DNF5-SYSTEM-STATE(7)

📦
version 5.4.6.0 · 4 versions
, in fedora 44

✨ DNF5-SYSTEM-STATE ✨

okay bestie, welcome to the dnf5-system-state page, part of the dnf5 manual 💅 this is where we talk about... the system state. yes it's as mysterious as it sounds. let's go 🫶

🌸 NAME 🌸

dnf5-system-state — System state. literally just that. the vibe. the whole thing. 🦋

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

okay so the DNF5 system state is a bunch of TOML files, and where they live is decided by the system_state_dir configuration option (peep dnf5.conf(5), specifically the system_state_dir bit). 📁✨

and what does DNF5 actually do with this system state? three things, and they're all lowkey important:

  1. It stores the reasons why each installed package got added to your system. the reasons can be:
    • "user" — for packages you, the main character, explicitly asked DNF5 to install 👑
    • "dependency" and "weak dependency" — for packages that got dragged in as dependencies of another package (not their fault, they're just along for the ride) 🎀
    • "group" — for packages installed by a group
    • "external" — for packages installed by another tool (e.g. rpm), so not DNF5's doing at all, no cap
  2. It tracks installed groups and the packages installed by those groups. 📋
  3. It tracks installed environmental groups. 🌈
⚠️ and now the serious part: the way DNF5 stores the system state is an internal implementation detail and may change at any time. fr fr. so to modify the state, always use the DNF5 command-line interface or the DNF5 API. do not go poking at the files yourself, bestie, I'm begging 😭

🚑 RECOVERING FROM A CORRUPTED SYSTEM STATE 🚑

so it happened. the system state files got corrupted. it's giving tragedy but we can fix it 💪

simply back up and remove the corrupted TOML file that's mentioned in the error message. that's it. it will be regenerated during the next successful DNF5 transaction, slay ✨

🙈 but heads up: the regenerated files may lack some data, such as the reasons why packages were installed, or the repositories from which they were installed. so like... it's back, but it's not the same. lowkey devastating, but at least it's not broken anymore 🩹

🖋️ Author 🖋️

See AUTHORS.md in the dnf5 source distribution. go give them their flowers 💐

Contributors to the dnf5 project. 🫶

and that's the whole page, babe 🌟 this was brought to you by the dnf5 project, dated Sep 24, 2026 — take care of your TOML files and they'll take care of you 💖🦋🎀

📦 where this page comes from