1PACMAN(8) Pacman Manual PACMAN(8)
2
6 pacman - package manager utility
7
9 pacman <operation> [options] [targets]
10
12 Pacman is a package management utility that tracks installed packages
13 on a Linux system. It features dependency support, package groups,
14 install and uninstall scripts, and the ability to sync your local
15 machine with a remote repository to automatically upgrade packages.
16 Pacman packages are a zipped tar format.
17 Since version 3.0.0, pacman has been the front-end to libalpm(3), the
19 “Arch Linux Package Management” library. This library allows
20 alternative front-ends to be written (for instance, a GUI front-end).
21 Invoking pacman involves specifying an operation with any potential
23 options and targets to operate on. A target is usually a package name,
24 file name, URL, or a search string. Targets can be provided as command
25 line arguments. Additionally, if stdin is not from a terminal and a
26 single hyphen (-) is passed as an argument, targets will be read from
27 stdin.
28
30 -D, --database
31 Operate on the package database. This operation allows you to
32 modify certain attributes of the installed packages in pacman’s
33 database. It also allows you to check the databases for internal
34 consistency. See Database Options below.
35 -Q, --query
37 Query the package database. This operation allows you to view
38 installed packages and their files, as well as meta-information
39 about individual packages (dependencies, conflicts, install date,
40 build date, size). This can be run against the local package
41 database or can be used on individual package files. In the first
42 case, if no package names are provided in the command line, all
43 installed packages will be queried. Additionally, various filters
44 can be applied on the package list. See Query Options below.
45 -R, --remove
47 Remove package(s) from the system. Groups can also be specified to
48 be removed, in which case every package in that group will be
49 removed. Files belonging to the specified package will be deleted,
50 and the database will be updated. Most configuration files will be
51 saved with a .pacsave extension unless the --nosave option is used.
52 See Remove Options below.
53 -S, --sync
55 Synchronize packages. Packages are installed directly from the
56 remote repositories, including all dependencies required to run the
57 packages. For example, pacman -S qt will download and install qt
58 and all the packages it depends on. If a package name exists in
59 more than one repository, the repository can be explicitly
60 specified to clarify the package to install: pacman -S testing/qt.
61 You can also specify version requirements: pacman -S "bash>=3.2".
62 Quotes are needed, otherwise the shell interprets ">" as
63 redirection to a file.
64 In addition to packages, groups can be specified as well. For
66 example, if gnome is a defined package group, then pacman -S gnome
67 will provide a prompt allowing you to select which packages to
68 install from a numbered list. The package selection is specified
69 using a space- and/or comma-separated list of package numbers.
70 Sequential packages may be selected by specifying the first and
71 last package numbers separated by a hyphen (-). Excluding packages
72 is achieved by prefixing a number or range of numbers with a caret
73 (^).
74 Packages that provide other packages are also handled. For example,
76 pacman -S foo will first look for a foo package. If foo is not
77 found, packages that provide the same functionality as foo will be
78 searched for. If any package is found, it will be installed. A
79 selection prompt is provided if multiple packages providing foo are
80 found.
81 You can also use pacman -Su to upgrade all packages that are
83 out-of-date. See Sync Options below. When upgrading, pacman
84 performs version comparison to determine which packages need
85 upgrading. This behavior operates as follows:
86 Alphanumeric:
88 1.0a < 1.0b < 1.0beta < 1.0p < 1.0pre < 1.0rc < 1.0 < 1.0.a < 1.0.1
89 Numeric:
90 1 < 1.0 < 1.1 < 1.1.1 < 1.2 < 2.0 < 3.0.0
91 Additionally, version strings can have an epoch value defined that
93 will overrule any version comparison, unless the epoch values are
94 equal. This is specified in an epoch:version-rel format. For
95 example, 2:1.0-1 is always greater than 1:3.6-1.
96 -T, --deptest
98 Check dependencies; this is useful in scripts such as makepkg to
99 check installed packages. This operation will check each dependency
100 specified and return a list of dependencies that are not currently
101 satisfied on the system. This operation accepts no other options.
