DNF (software)

DNF or Dandified YUM^[8][9][10] is the next-generation version of the Yellowdog Updater Modified (yum), a package manager for .rpm-based Linux distributions. DNF was introduced in Fedora 18 in 2013;^[11] it has been the default package manager since Fedora 22 in 2015,^[12] Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8,^[13] and OpenMandriva,^[14] and is also an alternative package manager for Mageia.

Dandified Yum

DNF5 running on Fedora 41
Developer(s)	Red Hat
Initial release	18 January 2012; 12 years ago (2012-01-18)[1]
Stable release	5.2.4.0,[2] 4.21.1[3]  / 26 June 2024; 3 months ago (26 June 2024) 26 June 2024; 3 months ago (26 June 2024)
Repository	https://github.com/rpm-software-management/dnf,[4] https://github.com/rpm-software-management/dnf5[5]
Written in	dnf4: Python,[6] Extensible Markup Language,[6] CMake,[6] shell script[6]  dnf5: C++,[7] Python,[7] CMake,[7] Extensible Markup Language,[7] Ruby,[7] SQL,[7] C,[7] Perl,[7] shell script[7]
Operating system	Linux, IBM AIX
Platform	RPM
Available in	English
Type	Package management system
License	GPLv2+ & LGPLv2.1+ & New BSD License
Website	rpm-software-management.github.io

Perceived deficiencies of yum (which DNF is intended to address) include poor performance, high memory usage, and the slowness of its iterative dependency resolution.^[15] DNF uses libsolv, an external dependency resolver.^[15]

DNF performs package management tasks on top of RPM, and supporting libraries.

DNF was originally written in Python, but as of 2016^[update] efforts were under way to port it to C and move most functionality from Python code into the new libdnf library.^[16] In 2018, the DNF team announced the decision to move libdnf from C to C++.^[17][18] libdnf is already used by PackageKit, a Linux distribution-agnostic package system abstraction library, even though the library does not have most of DNF's features.^[19]

Meanwhile, DNF5 is gearing up for an official launch in Fedora Linux 41. This versatile C++ package manager for RPM packages, modules, and comps groups uses libdnf and libsolv, supports Python 3, and is accessible in Fedora 38+.^[20]

Adoption

DNF has been the default command-line package manager for Fedora since version 22, which was released in May 2015.^[12] The libdnf library is used as a package backend in PackageKit,^[19] which offers a graphical user interface (GUI). Later dnfdragora was developed for Fedora 27 as another alternative graphical front-end of DNF.^[21][22] DNF has also been available as an alternate package manager for Mageia Linux since version 6 and may become the default sometime in the future.^[23]

In Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and by extension, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux, yum is an alias for dnf.^[13]

Dependencies

libdnf

• high-level API for DNF and underlying libraries
• C, C++
• LGPLv2.1+

libsolv

• a free package dependency solver using a satisfiability algorithm for solving packages and reading repositories
• C
• New BSD License

librepo

• a library providing C and Python (libcURL like) API for downloading Linux repository metadata and packages
• C
• LGPLv2.1+

libcomps

• libcomps is an alternative for yum.comps library, written in pure C, and has bindings for Python
• C
• GPLv2+

References

1. 0.6.4-1 for rpm-software-management/dnf dnf on GitHub
2. "Release 5.2.4.0". GitHub. 26 June 2024. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
3. "4.21.1". 15 August 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
4. "GitHub - rpm-software-management/dnf: Package manager based on libdnf and libsolv. Replaces YUM". GitHub. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
5. "GitHub - rpm-software-management/dnf5: Next-generation RPM package management system". GitHub. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
6. "The dnf Open Source Project on Open Hub: Languages Page". Open Hub. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
7. "The dnf5 Open Source Project on Open Hub: Languages Page". Open Hub. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
8. "DNF". Fedora Project Wiki. Archived from the original on 2018-10-14. Retrieved 2018-05-21.
9. "What does DNF stand for". DNF User's FAQ. Archived from the original on 2018-10-14. Retrieved 2018-05-21.
10. README.rst · rpm-software-management/dnf on GitHub
11. Byfield, Bruce. "Will DNF Replace Yum?". Linux Magazine. Archived from the original on 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
12. "Fedora 22 Released, See What's New [Workstation]". WebUpd8. 2015-05-26. Archived from the original on 2015-09-25. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
13. Matteson, Scott (2019-03-30). "What's new with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and Red Hat Virtualization". TechRepublic. Archived from the original on 2019-09-24. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
14. "Switching to RPMv4". OpenMandriva. 2018-03-07. Archived from the original on 2022-06-26. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
15. Edge, Jake (2014-01-15). "DNF and Yum in Fedora". LWN.net. Archived from the original on 2015-09-30. Retrieved 2015-03-29.
16. Šilhan, Jan (2016-02-24). "DNF into C initiative started". DNF blog. Archived from the original on 2017-07-02. Retrieved 2017-07-05.
17. Mach, Daniel; Mracek, Jaroslav (22 March 2018). "Announcing DNF 3 development". DNF: A Blog of The DNF Team. Archived from the original on September 18, 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
18. Edge, Jake (28 March 2018). "DNF 3: better performance and a move to C++". LWN.net. Archived from the original on October 14, 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
19. Aleksandersen, Daniel (2017-07-05). "Use DNF rather than PackageKit on Fedora". Ctrl blog. Archived from the original on 2017-08-07. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
20. "Changes/ReplaceDnfWithDnf5". Archived from the original on 2023-11-12. Retrieved 2023-11-12.
21. "Changes/Replace yumex-dnf with dnfdragora - Fedora Project Wiki". fedoraproject.org. Archived from the original on 2021-09-27. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
22. "F27 Self Contained Change: Replace Yumex-DNF with dnfdragora - devel - Fedora Mailing-Lists". lists.fedoraproject.org. Archived from the original on 2021-09-27. Retrieved 2021-09-27.
23. Larabel, Michael (2016-09-05). "Mageia To Offer DNF, But Will Keep Using URPMI By Default". Phoronix. Archived from the original on 2017-12-06. Retrieved 2017-12-04.

External links

• Official website