Fedora command cheat sheet (F45-ready)

One page of commands. Everything follows the actual F45 / dnf5 5.4 argument shapes — dnf5 is not compatible with dnf4 on several subcommands, and the ones that break when copied are listed at the end.

1. Identity and versions

cat /etc/os-release                 # release and variant
rpm -q rpm dnf5 kernel              # key component versions
uname -r                            # kernel
hostnamectl                         # host overview

On F45, rpm -q rpm should report rpm-6.1.x; if it still says 6.0.x, you are on F44.

2. Packages and queries

Goal	Command
Install	sudo dnf install <pkg>
Search	dnf search <term>
Find the package owning a file	dnf provides '*/libssl.so.3'
Package details	dnf info <pkg>
List installed	dnf list --installed
Remove	sudo dnf remove <pkg>
Install a local file	sudo dnf install ./x.rpm (warns only — see the signature page)
Build dependencies from a spec	sudo dnf builddep x.spec
Mark as user-installed	sudo dnf mark install <pkg>
Groups	sudo dnf group install '<name>'
Swap one package for another	sudo dnf swap <old> <new>

Note

dnf provides is the short form of dnf4’s dnf repoquery --whatprovides; both work, the cheat sheet uses the short one.

3. Repositories

dnf repolist                 # enabled only
dnf repolist --all           # includes disabled (use this to copy repo IDs)
dnf repoinfo <id>            # effective enabled / gpgcheck for one repo
sudo dnf --enablerepo=<id> install <pkg>       # enable for one command
sudo dnf config-manager setopt <id>.enabled=0  # disable persistently
sudo dnf config-manager addrepo --from-repofile=<url>
sudo dnf clean all && sudo dnf makecache

The F45 location changes (the easiest thing to trip over):

Item	F44 and earlier	F45
Packaged repositories	/etc/yum.repos.d	/usr/share/dnf5/repos.d
GPG keys	/etc/pki/rpm-gpg	/usr/share/pki/rpm-gpg
Custom repositories	/etc/yum.repos.d	unchanged
Override file	—	/etc/dnf/repos.override.d/99-config_manager.repo

ls /usr/share/dnf5/repos.d/
rpm -qf /usr/share/dnf5/repos.d/fedora.repo   # if it names a package, do not edit by hand

See repository configuration moves to /usr.

4. Updates and security

sudo dnf upgrade --refresh          # refresh metadata and upgrade
sudo dnf updateinfo list --updates  # pending security and bugfix updates
sudo dnf needs-restarting           # is a reboot needed
sudo dnf distro-sync                # align to the current repository versions
dnf history list                    # transaction history
sudo dnf history undo <id>          # roll back one transaction

Measured needs-restarting output:

No core libraries or services have been updated since boot-up.
Reboot should not be necessary.

Caution

dnf updateinfo --summary is not a valid argument on dnf5 5.4 (it reports Unknown argument). Use updateinfo list --updates or updateinfo list --security.

5. Signatures

rpm -K pkg.rpm                       # check signature and digests
rpm -qpi pkg.rpm | head -10          # package metadata
sudo rpm --import RPM-GPG-KEY-fedora # import a public key
rpm --addsign pkg.rpm                # sign a package
sudo rpm -i --nosignature pkg.rpm    # allow one unsigned package

Since F45, rpm 6.1 enforces signatures: rpm -i refuses unsigned packages, dnf from a repository refuses too, and dnf install ./x.rpm only warns. See signature enforcement.

6. Release upgrades

sudo dnf upgrade --refresh                          # bring the current release up to date first
sudo dnf system-upgrade download --releasever=45    # download the new release
sudo dnf system-upgrade reboot                      # reboot into the offline transaction
sudo dnf system-upgrade clean                       # clean the download cache

Recovering from a failed upgrade is in troubleshooting a failed upgrade; version-specific steps are in upgrading to Fedora 45.

7. Containers and isolation

sudo dnf install toolbox        # Cloud/Server need this manually
toolbox create [name]           # create a container
toolbox enter [name]            # enter it
toolbox run <cmd>               # run without entering
toolbox list                    # list
toolbox rm <name>               # remove

podman version && podman info        # version and backends
podman ps -a                         # including stopped containers
podman images
podman run --rm -it fedora:45 bash
flatpak remotes                      # connected application sources
flatpak list --app

Note

Cloud images do not preinstall toolbox or flatpak — command not found is expected; install them. Toolbx is not a sandbox; see isolated development with Toolbox.

8. Troubleshooting entry points

systemctl status <unit> --no-pager
journalctl -b -u <unit> --no-pager | tail -50
journalctl -p err -b --no-pager | tail -30
lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,FSTYPE,MOUNTPOINTS
df -h / /var /boot
cat /sys/class/vtconsole/*/name      # console backend

For matching error text, see error lookup.

