How To Install gnome-shell on CentOS 8

gnome-shell is Window management and application launching for GNOME

Introduction

In this tutorial we learn how to install gnome-shell on CentOS 8.

What is gnome-shell

GNOME Shell provides core user interface functions for the GNOME 3 desktop, like switching to windows and launching applications. GNOME Shell takes advantage of the capabilities of modern graphics hardware and introduces innovative user interface concepts to provide a visually attractive and easy to use experience.

We can use yum or dnf to install gnome-shell on CentOS 8. In this tutorial we discuss both methods but you only need to choose one of method to install gnome-shell.

Install gnome-shell on CentOS 8 Using dnf

Update yum database with dnf using the following command.

sudo dnf makecache --refresh

The output should look something like this:

CentOS Linux 8 - AppStream                                       43 kB/s | 4.3 kB     00:00    
CentOS Linux 8 - BaseOS                                          65 kB/s | 3.9 kB     00:00    
CentOS Linux 8 - ContinuousRelease                               43 kB/s | 3.0 kB     00:00    
CentOS Linux 8 - Extras                                          23 kB/s | 1.5 kB     00:00    
CentOS Linux 8 - FastTrack                                       40 kB/s | 3.0 kB     00:00    
CentOS Linux 8 - HighAvailability                                36 kB/s | 3.9 kB     00:00    
CentOS Linux 8 - Plus                                            24 kB/s | 1.5 kB     00:00    
CentOS Linux 8 - PowerTools                                      50 kB/s | 4.3 kB     00:00    
Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux Modular 8 - x86_64           13 kB/s | 9.2 kB     00:00    
Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 8 - x86_64                   24 kB/s | 8.5 kB     00:00    
Metadata cache created.

After updating yum database, We can install gnome-shell using dnf by running the following command:

sudo dnf -y install gnome-shell

Install gnome-shell on CentOS 8 Using yum

Update yum database with yum using the following command.

sudo yum makecache --refresh

The output should look something like this:

CentOS Linux 8 - AppStream                                       43 kB/s | 4.3 kB     00:00    
CentOS Linux 8 - BaseOS                                          65 kB/s | 3.9 kB     00:00    
CentOS Linux 8 - ContinuousRelease                               43 kB/s | 3.0 kB     00:00    
CentOS Linux 8 - Extras                                          23 kB/s | 1.5 kB     00:00    
CentOS Linux 8 - FastTrack                                       40 kB/s | 3.0 kB     00:00    
CentOS Linux 8 - HighAvailability                                36 kB/s | 3.9 kB     00:00    
CentOS Linux 8 - Plus                                            24 kB/s | 1.5 kB     00:00    
CentOS Linux 8 - PowerTools                                      50 kB/s | 4.3 kB     00:00    
Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux Modular 8 - x86_64           13 kB/s | 9.2 kB     00:00    
Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 8 - x86_64                   24 kB/s | 8.5 kB     00:00    
Metadata cache created.

After updating yum database, We can install gnome-shell using yum by running the following command:

sudo yum -y install gnome-shell

How To Uninstall gnome-shell on CentOS 8

To uninstall only the gnome-shell package we can use the following command:

