One of the real gems with the DNF package manager: aliases

One of the things i really like about the DNF package manager, is th built-in “alias” system. It's awesome. Because you know how it is, when you have package manager, and a lot of commands to keep track of - we tend to setup a bunch of aliases in our .bash_files. Like I have a few different ones I then source into my .bashrc depending on what system I've setup. So, on an Arch system, I have an pacman-file with only aliases for different pacman commands. With Debian I haven a file called ”apt”.
Then I can source them in .bashrc like:

for f in aliases functions git pacman; do
    [ -f ~/.bash.d/${f} ] && . ~/.bash.d/${f};
done

 

With DNF, there is no need for that. Well, except maybe 1. I do have an alias with: alias sdnf='sudo dnf '.

But, it's really great, and you can keep your .bash_files cleaner - and, when exploring what you can do and setup with the alias system - you'll learn a lot about your package manager.

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So, DNF have (by default) already a bunch of pre-defined aliases. Like: in (install), rm (remove), ls (list), se (search), up (upgrade) + more. If you read the man dnf, you can see all the ones that are already made.

And it's really easy to add them your self. Here's how you do it:

# Basic syntax
$ sudo dnf alias add <alias>=<command/replacement>

# List your added aliases
$ dnf alias list

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Examples

Here are a some examples, to show a few.

In Apt you have “show”, and in DNF it is “info”. So, after using a Debian system during the day, and then later back at home - I sometimes tend to mix them up. Easy to fix:

$ sudo dnf alias add show=info

There's already “up” for upgrade, so I've added:

$ sudo dnf alias add chup=check-update

There's already “rm” for remove, so I've added:

$ sudo dnf alias add aurm=autoremove

And here's an example of how you list them:

$ dnf alias list
Alias show='info'
Alias aurm='autoremove'
Alias chup='check-update'
Alias h='help'
Alias i='info'
Alias yin='in -y'
Alias yup='up -y'

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There is one thing to be aware of though… You can read more about it in the manual, but when using an already defined command/alias - you need to “\backslash” it to prevent an infinite loop.

Maybe not a good example, but like:

$ sudo dnf alias add list='list installed'

That one needs a backslash, like:

$ sudo dnf alias add list='\list installed'

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Well, it's easy, fun, and really useful, and less clutter in you .bash_files. Plus, you'll learn more about DNF when exploring all its options.

 

// Happy hacking… ⌨️ 👍

· Eric