How to install additional standard open source repository by using YUM command

To install additional standard open source repository by using YUM command.

EPEL Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux is a free and open source repository. All epel packages are maintained by Fedora repo. EPEL provides lots of open source packages to install via Yum command, epel repo is 100% open source and free to use. It does not provide any core duplicate packages. It does not have any compatibility issues.

To enable EPEL Repository for RHEL/CentOS

RHEL/CentOS 7 64 Bit

[root@linuxhelp~]# wget http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/7/x86_64/e/epel-release-7-5.noarch.rpm
[root@linuxhelp~]# rpm -ivh epel-release-7-5.noarch.rpm

RHEL/CentOS 6 32-64 Bit

[root@linuxhelp~]# wget http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/i386/epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm
[root@linuxhelp~]# rpm -ivh epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm

## RHEL/CentOS 6 64-Bit ##
[root@linuxhelp~]# wget http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/x86_64/epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm
[root@linuxhelp~]# rpm -ivh epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm

RHEL/CentOS 5 32-64 Bit

[root@linuxhelp~]# wget http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/5/i386/epel-release-5-4.noarch.rpm
[root@linuxhelp~]# rpm -ivh epel-release-5-4.noarch.rpm

## RHEL/CentOS 5 64-Bit ##
[root@linuxhelp~]# wget http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/5/x86_64/epel-release-5-4.noarch.rpm
[root@linuxhelp~]# rpm -ivh epel-release-5-4.noarch.rpm

RHEL/CentOS 4 32-64 Bit

[root@linuxhelp~]# wget http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/4/i386/epel-release-4-10.noarch.rpm
[root@linuxhelp~]# rpm -ivh epel-release-4-10.noarch.rpm

## RHEL/CentOS 4 64-Bit ##
[root@linuxhelp~]# wget http://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/4/x86_64/epel-release-4-10.noarch.rpm
[root@linuxhelp~]# rpm -ivh epel-release-4-10.noarch.rpm

To verify that the EPEL repository is enabled

[root@linuxhelp~]# yum repolist
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, refresh-packagekit, security
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
* base: centos.mirror.net.in
* epel: epel.mirror.net.in
* extras: centos.mirror.net.in
* updates: centos.excellmedia.net
repo id repo name status
base CentOS-6 - Base 6,575
epel Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 6 - x86_64 12,107
extras CentOS-6 - Extras 50
updates CentOS-6 - Updates 1,295
repolist: 20,027

Here, you can see the epel repo is enabled.

To use EPEL Repo

YUM command is used for searching and installing packages.

[root@linuxhelp~]# yum --enablerepo=epel info squid
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, refresh-packagekit, security
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
* base: centos.webwerks.com
* epel: kartolo.sby.datautama.net.id
* extras: centos.webwerks.com
* updates: centos.excellmedia.net
Available Packages
Name : squid
Arch : x86_64
Epoch : 7
Version : 3.1.23
Release : 9.el6
Size : 1.8 M
Repo : base
Summary : The Squid proxy caching server
URL : http://www.squid-cache.org
License : GPLv2 and (LGPLv2+ and Public Domain)
Description : Squid is a high-performance proxy caching server for Web clients,
: supporting FTP, gopher, and HTTP data objects. Unlike traditional
: caching software, Squid handles all requests in a single,
: non-blocking, I/O-driven process. Squid keeps meta data and especially
: hot objects cached in RAM, caches DNS lookups, supports non-blocking
: DNS lookups, and implements negative caching of failed requests.
:
: Squid consists of a main server program squid, a Domain Name System
: lookup program (dnsserver), a program for retrieving FTP data
: (ftpget), and some management and client tools.Repo : epel

Now to install the same package through EPEL repository,

[root@linuxhelp~]# yum --enablerepo=epel install squid
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, refresh-packagekit, security
Setting up Install Process
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
* base: centos.mirror.net.in
* epel: epel.mirror.net.in
* extras: centos.mirror.net.in
* updates: centos.excellmedia.net
Resolving Dependencies
-->  Running transaction check
--->  Package squid.x86_64 7:3.1.23-9.el6 will be installed
&hellip 
&hellip 
&hellip 
Installed:
squid.x86_64 7:3.1.23-9.el6

Complete!

Note: /etc/yum.repos.d/epel.repo has the epel configuration file.