How To Enable RPM Fusion Repository In Fedora, RHEL, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux

If you’re running Fedora, RHEL, AlmaLinux, or Rocky Linux, you’ll likely run into a situation where the default software repositories don’t include some popular tools—like certain media codecs, proprietary drivers, or additional open-source applications. That’s where RPM Fusion comes in.

RPM Fusion provides extra packages that Fedora and its downstream distributions exclude for licensing or legal reasons. Here’s how to enable RPM Fusion on your system.

🔧 What You’ll Need

• A system running Fedora, RHEL, AlmaLinux, or Rocky Linux
• Sudo/root access
• An internet connection

✅ Enabling RPM Fusion on Fedora

Fedora makes it easy. Just run the following:

sudo dnf install \
https://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm \
https://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm

That command sets up both the Free and Non-Free repositories.

✅ Enabling RPM Fusion on RHEL, AlmaLinux, or Rocky Linux

For RHEL and RHEL-based systems, you need to enable the EPEL repository first (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux):

sudo dnf install epel-release

Then enable RPM Fusion:

sudo dnf install \
https://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/el/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %rhel).noarch.rpm \
https://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/el/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %rhel).noarch.rpm

💡 Note: On RHEL, you may need a subscription or have to enable specific repositories like codeready-builder for dependencies.

🧪 Verify the Installation

Run this to confirm the repos are active:

dnf repolist

You should see entries for rpmfusion-free and rpmfusion-nonfree.

🎉 What You Can Do Now

Once enabled, you can install things like:

• VLC Media Player
  sudo dnf install vlc
• NVIDIA Drivers
  sudo dnf install akmod-nvidia
• Multimedia Codecs
  sudo dnf groupupdate multimedia --setop="install_weak_deps=False" --exclude=PackageKit-gstreamer-plugin

Final Thoughts

RPM Fusion fills the gaps in Fedora and RHEL-based systems. It’s trusted by the community and well-maintained. Just make sure you know what you’re installing—especially from the Non-Free section, which may include proprietary or patent-encumbered software.

Need help installing specific software from RPM Fusion? Drop your question in the comments below.