On an RPM-based system you have a set of .rpm files and you want to upgrade only those packages that are already installed, leaving the rest untouched. Which rpm option does exactly that?
LPIC-1 Exam 101-500, objective 102. Linux installation and package management hard
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How these questions are written — where each question comes from, what the verification ledger records, and what happens when one is found wrong.
The options
Correct rpm -F
Correct. Freshen upgrades a package only if an earlier version of it is already installed, and silently skips packages that are not installed.
Not correct rpm -U
Wrong for this requirement. Upgrade also installs packages that are not present at all, which is precisely what you were asked to avoid. It is the right choice most other times.
Not correct rpm -i
Wrong. Install adds a new package and fails if that package is already installed, so it cannot upgrade anything.
Not correct rpm -e
Wrong, and destructive here. -e (erase) removes an installed package.
Why
The three installation modes differ only in what they do about the package's current state: -i installs and refuses if it is already there, -U upgrades an installed package or installs it if absent, and -F (freshen) upgrades only if already installed. -U is the everyday choice; -F is for handing a directory of updates to a machine and touching nothing new. Add -v and -h for verbose output with a progress bar, as in 'rpm -Uvh package.rpm'.
Where this comes from
- Cited
- LPI exam objective 102.5
- What it says
- Install, reinstall, upgrade and remove packages using RPM.
Practise this
Reading one question is not practice. The trainer will draw a short set from objective 102 and space the ones you get wrong.
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