Q. Can you tell me how do I patch and update everything on my Redhat Enterprise Linux server 5?
A. Both RHEL 5 and CentOS 5 use yum command, which is an interactive, automated update program which can be used for maintaining systems using rpm.
To upgrade server and apply all security patches, pass update option to yum command. It will update every currently installed package. If one or more packages are specified, Yum will only update the listed packages. While updating packages, yum will ensure that all dependencies are satisfied. If no package matches the given package name(s), they are assumed to be a shell glob and any matches are then installed.
Task: Redhat / CentOS upgrade server and apply all security patches
In short type the following command, as the root user:
# yum update
OR if sudo is configured:
$ sudo yum update
Sample output:
Loading "rhnplugin" plugin Loading "installonlyn" plugin Setting up Update Process Setting up repositories rhel-x86_64-server-vt-5 100% |=========================| 1.2 kB 00:00 rhel-x86_64-server-5 100% |=========================| 1.2 kB 00:00 Reading repository metadata in from local files Resolving Dependencies --> Populating transaction set with selected packages. Please wait. ---> Package kernel-devel.x86_64 0:2.6.18-8.1.8.el5 set to be installed ---> Package kernel-headers.x86_64 0:2.6.18-8.1.8.el5 set to be updated ---> Package kernel.x86_64 0:2.6.18-8.1.8.el5 set to be installed --> Running transaction check --> Populating transaction set with selected packages. Please wait. ---> Package kernel-devel.x86_64 0:2.6.18-8.el5 set to be erased ---> Package kernel.x86_64 0:2.6.18-8.el5 set to be erased --> Running transaction check Dependencies Resolved ============================================================================= Package Arch Version Repository Size ============================================================================= Installing: kernel x86_64 2.6.18-8.1.8.el5 rhel-x86_64-server-5 14 M kernel-devel x86_64 2.6.18-8.1.8.el5 rhel-x86_64-server-5 4.7 M Updating: kernel-headers x86_64 2.6.18-8.1.8.el5 rhel-x86_64-server-5 762 k Removing: kernel x86_64 2.6.18-8.el5 installed 72 M kernel-devel x86_64 2.6.18-8.el5 installed 15 M Transaction Summary ============================================================================= Install 2 Package(s) Update 1 Package(s) Remove 2 Package(s) Total download size: 20 M Is this ok [y/N]: y Downloading Packages: (1/3): kernel-devel-2.6.1 100% |=========================| 4.7 MB 00:04 (2/3): kernel-headers-2.6 100% |=========================| 762 kB 00:00 (3/3): kernel-2.6.18-8.1. 100% |=========================| 14 MB 00:12 Running Transaction Test Finished Transaction Test Transaction Test Succeeded Running Transaction Installing: kernel-devel ######################### [1/6] Updating : kernel-headers ######################### [2/6] Installing: kernel ######################### [3/6] Cleanup : kernel-headers ######################### [4/6] Cleanup : kernel-devel ######################### [5/6] Cleanup : kernel ######################### [6/6] Removed: kernel.x86_64 0:2.6.18-8.el5 kernel-devel.x86_64 0:2.6.18-8.el5 Installed: kernel.x86_64 0:2.6.18-8.1.8.el5 kernel-devel.x86_64 0:2.6.18-8.1.8.el5 Updated: kernel-headers.x86_64 0:2.6.18-8.1.8.el5 Complete!
A note for RHEL 4 user
You need to use up2date command:
# up2date -u