How to use yum to download a package without installing it
SOLUTION VERIFIED - Updated October 22 2015 at 2:36 PM -
Environment
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
Issue
How do I use yum to download a package without installing it?
Resolution
There are two ways to download a package without installing it.
One is using the "downloadonly" plugin for yum, the other is using "yumdownloader" utility.
Downloadonly plugin for yum
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Install the package including "downloadonly" plugin:
(RHEL5) # yum install yum-downloadonly (RHEL6) # yum install yum-plugin-downloadonly
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Run
yumcommand with "--downloadonly" option as follows:# yum install --downloadonly --downloaddir=<directory> <package>
Confirm the RPM files are available in the specified download directory.
Note:
Before using the plugin, check /etc/yum/pluginconf.d/downloadonly.conf to confirm that this plugin is "enabled=1"
This is applicable for "yum install/yum update" and not for "yum groupinstall". Use "yum groupinfo" to identify packages within a specific group.
If only the package name is specified, the latest available package is downloaded (such as sshd). Otherwise, you can specify the full package name and version (such as httpd-2.2.3-22.el5).
If you do not use the --downloaddir option, files are saved by default in /var/cache/yum/ in rhel-{arch}-channel/packages
If desired, you can download multiple packages on the same command.
You still need to re-download the repodata if the repodata expires before you re-use the cache. By default it takes two hours to expire.
Yumdownloader
If downloading a installed package, "yumdownloader" is useful.
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Install the yum-utils package:
# yum install yum-utils
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Run the command followed by the desired package:
# yumdownloader <package>
Note:
The package is saved in the current working directly by default; use the --destdir option to specify an alternate location.
Be sure to add --resolve if you need to download dependencies
