Package Manager Basics


Last modified: July 11, 2022

Overview

Package managers allow you to easily update, install, and remove software packages on your system. Package managers use repositories to manage the packages that you install or uninstall. They also handle any dependencies for packages that you wish to use. If you set your package manager to automatically update your system’s packages, you will not need to run the updates manually.

You can configure your system’s update schedule in WHM’s Update Preferences interface (WHM » Home » Server Configuration » Update Preferences).

Different operating systems support different package managers. In a CentOS-based system, you use yum to manage your packages. In an Ubuntu-based system, you use apt to manage your packages.

What is a repository?

A repository is a collection of packages on your local machine or one that you can access remotely via FTP or HTTP. You can use several repositories at the same time.

CentOS repositories

CentOS uses yum to manage the packages in its repositories.

The following preconfigured repositories exist on CentOS systems:

  • base
  • updates
  • extras
  • centosplus
  • fastrack

The system stores yum repositories in the /etc/yum.repos.d/ directory. Usually, each repository owns its own file. Each file can contain one or more configuration blocks that define the available yum repositories. These files ensure that yum allows the software that third parties provide. You do not need to edit them.

To access a new repository, download the .repo file from the desired third party to the /etc/yum.repos.d/ directory and then run the yum update command.

Ubuntu repositories

Ubuntu uses apt to manage the packages in its repositories.

The following preconfigured repositories exist on Ubuntu systems:

  • Main
  • Universe
  • Multiverse
  • Restricted
  • Partner

The system stores its preconfigured repositories in the /etc/apt/sources.list file. Usually, each repository owns its own file. Each file can contain one or more configuration blocks that define the available apt repositories. These files ensure that apt allows the software that third parties provide. You do not need to edit them.

To access any other repositories, download the .list file to the /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ directory and then run the apt update command.

Package management in EasyApache 4

cPanel & WHM ensures that installed packages do not conflict with one another. The cPanel & WHM-provided packages in the EasyApache 4 repositories use the ea- prefix, or namespace. EasyApache 4 provides packages in both RPM and .deb format.

Manage packages on CentOS systems

To manage packages on a CentOS system, use the yum command.

Note:

In the following table, example represents the name of the package that you wish to install.

Command Description
yum install example Install the example package from a repository to your system.
yum erase example or yum remove example Uninstall the example package and any dependencies.
yum update Update all of the packages on your system.
yum update example Update the example package on your system.
yum upgrade Upgrade the packages on your system.
Note:
This command also removes any obsolete packages on your system.

For more information about yum, read the yum documentation.

Software collections

We use the Software Collections Library (SCL) on CentOS systems to maintain packages that support multiple versions of software. This primarily applies to PHP packages. Each Software Collection area uses its own package namespace. Because of this, two package namespaces will exist for each version of PHP. For example, to install the -soap extension for PHP 7.4, you must install the ea-php74-php-soap package. You cannot install only the php-soap package.

For more information, read the Software Collections documentation and our The scl Utility documentation.

Manage packages on Ubuntu systems

To manage packages on an Ubuntu system, use the apt command.

Note:

In the following table, example represents the name of the package that you wish to install.

Command Description
apt install --purge example Install the example package from a repository to your system.
apt purge example Uninstall the example package, all configuration files, and any dependencies.
apt update Download the package information from all configured repositories.
apt upgrade --purge Install any available upgrades for packages on your system.

The --purge option ensures that the system removes any unneeded package dependencies and any non-binary files that the package owns. If you run the install or upgrade commands without the --purge option, then apt will not remove these files, and errors may occur.

Warning:

Do not hold any EasyApache 4 packages on Ubuntu systems. When you hold a package, it prevents the system from updating it. If you hold an EasyApache 4 package, you must manually resolve any error messages.

For more information about apt, read the apt documentation.

Additional Documentation