Rocky Linux

How to Install ImageMagick on Rocky Linux 10, 9 and 8

Last updated Friday, May 15, 2026 5:28 pm Joshua James 7 min read
ImageMagick and Rocky Linux logos on a green gradient background with terminal interface elements

Batch image work gets tedious when every resize, conversion, thumbnail, or watermark has to pass through a graphical editor. To install ImageMagick on Rocky Linux, use the EPEL package so DNF handles the command-line tools, libraries, and updates through the normal system package workflow.

Rocky Linux 10 currently installs ImageMagick 7, where magick is the main command. Rocky Linux 9 and 8 currently install ImageMagick 6, where convert, identify, and mogrify remain the portable commands. A separate source-build path can help systems that need a current upstream ImageMagick 7 build without replacing DNF-owned commands.

Install ImageMagick on Rocky Linux

ImageMagick is packaged for Rocky Linux through EPEL, not the default BaseOS or AppStream repositories. Use the capitalized RPM package name, ImageMagick; lowercase imagemagick returns a DNF package-name error even though that spelling is common on Debian-family systems.

For most systems, the EPEL package is the clean default because it receives updates through DNF and keeps files under package-manager ownership. Source archives are available from the official ImageMagick download page; when you need that path, keep the build under a versioned /usr/local prefix with a separate update and removal workflow. PHP users looking for imagick are asking for a separate PHP extension path; start with installing PHP on Rocky Linux before adding PHP-specific modules.

Update Rocky Linux Packages

Refresh package metadata and apply pending system updates before adding EPEL:

sudo dnf upgrade --refresh

Commands that start with sudo need an administrator account. If your account cannot use sudo, switch to a root shell before running the package-management steps.

Enable EPEL for ImageMagick

Install the EPEL repository package for Rocky Linux from the default extras repository:

sudo dnf install epel-release

Confirm that the EPEL repository is enabled:

dnf repolist --enabled | grep -E '^epel[[:space:]]'

Relevant output includes the matching EPEL repository for your Rocky Linux major release:

epel                Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux 9 - x86_64

Rocky Linux 10 prints the EPEL 10 repository name, while Rocky Linux 8 prints the EPEL 8 repository name. The important part is that the enabled repository ID starts with epel.

Install the ImageMagick Package

Install the main ImageMagick package with its exact RPM package name:

sudo dnf install ImageMagick

Verify that DNF installed the main package and library package:

rpm -q ImageMagick ImageMagick-libs

Relevant output on Rocky Linux 10 includes the ImageMagick 7 package branch:

ImageMagick-7.1.1.47-1.el10_1.x86_64
ImageMagick-libs-7.1.1.47-1.el10_1.x86_64

Rocky Linux 9 and 8 currently report ImageMagick 6 packages instead:

ImageMagick-6.9.13.25-1.el9.x86_64
ImageMagick-libs-6.9.13.25-1.el9.x86_64

Verify ImageMagick Commands

Rocky Linux 10 provides the ImageMagick 7 wrapper and still includes the legacy command names for compatibility:

command -v magick
magick --version | head -n 1
command -v convert
/usr/bin/magick
Version: ImageMagick 7.1.1-47 Q16-HDRI x86_64 22763 https://imagemagick.org
/usr/bin/convert

Rocky Linux 9 and 8 provide ImageMagick 6, so convert is the expected command and magick is not installed by the EPEL package:

command -v convert
convert --version | head -n 1
command -v magick || echo "magick command is not installed"
/usr/bin/convert
Version: ImageMagick 6.9.13-25 Q16 x86_64 18639 https://legacy.imagemagick.org
magick command is not installed

Compare ImageMagick Branches on Rocky Linux

Rocky Linux ReleaseEPEL BranchMain CommandsPolicy File
Rocky Linux 10ImageMagick 7.1.xmagick, plus legacy commands such as convert/etc/ImageMagick-7/policy.xml
Rocky Linux 9ImageMagick 6.9.xconvert, identify, mogrify/etc/ImageMagick-6/policy.xml
Rocky Linux 8ImageMagick 6.9.xconvert, identify, mogrify/etc/ImageMagick-6/policy.xml

Use magick for new Rocky Linux 10 scripts. Use convert, identify, and mogrify when you need commands that work unchanged on Rocky Linux 9 and 8.

