RPMDB(8)                    System Manager's Manual                   RPMDB(8)

NAME
       rpmdb - RPM Database Tool

SYNOPSIS
       rpmdb [options] {--initdb|--rebuilddb}

       rpmdb [options] {--verifydb}

       rpmdb [options] {--exportdb|--importdb}

DESCRIPTION
       The rpmdb is used for rpm database maintenance operations.

OPERATIONS
       --initdb
           Create a new database if one doesn't already exist. An existing
           database is not overwritten.

       --rebuilddb
           Rebuild database from the installed package headers. Rebuilding
           discards any unreadable (corrupt) headers from the database, but
           also compacts the database in case it has grown large over time.

           Can also be used to convert between different rpmdb formats.

       --verifydb
           Perform a low-level integrity check on the database. Rarely useful,
           for system health rpm --verify -a is a far more meaningful
           operation.

       --exportdb
           Export the database in header-list format, suitable for
           transporting to another host or database type. The data is output
           to standard output.

       --importdb
           Imports a database from a header-list format as created by
           --exportdb. The data is read from standard input.

OPTIONS
       See rpm-common(8) for the options common to all rpm executables.

CONFIGURATION
       There are several configurables affecting the rpmdb operations, but in
       particular the following (see rpm-config(5) for details):
       o   %_dbpath
       o   %_db_backend

EXIT STATUS
       On success, 0 is returned, a nonzero failure code otherwise.

EXAMPLES
       rpmdb --initdb --dbpath /tmp/testdb
           Initialize a new database in /tmp/testdb directory.

       rpmdb --rebuilddb
           Rebuild the system rpmdb.

       rpmdb --verifydb --root /mnt
           Verify the system database of a system image mounted at /mnt.

       rpmdb --exportdb > /tmp/headers
           Export the system database to /tmp/headers file.

       rpmdb --importdb --define "_db_backend ndb" --dbpath /tmp/newdb <
       /tmp/headers
           Import contents of /tmp/headers header list to a (new) ndb-format
           database in /tmp/newdb.

OPTIONS
       See rpm-common(8) for the options common to all operations.

SEE ALSO
       popt(3), rpm(8), rpm-common(8)

       rpmdb --help - as rpm(8) supports customizing the options via popt
       aliases it's impossible to guarantee that what's described in the
       manual matches what's available.

       http://www.rpm.org/

RPM 6.0.1                         2026-01-08                          RPMDB(8)