9. dnf5 versus dnf4 (the ones that break when copied)

dnf4 form	Result on dnf5	Use instead
dnf updateinfo --summary	Unknown argument	updateinfo list --updates
dnf updateinfo --list	Unknown argument	updateinfo list
dnf config-manager --add-repo	argument does not exist	config-manager addrepo --from-repofile=
dnf repoquery --requires	works, different output format	check --help first
dnf groupinstall	does not exist	dnf group install

Tip

The cheapest way to find out whether a subcommand still exists on dnf5 is dnf <subcommand> --help — an invalid argument produces a clear Unknown argument, which is faster than reading docs.

10. Services and systemd

systemctl status <unit> --no-pager         # one service
systemctl list-units --failed              # services that failed this boot
systemctl list-unit-files | grep <term>    # does the unit exist
sudo systemctl enable --now <unit>         # enable at boot and start now
sudo systemctl disable --now <unit>        # disable and stop
sudo systemctl mask <unit>                 # block entirely (stronger than disable)
sudo systemctl unmask <unit>
systemctl cat <unit>                       # the unit file itself
systemctl show <unit> -p LoadState -p ActiveState
systemctl list-timers --all                # scheduled jobs (the cron replacement)
journalctl -b -1 -p err --no-pager | tail -30   # errors from the previous boot

11. Storage and filesystems

lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,FSTYPE,MOUNTPOINTS,UUID
df -h / /var /boot
df -i /var                        # exhausted inodes also read as "no space"
du -xh --max-depth=1 /var | sort -h | tail -10
findmnt                           # all mount relationships
sudo mount -o remount,rw /        # make a read-only root writable temporarily
sudo fsck -n <device>             # read-only check

Caution

When df -h shows free space but writes fail, check df -i — exhausted inodes are a separate kind of “disk full”.

12. Networking and DNS

ip -br addr                       # addresses at a glance
ip route                          # routing table
nmcli dev status                  # devices and connection state
nmcli con show                    # connection names (case sensitive)
nmcli con up <name>
getent hosts <name>               # resolution only, not connectivity
cat /etc/resolv.conf
ss -tlnp                          # listening sockets and processes
sudo firewall-cmd --state         # only if firewalld is installed
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all
ping -c1 <IP>                     # test IP before names

13. Containers and Toolbox (continued)

podman ps -a                      # including stopped
podman logs <container>
podman exec -it <container> bash
podman inspect <container> | head -20
podman system df                  # space used by images and containers
podman system prune -a            # cleanup (use with care)
systemctl --user daemon-reload    # required after editing a Quadlet
systemctl --user list-unit-files "*.service" | grep generated
loginctl enable-linger $USER      # keep containers running after logout

14. Users, permissions and SELinux

id                                # your uid/gid and groups
getent passwd <user>
sudo useradd -m -G wheel <user>
sudo passwd <user>
sudo usermod -aG wheel <user>     # append to a group; do not drop -a
sudo -l                           # what the current user may do
ls -lZ <path>                     # permissions plus SELinux labels
getenforce                        # Enforcing / Permissive
sudo ausearch -m AVC -ts recent   # recent denials
sudo restorecon -Rv <path>        # restore default labels

15. Logs and troubleshooting

journalctl -b --no-pager | tail -50
journalctl -p err -b --no-pager | tail -30
journalctl -u <unit> -f           # follow one service
journalctl --disk-usage
sudo journalctl --vacuum-size=500M
journalctl -k -b | tail -30       # kernel only
dmesg -T | tail -30               # with human-readable timestamps
cat /sys/class/vtconsole/*/name   # which console backend is bound

16. A health snapshot for the machine

Run it before and after upgrading; the diff is exactly “what this changed”:

#!/bin/bash
echo "== $(grep VERSION_ID /etc/os-release)"
echo "kernel: $(uname -r)"
for p in systemd glibc python3 openssl dnf5 rpm podman kmscon; do
  printf "%-10s %s\n" "$p" "$(rpm -q --qf '%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}' "$p" 2>/dev/null || echo '-')"
done
echo "repos: /usr=$(ls /usr/share/dnf5/repos.d/*.repo 2>/dev/null | wc -l) /etc=$(ls /etc/yum.repos.d/*.repo 2>/dev/null | wc -l)"
echo "failed units: $(systemctl --failed --no-legend | wc -l)"

The full comparison is in the version matrix.

Related pages

• Users and permissions — accounts and sudo
• SSH service and keys — sshd config and keys
• systemd services and timers — units, timers and failure debugging
• firewalld — zones and openings
• SELinux — modes, contexts, booleans
• Networking and nmcli — addressing, routing, DNS
• Storage and btrfs — subvolumes and capacity
• Version matrix — components and behaviour, F44 versus F45
• Error lookup — exact message → cause → fix
• Fedora repositories and dnf5 — full repository operations
• Moving from dnf to dnf5 — migration details
• Signature enforcement — the three signature paths
• Fedora 45: changes, download and upgrade — release overview