

cd into the directory you downloaded the rpm to and do an 'ls' to make sure it's still there and stuff.

go like this:

rpm -ivh long-f-n-file-name.rpm

You shouldn't see much - just a status bar real quick, and then it's there! MAKE SURE you RTFM for the software so you know where it installs to and how to start it and stuph.

If you're not sure if it's already on your system, do like this:

rpm -Fvh long-***-filename.rpm

As the MAN PAGE FOR RPM says, the F is for 'freshen'. It'll only install if an older version of it is found.

There's a FORCE option, too, and one to check dependencies before installing and stuff, so read the man page, but this should get you going. If you get errors about dependencies, let us know what those are.

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Build a system that even a fool can use, and only a fool will use it.

[ColdPack]

Well, at that website you posted, it had the directions!!

How To Install
To install the Linux version of Messenger:

1)Save the file ymessenger-0.93.0-1.i386.rpm to your machine.
2)Login in as root, and type rpm -i ymessenger-0.93.0-1.i386.rpm to install the application.
3)Type ymessenger from a prompt to launch the application.

That "prompt" refers to the command line prompt like you see when you open a terminal like xterm, kterm, eterm or gnome terminal.
The same place you typed rpm -i blahblahblah... (In step #2 you can do rpm -ivh long.***.filename.i386.rpm which will verify it installed the package and show you the progress of the installation with little hash marks "#".)


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What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists?
In that case, I definitely overpaid for my carpet.
-- Woody Allen, "Without Feathers"
January 2001).]

[This message has been edited by ColdPack (edited 24 January 2001).]

[inkedmn]

thanks for all the replys folks, i really appreciate it!


brett

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don't hate me because i'm almost MCSE...