1OPAM-SWITCH(1) Opam Manual OPAM-SWITCH(1)
2
6 opam-switch - Manage multiple installation prefixes.
7
9 opam switch [OPTION]... [COMMAND] [ARG]...
10
12 This command is used to manage "switches", which are independent
13 installation prefixes with their own compiler and sets of installed and
14 pinned packages. This is typically useful to have different versions of
15 the compiler available at once.
16 Use opam switch create to create a new switch, and opam switch set to
18 set the currently active switch. Without argument, lists installed
19 switches, with one switch argument, defaults to set.
20 Switch handles SWITCH can be either a plain name, for switches that
22 will be held inside ~/.opam, or a directory name, which in that case is
23 the directory where the switch prefix will be installed, as _opam. Opam
24 will automatically select a switch by that name found in the current
25 directory or its parents, unless OPAMSWITCH is set or --switch is
26 specified. When creating a directory switch, if package definitions are
27 found locally, the user is automatically prompted to install them after
28 the switch is created unless --no-install is specified.
29 opam switch set sets the default switch globally, but it is also
31 possible to select a switch in a given shell session, using the
32 environment. For that, use eval $(opam env --switch=SWITCH
33 --set-switch).
34
36 Without argument, defaults to list.
37 SWITCH
39 With a SWITCH argument, defaults to set SWITCH.
40 create SWITCH [COMPILER]
42 Create a new switch, and install the given compiler there. SWITCH
43 can be a plain name, or a directory, absolute or relative, in which
44 case a local switch is created below the given directory. COMPILER,
45 if omitted, defaults to SWITCH if it is a plain name, unless
46 --packages or --empty is specified. When creating a local switch,
47 and none of these options are present, the compiler is chosen
48 according to the configuration default (see opam-init(1)). If the
49 chosen directory contains package definitions, a compatible
50 compiler is searched within the default selection, and the packages
51 will automatically get installed.
52 set SWITCH
54 Set the currently active switch, among the installed switches.
55 remove SWITCH
57 Remove the given switch from disk.
58 export FILE
60 Save the current switch state to a file. If --full is specified, it
61 includes the metadata of all installed packages
62 import FILE
64 Import a saved switch state. If --switch is specified and doesn't
65 point to an existing switch, the switch will be created for the
66 import.
67 reinstall [SWITCH]
69 Reinstall the given compiler switch and all its packages.
70 list
72 Lists installed switches.
73 list-available [PATTERN]
75 Lists base packages that can be used to create a new switch, i.e.
76 packages with the compiler flag set. If no pattern is supplied, all
77 versions are shown.
78 show
80 Prints the name of the current switch.
81 set-base PACKAGES
83 Sets the packages forming the immutable base for the selected
84 switch, overriding the current setting.
85 set-description STRING
87 Sets the description for the selected switch
88 link SWITCH [DIR]
90 Sets a local alias for a given switch, so that the switch gets
91 automatically selected whenever in that directory or a descendant.
92 install SWITCH
94 Deprecated alias for 'create'.
95
97 -A COMP, --alias-of=COMP
98 This option is deprecated.
99 --deps-only
101 When creating a local switch in a project directory (i.e. a
102 directory containing opam package definitions), install the
103 dependencies of the project but not the project itself.
104 --description=STRING
106 Attach the given description to a switch when creating it. Use the
107 set-description subcommand to modify the description of an existing
108 switch.
109 --empty
111 Allow creating an empty (without compiler) switch.
112 --full
114 When exporting, include the metadata of all installed packages,
115 allowing to re-import even if they don't exist in the repositories
116 (the default is to include only the metadata of pinned packages).
117 -j JOBS, --jobs=JOBS
119 Set the maximal number of concurrent jobs to use. The default value
120 is calculated from the number of cores. You can also set it using
121 the $OPAMJOBS environment variable.
122 --no-autoinstall
124 This option is deprecated.
125 --no-install
127 When creating a local switch, don't look for any local package
128 definitions to install.
129 --no-switch
131 Don't automatically select newly installed switches.
132 --packages=PACKAGES
134 When installing a switch, explicitly define the set of packages to
135 set as the compiler.
136 --repositories=REPOS
138 When creating a new switch, use the given selection of repositories
139 instead of the default. REPOS should be a comma-separated list of
140 either already registered repository names (configured through e.g.
