Why I’m Finally Ditching YUM for DNF in 2026 (And You Should, Too)

If you’ve been managing Red Hat-based systems as long as I have, yum install is likely hardcoded into your muscle memory. For decades, YUM (Yellowdog Updater, Modified) served as the backbone of RPM Linux-based distributions, getting us through countless server setups and late-night patches.

But the era of YUM is officially over. With RHEL 9, Fedora, and Rocky Linux fully embracing DNF, YUM has moved from “reliable veteran” to “legacy technical debt.”

YUM deprecated in 2026 isn’t just a headline; it’s a signal to modernize. If you’re still holding out, let me share why switching from YUM to DNF (Dandified YUM) isn’t just a mandatory update, it’s a massive upgrade for your daily workflow. By the time you finish this article, you’ll wonder why you waited so long to make the switch.

5 Reasons Why DNF is Better than YUM

1. DNF solves “Dependency Hell” with a better brain

We’ve all faced the dreaded “dependency hell” with YUM. You try to install a single package, and YUM spends five minutes “calculating dependencies” only to fail with a cryptic conflict error.

DNF is fundamentally smarter. It uses libsolv, a state-of-the-art satisfiability solver. Because DNF handles complex conflicts using C-based libraries instead of the aging Python logic YUM relies on, it resolves dependencies with clinical precision. In 2026, your infrastructure is too complex to rely on a package manager that “guesses.” DNF knows.

2. Parallel downloads provide a massive performance boost

In a world of containerized microservices and rapid scaling, every second spent waiting for a package to download is wasted money.

While YUM typically drags in packages one by one, DNF supports parallel downloads. By fetching multiple packages simultaneously, DNF slashes the time you spend staring at a progress bar. When you are provisioning a new cluster, those saved minutes add up to significant gains in deployment velocity.

3. A smaller memory footprint for lean environments

If you’re running lean cloud instances or resource-heavy edge environments, YUM is a notorious memory hog. It was built for an era of monolithic servers with plenty of RAM to spare.

DNF has a significantly smaller memory footprint. It keeps your system resources focused on your applications rather than the tools used to maintain them. This efficiency makes DNF the superior choice for modern, distributed architectures where every megabyte counts.

4. Built for the modern security landscape (Python 3)

YUM is a product of the Python 2 era. Since Python 2 reached its end-of-life years ago, sticking with YUM means leaning on legacy code that’s increasingly difficult to secure and maintain.

DNF was built from the ground up for Python 3. For DevOps engineers who write custom automation scripts, the DNF API is cleaner, more stable, and integrates seamlessly with modern development stacks. Switching to DNF removes the security risks associated with keeping legacy Python 2 dependencies alive on your servers.

5. The “Undo” button you’ve always wanted

We all make mistakes. Maybe you installed a group of packages that caused a regression, or you accidentally removed a critical library. In the YUM era, fixing this often means a manual, tedious cleanup.

DNF’s history and rollback features are lifesavers. By using dnf history, you get a crystal-clear log of every transaction. If something goes wrong, you can simply run:

dnf history undo <ID>

This command reverts the specific change with a level of reliability that YUM never quite achieved. It gives you the confidence to experiment and move fast, knowing you have a reliable safety net.

The “Hidden” Truth: You’re likely already using DNF

The most common reason engineers avoid the switch is the fear of relearning their toolkit. Here’s the reality: you already know how to use DNF. The commands you use every day, such as install, remove, search and list , work exactly the same.

This familiarity isn’t an accident. While DNF first became the default in Fedora 22, the enterprise shift finalized with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8. On a standard RHEL 8 or RHEL 9 installation, if you run ls -l /usr/bin/yum, you will see it points directly to DNF via a link like /usr/bin/yum -> dnf. This symlink allowed Red Hat to maintain backward compatibility for a massive ecosystem of automation scripts while moving the underlying engine to the more performant libsolv library. Even “YUM v4” is technically based on DNF 4.0.9 technology.

Key takeaway: You get all the performance and security benefits of a modern engine without changing a single line in your manual workflow. It’s time to stop relying on the wrapper and embrace the native tool.

Summary: Stop clinging to the past

Sticking with YUM in 2026 is like using a flip phone. It might still “work” for basic tasks, but you’re missing out on the speed, security, and intelligence required for modern systems.

DNF is faster, lighter, and more reliable. It eliminates the friction of package management so you can focus on what actually matters: building and deploying great software.

The verdict: Make it official. Stop relying on the yum alias and start updating your automation scripts, Dockerfiles, and CI/CD pipelines to use dnf directly. Your servers—and your sanity—will thank you.

Ready to secure your entire software supply chain? Use the JFrog Software Supply Chain Platform to power your DNF workflows. By hosting your RPM repositories in Artifactory, you ensure every binary is secure and verified before it ever hits your servers. Learn more about JFrog Artifactory’s RPM support here.