dnf-pkgsync

A small helper script to replicate the installed package set of a DNF-based system (e.g. Fedora, RHEL, Alma, Rocky) on another machine.

It works purely on package names (no versions, no architecture).
You can:

• export the list of currently installed packages to a plain text file
• import a list of package names and align the system to that set:
  • remove installed packages not in the list
  • install packages that are in the list but currently missing

⚠️ This can remove a large number of packages. Use with care and preferably only between systems with the same distribution, release, and enabled repositories.

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Requirements

• DNF-based distribution (Fedora / RHEL / compatible)
• bash
• dnf
• standard coreutils (sort, grep, mktemp, etc.)
• root privileges (run as root or via sudo)

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What the script does (and does not do)

Does:

• Export:
  Uses dnf repoquery --qf '%{name}' --installed to build a sorted, deduplicated list of package names and writes it to a given file.
• Import:
  1. Exports the currently installed package names into a temporary file.
  2. Computes:
     • packages to remove → installed but not in the provided list
     • packages to install → in the provided list but not installed
  3. Runs dnf remove -y … for the removal set.
  4. Runs dnf --setopt=install_weak_deps=False install -y … for the install set.

Does not:

• Backup or restore configuration files under /etc or elsewhere.
• Handle non-RPM artifacts (manual binaries, containers, flatpaks, etc.).
• Guarantee success if:
  • the target system has different Fedora/RHEL major versions,
  • required repositories are missing or disabled.

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File format

The script works with plain-text files containing one package name per line, for example:

bash
coreutils
vim-enhanced
git

For import, the list file can be:

    produced by this script on another host, or

    a manually constructed list, as long as package names are valid for dnf.

Usage

The script must be run as root:

sudo ./dnf-export-import-pkgs.sh -o <export|import> -p <file>

Options

-o <export|import>
Operation to perform:

    export
    Export the names of all currently installed packages (without version/arch)
    into a text file.

    import
    Read package names from a text file and align the installed package set:

        remove packages that are installed but not in the file

        install packages that are in the file but not installed

-p <file>
Path to the package list file (relative or absolute):

    for export:

        the file must not exist (the script refuses to overwrite it)

    for import:

        the file must exist

        must be readable

        must be non-empty

Examples

Export the package list on the source system

sudo ./dnf-export-import-pkgs.sh -o export -p pkgs-source.txt

This creates pkgs-source.txt with the list of installed package names.

Copy this file to the target system (e.g. via scp, rsync, USB, …). Import the package list on the target system

sudo ./dnf-export-import-pkgs.sh -o import -p pkgs-source.txt

This will:

Generate a temporary snapshot of currently installed packages.

Compute the difference between the snapshot and pkgs-source.txt.

Remove packages that are not in pkgs-source.txt.

Install packages that are in pkgs-source.txt but currently missing.

Safety notes

Use only between systems with the same (or very closely matching) distro version
and architecture.

Make sure the same third-party repositories (RPM Fusion, custom repos, etc.)
are configured on the target system before importing.

Consider testing on a VM or non-critical system first to verify the resulting package set.