<!doctype linuxdoc system>

<article>

<title>RPM+Slackware Mini-Howto 
<author>Dave Whitinger, <tt/wolf@redhat.com/
<date>v1.0, 29 August 1997

<abstract>
This document describes how to get RPM installed and working
properly under Slackware.  The information contained herein,
however, is probably applicable to any Linux distribution.
</abstract>

<toc>

<sect>Introduction

<p>

I've been asked many many times how to use RPM under Slackware.
Enough was enough, so today I decided that creating this document
might be a good idea.

RPM is the "Red Hat Package Manager" and is the heart of the
Red Hat Linux distribution.  It's most basic functionality
is to install and de-install packages.  Check out the RPM-HOWTO, or
get a copy of "Maximum RPM" for more information on using RPM.

This document is geared toward installing RPM on a Slackware system 
using an Intel processor, but the information contained herein
can easily be applied to any distribution using any processor type.

<sect>Obtaining the software

<p>

The newest release of RPM is always available from:

<tscreen><verb>
ftp.rpm.org/pub/rpm/dist/latest
</verb></tscreen>

As of this writing, the latest version was

<tscreen><verb>
rpm-2.4.5-1.i386.tar.gz
</verb></tscreen>

Notice the .i386 section.  This means that it is a binary package for the
Intel architecture, ready to untar and run.  Make sure that the file
you download has the i386 in the filename, otherwise the following
instructions will not work.

<sect>Installing the software
<p>

You must be root to accomplish the next steps.  

You must then untar the package from the root directory.  Here are the
instructions for doing so:

<tscreen><verb>
	cd /
	tar zxvpf /home/wolf/rpm-2.4.5-1.i386.tar.gz
</verb></tscreen>	

Of course, replace the /home/wolf with the correct path for the filename.

Next, you have to create a directory called "rpm" under the /var/lib tree.

        mkdir /var/lib/rpm

Now type 'rpm --initdb' to initialize the rpm database.

If everything has gone correctly up to this point, you will have a
rpm-capable system!  Test it out by grabbing any rpm file and
installing it with 'rpm -Uvh filename.rpm'

	


</article>
