Self-Service Software Installation

Owned by Donald Birnbaum
Last updated: Nov 09, 2021

The managed Linux environment at the College of Engineering has the ability to allow users to install packages from standard repositories on their own (without needing to contact IT directly).

  • self-service allows installation only from standard repositories, it is not possible to install local packages

How to Install a Package using Self Service

  1. Open terminal/command line

  2. Type in self-service (you will be prompted for your login password)

    1. self-service without any arguments prints help with a list of options

  3. To search for available packages for install, run the command below. This will search for available packages with <package name> in the name or description.

    1. self-service --search <package name>

  4. Run the following command to list packages that were installed using self-service

    1. self-service --list_installed

  5. To check for and install a package from a standard repository, run the following command. The install will be scheduled to run in the next 30 minutes.

    1. self-service --install <package name> [<package name> ... ]

How to Uninstall or cancel a Scheduled Install

  1. Open the command line

  2. To mark a package (which was installed with self-service) for removal in the next 30 min, run the following command

    1. self-service --uninstall <package name> [<package name> ...]

If you run this command against a package scheduled for install, this will cancel the install.