Working with Software Collection packages
These tools are packaged as software collections which are designed to allow multiple versions of software to be installed concurrently. To accomplish this, the desired package is added to your runtime environment as needed with the scl enable command. When scl enable runs, it modifies environment variables and then runs the specified command. The environmental changes only affect the command that is run by scl and any processes that are run from that command. The steps in this tutorial run the command bash to start a new interactive shell to work in the updated environment. The changes aren’t permanent. Typing exit will return to the original shell with the original environment. Each time you login, or start a new terminal session, scl enable needs to be run again.
While it is possible to change the system profile to make RHSCL packages part of the system’s global environment, this is not recommended. Doing this can cause conflicts and unexpected problems with other applications because the system version of the package is obscured by having the RHSCL version in the path first.
Learn more about Red Hat Software Collections
Red Hat Software Collections deliver the latest stable versions of dynamic languages, open source databases, and web development tools that can be deployed alongside those included in Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Red Hat Software Collections is available with select Red Hat Enterprise Linux subscriptions and has a three-year life cycle to allow rapid innovation without sacrificing stability. For more information:
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Red Hat Software Collections Packaging Guide — The packaging guide for Red Hat Software Collections explains the concept of software collections, documents the scl utility, and provides a detailed explanation of how to create a custom software collection or extend an existing one.
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Red Hat Software Collections Release Notes — The release notes for Red Hat Software Collections document known problems, possible issues, and other important information available at the time of release of the content set. They also contain useful information on installing, rebuilding, and migrating.
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How to use Red Hat Software Collections (RHSCL), Red Hat Developer Subscriptions, or Clang/LLVM, Go, Rust compilers — This article lists which Red Hat Enterprise Linux subscriptions include access to Red Hat Software Collections, Developer Toolset (with GCC), Clang/LLVM, Go, and Rust.
You can view the list of packages available in RHSCL by running:
$ yum --disablerepo="*" --enablerepo="rhel-server-rhscl-7-rpms" list available
Developing with Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Developer Guide — The developer guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 provides an introduction to application development tools and using source code management tools such as Git in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.
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Last updated: January 24, 2023