102 Example usage: pacman -T qt "bash>=3.2".
103 -U, --upgrade
105 Upgrade or add package(s) to the system and install the required
106 dependencies from sync repositories. Either a URL or file path can
107 be specified. This is a “remove-then-add” process. See Upgrade
108 Options below; also see Handling Config Files for an explanation on
109 how pacman takes care of configuration files.
110 -F, --files
112 Query the files database. This operation allows you to look for
113 packages owning certain files or display files owned by certain
114 packages. Only packages that are part of your sync databases are
115 searched. See File Options below.
116 -V, --version
118 Display version and exit.
119 -h, --help
121 Display syntax for the given operation. If no operation was
122 supplied, then the general syntax is shown.
123
125 -b, --dbpath <path>
126 Specify an alternative database location (a typical default is
127 /var/lib/pacman). This should not be used unless you know what you
128 are doing. NOTE: If specified, this is an absolute path, and the
129 root path is not automatically prepended.
130 -r, --root <path>
132 Specify an alternative installation root (default is /). This
133 should not be used as a way to install software into /usr/local
134 instead of /usr. This option is used if you want to install a
135 package on a temporarily mounted partition that is "owned" by
136 another system. NOTE: If database path or log file are not
137 specified on either the command line or in pacman.conf(5), their
138 default location will be inside this root path.
139 -v, --verbose
141 Output paths such as as the Root, Conf File, DB Path, Cache Dirs,
142 etc.
143 --arch <arch>
145 Specify an alternate architecture.
146 --cachedir <dir>
148 Specify an alternative package cache location (a typical default is
149 /var/cache/pacman/pkg). Multiple cache directories can be
150 specified, and they are tried in the order they are passed to
151 pacman. NOTE: This is an absolute path, and the root path is not
152 automatically prepended.
153 --color <when>
155 Specify when to enable coloring. Valid options are always, never,
156 or auto. always forces colors on; never forces colors off; and
157 auto only automatically enables colors when outputting onto a tty.
158 --config <file>
160 Specify an alternate configuration file.
161 --debug
163 Display debug messages. When reporting bugs, this option is
164 recommended to be used.
165 --gpgdir <dir>
167 Specify a directory of files used by GnuPG to verify package
168 signatures (a typical default is /etc/pacman.d/gnupg). This
169 directory should contain two files: pubring.gpg and trustdb.gpg.
170 pubring.gpg holds the public keys of all packagers. trustdb.gpg
171 contains a so-called trust database, which specifies that the keys
172 are authentic and trusted. NOTE: This is an absolute path, and the
173 root path is not automatically prepended.
174 --hookdir <dir>
176 Specify a alternative directory containing hook files (a typical
177 default is /etc/pacman.d/hooks). Multiple hook directories can be
178 specified with hooks in later directories taking precedence over
179 hooks in earlier directories. NOTE: This is an absolute path, and
180 the root path is not automatically prepended.
181 --logfile <file>
183 Specify an alternate log file. This is an absolute path, regardless
184 of the installation root setting.
185 --noconfirm
187 Bypass any and all “Are you sure?” messages. It’s not a good idea
188 to do this unless you want to run pacman from a script.
189 --confirm
191 Cancels the effects of a previous --noconfirm.
192
194 -d, --nodeps
195 Skips dependency version checks. Package names are still checked.
196 Normally, pacman will always check a package’s dependency fields to
197 ensure that all dependencies are installed and there are no package
198 conflicts in the system. Specify this option twice to skip all
199 dependency checks.
200 --assume-installed <package=version>
202 Add a virtual package "package" with version "version" to the
203 transaction to satisfy dependencies. This allows to disable
204 specific dependency checks without affecting all dependency checks.
205 To disable all dependency checking, see the --nodeps option.
206 --dbonly
208 Adds/removes the database entry only, leaving all files in place.
209 --noprogressbar
211 Do not show a progress bar when downloading files. This can be
212 useful for scripts that call pacman and capture the output.
213 --noscriptlet
215 If an install scriptlet exists, do not execute it. Do not use this
216 unless you know what you are doing.