Install ImageMagick Development Headers on Rocky Linux

Skip this package for normal image conversion, resizing, and batch processing. Install ImageMagick-devel only when compiling software that needs MagickWand or MagickCore headers and pkg-config metadata. Debian-family package names such as libmagickwand-dev or imagemagick-6-common do not apply to Rocky Linux; the RHEL-family development package is ImageMagick-devel.

sudo dnf install ImageMagick-devel

Confirm the MagickWand development metadata is available:

pkg-config --modversion MagickWand
pkg-config --libs MagickWand

Relevant output on Rocky Linux 10 uses the ImageMagick 7 library names:

7.1.1
-lMagickWand-7.Q16HDRI -lMagickCore-7.Q16HDRI

Rocky Linux 9 and 8 currently report the ImageMagick 6 development branch:

6.9.13
-lMagickWand-6.Q16 -lMagickCore-6.Q16

Build ImageMagick from Source on Rocky Linux

Use a source build only when the EPEL package branch or delegate set does not meet the workload. The workflow follows ImageMagick’s official source installation process, but installs into a versioned prefix such as /usr/local/imagemagick-7.1.2-22 and exposes the binary as magick-source. This keeps the source-built command separate from the DNF-managed magick, convert, and library packages.

Source builds are outside DNF ownership. Keep the EPEL package for normal systems, and use magick-source only when you intentionally need the source-built ImageMagick 7 command.

Install Source Build Dependencies

Install the build tools and delegate development packages from the default Rocky Linux 10, 9, and 8 repositories. This source build does not require CRB or PowerTools. If Git is not already part of your workflow, the Rocky Linux Git installation guide covers that tool separately.

sudo dnf install git gcc gcc-c++ make pkgconf-pkg-config libjpeg-turbo-devel libpng-devel libtiff-devel libwebp-devel freetype-devel fontconfig-devel libxml2-devel zlib-devel bzip2-devel xz-devel

Create the ImageMagick Source Update Helper

Create a helper script that can install the first source build and later update it. The script resolves stable ImageMagick tags, refuses unexpected existing paths, installs under /usr/local/imagemagick-<version>, updates /usr/local/imagemagick-current, and links the command as /usr/local/bin/magick-source.

sudo tee /usr/local/bin/update-imagemagick-source > /dev/null <<'EOF'
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

REPO_URL="https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick.git"
WORKDIR="${HOME}/imagemagick-source-build"
SOURCE_DIR="${WORKDIR}/source"
BUILD_DIR="${WORKDIR}/build"
PREFIX_BASE="/usr/local"
CURRENT_LINK="${PREFIX_BASE}/imagemagick-current"
COMMAND_LINK="${PREFIX_BASE}/bin/magick-source"
LDCONFIG_FILE="/etc/ld.so.conf.d/imagemagick-source.conf"
REQUESTED_TAG="${1:-}"

if [ "$(id -u)" -eq 0 ]; then
  echo "Run this command as a regular user, not as root."
  exit 1
fi

for cmd in git grep sed awk gcc g++ make pkg-config sudo; do
  if ! command -v "$cmd" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    echo "Missing required command: $cmd"
    echo "Install the source-build prerequisites, then run this command again."
    exit 1
  fi
done

if [ -n "$REQUESTED_TAG" ]; then
  LATEST_TAG="$REQUESTED_TAG"
else
  echo "Resolving the latest ImageMagick release tag..."
  LATEST_TAG=$(git ls-remote --tags --sort=-version:refname "$REPO_URL" 'refs/tags/[0-9]*' |
    sed -n 's#.*refs/tags/##p' |
    grep -E '^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+-[0-9]+$' |
    head -n 1 || true)
fi

if [ -z "${LATEST_TAG:-}" ]; then
  echo "Could not determine an ImageMagick release tag."
  exit 1
fi

if ! printf '%s\n' "$LATEST_TAG" | grep -Eq '^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+-[0-9]+$'; then
  echo "Release tag does not match the expected ImageMagick stable tag format: $LATEST_TAG"
  exit 1
fi

