DNF UI is a graphical frontend for Fedora's DNF5 (Dandified YUM) package manager, inspired by Synaptic. It is built with GTK 4 and libdnf5 and aims to provide a fast and dependable package management workflow for Fedora.
DNF UI targets Fedora systems using modern DNF5, which was introduced in Fedora 38.
DNF UI is in active early development. The project is usable for testing and is becoming more mature with each release. Some interfaces, behavior, and features may still change while the application continues to evolve.
DNF UI is available from COPR:
https://copr.fedorainfracloud.org/coprs/erikmn/dnf-ui/
Enable the repository and install the app:
sudo dnf install dnf5-plugins
sudo dnf copr enable erikmn/dnf-ui
sudo dnf install dnf-ui- User experience first!
- Reliable and fast
- Strong focus on code quality and maintainability
- No unnecessary complexity or bloat
DNF UI is a package manager frontend, NOT an app store.
It focuses on fast package search, package details, installed package inspection, explicit transaction review, and applying DNF package transactions through Polkit.
DNF UI does NOT aim to manage Flatpaks, firmware updates, ratings, featured applications, or software-center discovery workflows. There are other applications for this like GNOME Software.
- Search repo packages together with installed-only local RPMs
- List available, installed and upgradable packages
- View package details, files, dependencies, and changelog information
- Mark packages for install, reinstall, and removal
- Upgrade all installed packages with available updates
- Review a transaction summary before applying changes
- Apply transactions through DNF5 dnf5daemon with Polkit authorization
- Cancel long-running package queries
- Search history
The main browse and search views keep one visible row per package name and
architecture. Repo candidates stay visible as usual, and locally installed RPMs
that are not present in enabled repositories are listed as Installed (local only).
As a long-time user of Synaptic I wanted a similar tool on Fedora. I want a package manager frontend which is native, fast, reliable, and easy to use.
This project is also a practical way for me to learn more about how to build a stable and maintainable desktop application. The goal is not to experiment for its own sake, but to also build something genuinely useful for me and others.
Other graphical package managers with a longer history include:
See docs/contributing.md.
Fedora build dependencies are listed in docs/fedora-native-dependencies.txt.
Install them, then build and run:
./utils/install_fedora_dependencies.sh
make && ./dnfuiRun the native test suite:
make testFor native transaction testing, Docker commands, and local RPM packaging, see docs/development.md.
For the full test matrix, see docs/testing.md.
For architecture notes and source-backed external API assumptions, start with docs/architecture.md.
DNF UI uses DNF5's dnf5daemon for package changes.
dnfui runs as the regular desktop user. Transaction preview and apply go
through dnf5daemon on the system bus, and dnf5daemon handles the privileged
package operation and Polkit behavior.
This keeps the main application unprivileged while still allowing normal desktop authentication when a transaction is applied.
For the full transaction flow, see docs/transactions.md.
Dark theme.
Light theme.