Zypper cheat sheet
February 11, 2020 ‐ 3 min read
Zypper is the package manager of OpenSUSE and SUSE Linux. The basics are pretty easy to remember but sometimes a cheat sheet is just handy.
Package Management
zypper install (in)
Install a new package, if the specified package is already installed it will be updated.
$ zypper install php7
The same, but using the shorthand in notation.
$ zypper in php7
In case you need a specific version of a package you can add preferred version number right after the package name followed by an equal sign.
$ zypper in zypper=1.14.30
In OpenSUSE packages can be installed as pattern too. Patterns in OpenSUSE are basically a group of related packages that are required to run a specific piece of software. Like installing the desktop environment xfce for example, which requires other packages such as the X Window System.
Instead of installing these packages individually, all of these packages can all be easily installed as a pattern by the following command.
$ zypper in -t pattern xfce
zypper remove (rm)
Uninstall the specified package and their, possible, dependent packages.
$ zypper rm php7
The same, but using the shorthand rm notation.
$ zypper rm php7
zypper info (if)
Displays detailed information about the specified packages.
$ zypper if php7
Show symbols the package requires.
$ zypper if --requires php7
zypper verify (ve)
Check whether the dependencies of installed packages on your system are satisfied and possibly installing missing dependencies.
$ zypper ve
Update Management
zypper update (up)
Update installed packages with newer versions.
$ zypper up
Update a specific package with a newer version.
$ zypper up php7
zypper list-updates (lu)
List installable updates.
$ zypper lu
zypper dist-upgrade (dup)
Perform a distribution upgrade.
$ zypper dup
Query Commands
zypper search (se)
Search for packages matching any of the given search strings.
$ zypper se mysql
Search using a wildcard.
$ zypper se 'yast*'
Search for packages that provide a specific binary.
$ zypper se --provides --match-exact npm
zypper packages (pa)
Show packages which are orphaned (without repository).
$ zypper pa --orphaned
Show packages which are unneeded.
$ zypper pa --unneeded
zypper patterns (pt)
List all available patterns or all patterns from specified repositories.
$ zypper pt
Repository Management
zypper addrepo (ar)
Add a new repository specified.
$ zypper ar
zypper removerepo (rr)
Delete repositories specified.
$ zypper rr
zypper repos (lr)
List all defined repositories.
$ zypper lr
zypper refresh (ref)
Refresh repositories specified by their alias, name, number, or URI.
$ zypper ref
zypper clean (cc)
Clean the local caches for all known or specified repositories.
$ zypper cc
Package Locks
zypper locks (ll)
List currently active package locks.
$ zypper ll
zypper addlock (al)
Add a package lock.
$ zypper al php7
zypper removelock (rl)
Remove specified package lock.
$ zypper rm php7