CURRENT_VERSION="none"
if [ -x "${CURRENT_LINK}/bin/magick" ]; then
  CURRENT_VERSION=$("${CURRENT_LINK}/bin/magick" --version 2>/dev/null | awk '/^Version:/ {print $3; exit}' || true)
  CURRENT_VERSION="${CURRENT_VERSION:-none}"
fi

printf 'Current source version: %s\n' "$CURRENT_VERSION"
printf 'Target source version:  %s\n' "$LATEST_TAG"

if [ "$CURRENT_VERSION" = "$LATEST_TAG" ]; then
  echo "Already up to date."
  exit 0
fi

INSTALL_PREFIX="${PREFIX_BASE}/imagemagick-${LATEST_TAG}"

if [ -e "$CURRENT_LINK" ] && [ ! -L "$CURRENT_LINK" ]; then
  echo "Refusing to replace non-symlink path: $CURRENT_LINK"
  exit 1
fi

if [ -e "$COMMAND_LINK" ] && [ ! -L "$COMMAND_LINK" ]; then
  echo "Refusing to replace non-symlink command: $COMMAND_LINK"
  exit 1
fi

sudo true
mkdir -p "$WORKDIR"

if [ -d "${SOURCE_DIR}/.git" ]; then
  if [ -n "$(git -C "$SOURCE_DIR" status --porcelain --untracked-files=no)" ]; then
    echo "Tracked source changes found in $SOURCE_DIR; commit or remove them before updating."
    exit 1
  fi
  echo "Updating existing ImageMagick source checkout..."
  git -C "$SOURCE_DIR" fetch --depth 1 origin "refs/tags/${LATEST_TAG}:refs/tags/${LATEST_TAG}"
  git -C "$SOURCE_DIR" -c advice.detachedHead=false checkout --quiet "$LATEST_TAG"
else
  echo "Cloning ImageMagick $LATEST_TAG source..."
  git clone --depth 1 --branch "$LATEST_TAG" "$REPO_URL" "$SOURCE_DIR"
fi

git -C "$SOURCE_DIR" describe --tags --exact-match >/dev/null
rm -rf "$BUILD_DIR"
mkdir -p "$BUILD_DIR"
cd "$BUILD_DIR"

echo "Configuring ImageMagick for ${INSTALL_PREFIX}..."
"${SOURCE_DIR}/configure" \
  --prefix="$INSTALL_PREFIX" \
  --without-perl \
  --without-x \
  --disable-dependency-tracking

echo "Compiling ImageMagick (this can take several minutes)..."
make -j"$(nproc)"

echo "Installing ImageMagick under ${INSTALL_PREFIX}..."
sudo make install
sudo ln -sfn "$INSTALL_PREFIX" "$CURRENT_LINK"
sudo ln -sfn "${CURRENT_LINK}/bin/magick" "$COMMAND_LINK"
printf '%s\n' "${CURRENT_LINK}/lib" | sudo tee "$LDCONFIG_FILE" >/dev/null
sudo ldconfig

echo "ImageMagick source build is ready:"
"$COMMAND_LINK" --version | head -n 1
EOF

Make the helper executable. The chmod command controls this permission bit.

sudo chmod 0755 /usr/local/bin/update-imagemagick-source
command -v update-imagemagick-source
/usr/local/bin/update-imagemagick-source

Run the Source Build Helper

Pin the validated ImageMagick release for the first build so the result is reproducible. Later updates can omit the tag after you are ready to build the newest stable release resolved from the upstream Git tags.

update-imagemagick-source 7.1.2-22

Relevant output includes the resolved version, build prefix, and final ImageMagick version:

