RPM File (What It Is and How to Open One) GA S REGULAR Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO Software & Apps > File Types 42 42 people found this article helpful

What Is an RPM File?

How to open and convert RPM files

By Tim Fisher Tim Fisher Senior Vice President & Group General Manager, Tech & Sustainability Emporia State University Tim Fisher has more than 30 years' of professional technology experience. He's been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the VP and General Manager of Lifewire. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on June 13, 2022 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email File Types File Types Apps Windows MS Office Linux Google Drive Backup & Utilities Design Cryptocurrency

What to Know

An RPM file is a Red Hat package manager file. Open one on Linux with RPM Package Manager, or Windows with 7-Zip. Convert to DEB with Alien. This article describes two file formats that use the RPM file extension, plus how to open the file and convert it to a different format.

What Is an RPM File

A file with the RPM file extension is a Red Hat package manager file that's used to store installation packages on Linux operating systems. These files provide an easy way for software to be distributed, installed, upgraded, and removed since they're "packaged" in one place. RPM Files. Lifewire / Tim Fisher Completely unrelated to what Linux uses them for, RPM is also the file extension used for plug-ins by the RealPlayer software to add additional features to the program. RPM stands for remote print manager, too, but also might have nothing at all to do with computer files, like when referring to the frequency rotation measurement revolutions per minute.

How to Open an RPM File

It's important to realize that Red Hat RPM files can't be used on Windows computers like they can on Linux systems. However, since they're just archives, any popular compression/decompression program, like 7-Zip or PeaZip, can open one to reveal the files inside. Linux users can open RPM files with the package management system called RPM Package Manager. Use this command, where "file.rpm" is the name of the file you want to install: rpm -i file.rpm In the previous command, "-i" means to install the file, so you can replace it with "-U" to perform an upgrade. The command below will install the RPM file and remove any previous versions of the same package: rpm -U file.rpm Visit RPM.org and the Linux Foundation for help using the rpm command. If your file is a plug-in, the RealPlayer program should be able to use it, but you probably can't open the file from within the program itself. In other words, if RealPlayer needs to use this file, it will most likely grab it from its installation folder since there isn't a menu item in the program that can import one. RMP files are spelled almost identical to RPM files, and they just so happen to be RealPlayer metadata package files, which means you can open both types in RealPlayer.

How to Convert an RPM File

Commands that invoke the Linux Alien software can be used to convert RPM to DEB. The following commands will install Alien and then use it to convert the file: apt-get install alien alien -d file.rpm You can replace "-d" with "-i" to convert the package and then immediately start the install. AnyToISO can convert RPM to the ISO format. If you want to save the file to some other archive format like TAR, TBZ, ZIP, BZ2, 7Z, etc., you can use the FileZigZag website. To convert RPM to MP3, MP4, or some other non-archive format like that, your best bet is to first extract the files from the archive. You can do that with a decompression program like we mentioned above. Then, once you've taken the MP3 (or whatever file) out of the RPM file, use a free file converter on those files.
Even though it has nothing to do with the file extensions mentioned on this page, you can also convert revolutions per minute into other measurements like hertz and radians per second.

Still Can' t Open It

At this point, if your file doesn't open even after following the steps above or installing a compatible RPM file opener, then there's a good chance you're not really dealing with one of the formats described above. The most likely case is that you've misread the file extension. There are lots of files that share similar file extension letters, but are in fact not related to Red Hat or RealPlayer. EPM is one example, as is RPP which is a REAPER Project plain text file used by the REAPER program. RRM is a similar suffix used for RAM Meta files. Much like RPP, the two look a lot like they say RPM, but they're not the same and therefore don't open with the same programs. However, in this particular instance, an RMM file may actually open with RealPlayer since it's a Real Audio Media (RAM) file—but it doesn't work with Linux. If your file doesn't end in these file extensions, use Google or Lifewire to research the actual extension to learn more about the programs that can be used to open or convert it. FAQ Can .RPM files be used/run in Windows? .RPM files can be viewed, or extracted, in Windows, but they can't be run/used outside of a Linux operating system. There isn't a one-to-one analog to a .RPM file on Windows, but .MSI files offer similar functionality. Can .RPM files be used/run on Macs? They can, but you will need a third-party tool, like RPM Package Manager, to do this. With a tool like the RPM Package Manager, you can then install .RPMs. However, Macs tend to use the .DMG format for housing their apps. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire XAR File (What It Is and How to Open One) DSK File (What It Is & How to Open One) HFS File (What It Is & How to Open One) AHK File (What It Is and How to Open One) ALP File (What It Is and How to Open One) DIRECTORY File (What It Is & How to Open One) FAT File (What It Is and How to Open One) BSA File (What It Is & How to Open One) DEB File (What It Is & How to Open One) IGS File (What It Is and How to Open One) BZ2 File (What It Is & How to Open One) GBA File (What It Is & How to Open One) XVO File (What It Is & How to Open One) DYLIB File (What It Is & How to Open One) APK File (What It Is and How to Open One) DDL File (What It Is & How to Open One) Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies