How to Enable EPEL Repository on CentOS 8 and RHEL 8 Server
======
**EPEL** Stands for Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux, it is a free and opensource additional packages repository available for **CentOS** and **RHEL** servers. As the name suggests, EPEL repository provides extra and additional packages which are not available in the default package repositories of [CentOS 8][1] and [RHEL 8][2].
In this article we will demonstrate how to enable and use epel repository on CentOS 8 and RHEL 8 Server.
[![EPEL-Repo-CentOS8-RHEL8][3]][4]
### Prerequisites of EPEL Repository
* Minimal CentOS 8 and RHEL 8 Server
* Root or sudo admin privileges
* Internet Connection
### Install and Enable EPEL Repository on RHEL 8.x Server
Login or ssh to your RHEL 8.x server and execute the following dnf command to install EPEL rpm package,
Output of above command would be something like below,
![dnf-install-epel-repo-rehl8][3]
Once epel rpm package is installed successfully then it will automatically enable and configure its yum / dnf repository. Run following dnf or yum command to verify whether EPEL repository is enabled or not,
```
[root@linuxtechi ~]# dnf repolist epel
Or
[root@linuxtechi ~]# dnf repolist epel -v
```
![epel-repolist-rhel8][3]
### Install and Enable EPEL Repository on CentOS 8.x Server
Login or ssh to your CentOS 8 server and execute following dnf or yum command to install ‘**epel-release**‘ rpm package. In CentOS 8 server, epel rpm package is available in its default package repository.
```
[root@linuxtechi ~]# dnf install epel-release -y
Or
[root@linuxtechi ~]# yum install epel-release -y
```
Execute the following commands to verify the status of epel repository on CentOS 8 server,
```
[root@linuxtechi ~]# dnf repolist epel
Last metadata expiration check: 0:00:03 ago on Sun 13 Oct 2019 04:18:05 AM BST.
repo id repo name status
*epel Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 8 - x86_64 1,977
[root@linuxtechi ~]#
[root@linuxtechi ~]# dnf repolist epel -v
……………………
Repo-id : epel
Repo-name : Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 8 - x86_64
**Note:** If we don’t specify the “**–enablerepo=epel**” in above command then it will look for htop package in all available package repositories.
That’s all from this article, I hope above steps helps you to enable and configure EPEL repository on CentOS 8 and RHEL 8 Server, please don’t hesitate to share your comments and feedback in below comments section.
