2. Output format
 

a. The output given by rpm -V is a series of letters and periods depending on if a file passes (a period) or fails (a letter). Here's an example of the output of doing an rpm -V initscripts:
 
S.5....T c /etc/inittab
S.5....T c /etc/rc.d/rc.local
missing /etc/rc.d/rc3.d/S15nfsfs
missing /etc/rc.d/rc4.d/S15nfsfs
missing /etc/rc.d/rc5.d/S15nfsfs
S.5....T c /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-lo
 
b. Here's a key to the letters.
5 MD5 sum
S File size
L Symlink
T Mtime
D Device
U User
G Group
M Mode (includes permissions and file type)
c configuration file


As you can see, the file /etc/inittab has been changed since it was installed, the size, the MD5 sum and the time it was last touched have all changed. This is normal in this case since I've changed my runlevel and added a few goodies. Things to watch out for are MD5 sum changes on such utilities as 'ls' 'chsh' 'chfn' etc.
 

-f <file> Useful for verifying the package that <file> belongs to.

-a Useful for performing a verification on an entire system. This
should be performed after installing Linux for the first time, and
save the output to a file.