CentOS / RHEL / Scientific Linux 6 Enable & Install EPEL Repo

Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (or EPEL) is a Fedora Special Interest Group that creates, maintains, and manages a high quality set of additional packages for Enterprise Linux, including, but not limited to, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL),CentOS and Scientific Linux (SL). How do I enable it under CentOS 6 or RHLE 6 server?

Tutorial details
Difficulty	Easy (rss)
Root privileges	Yes
Requirements	CentOS/RHEL
Estimated completion time	N/A

You need to install the following rpms as per your Enterprise Linux version. Use the wget command to download rpm files.

Fig.01: HowTo: Enable EPEL Repository on CentOS/RHEL/SL/Fedora Linux

If you are running an CentOS6/EL6 version, enter:

$ cd /tmp $ wget http://mirror-fpt-telecom.fpt.net/fedora/epel/6/i386/epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm # rpm -ivh epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm

If you are running an CentOS5/EL5 version, enter:

$ cd /tmp $ wget http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/5/i386/epel-release-5-4.noarch.rpm # rpm -ivh epel-release-5-4.noarch.rpm

If you are running an CentOS4/EL4 version, enter:

The following may not be supported:
$ cd /tmp $ wget http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/4/i386/epel-release-4-10.noarch.rpm # rpm -ivh epel-release-4-10.noarch.rpm

Install epel*.rpm file using yum command

You can use the yum command instead of rpm command:
# yum install epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm
Sample outputs:

 
Loaded plugins: product-id, rhnplugin, security, subscription-manager
This system is not registered to Red Hat Subscription Management. You can use subscription-manager to register.
This system is receiving updates from RHN Classic or RHN Satellite.
Setting up Install Process
Examining epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm: epel-release-6-8.noarch
Marking epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm to be installed
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package epel-release.noarch 0:6-8 will be installed
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
 
Dependencies Resolved
 
================================================================================
 Package            Arch         Version   Repository                      Size
================================================================================
Installing:
 epel-release       noarch       6-8       /epel-release-6-8.noarch        22 k
 
Transaction Summary
================================================================================
Install       1 Package(s)
 
Total size: 22 k
Installed size: 22 k
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
Running rpm_check_debug
Running Transaction Test
Transaction Test Succeeded
Running Transaction
  Installing : epel-release-6-8.noarch                                      1/1
  Verifying  : epel-release-6-8.noarch                                      1/1
 
Installed:
  epel-release.noarch 0:6-8
 
Complete!

How do I list all enabled repos?

Type the following commands:
# yum repolist
OR
# yum -v repolist | less
Sample outputs:

Fig.01: Yum Query All Repositories and Show Repository ID's Command

Please note that epel is your "EPEL Repo ID" in the above output.

How do I list all packages in EPEL repo?

Type the following command to list all packages from EPEL repo only:
# yum --disablerepo="*" --enablerepo="epel" list available
To search packages in epel repo only, enter:
# yum --disablerepo="*" --enablerepo="epel" search packageNameHere # yum --disablerepo="*" --enablerepo="epel" search nginx

How do I use EPEL repo?

Simply use the yum commands to search or install packages from EPEL repo:
# yum search nginx # yum update # yum --disablerepo="*" --enablerepo="epel" install nginx
Sample outputs:

Loaded plugins: product-id, rhnplugin, subscription-manager
Updating certificate-based repositories.
epel/metalink                                                                                                                          |  13 kB     00:00
epel                                                                                                                                   | 4.3 kB     00:00
epel/primary_db                                                                                                                        | 4.1 MB     00:03
Setting up Update Process
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package dkms.noarch 0:2.0.10-1 will be updated
---> Package dkms.noarch 0:2.1.0.1-1.el6 will be an update
---> Package iftop.x86_64 0:0.17-1.el6 will be updated
---> Package iftop.x86_64 0:1.0-0.1.pre2.el6 will be an update
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
Dependencies Resolved
==============================================================================================================================================================
 Package                            Arch                                Version                                       Repository                         Size
==============================================================================================================================================================
Updating:
 dkms                               noarch                              2.1.0.1-1.el6                                 epel                               99 k
 iftop                              x86_64                              1.0-0.1.pre2.el6                              epel                               44 k
Transaction Summary
==============================================================================================================================================================
Upgrade       2 Package(s)
Total download size: 144 k
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
(1/2): dkms-2.1.0.1-1.el6.noarch.rpm                                                                                                   |  99 kB     00:00
(2/2): iftop-1.0-0.1.pre2.el6.x86_64.rpm                                                                                               |  44 kB     00:00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                                                                                                                         543 kB/s | 144 kB     00:00
warning: rpmts_HdrFromFdno: Header V3 RSA/SHA256 Signature, key ID 0608b895: NOKEY
Retrieving key from file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-EPEL-6
Importing GPG key 0x0608B895:
 Userid : EPEL (6) 
 Package: epel-release-6-5.noarch (installed)
 From   : /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-EPEL-6
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Running rpm_check_debug
Running Transaction Test
Transaction Test Succeeded
Running Transaction
Warning: RPMDB altered outside of yum.
  Updating   : dkms-2.1.0.1-1.el6.noarch                                                                                                                  1/4
  Updating   : iftop-1.0-0.1.pre2.el6.x86_64                                                                                                              2/4
  Cleanup    : dkms-2.0.10-1.noarch                                                                                                                       3/4
  Cleanup    : iftop-0.17-1.el6.x86_64                                                                                                                    4/4
Installed products updated.
Updated:
  dkms.noarch 0:2.1.0.1-1.el6                                                 iftop.x86_64 0:1.0-0.1.pre2.el6
Complete!

Check out related media

This tutorial is also avilable in a quick video format that explains how to install EPEL repository on CentOS or RHEL 6.x server so that you can install additional packages directly using the yum command only.