RPMDEP(1)

📦
version 1.19 · 2 versions
, in fedora 43

💖 RPMDEP 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because we're reading the manual page for rpmdep, and she is serving from the User Contributed Perl Documentation section of the man-verse. sit down, hydrate, and let's get into it 💅✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

rpmdep — display the full dependency of an installed rpm package

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so rpmdep is literally an improved rpm -qR command, no cap. it searches recursively for package dependencies and resolves all of them down to package names. and as if that wasn't enough?? it can also prepare a file so you can build a whole graph of dependencies with graphviz. it's giving data visualization queen 👑

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

rpmdep.pl  [options] package

options:

-help                brief help message
-man                 full documentation
-V, --version        print version
-use-cache           use cache file instead rpm query
-clear-cache         clear cache file

-level               display dependencies by level
-debug               debug mode
-dot dotfile         build a dot file for graphviz
-depending           instead of dependencies, display dependings
-suggests            also show very weak dependencies : suggests
-recommends          also show weak dependencies : recommends
-all                 works on all installed packages

🎀 REQUIRED ARGUMENTS 🎀

you gotta hand her a package to analyse. only one name may be given, so don't be greedy. and plot twist: it's not necessary if you're using the -all option, because then she does the whole roster herself 🫶

💜 OPTIONS 💜

  • -help — print a brief help message and then dip. exits immediately.
  • -man — print the manual page and exit. (yes, the page you are literally reading right now, meta queen)
  • -version — print the program release and exit.
  • -debug — the program works and prints debugging messages. it's yapping but like, usefully.
  • -level — the program also prints dependencies by level.
  • -dot — create a dot file to be used by graphviz. in a normal call, an arrow from a to b means that package a depends on (uses) package b. in a dependings call, an arrow from a to b means that package a is used by package b.
  • -use-cache — the rpm query can be long (like, 10 to 30 s long, an eternity in group-chat years). if you're gonna run an rpmorphan tool several times, this option saves you soooo much time: it saves the rpm query to a file cache on the first call, then uses that cache instead of querying rpm on all the other calls. obsessed 😌
  • -clear-cache — remove the cache file. can be used with -use-cache to write a brand new cache. out with the old 🧹
  • --depending — instead of showing package dependencies (rpm -qR), display the packages that are depending upon the given argument. it then acts as an improved rpm -q --whatrequires command. the reverse-engineering icon 🔥
  • --suggests — add to "required" dependencies the very weak dependencies.
  • --recommends — add to "required" dependencies the weak dependencies.
  • --all — rpmdep will then work on all installed packages and display the results sorted by the number of depends (or dependings). she said "I'll do all of it" 💀

🌈 USAGE 🌈

get the full list of dependencies for the rpmrebuild package:

rpmdep.pl rpmrebuild

get the full list of dependencies for the rpmrestore package and build the graph data file (rpmrestore.dot):

rpmdep.pl -dot rpmrestore.dot rpmrestore

build a png graph image from the graph data:

dot -Tpng rpmrestore.dot -o rpmrestore.png

get the depending package of perl:

rpmdep.pl --depending perl

check is a package is an orphan:

rpmdep.pl --depending afick-gui

list all package dependencies:

rpmdep.pl -a

list all packages dependings and prepare a graph:

rpmdep.pl -a --depending --dot alldep.dot

get all dependencies of the rpmrebuild package:

rpmdep.pl -suggests --recommends rpmrebuild

🍓 FILES 🍓

the program can use the /tmp/rpmorphan.cache file. that's her little secret stash 💾

⭐ DIAGNOSTICS ⭐

the debug mode allows you to see all the recursive work. she's showing her process, bestie.

the other messages are:

  • package ... is not installed — this is not a name of an installed package. 💀
  • ... has no dependencies — this can come from some admin tools (ash for example).
  • ... depends upon (list) — returns a list of sorted and comma separated packages.
  • ... is needed by (list) — returns the depending package list.
  • no depending : ... is an orphan — the given package has no depending packages, so it's an orphan. no friends, no dependents, just vibes 🥺

👑 EXIT STATUS 👑

  • O if all is ok
  • >=1 if a problem
ngl that first one is written exactly like that, so we keep it exactly like that. periodt.

🧚 CONFIGURATION 🧚

nothing. literally nothing. zero config, zero drama, she just works 💅

💀 DEPENDENCIES 💀

you should use graphviz to build a graph from dot files. iykyk.

🙈 INCOMPATIBILITIES 🙈

not known. she plays nice with everyone, apparently.

🎀 BUGS AND LIMITATIONS 🎀

  • the program does not work well on programs installed in several versions. it's giving "who even are you" energy.
  • the code does not use the following rpm tags: Supplements, Enhances.

💖 NOTES 💖

this program can be used as a "normal" (unprivileged) user. no sudo required, we love a low-maintenance queen 🫶

🌟 SEE ALSO 🌟

Copyright (C) 2008 by Eric Gerbier. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

✨ AUTHOR ✨

Eric Gerbier

you can report any bug or suggest to gerbier@users.sourceforge.net

okay bestie that's the whole page, and yes we made it to the end 🎉 this was perl v5.42.0, dated 2025-07-25, and it's the RPMDEP(1) page — thanks for reading, now go run some queries, slay, and remember: orphan packages need love too 💖🦋✨

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