The general syntax of zypper is:

zypper [global-options] command [command-options] [arguments] ...

The components enclosed in brackets are not required. The simplest way to execute zypper is to type its name, followed by a command. For example, to apply all needed patches to the system type:

zypper patch

Additionally, you can choose from one or more global options by typing them just before the command. For example, --non-interactive means running the command without asking anything (automatically applying the default answers):

zypper --non-interactive patch

To use the options specific to a particular command, type them right after the command. For example, --auto-agree-with-licenses means applying all needed patches to the system without asking to confirm any licenses (they will automatically be accepted):

zypper patch --auto-agree-with-licenses

Some commands require one or more arguments. When using the install command, for example, you need to specify which package(s) to install:

zypper install mplayer

Some options also require an argument. The following command will list all known patterns:

zypper search -t pattern

You can combine all of the above. For example, the following command will install mplayer and amarok packages using the factory repository only, and be verbose:

zypper -v install --repo factory mplayer amarok

Most Zypper commands have a dry-run option that does a simulation of the given command. It can be used for test purposes.

zypper remove --dry-run MozillaFirefox

To install or remove packages use the following commands:

zypper install package
zypper remove package

Zypper knows various ways to address packages for the install and remove commands:

To install and remove packages simultaneously use the +/- modifiers:

zypper install emacs -vim
zypper remove emacs +vim

To prevent the package name starting with the - being interpreted as a command option, always use it as the second argument. If this is not possible, precede it with --:

zypper install -emacs +vim       # Wrong
zypper install vim -emacs        # Correct
zypper install -- -emacs +vim    # same as above
zypper remove emacs +vim         # same as above

By default, Zypper asks for a confirmation before installing or removing a selected package, or when a problem occurs. You can override this behavior using the --non-interactive option. This option must be given before the actual command (install, remove, and patch) as in the following:

zypper --non-interactive install package_name

This option allows the use of Zypper in scripts and cron jobs.

	Do not Remove Mandatory System Packages
Do not remove packages such as glibc, zypper, kernel, or similar packages. These packages are mandatory for the system and, if removed, may cause the system to become unstable or stop working altogether.

zypper source-install package_name
   

zypper source-install -d package_name # source package only
    zypper source-install -D package_name # build dependencies only

zypper search -t srcpackage

zypper verify

zypper install-new-recommends

There are three different ways to update software using Zypper: by installing patches, by installing a new version of a package or by updating the entire distribution. The latter is achieved with the zypper dist-upgrade command which is discussed in Section 14.1, “Upgrading the System”.

zypper patch

Installing Updates

If a repository contains only new packages, but does not provide patches, zypper patch does not show any effect. To update all installed packages with newer available versions, use:

zypper update

To update individual packages, specify the package with either the update or install command:

zypper update package
zypper install package

A list of all new packages available can be obtained with the command:

zypper list-updates

Differences between zypper update and zypper dist-upgrade

Choose zypper update to update packages to newer versions available for your product version while maintaining system integrity. zypper update will honor the following rules: no vendor changes no architecture changes no downgrades keep installed packages To upgrade your installation to a new product version use zypper dist-upgrade with the required repositories (see Section 7.1.4, “Managing Repositories with Zypper” for details). This command ensures that all packages will be installed from the repositories currently enabled. This rule is enforced, so packages might change vendor or architecture or even might get downgraded. All packages that have unfulfilled dependencies after the upgrade will be uninstalled.

All installation or patch commands of Zypper rely on a list of known repositories. To list all repositories known to the system, use the command:

zypper repos

The result will look similar to the following output:

# | Alias                 | Name                  | Enabled | Refresh
--+-----------------------+-----------------------+---------+--------
1 | Updates               | Updates               | Yes     | Yes
2 | openSUSE 11.2-0       | openSUSE 11.2-0       | No      | No
3 | openSUSE-11.2-Debug   | openSUSE-11.2-Debug   | No      | Yes
4 | openSUSE-11.2-Non-Oss | openSUSE-11.2-Non-Oss | Yes     | Yes
5 | openSUSE-11.2-Oss     | openSUSE-11.2-Oss     | Yes     | Yes
6 | openSUSE-11.2-Source  | openSUSE-11.2-Source  | No      | Yes

When specifying repositories in various commands, an alias, URI or repository number from the zypper repos command output can be used. Note however that the numbers can change after modifying the list of repositories. The alias will never change by itself.

By default, details as the URI or the priority of the repository is not displayed. Use the following command to list all details:

zypper addrepo URI Alias

zypper removerepo 3

zypper mr -er -p 20 'updates'

zypper renamerepo 'Mozilla Firefox' firefox

Zypper offers various methods to query repositories or packages. To get lists of all products, patterns, packages or patches available, use the following commands:

zypper products
zypper patterns
zypper packages
zypper patches

To query all repositories for certain packages, use search. It works on package names, capabilities or, optionally, on package summaries and descriptions. Using the wildcards * and ? with the search term is allowed. By default, the search is not case-sensitive.

zypper se firefox       # simple search for "firefox"
zypper se *fire*        # using wildcards
zypper se -d fire       # also search in package descriptions and summaries
zypper se -u firefix    # only display packages not already installed

To search for packages which provide a special capability, use the command what-provides. If you, for example, would like to know which package provides the perl Module SVN::Core, use the following command:

zypper what-provides 'perl(SVN::Core)'

To query single packages, use info with an exact package name as an argument. It displays detailed information about a package. Use the options --requires and --recommends to also show what is required/recommended by the package:

zypper info --requires MozillaFirefox

The what-provides package is similar to rpm -q --whatprovides package, but rpm is only able to query the RPM database (that is the database of all installed packages). Zypper, on the other hand, will tell you about providers of the capability from any repository, not only those that are installed.