How to install and enable EPEL repository on a CentOS/RHEL 7

What is an EPEL repository (repo)?

The EPEL repository was created by the EPEL group working at the Fedora Project. The EPEL is an acronym for Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux. The EPEL repository used by the following Linux Distributions:

1. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
2. CentOS
3. Oracle Linux

Installing EPEL repository on a CentOS Linux and RHEL 7.x

The procedure to enable EPEL repository for a CentOS/RHEL 7.x server is as follows:

1. Open a shell prompt.
2. Or login to a host called server1 using ssh client.
3. Install epel repository using: yum -y install epel-release
4. Refresh epel repo by typing: yum repolist
5. Install packages from epel repo : yum install pkg1

How to install EPEL repo on a CentOS and RHEL 7.x

The following instructions assumes that you are running command as root user on a CentOS/RHEL 7.x system and want to use use Fedora Epel repository.

Method #1: Install Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux repository configuration (recommended)

Just type the following yum command on a CentOS 7 or RHEL 7:
sudo yum install epel-release

Fig.01: Installing epel-release package on a Centos 7

Note: If method #1 failed, try the following method #2 to install EPEL Repo.

Method #2: Install the extra EPEL repositories from dl.fedoraproject.org

The command is as follows to download epel release for CentOS and RHEL 7.x using wget command:

cd /tmp
wget https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-7.noarch.rpm
ls *.rpm

To install epel-release-7-11.noarch.rpm, type:
sudo yum install epel-release-latest-7.noarch.rpm
Sample outputs:

Loaded plugins: copr
Examining epel-release-latest-7.noarch.rpm: epel-release-7-11.noarch
Marking epel-release-latest-7.noarch.rpm to be installed
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package epel-release.noarch 0:7-11 will be installed
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
 
Dependencies Resolved
 
================================================================================
 Package          Arch       Version    Repository                         Size
================================================================================
Installing:
 epel-release     noarch     7-11       /epel-release-latest-7.noarch      24 k
 
Transaction Summary
================================================================================
Install  1 Package
 
Total size: 24 k
Installed size: 24 k
Is this ok [y/d/N]: y
Downloading packages:
Running transaction check
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded
Running transaction
  Installing : epel-release-7-11.noarch                                     1/1 
  Verifying  : epel-release-7-11.noarch                                     1/1 
 
Installed:
  epel-release.noarch 0:7-11                                                    
 
Complete!

List your new repos

Once installed you should see epel repo using the following yum repolist command
$ sudo yum repolist
Sample outputs:

Loaded plugins: amazon-id, rhui-lb
repo id                                         repo name                                         status
epel/x86_64                                     Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 7 - x86_64    5,610
rhui-REGION-client-config-server-7/x86_64       Red Hat Update Infrastructure 2.0 Client Configur     2
rhui-REGION-rhel-server-releases/7Server/x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 7 (RPMs)          4,718
repolist: 10,330

Search and install package

To list all available packages under a repo called epel, enter:
$ sudo yum --disablerepo="*" --enablerepo="epel" list available
OR
$ sudo yum --disablerepo="*" --enablerepo="epel" list available | grep 'package'
OR
$ sudo yum --disablerepo="*" --enablerepo="epel" list available | less
Sample outputs:

Fig. 02: List all available packages under a EPEL Repo on a CentOS/RHEL/Fedora Linux

Example: Search and install htop package from epel repo on a CentOS/RHEL 7.x

The commands are as follows (see yum our command guide for more info):

## search it ##
sudo yum search htop
 
## get more info, if found ##
sudo yum info htop
 
## install it ##
sudo yum install htop

And, there you have it, a larger number of packages to install from EPEL repo on a CentOS and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) version 7.x.

Conclusion

You learned how to install and enable EPEL repository on a CentOS or RHEL 7.x server. See:

• CentOS / RHEL / Scientific Linux 4.x/5.x/6.x Enable & Install EPEL Repo