If you have learned or known Gnu / Linux with Ubuntu or its derivatives, surely you know the "Apt-Get" command, a command that starts the management of APT software, a very important tool within the distribution.
However APT is not a tool that we will find in all Gnu / Linux distributions. Others like SUSE or OpenSUSE use a tool called Zypper that helps us install the software we want through the terminal. Next we tell you how to use Zypper to perform some of the common tasks that need to be done through the terminal. Zypper is the tool to manage software through the terminal but it is not the only tool that SUSE or OpenSUSE uses to manage the software of the distribution.
Installing packages
For install packages we have to write the following command:
zypper install PAQUETE
Package removal
For remove any packages we have to write the following in the Terminal:
zypper rm PAQUETE
Know about new updates
zypper lu [/ sourcecode]
It shows us available updates of the packages that we have in the distribution.
Install security patches
SUSE Linux and its derivatives have the ability to install only operating system security patches. For this we write:
zypper lp
Search for packages
For search packages we have to write the following:
zypper se PAQUETE
Clear cache memory
To delete or clear cache locally we have to write the following:
zypper clean
Package information
Zypper allows us view package information that we have installed such as the update date, the version, etc ... For this we write the following:
zypper info PAQUETE
Repositories
To see the repositories that we have installed we have to write the following:
zypper lr
For add a new repository we have to write the following:
zypper addrepo -c "URL REPOSITORIO"
For delete a repository that we have, we write the following:
zypper removerepo NOMBRE_REPOSITORIO
Conclusion on Zypper
These are some of the commands and things we can do with zypper. However, they are not the only things we can do nor are they the only tool we can use to manage the OpenSUSE Software.
Actually to clean the cache is this command, otherwise zypper leaves the heap of update packages there:
zypper clean-all
Unfortunately zypper or yast do not have a tool to eliminate dependencies packages that are no longer needed, only the samples and they would have to be eliminated one by one -a real mission impossible-, something similar happens in PCLinuxOS, despite using apt!
This is why I prefer Mageia / Mandriva with:
urpme –auto-orphans
Debian / Ubuntu with:
apt-get autoremove