141 opam repository add --dont-select), or NAME=URL bindings, in which
142 case NAME should not be registered already to a different URL, and
143 the new repository will be registered. See opam repository for more
144 details. This option also affects list-available.
145 -s, --short
147 Output raw lists of names, one per line, skipping any details.
148
150 -b, --keep-build-dir
151 Keep the build directories after compiling packages. This is
152 equivalent to setting $OPAMKEEPBUILDDIR to "true".
153 -d, --with-doc, --build-doc
155 Build the package documentation. This only affects packages listed
156 on the command-line. The --build-doc form is deprecated as this
157 does also installation. This is equivalent to setting $OPAMWITHDOC
158 (or the deprecated $OPAMBUILDDOC) to "true".
159 --dry-run
161 Simulate the command, but don't actually perform any changes. This
162 also can be set with environment variable $OPAMDEBUG.
163 --fake
165 This option registers the actions into the opam database, without
166 actually performing them. WARNING: This option is dangerous and
167 likely to break your opam environment. You probably want
168 `--dry-run'. You've been warned.
169 --ignore-constraints-on[=PACKAGES] (default=)
171 Forces opam to ignore version constraints on all dependencies to
172 the listed packages. This can be used to test compatibility, but
173 expect builds to break when using this. Note that version
174 constraints on optional dependencies and conflicts are unaffected.
175 This is equivalent to setting $OPAMIGNORECONSTRAINTS.
176 --inplace-build
178 When compiling a package which has its source bound to a local
179 directory, process the build and install actions directly in that
180 directory, rather than in a clean copy handled by opam. This only
181 affects packages that are explicitly listed on the command-line.
182 This is equivalent to setting $OPAMINPLACEBUILD to "true".
183 --locked[=SUFFIX] (default=locked)
185 In commands that use opam files found from pinned sources, if a
186 variant of the file with an added .SUFFIX extension is found (e.g.
187 foo.opam.locked besides foo.opam), that will be used instead. This
188 is typically useful to offer a more specific set of dependencies
189 and reproduce similar build contexts, hence the name. The opam lock
190 plugin can be used to generate such files, based on the versions of
191 the dependencies currently installed on the host. This is
192 equivalent to setting the $OPAMLOCKED environment variable. Note
193 that this option doesn't generally affect already pinned packages.
194 -m MAKE, --make=MAKE
196 Use MAKE as the default 'make' command. Deprecated: use opam config
197 set[-global] make MAKE instead. Has no effect if the make variable
198 is defined.
199 --no-checksums
201 Do not verify the checksum of downloaded archives.This is
202 equivalent to setting $OPAMNOCHECKSUMS to "true".
203 --require-checksums
205 Reject the installation of packages that don't provide a checksum
206 for the upstream archives. This is equivalent to setting
207 $OPAMREQUIRECHECKSUMS to "true".
208 --reuse-build-dir
210 Reuse existing build directories (kept by using --keep-build-dir),
211 instead of compiling from a fresh clone of the source. This can be
212 faster, but also lead to failures if the build systems of the
213 packages don't handle upgrades of dependencies well. This is
214 equivalent to setting $OPAMREUSEBUILDDIR to "true".
215 --show-actions
217 Call the solver and display the actions. Don't perform any changes.
218 This is equivalent to setting $OPAMSHOW.
219 --skip-updates
221 When running an install, upgrade or reinstall on source-pinned
222 packages, they are normally updated from their origin first. This
223 flag disables that behaviour and will keep them to their version in
224 cache. This is equivalent to setting $OPAMSKIPUPDATE.
225 -t, --with-test, --build-test
227 Build and run the package unit-tests. This only affects packages
228 listed on the command-line. The --build-test form is deprecated as
229 this also affects installation. This is equivalent to setting
230 $OPAMWITHTEST (or the deprecated $OPAMBUILDTEST) to "true".
231 --unlock-base
233 Allow changes to the packages set as switch base (typically, the
234 main compiler). Use with caution. This is equivalent to setting the
235 $OPAMUNLOCKBASE environment variable
236
238 These options are common to all commands.
239 --best-effort
241 Don't fail if all requested packages can't be installed: try to
242 install as many as possible. Note that not all external solvers may
243 support this option (recent versions of aspcud or mccs should).
