yumdownloader

View documentation for the original command

$ tldr dnf download

yumdownloader [options] package...

--destdir=<directory>
    Specify the destination directory for downloaded packages.

--source
    Download the source RPM (SRPM) for the specified package.

--resolve
    Resolve and download all necessary package dependencies.

--url
    Instead of downloading, print the direct download URL for the package.

--urls
    Print all download URLs for the package and its dependencies.

--enablerepo=<repo_id>
    Enable specific repositories by their ID for the download operation.

--disablerepo=<repo_id>
    Disable specific repositories by their ID for the download operation.

-y, --assumeyes
    Automatically answer yes to all prompts during the download process.

--debuginfo
    Download corresponding debuginfo packages for the specified RPMs.

--nogpgcheck
    Disable GPG signature checking for downloaded packages.

--latest
    Download only the latest version of the specified package.

--archlist=<arch1,arch2,...>
    Limit packages to be downloaded to a specific list of architectures.

yumdownloader is a specialized utility that allows users to download RPM packages directly from Yum repositories without performing an installation on the system. This capability is invaluable for various administrative tasks, such as creating local mirrors of repositories, preparing packages for offline deployments in isolated networks, or inspecting package contents before commitment to a live system.

It supports resolving and downloading package dependencies, fetching source RPMs, and specifying a target directory for the downloaded files. While the broader yum ecosystem has been largely superseded by dnf in modern Red Hat-based distributions, yumdownloader remains relevant for managing legacy systems or in environments where yum is still the primary package manager.

yumdownloader is part of the yum ecosystem, which has been largely deprecated in favor of dnf on modern Red Hat-based distributions (e.g., Fedora 22+, RHEL 8+). Users on newer systems should prefer dnf download for similar functionality. This command only downloads packages; it does not perform installation or dependency resolution against the local system's installed packages.

To download the 'httpd' package along with all its required dependencies into a specific directory, such as '/tmp/offline_rpms':

yumdownloader --resolve --destdir=/tmp/offline_rpms httpd

This command will fetch the 'httpd' RPM and any packages it depends on into the '/tmp/offline_rpms' directory. This set of packages can then be used for offline installation or for building a local repository.

yumdownloader originated as a component of the yum (Yellowdog Updater, Modified) package manager, which became the standard package management tool for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and its derivatives for many years. It was developed to provide granular control over package retrieval, allowing administrators to prepare systems offline or manage custom repositories. With the advent of dnf (Dandified Yum), which offers improved dependency resolution and performance, dnf download has succeeded yumdownloader as the preferred tool on newer systems, though yumdownloader remains available and functional on systems still utilizing yum.

yum(8), dnf(8), rpm(8), createrepo(8)