sudo dnf remove gnome-shell

gnome-shell Package Contents on CentOS 8

/etc/xdg/autostart/gnome-shell-overrides-migration.desktop
/usr/bin/gnome-shell
/usr/bin/gnome-shell-extension-prefs
/usr/bin/gnome-shell-extension-tool
/usr/bin/gnome-shell-perf-tool
/usr/lib/.build-id
/usr/lib/.build-id/0d
/usr/lib/.build-id/0d/459a0e60f0fdf52bc31879753cb65864a0b859
/usr/lib/.build-id/3d
/usr/lib/.build-id/3d/55d95f4a56f965ab554a66260bf703838820de
/usr/lib/.build-id/6c
/usr/lib/.build-id/6c/7e95ae58d61fbbb54c52dc9e9517998280176b
/usr/lib/.build-id/76
/usr/lib/.build-id/76/f8f5c90c326cb90bcfa1251bea9890e10b1b6c
/usr/lib/.build-id/97
/usr/lib/.build-id/97/ea1ea90d4306d81711a19372782dd7a800c252
/usr/lib/.build-id/c1
/usr/lib/.build-id/c1/7be8888cbda1499ea52b87b59891893ad66096
/usr/lib/.build-id/c3
/usr/lib/.build-id/c3/0715e8b82920b757886572c21c26dba64ed038
/usr/lib/.build-id/cc
/usr/lib/.build-id/cc/4117d3252b1a15c34023b24415140e04055455
/usr/lib/.build-id/e5
/usr/lib/.build-id/e5/2cff30461b81ce8a9de2cff3a8143319252f99
/usr/lib/.build-id/f1
/usr/lib/.build-id/f1/f9649f25646caba366d67ff7163af6c6cbc1fc
/usr/lib/systemd/user/gnome-shell-wayland.target
/usr/lib/systemd/user/gnome-shell-x11.target
/usr/lib/systemd/user/gnome-shell.service
/usr/lib64/gnome-shell
/usr/lib64/gnome-shell/Gvc-1.0.typelib
/usr/lib64/gnome-shell/Shell-0.1.typelib
/usr/lib64/gnome-shell/St-1.0.typelib
/usr/lib64/gnome-shell/libgnome-shell-menu.so
/usr/lib64/gnome-shell/libgnome-shell.so
/usr/lib64/gnome-shell/libgvc.so
/usr/lib64/gnome-shell/libst-1.0.so
/usr/libexec/gnome-shell-calendar-server
/usr/libexec/gnome-shell-hotplug-sniffer
/usr/libexec/gnome-shell-overrides-migration.sh
/usr/libexec/gnome-shell-perf-helper
/usr/libexec/gnome-shell-portal-helper
/usr/share/GConf
/usr/share/GConf/gsettings
/usr/share/GConf/gsettings/gnome-shell-overrides.convert
/usr/share/applications/evolution-calendar.desktop
/usr/share/applications/gnome-shell-extension-prefs.desktop
/usr/share/applications/org.gnome.Shell.PortalHelper.desktop
/usr/share/applications/org.gnome.Shell.desktop
/usr/share/dbus-1/interfaces/org.gnome.Shell.Extensions.xml
/usr/share/dbus-1/interfaces/org.gnome.Shell.Introspect.xml
/usr/share/dbus-1/interfaces/org.gnome.Shell.PadOsd.xml
/usr/share/dbus-1/interfaces/org.gnome.Shell.Screencast.xml
/usr/share/dbus-1/interfaces/org.gnome.Shell.Screenshot.xml
/usr/share/dbus-1/interfaces/org.gnome.ShellSearchProvider.xml
/usr/share/dbus-1/interfaces/org.gnome.ShellSearchProvider2.xml
/usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.gnome.Shell.CalendarServer.service
/usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.gnome.Shell.HotplugSniffer.service
/usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.gnome.Shell.PortalHelper.service
/usr/share/doc/gnome-shell
/usr/share/doc/gnome-shell/README.md
/usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/00_org.gnome.shell.gschema.override
/usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/org.gnome.shell.gschema.xml
/usr/share/gnome-control-center/keybindings/50-gnome-shell-system.xml
/usr/share/gnome-shell
/usr/share/gnome-shell/Gvc-1.0.gir
/usr/share/gnome-shell/Shell-0.1.gir
/usr/share/gnome-shell/St-1.0.gir
/usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions
/usr/share/gnome-shell/gnome-shell-dbus-interfaces.gresource
/usr/share/gnome-shell/gnome-shell-osk-layouts.gresource
/usr/share/gnome-shell/gnome-shell-theme.gresource
/usr/share/gnome-shell/perf-background.xml
/usr/share/gnome-shell/search-providers
/usr/share/gnome-shell/theme
/usr/share/gnome-shell/theme/process-working.svg
/usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/org.gnome.Extensions.svg
/usr/share/icons/hicolor/symbolic/apps/org.gnome.Extensions-symbolic.svg
/usr/share/licenses/gnome-shell
/usr/share/licenses/gnome-shell/COPYING
/usr/share/locale/af/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/an/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/ar/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/as/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/ast/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/be/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/bg/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/bn/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/bn_IN/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/bs/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/ca/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/ca@valencia/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/cs/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/da/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/de/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/el/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/en_GB/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/eo/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/es/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/et/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/eu/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/fa/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/fi/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/fr/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/fur/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/ga/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/gd/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/gl/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/gu/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/he/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/hi/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/hr/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/hu/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/ia/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/id/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/is/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/it/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/ja/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/kk/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/km/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/kn/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/ko/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/ku/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/ky/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/lt/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/lv/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/mk/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/ml/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/mr/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/ms/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/nb/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/ne/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/nl/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/nn/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/oc/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/or/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/pa/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/pl/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/pt/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/pt_BR/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/ro/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/ru/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/si/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/sk/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/sl/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/sr/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/sr@latin/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/sv/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/ta/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/te/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/tg/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/th/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/tr/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/ug/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/uk/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/uz@cyrillic/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/vi/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/zh_CN/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/zh_HK/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/locale/zh_TW/LC_MESSAGES/gnome-shell.mo
/usr/share/man/man1/gnome-shell.1.gz
/usr/share/xdg-desktop-portal/portals
/usr/share/xdg-desktop-portal/portals/gnome-shell.portal

References

Summary

In this tutorial we learn how to install gnome-shell on CentOS 8 using yum and dnf.