What are the advantages of using yum/dnf over rpm?

Environment

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10

Issue

• What are the advantages of using yum/dnf over rpm?
• Is there a difference between using rpm and yum/dnf to install an RPM package?
• Should I use yum/dnf instead of rpm when installing RPM packages?

Resolution

• It is generally recommended to use yum/dnf to install RPM packages instead of the rpm command.
• When using yum/dnf, the installation is tracked in the package transaction history, allowing administrators to:
  • Review installed, updated, or removed packages.
  • Undo or roll back specific transactions if needed.
  • Automatically resolve and install package dependencies when repositories are available.
• In contrast, the rpm command performs low-level operations and does not handle dependency resolution or transaction logging.
• For further details related to package transaction history provided by yum/dnf, refer to the following documents:
  • How to use yum history to roll back an update in Red Hat Enterprise Linux?
  • This content is not included.Handling package management history

Root Cause

• The rpm command lacks the capability to manage dependencies or maintain transaction history.

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