217 -p, --print
219 Only print the targets instead of performing the actual operation
220 (sync, remove or upgrade). Use --print-format to specify how
221 targets are displayed. The default format string is "%l", which
222 displays URLs with -S, file names with -U, and pkgname-pkgver with
223 -R.
224 --print-format <format>
226 Specify a printf-like format to control the output of the --print
227 operation. The possible attributes are: "%n" for pkgname, "%v" for
228 pkgver, "%l" for location, "%r" for repository, and "%s" for size.
229 Implies --print.
230
232 --force
233 Bypass file conflict checks and overwrite conflicting files. If the
234 package that is about to be installed contains files that are
235 already installed, this option will cause all those files to be
236 overwritten. Using --force will not allow overwriting a directory
237 with a file or installing packages with conflicting files and
238 directories. This option should be used with care, ideally not at
239 all.
240 --asdeps
242 Install packages non-explicitly; in other words, fake their install
243 reason to be installed as a dependency. This is useful for makepkg
244 and other build-from-source tools that need to install dependencies
245 before building the package.
246 --asexplicit
248 Install packages explicitly; in other words, fake their install
249 reason to be explicitly installed. This is useful if you want to
250 mark a dependency as explicitly installed so it will not be removed
251 by the --recursive remove operation.
252 --ignore <package>
254 Directs pacman to ignore upgrades of package even if there is one
255 available. Multiple packages can be specified by separating them
256 with a comma.
257 --ignoregroup <group>
259 Directs pacman to ignore upgrades of all packages in group, even if
260 there is one available. Multiple groups can be specified by
261 separating them with a comma.
262 --needed
264 Do not reinstall the targets that are already up-to-date.
265
267 -c, --changelog
268 View the ChangeLog of a package if it exists.
269 -d, --deps
271 Restrict or filter output to packages installed as dependencies.
272 This option can be combined with -t for listing real orphans -
273 packages that were installed as dependencies but are no longer
274 required by any installed package.
275 -e, --explicit
277 Restrict or filter output to explicitly installed packages. This
278 option can be combined with -t to list explicitly installed
279 packages that are not required by any other package.
280 -g, --groups
282 Display all packages that are members of a named group. If a name
283 is not specified, list all grouped packages.
284 -i, --info
286 Display information on a given package. The -p option can be used
287 if querying a package file instead of the local database. Passing
288 two --info or -i flags will also display the list of backup files
289 and their modification states.
290 -k --check
292 Check that all files owned by the given package(s) are present on
293 the system. If packages are not specified or filter flags are not
294 provided, check all installed packages. Specifying this option
295 twice will perform more detailed file checking (including
296 permissions, file sizes, and modification times) for packages that
297 contain the needed mtree file.
298 -l, --list
300 List all files owned by a given package. Multiple packages can be
301 specified on the command line.
302 -m, --foreign
304 Restrict or filter output to packages that were not found in the
305 sync database(s). Typically these are packages that were downloaded
306 manually and installed with --upgrade.
307 -n, --native
309 Restrict or filter output to packages that are found in the sync
310 database(s). This is the inverse filter of --foreign.
311 -o, --owns <file>
313 Search for packages that own the specified file(s). The path can be
314 relative or absolute, and one or more files can be specified.
315 -p, --file
317 Signifies that the package supplied on the command line is a file
318 and not an entry in the database. The file will be decompressed and
319 queried. This is useful in combination with --info and --list.
320 -q, --quiet
322 Show less information for certain query operations. This is useful
323 when pacman’s output is processed in a script. Search will only
324 show package names and not version, group, and description
325 information; owns will only show package names instead of "file is
326 owned by pkg" messages; group will only show package names and omit
327 group names; list will only show files and omit package names;
328 check will only show pairs of package names and missing files; a
329 bare query will only show package names rather than names and
330 versions.
331 -s, --search <regexp>
333 Search each locally-installed package for names or descriptions
334 that match regexp. When including multiple search terms, only
335 packages with descriptions matching ALL of those terms are
336 returned.
