How do I install and manage RPMs?

Question

I have a burning desire to install RPMs onto my Ubuntu installation - is this possible? Can I use Yum - or another RPM Package Management tool?

Answer 1

Can I use Yum

I wouldn't recommend it. You probably could compile it but you wouldn't have any Ubuntu-compatible package repositories for it to handle.

You can convert single RPM files into DEBs with Alien:

sudo apt-get install alien
alien my_package.rpm
dpkg -i my_package.deb

Note: It might change the filename a little more than just the extension.

This won't work for everything as packages link to other packages to fulfil dependencies. Obviously Red Hat/Fedora/CentOS use different package names to Ubuntu so you're likely going to run into a whole load of pain.

Chances are if a DEB doesn't exist, you'll be better off just getting the source and compiling it.

Answer 2

Theres a GUI package manager named SmartPM on the Repos, created by Canonical, it handles .deb AND .RPM

Answer 3

If you really need to install RPMs on your system you should indeed try to convert them using 'alien'.

Please keep in mind that by default 'alien' will meddle with the version number of the package. If you want the version number to stay the same, pass the option '-k' when converting.

You should not try to use Yum or any other way of installing the RPMs, such as apt-rpm, themselves next to the existing DEB packages. The DEB and RPM systems manage the list of installed software separately and therefore don't know what packages were installed previously by the other system. If, e.g., you'd try to install a GUI-bearing application with an RPM-based package management system, it'll try to install vital system components itself, because it thinks they are not installed yet. This will either cause the installation to fail horribly, or overwrite vital system files.

Answer 4

The short answer is, Don't!

If you got a RPM that is so important that you need to have it there is properly a Ubuntu package as well, and if not it is properly worth going through the trouble of compiling it from source in to the Debian package format (that Ubuntu uses as well). Now there are certain times when you can't just recompile the software (if it's not opensource it's impossible) and in that case you can use the alien program. But installing from RPM's is a little like putting gasoline on a diesel car, it might work, but you wont benefit from it in the long run!

To build a package from source there is a guide on the Ubuntu Wiki, there are also a program called checkinstall that can do some tricks with a default source-tree without setting up build instructions for the package. If you think that someone else can benefit from the programs that you compile you can setup a repository on launchpad and share the package goodness!

Answer 5

use alien which converts the rpm to deb and subsequently installs the deb.

Answer 6

Actually shortest option is

sudo alien -i -k packagename.rpm

Don't have an alien? Get one!

sudo apt-get install alien

Alien will convert rpm package into deb package, the -i option means install the converted package after is converted and the -k option ensure version is not +1 after conversion.