244 This is equivalent to setting $OPAMBESTEFFORT environment variable.
245 --color=WHEN
247 Colorize the output. WHEN must be one of `always', `never' or
248 `auto'.
249 --criteria=CRITERIA
251 Specify user preferences for dependency solving for this run.
252 Overrides both $OPAMCRITERIA and $OPAMUPGRADECRITERIA. For details
253 on the supported language, and the external solvers available, see
254 http://opam.ocaml.org/doc/External_solvers.html. A general guide to
255 using solver preferences can be found at
256 http://www.dicosmo.org/Articles/usercriteria.pdf.
257 --cudf=FILENAME
259 Debug option: Save the CUDF requests sent to the solver to
260 FILENAME-<n>.cudf.
261 --debug
263 Print debug message to stderr. This is equivalent to setting
264 $OPAMDEBUG to "true".
265 --debug-level=LEVEL
267 Like --debug, but allows specifying the debug level (--debug sets
268 it to 1). Equivalent to setting $OPAMDEBUG to a positive integer.
269 --git-version
271 Print the git version of opam, if set (i.e. you are using a
272 development version), and exit.
273 --help[=FMT] (default=auto)
275 Show this help in format FMT. The value FMT must be one of `auto',
276 `pager', `groff' or `plain'. With `auto', the format is `pager` or
277 `plain' whenever the TERM env var is `dumb' or undefined.
278 --ignore-pin-depends
280 Ignore extra pins required by packages that get pinned, either
281 manually through opam pin or through opam install DIR. This is
282 equivalent to setting IGNOREPINDEPENDS=true.
283 --json=FILENAME
285 Save the results of the opam run in a computer-readable file. If
286 the filename contains the character `%', it will be replaced by an
287 index that doesn't overwrite an existing file. Similar to setting
288 the $OPAMJSON variable.
289 --no-aspcud
291 Deprecated.
292 --no-auto-upgrade
294 When configuring or updating a repository that is written for an
295 earlier opam version (1.2), opam internally converts it to the
296 current format. This disables this behaviour. Note that
297 repositories should define their format version in a 'repo' file at
298 their root, or they will be assumed to be in the older format. It
299 is, in any case, preferable to upgrade the repositories manually
300 using opam admin upgrade [--mirror URL] when possible.
301 --no-self-upgrade
303 Opam will replace itself with a newer binary found at OPAMROOT/opam
304 if present. This disables this behaviour.
305 -q, --quiet
307 Disables --verbose.
308 --root=ROOT
310 Use ROOT as the current root path. This is equivalent to setting
311 $OPAMROOT to ROOT.
312 --safe, --readonly
314 Make sure nothing will be automatically updated or rewritten.
315 Useful for calling from completion scripts, for example. Will fail
316 whenever such an operation is needed ; also avoids waiting for
317 locks, skips interactive questions and overrides the $OPAMDEBUG
318 variable. This is equivalent to set environment variable $OPAMSAFE.
319 --solver=CMD
321 Specify the CUDF solver to use for resolving package installation
322 problems. This is either a predefined solver (this version of opam
323 supports builtin-mccs+lp(), builtin-mccs+glpk, aspcud, mccs,
324 aspcud-old, packup), or a custom command that should contain the
325 variables %{input}%, %{output}%, %{criteria}%, and optionally
326 %{timeout}%. This is equivalent to setting $OPAMEXTERNALSOLVER.
327 --strict
329 Fail whenever an error is found in a package definition or a
330 configuration file. The default is to continue silently if
331 possible.
332 --switch=SWITCH
334 Use SWITCH as the current compiler switch. This is equivalent to
335 setting $OPAMSWITCH to SWITCH.
336 --use-internal-solver
338 Disable any external solver, and use the built-in one (this
339 requires that opam has been compiled with a built-in solver). This
340 is equivalent to setting $OPAMNOASPCUD or $OPAMUSEINTERNALSOLVER.
341 -v, --verbose
343 Be more verbose. One -v shows all package commands, repeat to also
344 display commands called internally (e.g. tar, curl, patch etc.)