337 -t, --unrequired
339 Restrict or filter output to packages not required or optionally
340 required by any currently installed package. Specify this option
341 twice to only filter packages that are direct dependencies (i.e. do
342 not filter optional dependencies).
343 -u, --upgrades
345 Restrict or filter output to packages that are out-of-date on the
346 local system. Only package versions are used to find outdated
347 packages; replacements are not checked here. This option works best
348 if the sync database is refreshed using -Sy.
349
351 -c, --cascade
352 Remove all target packages, as well as all packages that depend on
353 one or more target packages. This operation is recursive and must
354 be used with care, since it can remove many potentially needed
355 packages.
356 -n, --nosave
358 Instructs pacman to ignore file backup designations. Normally, when
359 a file is removed from the system, the database is checked to see
360 if the file should be renamed with a .pacsave extension.
361 -s, --recursive
363 Remove each target specified including all of their dependencies,
364 provided that (A) they are not required by other packages; and (B)
365 they were not explicitly installed by the user. This operation is
366 recursive and analogous to a backwards --sync operation, and it
367 helps keep a clean system without orphans. If you want to omit
368 condition (B), pass this option twice.
369 -u, --unneeded
371 Removes targets that are not required by any other packages. This
372 is mostly useful when removing a group without using the -c option,
373 to avoid breaking any dependencies.
374
376 -c, --clean
377 Remove packages that are no longer installed from the cache as well
378 as currently unused sync databases to free up disk space. When
379 pacman downloads packages, it saves them in a cache directory. In
380 addition, databases are saved for every sync DB you download from
381 and are not deleted even if they are removed from the configuration
382 file pacman.conf(5). Use one --clean switch to only remove packages
383 that are no longer installed; use two to remove all files from the
384 cache. In both cases, you will have a yes or no option to remove
385 packages and/or unused downloaded databases.
386 If you use a network shared cache, see the CleanMethod option in
388 pacman.conf(5).
389 -g, --groups
391 Display all the members for each package group specified. If no
392 group names are provided, all groups will be listed; pass the flag
393 twice to view all groups and their members.
394 -i, --info
396 Display information on a given sync database package. Passing two
397 --info or -i flags will also display those packages in all
398 repositories that depend on this package.
399 -l, --list
401 List all packages in the specified repositories. Multiple
402 repositories can be specified on the command line.
403 -q, --quiet
405 Show less information for certain sync operations. This is useful
406 when pacman’s output is processed in a script. Search will only
407 show package names and not repository, version, group, and
408 description information; list will only show package names and omit
409 databases and versions; group will only show package names and omit
410 group names.
411 -s, --search <regexp>
413 This will search each package in the sync databases for names or
414 descriptions that match regexp. When you include multiple search
415 terms, only packages with descriptions matching ALL of those terms
416 will be returned.
417 -u, --sysupgrade
419 Upgrades all packages that are out-of-date. Each
420 currently-installed package will be examined and upgraded if a
421 newer package exists. A report of all packages to upgrade will be
422 presented, and the operation will not proceed without user
423 confirmation. Dependencies are automatically resolved at this level
424 and will be installed/upgraded if necessary.
425 Pass this option twice to enable package downgrades; in this case,
427 pacman will select sync packages whose versions do not match with
428 the local versions. This can be useful when the user switches from
429 a testing repository to a stable one.
430 Additional targets can also be specified manually, so that -Su foo
432 will do a system upgrade and install/upgrade the "foo" package in
433 the same operation.
434 -w, --downloadonly
436 Retrieve all packages from the server, but do not install/upgrade
437 anything.
438 -y, --refresh
440 Download a fresh copy of the master package database from the
441 server(s) defined in pacman.conf(5). This should typically be used
442 each time you use --sysupgrade or -u. Passing two --refresh or -y
443 flags will force a refresh of all package databases, even if they
444 appear to be up-to-date.
445
447 --asdeps <package>
448 Mark a package as non-explicitly installed; in other words, set
449 their install reason to be installed as a dependency.
450 --asexplicit <package>
452 Mark a package as explicitly installed; in other words, set their
453 install reason to be explicitly installed. This is useful it you
454 want to keep a package installed even when it was initially
455 installed as a dependency of another package.
