Yum package removal
 

I have FC7_64 installed and I was wondering if there is any way to tell yum to remove the i386 version of various packages? It was always want to remove both versions.

Keith

Yes, but one needs to be extremely careful or you will kill your system, it is better to use rpm for this;

rpm -e packagename.i386 --test

Keep expanding this until you have no more dependency errors then remove the test (--test) switch. Once again be very careful, some 32-bit packages are needed depending on what is installed. For example you will need the 32-bit packages required for say the flash-plugin and Adobe reader.

I am mainly looking to remove a lot of the i386 devel packages. Now with rpm, if I try to remove a package that has dependancies it should not remove the package and list the dependancies right?

Keith

You still should use rpm for removing the devel packages, some are important and some are needed if you are building your own packages. The kernel-devel rpm packages are useful for many so it would be a good idea not to remove this package.

In general it is OK to remove the devel packages and their dependent devel rpm packages, one can use either yum or rpm for this, just be careful not to remove any wanted/ needed packages. Example yum command;

yum remove foo-devel.i386

Yes, if you attempt to remove a package or packages that has dependencies it will not remove the package and will list what is dependent on the package(s).