The .deb package is used to install applications on Ubuntu systems. RHEL/CentOS uses RPM as the default package manager. Likewise, we can also install the RPM package on Ubuntu. Debian based systems like RedHat and Ubuntu based systems like CentOS, Fedora, RHEL mostly have the same design. The RedHat operating system displays software packages as .rpm files.
Debian-based systems use .deb files. As such, they are designed differently and cannot be installed on platforms other than the ones they were designed for. As if .deb files on CentOS and we can only install RPM files on Debian. Porting these packages to other systems can be done in a number of ways. In this article we will see how to install RPM files in Ubuntu and we will see how easy it is.
Originally, RPMs were not developed for Debian-based distributions. Ubuntu does not support RPM packages. Installing packed RPMs on Ubuntu increases the likelihood of package dependency conflicts. You can install RPM packages in two different ways. Installing directly from .rpm files or converting to .deb files are easy methods.
Note: RPM packages may sometimes not work when installed on Debian-based systems.
To install RPM packages in Ubuntu there are a few steps to follow which are as follows:
Method 1: Convert the RPM file to a .deb
In order to install .rpm files, they must be converted to .deb files to be stable.
First we need to install the Alien software package.” This application translates .rpm files to .deb files. To install the Alien software, we first need to add a software repository called “Universe”. To do this, follow the steps below.
Now we need to update the system so that we can use the repository.
After adding the universe repository, you can install Alien with the following commands:
or
You can use any of the above commands. Using any of the above commands will give you the correct output. To do this, type ‘y’ and enter and the other process will continue. Using the same second command, we rush it with our permission.
To install the software you need to download an .rpm file. From there, open the file location. rpm file exists. Just copy it and run this command:
As you can see in the image above, we used Firefox.rpm as an example page. We opened Downloads as the current directory in the terminal and then ran the command.
Once done, the system will display the following message clearly defining that the RPM package has been successfully converted to a Deb package:
Note that converting the file may take some time. After conversion you can install the file, usually with dpkg.
Installing these files is the same as installing a regular .deb package file. You can then use the installed software as usual.
Method 2: Install the RPM package on Ubuntu directly
In this method, we install the .rpm package in Ubuntu without first converting it to a .deb file format.
In this method, we also have to use alien software. We can install RPM packages directly from this program. The following instructions are for installing an RPM package directly from the terminal window.
This command can cause serious compatibility problems with critical system packages.
Note: Ubuntu doesn’t support all formats, so installing packages in non-native formats can be risky.
Conclusion
You are less likely to make a mistake if you follow the instructions above correctly. In this article we have described how we can install the packages. We have explained both methods well here. If you would like to receive any information related to this article, please let us know by commenting in the comment section.
