Commands to install EPEL repo on a CentOS Linux and RHEL 7.x

The procedure to enable EPEL repository for a CentOS/RHEL 7.x server is as follows:

1. Open a shell prompt.
2. Or login to a host called server1 using ssh client.
3. Install epel using the following command: yum -y install epel-release
4. Refresh repo by typing the following command: yum repolist

How to install EPEL repo on a CentOS and RHEL 7.x

The following instructions assumes that you are running command as root user on a CentOS/RHEL 7.x system and want to use use Fedora Epel repository.

Just type the following yum command on a CentOS 7 or RHEL 7:
sudo yum install epel-release

Fig.01: Installing epel-release package on a Centos 7

Note: If method #1 failed, try the following method #2 to install EPEL Repo.

Method #2: Install the extra EPEL repositories from dl.fedoraproject.org

The command is as follows to download epel release for CentOS and RHEL 7.x using wget command:

cd /tmp
wget https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-7.noarch.rpm
ls *.rpm

To install epel-release-7-11.noarch.rpm, type:
sudo yum install epel-release-latest-7.noarch.rpm
Sample outputs:

Loaded plugins: copr
Examining epel-release-latest-7.noarch.rpm: epel-release-7-11.noarch
Marking epel-release-latest-7.noarch.rpm to be installed
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package epel-release.noarch 0:7-11 will be installed
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
 
Dependencies Resolved
 
================================================================================
 Package          Arch       Version    Repository                         Size
================================================================================
Installing:
 epel-release     noarch     7-11       /epel-release-latest-7.noarch      24 k
 
Transaction Summary
================================================================================
Install  1 Package
 
Total size: 24 k
Installed size: 24 k
Is this ok [y/d/N]: y
Downloading packages:
Running transaction check
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded
Running transaction
  Installing : epel-release-7-11.noarch                                     1/1 
  Verifying  : epel-release-7-11.noarch                                     1/1 
 
Installed:
  epel-release.noarch 0:7-11                                                    
 
Complete!

List your new repos

Once installed you should see epel repo using the following yum repolist command
$ sudo yum repolist
Sample outputs:

Loaded plugins: amazon-id, rhui-lb
repo id                                         repo name                                         status
epel/x86_64                                     Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 7 - x86_64    5,610
rhui-REGION-client-config-server-7/x86_64       Red Hat Update Infrastructure 2.0 Client Configur     2
rhui-REGION-rhel-server-releases/7Server/x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 7 (RPMs)          4,718
repolist: 10,330

Search and install package

To list all available packages under a repo called epel, enter:
$ sudo yum --disablerepo="*" --enablerepo="epel" list available
OR
$ sudo yum --disablerepo="*" --enablerepo="epel" list available | grep 'package'
OR
$ sudo yum --disablerepo="*" --enablerepo="epel" list available | less
Sample outputs:

Fig. 02: List all available packages under a EPEL Repo on a CentOS/RHEL/Fedora Linux

Example: Search and install htop package from epel repo on a CentOS/RHEL 7.x

The commands are as follows (see yum our command guide for more info):

## search it ##
sudo yum search htop
 
## get more info, if found ##
sudo yum info htop
 
## install it ##
sudo yum install htop

And, there you have it, a larger number of packages to install from EPEL repo on a CentOS and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) version 7.x.

See also

• CentOS / RHEL / Scientific Linux 4.x/5.x/6.x Enable & Install EPEL Repo