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YUM/DNF Configuration

Overview

This page documents the system package manager configuration used on Skynet hosts. It explains what the DNF/YUM configuration file does, shows a sample configuration, and tells you where this documentation and the configuration file belong in the repository and on hosts.

What this file does

  • DNF (and YUM on older systems) reads configuration from /etc/dnf/dnf.conf (or /etc/yum.conf).
  • The configuration controls global behavior such as output coloring, the number of kernel packages to keep (installonly_limit), repository behaviour, and various timeouts and caching options.

Example configuration

Below is an annotated example of a minimal dnf.conf snippet that was previously shown on this page:

# see `man dnf.conf` for defaults and possible options

[main]
color=always
# Color codes control how package lists and updates are highlighted
color_list_installed_older=yellow
color_list_installed_newer=bold,yellow
color_list_installed_reinstall=dim,cyan
color_list_installed_running_kernel=bold,underline
color_list_installed_extra=bold,red
color_list_available_upgrade=bold,blue
color_list_available_downgrade=dim,magenta
color_list_available_install=bold,cyan
color_list_available_reinstall=bold,underline,green
color_list_available_running_kernel=bold,underline
color_search_match=bold,magenta
color_update_installed=bg:red
color_update_local=dim,green
color_update_remote=bold,green

# Keep only the most recent two installed kernels (adjust per policy)
installonly_limit=2

How to apply this configuration

  • The configuration file used by DNF/YUM on each host is /etc/dnf/dnf.conf (or /etc/yum.conf on older systems). To apply the example settings, place the snippet into /etc/dnf/dnf.conf on the host and save the file.
  • DNF reads its configuration on each invocation; no service restart is required. To refresh repository metadata and caches after changes, run:
dnf clean all
dnf makecache

References

  • man dnf.conf — system manual for DNF configuration options.