How to: Enable and Install (updates/rmps) in RHEL6 without RHNs ?

Installing and Using yum in RHEL6 Without RHN #

I recently installed RHEL6 (Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6) on my machine. It’s working perfectly and does exactly what I need. However, unlike Ubuntu or most Linux distributions (except CentOS, which is quite similar to Red Hat), getting updates in RHEL is not straightforward—you must be registered with RHN (Red Hat Network).

What is yum? #

To install or update RPM packages in RHEL/CentOS, we use the yum command. It’s a powerful tool that:

• Automatically handles dependencies
• Can install, update, or remove packages
• Supports group installation of packages

yum uses repository files found in: /etc/yum.repos.d/[name].repo

Basic Format of a .repo File #

[repo_name]
name=My Local Repo
baseurl=file://PATH_OF_YOUR_FOLDER
enabled=1
gpgcheck=0

This configuration tells yum to search for .rpm packages in the specified folder.

Unlike Ubuntu, where a simple sudo apt-get install php5 would work, RHEL6 requires some setup if you’re not using RHN.

Getting Updates in RHEL6 Without RHN #

If you don’t have RHN access, you can still use external repositories like EPEL and Remi.

Step 1: Download Required .rpm Files #

1. EPEL Release for RHEL6
   
   Download from: EPEL for RHEL6
   rpm -Uvh epel-release-6-5.noarch.rpm

2. Remi Release for RHEL6
   
   Download from: Remi Repo
   rpm -Uvh remi-release-6.rpm

Make sure to install epel-release first, since remi-release depends on it.

Step 2: Enable the Remi Repository #

After installation, a new repo file will be created: /etc/yum.repos.d/remi.repo

Edit it and make sure the [remi] section has: ini enabled=1
This activates the Remi repository.

Installing PHP5 on RHEL6 #

Once your repositories are set up, installing PHP is easy: yum install php
This command will fetch the latest version of PHP available in the Remi repo.

Verify Installation: #

php -v

You should now see the installed version of PHP displayed.

By configuring external repositories like EPEL and Remi, you can keep your RHEL6 system up to date and install necessary software packages without needing an RHN subscription.