345 Repeating n times is equivalent to setting $OPAMVERBOSE to "n".
346 --version
348 Show version information.
349 -w, --working-dir
351 Whenever updating packages that are bound to a local,
352 version-controlled directory, update to the current working state
353 of their source instead of the last committed state, or the ref
354 they are pointing to. This only affects packages explicitly listed
355 on the command-line.It can also be set with $OPAMWORKINGDIR.
356 -y, --yes
358 Answer yes to all yes/no questions without prompting. This is
359 equivalent to setting $OPAMYES to "true".
360
362 Opam makes use of the environment variables listed here. Boolean
363 variables should be set to "0", "no", "false" or the empty string to
364 disable, "1", "yes" or "true" to enable.
365 OPAMALLPARENS surround all filters with parenthesis
367 OPAMAUTOREMOVE see remove option `--auto-remove`
369 OPAMBESTEFFORT see option `--best-effort`
371 OPAMBESTEFFORTPREFIXCRITERIA sets the string that must be prepended to
373 the criteria when the `--best-effort` option is set, and is expected to
374 maximise the `opam-query` property in the solution
375 OPAMCOLOR, when set to always or never, sets a default value for the
377 --color option.
378 OPAMCRITERIA specifies user preferences for dependency solving. The
380 default value depends on the solver version, use `config report` to
381 know the current setting. See also option --criteria
382 OPAMCUDFFILE file save the cudf graph to file-actions-explicit.dot
384 OPAMCURL can be used to select a given 'curl' program. See OPAMFETCH
386 for more options.
387 OPAMDEBUG see options `--debug' and `--debug-level'.
389 OPAMDOWNLOADJOBS sets the maximum number of simultaneous downloads.
391 OPAMDRYRUN see option `--dry-run`
393 OPAMEDITOR sets the editor to use for opam file editing, overrides
395 $EDITOR and $VISUAL
396 OPAMERRLOGLEN sets the number of log lines printed when a sub-process
398 fails. 0 to print all.
399 OPAMEXTERNALSOLVER see option `--solver'.
401 OPAMFAKE see option `--fake`
403 OPAMFETCH specifies how to download files: either `wget', `curl' or a
405 custom command where variables %{url}%, %{out}%, %{retry}%,
406 %{compress}% and %{checksum}% will be replaced. Overrides the
407 'download-command' value from the main config file.
408 OPAMFIXUPCRITERIA same as OPAMUPGRADECRITERIA, but specific to fixup
410 OPAMIGNORECONSTRAINTS see install option `--ignore-constraints-on`
412 OPAMIGNOREPINDEPENDS see option `--ignore-pin-depends`
414 OPAMJOBS sets the maximum number of parallel workers to run.
416 OPAMJSON log json output to the given file (use character `%' to index
418 the files)
419 OPAMLOCKED see install option `--locked`
421 OPAMLOGS logdir sets log directory, default is a temporary directory in
423 /tmp
424 OPAMMAKECMD set the system make command to use
426 OPAMNOAUTOUPGRADE disables automatic internal upgrade of repositories
428 in an earlier format to the current one, on 'update' or 'init'.
429 OPAMKEEPLOGS tells opam to not remove some temporary command logs and
431 some backups. This skips some finalisers and may also help to get more
432 reliable backtraces
433 OPAMLOCKRETRIES sets the number of tries after which opam gives up
435 acquiring its lock and fails. <= 0 means infinite wait.
436 OPAMMERGEOUT merge process outputs, stderr on stdout
438 OPAMNO answer no to any question asked.
440 OPAMNOASPCUD Deprecated.
442 OPAMNOCHECKSUMS enables option --no-checksums when available.
444 OPAMNOSELFUPGRADE see option `--no-self-upgrade'.
446 OPAMPINKINDAUTO sets whether version control systems should be detected
448 when pinning to a local path. Enabled by default since 1.3.0.
449 OPAMPRECISETRACKING fine grain tracking of directories
451 OPAMREQUIRECHECKSUMS Enables option `--require-checksums' when
453 available (e.g. for `opam install`).
454 OPAMRETRES sets the number of tries before failing downloads.
456 OPAMROOT see option `--root'. This is automatically set by `opam env
458 --root=DIR --set-root'.
459 OPAMROOTISOK don't complain when running as root.
461 OPAMSAFE see option `--safe'
463 OPAMSHOW see option `--show`
465 OPAMSKIPUPDATE see option `--skip-updates`
467 OPAMSKIPVERSIONCHECKS bypasses some version checks. Unsafe, for
469 compatibility testing only.
