[Solved] Package rpm has no installation candidate

In this tutorial, we will learn about how to Fix Error Package rpm has no installation candidate.  Ubuntu primarily uses the Debian package management system and the native package manager is “dpkg”. However, if you have a specific need to use “rpm” on Ubuntu to query packages, you can install the “rpm” package manager. This error is mostly seen when you try to query the packages in Ubuntu using rpm . Since rpm is not the default package manager in Ubuntu, we have to exclusively install it in order to use it. We will cover the steps required t install the rpm package which also resolves the error in the upcoming section of this tutorial. So, let us get started.

You can check the currently running Ubuntu version using below command. As you will see in the output, I am using Ubuntu22.04 version.

[email protected]:/home/linux# cat /etc/os-release
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS"
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION_ID="22.04"
VERSION="22.04.3 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)"
VERSION_CODENAME=jammy
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
HOME_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/legal/terms-and-policies/privacy-policy"

How to Reproduce the Issue?

We will first try to reproduce the error. This is required to make sure that we are addressing the right issue. Open the terminal in your Ubuntu system and try to install the package “rpm”. You will get the below reported error.

[email protected]:/home/linux# apt install rpm
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
Package rpm is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source

E: Package 'rpm' has no installation candidate

[Solved] Package rpm has no installation candidate

Also Read: [Solved] How to Install EPEL Repository in Rocky Linux

Now that we have reproduced the error, we know what we have to fix. We will install the rpm package from the default Ubuntu repository which is “apt”. But before installing the “rpm” package, we will update and upgrade the repository. Let us follow these steps one by one as covered below.

Step-1 : Check “rpm” Package is Installed

In this step, check if the “rpm” package is already installed using below command. If you get the output “unknown ok not-installed” in response, it means the “rpm” package is not installed.

[email protected]/home/linux# dpkg-query -W --showformat '${Status}\n' rpm
unknown ok not-installed

Step-2: Update and Upgrade the apt Repository

In this step, update and upgrade the apt repository using below command. This step will pull all the latest packages with their latest version.

[email protected]/home/linux# apt -y update && apt -y upgrade

Step-3: Install the package “rpm”

In this step, after upgrading the apt repository, install the “rpm” package using below command. This time the package installation will take place since the package can be now found in the apt repository.

[email protected]/home/linux# apt -y install rpm

Step-4: Verify the ‘rpm’ Package Installation

In this step, to verify if the rpm package is successfully installed in the system, execute rpm command as shown below. If it returns the output similar to shown below, it means rpm package is installed successfully and ready to use.

[email protected]/home/linux# rpm
RPM version 4.17.0
Copyright (C) 1998-2002 - Red Hat, Inc.
This program may be freely redistributed under the terms of the GNU GPL

Usage: rpm [-afgplsiv?] [-a|--all] [-f|--file] [-g|--group] [-p|--package] [--pkgid] [--hdrid] [--triggeredby] [--whatconflicts] [--whatrequires]
[--whatobsoletes] [--whatprovides] [--whatrecommends] [--whatsuggests] [--whatsupplements] [--whatenhances] [--nomanifest] [-c|--configfiles]
..............................................................................................................................................................................................

..............................................................................................................................................................................................
[--suggests] [--supplements] [--enhances] [--info] [--changelog] [--changes] [--xml] [--triggers] [--filetriggers] [--last] [--dupes] [--filesbypkg]
[--fileclass] [--filecolor] [--fileprovide] [--filerequire] [--filecaps]

Summary

We have successfully installed the rpm package on the Ubuntu operating system. You can learn more about rpm package manager and its usage from their official website rpm.org.