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rpm2cpio – Convert RPM packages to cpio format files

The rpm2cpio command is a Linux utility that is used to convert RPM packages to cpio format files. RPM is a package management system used by many Linux distributions, while cpio is a file archive format used in Unix-like operating systems. This command is useful if you need to extract files from an RPM package without installing it, or if you need to convert an RPM package to a format that can be used on a different operating system.

Overview

The rpm2cpio command is used from the command line, and takes an RPM package as input. The output is a cpio format file that contains the contents of the RPM package. Here is an example of how to use the command:

rpm2cpio package.rpm > package.cpio

This command will convert the RPM package package.rpm to a cpio format file called package.cpio. The > symbol redirects the output of the command to a file instead of displaying it on the terminal.

Another way to use rpm2cpio is to pipe the output directly to the cpio command, which will extract the contents of the RPM package. Here is an example:

rpm2cpio package.rpm | cpio -id

This command will extract the contents of the RPM package package.rpm to the current directory. The -i option tells the cpio command to extract the files, while the -d option creates directories as needed.

Options

The rpm2cpio command has only one option:

Option Description
None Converts an RPM package to a cpio format file.

Troubleshooting tips

Here are some common issues you may encounter when using rpm2cpio, along with their solutions:

  • Error: “rpm2cpio: not found” – This error occurs when the rpm2cpio command is not installed on your system. You can install it using your distribution’s package manager. For example, on Ubuntu, you can run sudo apt-get install rpm2cpio.
  • Error: “package.rpm: not an RPM package” – This error occurs when the input file is not a valid RPM package. Make sure you are specifying the correct file name and path.
  • Error: “cpio: premature end of archive” – This error occurs when the cpio format file is corrupt or incomplete. Try converting the RPM package again, or downloading a new copy of the package.

Notes

  • The rpm2cpio command is included in most Linux distributions by default.
  • The cpio format is not as widely used as other archive formats like tar and zip, but it is still used in some cases, especially in Unix-like operating systems.

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