Current source version: none
Target source version:  7.1.2-22
Cloning ImageMagick 7.1.2-22 source...
Configuring ImageMagick for /usr/local/imagemagick-7.1.2-22...
Compiling ImageMagick (this can take several minutes)...
Installing ImageMagick under /usr/local/imagemagick-7.1.2-22...
ImageMagick source build is ready:
Version: ImageMagick 7.1.2-22 Q16-HDRI x86_64 bbfc7cba0:20260511 https://imagemagick.org

Verify Source-Built ImageMagick

Use magick-source when you want the source-built binary:

magick-source --version | head -n 1
magick-source logo: /tmp/imagemagick-source-logo.webp
magick-source identify -format "%m %w %h\n" /tmp/imagemagick-source-logo.webp
Version: ImageMagick 7.1.2-22 Q16-HDRI x86_64 bbfc7cba0:20260511 https://imagemagick.org
WEBP 640 480

Remove the temporary verification image after the check:

rm -f /tmp/imagemagick-source-logo.webp

Use ImageMagick on Rocky Linux

ImageMagick includes a built-in logo: image, which makes quick command checks easy without downloading a sample file. These commands create a PNG file, resize it to WebP, and print the final format and dimensions.

Run ImageMagick 7 Commands on Rocky Linux 10

magick logo: logo.png
magick logo.png -resize 120x120 logo-small.webp
magick identify -format "%m %w %h\n" logo-small.webp
WEBP 120 90

Run ImageMagick 6 Commands on Rocky Linux 9 and 8

convert logo: logo.png
convert logo.png -resize 120x120 logo-small.webp
identify -format "%m %w %h\n" logo-small.webp
WEBP 120 90

For larger batch jobs, be careful with mogrify. It modifies matching files in place, so test on copies or keep a backup before resizing or converting a whole directory.

Troubleshoot ImageMagick on Rocky Linux

Most Rocky Linux ImageMagick issues come from EPEL not being enabled, the capitalized RPM package name, ImageMagick 6 versus 7 command differences, or delegate support that differs by release.

Fix No Match for imagemagick

With EPEL metadata available, the lowercase Debian-style package name fails and DNF points to the capitalized RPM package name:

sudo dnf install imagemagick
No match for argument: imagemagick
  * Maybe you meant: ImageMagick
Error: Unable to find a match: imagemagick

If EPEL is not enabled yet, you may see only a no-match error without the suggestion. Enable EPEL if needed, then install the capitalized package name:

sudo dnf install epel-release
sudo dnf install ImageMagick

Fix magick Command Not Found

On Rocky Linux 9 and 8, magick: command not found is expected after installing the EPEL package because those releases use ImageMagick 6. Use convert for the same basic conversion workflow:

convert --version | head -n 1

On Rocky Linux 10, check whether the package is installed if magick is missing:

rpm -q ImageMagick

Check Image Format Support

Use ImageMagick’s format list when a file type fails with a missing delegate message. The grep command filters the long format list to common web and camera formats.

# Rocky Linux 10
magick identify -list format | grep -Ei 'HEIC|JXL|WEBP|PNG|JPEG'

# Rocky Linux 9 and 8
identify -list format | grep -Ei 'WEBP|PNG|JPEG'

Rocky Linux 10 currently shows WebP and JPEG XL support after the package install, and EPEL also publishes an optional ImageMagick-heic package for that release. Rocky Linux 9 and 8 currently show common formats such as JPEG, PNG, and WebP, but they do not expose the same ImageMagick 7 plugin package surface. Check the format list on the target system before relying on specialized formats such as HEIC, PDF, or camera RAW files.

