Checking the availability of rpm on your Linux Ubuntu machine

If you are using an rpm installer, you must ensure that rpm is installed on your Linux® Ubuntu machine before installing IBM® MQ. [V9.0.2 Mar 2017] From IBM MQ 9.0.2 you can use a Debian installer as an alternative to rpm.

Before you begin

[V9.0.2 Mar 2017] If you choose to use the Debian installer, see Installing IBM MQ on Linux Ubuntu using Debian.

About this task

Important: The installation procedure uses the same rpm packages that are used by the other rpm based distributions. Technologies that convert these rpm packages into other forms, such as alien to convert rpms to Debian packages, are not compatible with the IBM MQ rpm packages and must not be used.

Procedure

To determine if the correct rpm package is installed on you system use the following command:
```
dpkg-query -W --showformat '${Status}\n' rpm
```
If you receive a response that is of the form:
```
install ok installed
```
rpm is installed on your system and no further action is required.
If you receive a response that is of the form:
```
unknown ok not-installed
```
rpm is not installed on your system and you must install the rpm package before attempting to install IBM MQ, using the command described in step 2.
Run the following command, using root authority.
In the example, you obtain root authority using the sudo command:
```
sudo apt-get install rpm
```
Attention: If this command does not complete successfully, consult your system administrator for instructions specific to your system on how to install the rpm package.

What to do next

You are now ready to install IBM MQ.