456 -k --check
458 Check the local package database is internally consistent. This
459 will check all required files are present and that installed
460 packages have the required dependencies, do not conflict and that
461 multiple packages do not own the same file. Specifying this option
462 twice will perform a check on the sync databases to ensure all
463 specified dependencies are available.
464
466 -y, --refresh
467 Download fresh package databases from the server. Use twice to
468 force a refresh even if databases are up to date.
469 -l, --list
471 List the files owned by the queried package.
472 -s, --search
474 Search package file names for matching strings.
475 -x, --regex
477 Treat arguments to --search as regular expressions.
478 -o, --owns
480 Search for packages that own a particular file.
481 -q, --quiet
483 Show less information for certain file operations. This is useful
484 when pacman’s output is processed in a script, however, you may
485 want to use --machinereadable instead.
486 --machinereadable
488 Use a machine readable output format for --list, --search and
489 --owns. The format is repository\0pkgname\0pkgver\0path\n with \0
490 being the NULL character and \n a linefeed.
491
493 Pacman uses the same logic as rpm to determine action against files
494 that are designated to be backed up. During an upgrade, three MD5
495 hashes are used for each backup file to determine the required action:
496 one for the original file installed, one for the new file that is about
497 to be installed, and one for the actual file existing on the file
498 system. After comparing these three hashes, the follow scenarios can
499 result:
500 original=X, current=X, new=X
502 All three files are the same, so overwrites are not an issue.
503 Install the new file.
504 original=X, current=X, new=Y
506 The current file is the same as the original, but the new one
507 differs. Since the user did not ever modify the file, and the new
508 one may contain improvements or bug fixes, install the new file.
509 original=X, current=Y, new=X
511 Both package versions contain the exact same file, but the one on
512 the file system has been modified. Leave the current file in place.
513 original=X, current=Y, new=Y
515 The new file is identical to the current file. Install the new
516 file.
517 original=X, current=Y, new=Z
519 All three files are different, so install the new file with a
520 .pacnew extension and warn the user. The user must then manually
521 merge any necessary changes into the original file.
522 original=NULL, current=Y, new=Z
524 The package was not previously installed, and the file already
525 exists on the file system. Install the new file with a .pacnew
526 extension and warn the user. The user must then manually merge any
527 necessary changes into the original file.
528
530 pacman -Ss ne.hack
531 Search for regexp "ne.hack" in package database.
532 pacman -S gpm
534 Download and install gpm including dependencies.
535 pacman -U /home/user/ceofhack-0.6-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.gz
537 Install ceofhack-0.6-1 package from a local file.
538 pacman -Syu
540 Update package list and upgrade all packages afterwards.
541 pacman -Syu gpm
543 Update package list, upgrade all packages, and then install gpm if
544 it wasn’t already installed.
545
547 See pacman.conf(5) for more details on configuring pacman using the
548 pacman.conf file.
549
551 alpm-hooks(5), libalpm(3), makepkg(8), pacman.conf(5)
552 See the pacman website at https://www.archlinux.org/pacman/ for current
554 information on pacman and its related tools.
555
557 Bugs? You must be kidding; there are no bugs in this software. But if
558 we happen to be wrong, send us an email with as much detail as possible
559 to pacman-dev@archlinux.org.
560
562 Current maintainers:
563 · Allan McRae <allan@archlinux.org>
565 · Andrew Gregory <andrew.gregory.8@gmail.com>
567 · Dan McGee <dan@archlinux.org>
569 · Dave Reisner <dreisner@archlinux.org>
571 Past major contributors:
573 · Judd Vinet <jvinet@zeroflux.org>
575 · Aurelien Foret <aurelien@archlinux.org>
577 · Aaron Griffin <aaron@archlinux.org>
579 · Xavier Chantry <shiningxc@gmail.com>
581 · Nagy Gabor <ngaba@bibl.u-szeged.hu>
583 For additional contributors, use git shortlog -s on the pacman.git
585 repository.
586Pacman 5.0.2 2019-02-02 PACMAN(8)