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.TH "RPM-COMMON" "8" "2026-01-08" "RPM 6.0.1"
.PP
.SH NAME
rpm-common - Operations and options common to the main \fBrpm\fR(8) executables
.PP
.SH SYNOPSIS
\fIRPMCMD\fR [options] {\fB-?\&\fR|\fB--help\fR}
.PP
\fIRPMCMD\fR [options] \fB--showrc\fR
.PP
\fIRPMCMD\fR [options] \fB--version\fR
.PP
.SH DESCRIPTION
The following \fIRPMCMD\fR executables share common configuration and the
options and operations documented in this manual:
.PD 0
.IP \(bu 4
\fBrpm\fR(8)
.IP \(bu 4
\fBrpmdb\fR(8)
.IP \(bu 4
\fBrpmkeys\fR(8)
.IP \(bu 4
\fBrpmbuild\fR(1)
.IP \(bu 4
\fBrpmsign\fR(1)
.IP \(bu 4
\fBrpmspec\fR(1)
.PD
.PP
.SH OPERATIONS
\fB-?\&\fR,
\fB--help\fR
.RS 4
Print a longer usage message than normal.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB--version\fR
.RS 4
Print a single line containing the version number of \fBrpm\fR being
used.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB--showrc\fR
.RS 4
Dump information about \fBrpm\fR configuration to standard output.\&
.PP
.RE
.SH OPTIONS
\fB--color\fR <\fIMODE\fR>
.RS 4
Use terminal colors for highlighting error and debug message,
where \fIMODE\fR is one of:
.PD 0
.IP \(bu 4
\fBalways\fR
.IP \(bu 4
\fBauto\fR (use color output on terminals)
.IP \(bu 4
\fBnever\fR (default)
.PD
.PP
.RE
\fB--dbpath\fR \fIDIRECTORY\fR
.RS 4
Use the database in \fIDIRECTORY\fR rather than the default path
\fI/var/lib/rpm\fR.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB-D\fR '\&\fIMACRO\fR \fIEXPR\fR'\&,
\fB--define\fR='\&\fIMACRO\fR \fIEXPR\fR'\&
.RS 4
Defines \fIMACRO\fR with value \fIEXPR\fR.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB-E\fR '\&\fIEXPR\fR'\&,
\fB--eval\fR='\&\fIEXPR\fR'\&
.RS 4
Prints \fBrpm-macros\fR(7) expansion of \fIEXPR\fR.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB--load\fR \fIFILE\fR
.RS 4
Load an individual \fBrpm-macrofile\fR(5).\&
.PP
.RE
\fB--macros\fR \fIFILELIST\fR
.RS 4
Replace the list of macro files to be loaded with \fIFILELIST\fR.\&
See \fBMacro Configuration\fR for details.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB--nodigest\fR
.RS 4
Don'\&t verify package or header digests when reading.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB--nohdrchk\fR
.RS 4
Don'\&t verify database header(s) when retrieved.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB--nosignature\fR
.RS 4
Don'\&t verify package or header signatures when reading.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB--pipe\fR \fICMD\fR
.RS 4
Pipes the output of \fBrpm\fR to the command \fICMD\fR.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB--predefine\fR='\&\fIMACRO\fR \fIEXPR\fR'\&
.RS 4
Defines \fIMACRO\fR with value \fIEXPR\fR before loading macro files.\&
This is a very rare special-purpose switch, use \fB--define\fR
for the common macro definition needs.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB--target\fR \fIPLATFORM\fR
.RS 4
Use \fIPLATFORM\fR configuration instead of detecting automatically.\&
\fIPLATFORM\fR is formed as \fIarch\fR[-\fIos\fR].\&
.PP
.RE
\fB--quiet\fR
.RS 4
Print as little as possible - normally only error messages will be
displayed.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB--rcfile\fR \fIFILELIST\fR
.RS 4
Replace the default list of configuration files to be read with
\fIFILELIST\fR.\&  See \fBrpmrc Configuration\fR for details.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB--root\fR \fIDIRECTORY\fR
.RS 4
Use the filesystem tree rooted at \fIDIRECTORY\fR for all operations.\&
Note that this means the database within \fIDIRECTORY\fR will be used
for dependency checks and any scriptlet(s) (e.\&g.\& \fB%post\fR if
installing, or \fB%prep\fR if building, a package) will be run after a
\fBchroot\fR(2) to \fIDIRECTORY\fR.\&
.PP
Note that rpm assumes the environment inside the root is set up by
the caller, such as any mounts needed for the operation inside the
root directory.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB--undefine\fR='\&\fIMACRO\fR'\&
.RS 4
Undefines \fIMACRO\fR.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB-v\fR,
\fB--verbose\fR
.RS 4
Print verbose information - normally routine progress messages will
be displayed.\& Supply more than once to increase verbosity, eg.\& \fB-vv\fR.\&
.PP
.RE
.SH DEBUG OPTIONS
\fB--debug\fR
.RS 4
Print lots of debug information.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB--fsmdebug\fR
.RS 4
Print debug information about payload handling.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB--rpmiodebug\fR
.RS 4
Print debug information about file IO.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB--stats\fR
.RS 4
Print runtime statistics of often used functions.\&
.PP
.RE
.SH FTP/HTTP OPTIONS
These options are deprecated.\& Use special purpose software such as
\fBcurl\fR(1) or \fBwget\fR(1) for fetching data from the internet.\&
.PP
For some operations, \fBrpm\fR can act as an FTP and/or HTTP client so that
packages can be queried or installed from the internet.\& Package files for
install, upgrade, and query operations may be specified as an \fBftp\fR or \fBhttp\fR
style URL:
.PP
\fIhttp://HOST[:PORT]/path/to/package.\&rpm\fR
.PP
\fIftp://[USER:PASSWORD]@HOST[:PORT]/path/to/package.\&rpm\fR
.PP
If both the user and password are omitted, anonymous \fBftp\fR is used.\&
.PP
\fBrpm\fR allows the following options to be used with \fBhttp\fR and \fBftp\fR URLs:
.PP
\fB--httpproxy\fR \fIHOST\fR
.RS 4
Use \fIHOST\fR as the proxy server for all \fBhttp\fR and
\fBftp\fR transfers.\& This option may also be specified by configuring
the macro \fB%_httpproxy\fR.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB--httpport\fR \fIPORT\fR
.RS 4
The TCP \fIPORT\fR number to use for the \fBhttp\fR connection on the
proxy http server instead of the default port.\& This option may also
be specified by configuring the macro \fB%_httpport\fR.\&
.PP
.RE
.SH ENVIRONMENT
\fBRPM_CONFIGDIR\fR
.RS 4
Used to override the default \fBrpm\fR configuration home,
typically \fI/usr/lib/rpm\fR.\&
.PP
.RE
.SH EXIT STATUS
On success, 0 is returned, a nonzero failure code otherwise.\&
.PP
.SH BUGS
Not all options are meaningful or implemented in all the executables
they show in.\& In particular, \fB--root\fR and the various verify-related
options are only honored by \fBrpm\fR(8) and \fBrpmdb\fR(8).\&
.PP
.SH FILES
.PP
.SS Database
.PP
.nf
.RS 4
/var/lib/rpm/
.fi
.RE
.PP
.SS Temporary
.PP
.nf
.RS 4
/var/tmp/rpm*
.fi
.RE
.PP
.SH SEE ALSO
\fBpopt\fR(3), \fBrpm\fR(8) \fBrpm-config\fR(5), \fBrpm-rpmrc\fR(5), \fBrpm-macros\fR(7)