Zypper Package Manager Cheat Sheet

Zypper is the default package manager for openSUSE distributions and SUSE Linux Enterprise Servers. It differs from APT and YUM package managers, as it employs SAT solver, one of the best package dependency libraries. This Zypper cheat sheet covers the main zypper commands, segmented into various categories.

Basic Help

To get help with Zypper commands, use the following options:

Command	Functionality
`zypper #`	Show all available global commands and options
`zypper help [command]`	Displays help for the specified command
`zypper shell` or `zypper sh`	Starts a shell session

Repository Management

Under repository management, Zypper has various commands. They include:

Add repositories/get information about repos

Command	Functionality
`zypper addrepo [repo url alias ]` or `zypper ar`	Add a new repository with the specified repo URL
`zypper info [package]` or `zypper if`	Show information about a specified package

Rename repository aliases

Command	Functionality
`zypper namerepo` or `zypper nr`	Used to rename a repository alias. For example, to rename repo from “sample” to “sample.repo”: `zypper nr sample sample.repo`

Modify repositories

Command	Functionality
`zypper modifyrepo` or `zypper mr`	Modify a repo by either enabling or disabling it. Use the repository unique value from the zypper lr command.

Remove repositories

Command	Functionality
`zypper removerepo` or `zypper rr`	Remove a specified repo. For example: zypper rr repo-non-oss

Refresh repositories

Command	Functionality
`zypper refresh [repo alias]` or `zypper ref`	Refresh the specified repository. For example: zypper ref repo-oss

List defined repositories

Command	Functionality
`zypper repos` or `zypper lr`	Show the available repositories, including alias and source URI

Clean repositories

Command	Functionality
`zypper clean` or `zypper cc`	Clean a specified repository. For example: zypper cc repo-oss

Export/import repositories

Command	Functionality
`zypper repos -e [repo-name][destination]`	Export the specified repository from a set source to destination
`zypper repos -ar [repo-name] [src]`	Import a repository from specified source

Service Management

Under service management, Zypper has the following options:

Command	Function
`zypper services` or `zypper ls`	Show the repository’s defined services
`zypper addservice ][service-name]` or `zypper as`	Add a service with the specified name
`zyppermodifyservice [service-name]` or `zypper ms`	Modify the specified service
`zypper refresh service` or `zypper refs`	Refresh all the available services
`zypper removeservice [service name]` or `zypper rs`	Remove the specified service

Package Management

Under package management, zypper has the following command options:

Install packages

Command	Functionality
`zypper install [package]` or `zypper in`	Install the latest version of the specified package

Remove packages

Command	Functionality
`zypper remove [package]` or `zypper rm`	Remove the installed version of the specified package

Verify packages

Command	Functionality
`zypper verify` or `zypper ve`	Verify the integrity of package dependencies. Useful when you have broken packages

Update packages

Command	Functionality
`zypper source-install` or `zypper si`	Install source packages and build dependecies

NOTE: you can use the -D and -d global options to install the source package without the dependencies and install only the build dependencies, respectively.

Command	Functionality
`zypper install-new-recommeds` or `zypper inr`	Install new recommended packages
`zypper update` or `zypper up`	Update the specified packages

Search packages

Command	Functionality
`zypper search [package-name]` or `zypper se`	Search for a package. For example, zypper se nginx

Information about packages

Command	Functionality
`zypper info [package-name]`	Display detailed information about the specified package

Distribution Upgrade

Command	Functionality
`zypper dist-upgrade` or `zypper dup`	Perform a distribution upgrade for all installed packages. It is best to restrict upgrade from a specific source repo

Conclusion

This succinct Zypper package manager cheat sheet has covered all the main commands you need to know to work effectively with Zypper. Read on to learn the history of Linux distros and how to choose a Linux distro without trying all of them.

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