470 OPAMSOLVERTIMEOUT change the time allowance of the solver. Default is
472 60.0, set to 0 for unlimited. Note that all solvers may not support
473 this option.
474 OPAMSTATUSLINE display a dynamic status line showing what's currently
476 going on on the terminal. (one of one of `always', `never' or `auto')
477 OPAMSTATS display stats at the end of command
479 OPAMSTRICT fail on inconsistencies (file reading, switch import, etc.)
481 OPAMSWITCH see option `--switch'. Automatically set by `opam env
483 --switch=SWITCH --set-switch'.
484 OPAMUNLOCKBASE see install option `--unlock-base`
486 OPAMUPGRADECRITERIA specifies user preferences for dependency solving
488 when performing an upgrade. Overrides OPAMCRITERIA in upgrades if both
489 are set. See also option --criteria
490 OPAMUSEINTERNALSOLVER see option `--use-internal-solver'.
492 OPAMUSEOPENSSL force openssl use for hash computing
494 OPAMUTF8 use UTF8 characters in output (one of one of `always', `never'
496 or `auto'). By default `auto', which is determined from the locale).
497 OPAMUTF8MSGS use extended UTF8 characters (camels) in opam messages.
499 Implies OPAMUTF8. This is set by default on OSX only.
500 OPAMVALIDATIONHOOK hook if set, uses the `%{hook%}` command to validate
502 an opam repository update
503 OPAMVAR_var overrides the contents of the variable var when
505 substituting `%{var}%` strings in `opam` files.
506 OPAMVAR_package_var overrides the contents of the variable package:var
508 when substituting `%{package:var}%` strings in `opam` files.
509 OPAMVERBOSE see option `--verbose'.
511 OPAMWORKINGDIR see option `--working-dir`
513 OPAMYES see option `--yes'.
515
517 As an exception to the following, the `exec' command returns 127 if the
518 command was not found or couldn't be executed, and the command's exit
519 value otherwise.
520 0 Success, or true for boolean queries.
522 1 False. Returned when a boolean return value is expected, e.g. when
524 running with --check, or for queries like opam lint.
525 2 Bad command-line arguments, or command-line arguments pointing to
527 an invalid context (e.g. file not following the expected format).
528 5 Not found. You requested something (package, version, repository,
530 etc.) that couldn't be found.
531 10 Aborted. The operation required confirmation, which wasn't given.
533 15 Could not acquire the locks required for the operation.
535 20 There is no solution to the user request. This can be caused by
537 asking to install two incompatible packages, for example.
538 30 Error in package definition, or other metadata files. Using
540 --strict raises this error more often.
541 31 Package script error. Some package operations were unsuccessful.
543 This may be an error in the packages or an incompatibility with
544 your system. This can be a partial error.
545 40 Sync error. Could not fetch some remotes from the network. This can
547 be a partial error.
548 50 Configuration error. Opam or system configuration doesn't allow
550 operation, and needs fixing.
551 60 Solver failure. The solver failed to return a sound answer. It can
553 be due to a broken external solver, or an error in solver
554 configuration.
555 99 Internal error. Something went wrong, likely due to a bug in opam
557 itself.
558 130 User interrupt. SIGINT was received, generally due to the user
560 pressing Ctrl-C.
561
563 See https://opam.ocaml.org/doc.
564
566 Vincent Bernardoff <vb@luminar.eu.org>
567 Raja Boujbel <raja.boujbel@ocamlpro.com>
568 Roberto Di Cosmo <roberto@dicosmo.org>
569 Thomas Gazagnaire <thomas@gazagnaire.org>
570 Louis Gesbert <louis.gesbert@ocamlpro.com>
571 Fabrice Le Fessant <Fabrice.Le_fessant@inria.fr>
572 Anil Madhavapeddy <anil@recoil.org>
573 Guillem Rieu <guillem.rieu@ocamlpro.com>
574 Ralf Treinen <ralf.treinen@pps.jussieu.fr>
575 Frederic Tuong <tuong@users.gforge.inria.fr>
576
578 Check bug reports at https://github.com/ocaml/opam/issues.
579Opam 2.0.6 OPAM-SWITCH(1)