AL2023 upgrade DNF (current version 2 years old)

Question

Hi. I´m on AL2023 fully up-to-date with everything, but the DNF version is lagging almost 2 years behind (4.12 was released Apr 27, 2022).

```
dnf --version
4.12.0
  Installed: dnf-0:4.12.0-2.amzn2023.0.4.noarch at Fri Dec 15 01:49:48 2023
  Built    : Amazon Linux at Tue Jan 31 01:01:11 2023

Installed: rpm-0:4.16.1.3-12.amzn2023.0.6.x86_64 at Fri Dec 15 01:49:15 2023
  Built    : Amazon Linux at Mon Apr 17 16:53:56 2023
```
I´m in need for a more recent version as it has support for auto-reboot via the config options ¨reboot/reboot_command¨
I´ve tried upgrading DNF using the nightlies as shown on the GH page (https://github.com/rpm-software-management/dnf/) but that didn´t work:

```
Error: It wasn't possible to enable this project.
Repository 'epel-2023-x86_64' does not exist in project 'rpmsoftwaremanagement/dnf-nightly'.

```
Also building from source didn´t work as it couldn´t even parse the spec file.

So, my question is: how do I get to a more recent DNF version on AL2023?

Stewart Smith · Answer

I'll start with the answer I gave on GitHub, and expand a little:

>We have a bunch of updates to the rpm and dnf ecosystems in AL2023.4 (see the [release notes](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/linux/al2023/release-notes/relnotes-2023.4.20240319.html)) ... We're carefully managing what versions of these packages we bring in, so that we maintain compatibility.

AL2023.4 was released in March of 2024, so was probably *just* after your question here.

The `dnf-plugins-core` package does contain the `needs-restarting` plugin, which can be used to determine if a reboot is needed:
```
bash-5.2# dnf needs-restarting -r; echo $?
No core libraries or services have been updated since boot-up.
Reboot should not be necessary.
0
```

You can also [automatically restart services after updates](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/linux/al2023/ug/managing-repos-os-updates.html#automatic-restart-services).

Hopefully the above two commands help with your desire to apply updates and then automatically work out what needs restarting.

MikeLim · Answer

You can log a bug or feature request at [AL2023 GitHub](https://github.com/amazonlinux/amazon-linux-2023/issues)

AL2023 upgrade DNF (current version 2 years old)

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