On a Red Hat family system using dnf, which command finds out which package provides the command /usr/bin/semanage, including packages that are not yet installed?
LPIC-1 Exam 101-500, objective 102. Linux installation and package management medium
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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
Not correct dnf list /usr/bin/semanage
Wrong. dnf list works on package names and globs of package names, not on file paths.
Not correct rpm -qf /usr/bin/semanage
Wrong for this requirement. rpm -qf only consults the local RPM database, so it can only answer for files that are already installed on this machine.
Correct dnf provides /usr/bin/semanage
Correct. dnf provides (also spelled whatprovides) searches repository metadata for the package supplying a given file or capability, whether or not it is installed.
Not correct dnf install /usr/bin/semanage
Wrong for the question, since it installs rather than reports — although dnf can indeed resolve a file path to its providing package and install it.
Why
The repository-aware tools (dnf, and yum before it) can answer questions about packages that are not installed, because they read repository metadata from /etc/yum.repos.d/. The rpm command only knows the local database in /var/lib/rpm. So 'dnf provides' answers 'which package would give me this file', while 'rpm -qf' answers 'which installed package put this file here'. On SUSE, the equivalent is 'zypper what-provides' (zypper wp).
Where this comes from
- Cited
- LPI exam objective 102.5
- What it says
- Use YUM/DNF to obtain package information and install packages from repositories.
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.
More questions on this objective
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