Check Source Build Delegate Support

If the source-built command cannot read or write an expected format, inspect the configure summary from magick-source. Missing delegates usually mean the related -devel package was not present before the build; install the missing dependency, then rerun update-imagemagick-source 7.1.2-22 or your chosen tag.

magick-source -list configure | grep -E '^(DELEGATES|FEATURES|PREFIX)'
DELEGATES             bzlib fontconfig freetype jng jpeg lzma png ps tiff webp xml zlib
FEATURES              Channel-masks(32-bit) Cipher DPC HDRI OpenMP
PREFIX                /usr/local/imagemagick-7.1.2-22

Find ImageMagick policy.xml

ImageMagick’s policy.xml file controls security restrictions, resource limits, and some Ghostscript-related behavior. Locate the package-managed file before editing it:

rpm -ql ImageMagick-libs | grep '/policy.xml$'

Rocky Linux 10 uses the ImageMagick 7 policy path:

/etc/ImageMagick-7/policy.xml

Rocky Linux 9 and 8 use the ImageMagick 6 policy path:

/etc/ImageMagick-6/policy.xml

Back up the file before making policy changes, especially on systems that process untrusted images. ImageMagick documents the available policy controls in its security policy reference.

Handle dnf config-manager Command Not Found

The EPEL package workflow does not need dnf config-manager. If another repository task asks you to enable CRB or PowerTools and the command is missing, install the DNF plugins package first:

sudo dnf install dnf-plugins-core

Update or Remove ImageMagick on Rocky Linux

Update ImageMagick with DNF

Normal system upgrades include ImageMagick updates from EPEL. To check the ImageMagick package directly, ask DNF for available updates:

dnf check-update ImageMagick

Apply an available ImageMagick update with:

sudo dnf upgrade ImageMagick

Update Source-Built ImageMagick

If you used the source-build helper, run it again when you want to move that separate build to a newer upstream release. With no argument, the helper resolves the latest stable ImageMagick tag from the project repository; pass a tag only when you want to rebuild a specific release.

update-imagemagick-source

When the source build already matches the newest resolved tag, the helper stops before rebuilding:

Current source version: 7.1.2-22
Target source version:  7.1.2-22
Already up to date.

Remove ImageMagick Packages

Remove the main package with DNF. If ImageMagick-devel is installed, DNF removes it as a dependent package and reviews unused dependencies in the same transaction.

sudo dnf remove ImageMagick

Check that the main and development packages are gone:

rpm -q ImageMagick ImageMagick-devel || true
package ImageMagick is not installed
package ImageMagick-devel is not installed

Remove Source-Built ImageMagick

The source method uses a versioned prefix and a current symlink so removal can stay targeted. The guard refuses to remove anything unless /usr/local/imagemagick-current points to an expected ImageMagick source-build directory.

SOURCE_PREFIX=$(readlink -f /usr/local/imagemagick-current 2>/dev/null || true)

case "$SOURCE_PREFIX" in
/usr/local/imagemagick-[0-9]*)
  sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/magick-source
  sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/update-imagemagick-source
  sudo rm -f /etc/ld.so.conf.d/imagemagick-source.conf
  sudo rm -f /usr/local/imagemagick-current
  sudo rm -rf "$SOURCE_PREFIX" "$HOME/imagemagick-source-build"
  sudo ldconfig
  ;;
"")
  echo "No ImageMagick source symlink found"
  ;;
*)
  echo "Refusing to remove unexpected path: $SOURCE_PREFIX"
  exit 1
  ;;
esac

Confirm that the source-built command is gone:

command -v magick-source || echo "magick-source removed"
magick-source removed

Optional EPEL Cleanup

Leave EPEL enabled if any other installed packages come from that repository. Check first:

dnf repoquery --installed --qf '%{name} %{from_repo}' | grep ' epel$' || echo "No installed packages from EPEL found"

If no installed packages depend on EPEL, check whether the repository package is still installed:

rpm -q epel-release || true

If that check reports an installed epel-release package and you enabled EPEL only for ImageMagick, remove it:

sudo dnf remove epel-release

Verify EPEL is no longer enabled:

dnf repolist --enabled | grep -E '^epel[[:space:]]' || echo "EPEL is not enabled"
EPEL is not enabled

Conclusion

ImageMagick is ready on Rocky Linux for shell-based image conversion, thumbnail generation, resizing, and scripted batch processing, with DNF handling the normal EPEL package path. Use magick on Rocky Linux 10, keep convert for Rocky Linux 9 and 8 compatibility, and reserve magick-source for systems that intentionally need a current upstream ImageMagick 7 build outside package-manager ownership.

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