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 (the 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. NOTE: If database path or log file are not
135 specified on either the command line or in pacman.conf(5), their
136 default location will be inside this root path. NOTE: This option
137 is not suitable for performing operations on a mounted guest
138 system. See --sysroot instead.
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 (the 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 (the default is /etc/pacman.d/gnupg). This directory
169 should contain two files: pubring.gpg and trustdb.gpg. pubring.gpg
170 holds the public keys of all packagers. trustdb.gpg contains a
171 so-called trust database, which specifies that the keys are
172 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 (the default
177 is /etc/pacman.d/hooks). Multiple hook directories can be specified
178 with hooks in later directories taking precedence over hooks in
179 earlier directories. NOTE: This is an absolute path, and the root
180 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 --disable-download-timeout
194 Disable defaults for low speed limit and timeout on downloads. Use
195 this if you have issues downloading files with proxy and/or
196 security gateway.
197 --sysroot <dir>
199 Specify an alternative system root. Pacman will chroot and chdir
200 into the system root prior to running. This allows mounted guest
201 systems to be properly operated on. Any other paths given will be
202 interpreted as relative to the system root. Requires root
203 privileges.
204
206 -d, --nodeps
207 Skips dependency version checks. Package names are still checked.
208 Normally, pacman will always check a package’s dependency fields to
209 ensure that all dependencies are installed and there are no package
210 conflicts in the system. Specify this option twice to skip all
211 dependency checks.
212 --assume-installed <package=version>
214 Add a virtual package "package" with version "version" to the
215 transaction to satisfy dependencies. This allows to disable
216 specific dependency checks without affecting all dependency checks.
217 To disable all dependency checking, see the --nodeps option.
218 --dbonly
220 Adds/removes the database entry only, leaving all files in place.
221 --noprogressbar
223 Do not show a progress bar when downloading files. This can be
224 useful for scripts that call pacman and capture the output.
225 --noscriptlet
227 If an install scriptlet exists, do not execute it. Do not use this
228 unless you know what you are doing.
229 -p, --print
231 Only print the targets instead of performing the actual operation
232 (sync, remove or upgrade). Use --print-format to specify how
233 targets are displayed. The default format string is "%l", which
234 displays URLs with -S, file names with -U, and pkgname-pkgver with
235 -R.
236 --print-format <format>
238 Specify a printf-like format to control the output of the --print
239 operation. The possible attributes are: "%n" for pkgname, "%v" for
240 pkgver, "%l" for location, "%r" for repository, and "%s" for size.
241 Implies --print.
242
244 --asdeps
245 Install packages non-explicitly; in other words, fake their install
246 reason to be installed as a dependency. This is useful for makepkg
247 and other build-from-source tools that need to install dependencies
248 before building the package.
249 --asexplicit
251 Install packages explicitly; in other words, fake their install
252 reason to be explicitly installed. This is useful if you want to
253 mark a dependency as explicitly installed so it will not be removed
254 by the --recursive remove operation.
255 --ignore <package>
257 Directs pacman to ignore upgrades of package even if there is one
258 available. Multiple packages can be specified by separating them
259 with a comma.
260 --ignoregroup <group>
262 Directs pacman to ignore upgrades of all packages in group, even if
263 there is one available. Multiple groups can be specified by
264 separating them with a comma.
265 --needed
267 Do not reinstall the targets that are already up-to-date.
268 --overwrite <glob>
270 Bypass file conflict checks and overwrite conflicting files. If the
271 package that is about to be installed contains files that are
272 already installed and match glob, this option will cause all those
273 files to be overwritten. Using --overwrite will not allow
274 overwriting a directory with a file or installing packages with
275 conflicting files and directories. Multiple patterns can be
276 specified by separating them with a comma. May be specified
277 multiple times. Patterns can be negated, such that files matching
278 them will not be overwritten, by prefixing them with an exclamation
279 mark. Subsequent matches will override previous ones. A leading
280 literal exclamation mark or backslash needs to be escaped.
281
283 -c, --changelog
284 View the ChangeLog of a package if it exists.
285 -d, --deps
287 Restrict or filter output to packages installed as dependencies.
288 This option can be combined with -t for listing real orphans -
289 packages that were installed as dependencies but are no longer
290 required by any installed package.
291 -e, --explicit
293 Restrict or filter output to explicitly installed packages. This
294 option can be combined with -t to list explicitly installed
295 packages that are not required by any other package.
296 -g, --groups
298 Display all packages that are members of a named group. If a name
299 is not specified, list all grouped packages.
300 -i, --info
302 Display information on a given package. The -p option can be used
303 if querying a package file instead of the local database. Passing
304 two --info or -i flags will also display the list of backup files
305 and their modification states.
306 -k, --check
308 Check that all files owned by the given package(s) are present on
309 the system. If packages are not specified or filter flags are not
310 provided, check all installed packages. Specifying this option
311 twice will perform more detailed file checking (including
312 permissions, file sizes, and modification times) for packages that
313 contain the needed mtree file.
314 -l, --list
316 List all files owned by a given package. Multiple packages can be
317 specified on the command line.
318 -m, --foreign
320 Restrict or filter output to packages that were not found in the
321 sync database(s). Typically these are packages that were downloaded
322 manually and installed with --upgrade.
323 -n, --native
325 Restrict or filter output to packages that are found in the sync
326 database(s). This is the inverse filter of --foreign.
327 -o, --owns <file>
329 Search for packages that own the specified file(s). The path can be
330 relative or absolute, and one or more files can be specified.
331 -p, --file
333 Signifies that the package supplied on the command line is a file
334 and not an entry in the database. The file will be decompressed and
335 queried. This is useful in combination with --info and --list.
336 -q, --quiet
338 Show less information for certain query operations. This is useful
339 when pacman’s output is processed in a script. Search will only
340 show package names and not version, group, and description
341 information; owns will only show package names instead of "file is
342 owned by pkg" messages; group will only show package names and omit
343 group names; list will only show files and omit package names;
344 check will only show pairs of package names and missing files; a
345 bare query will only show package names rather than names and
346 versions.
347 -s, --search <regexp>
349 Search each locally-installed package for names or descriptions
350 that match regexp. When including multiple search terms, only
351 packages with descriptions matching ALL of those terms are
352 returned.
353 -t, --unrequired
355 Restrict or filter output to print only packages neither required
356 nor optionally required by any currently installed package. Specify
357 this option twice to include packages which are optionally, but not
358 directly, required by another package.
359 -u, --upgrades
361 Restrict or filter output to packages that are out-of-date on the
362 local system. Only package versions are used to find outdated
363 packages; replacements are not checked here. This option works best
364 if the sync database is refreshed using -Sy.
365
367 -c, --cascade
368 Remove all target packages, as well as all packages that depend on
369 one or more target packages. This operation is recursive and must
370 be used with care, since it can remove many potentially needed
371 packages.
372 -n, --nosave
374 Instructs pacman to ignore file backup designations. Normally, when
375 a file is removed from the system, the database is checked to see
376 if the file should be renamed with a .pacsave extension.
377 -s, --recursive
379 Remove each target specified including all of their dependencies,
380 provided that (A) they are not required by other packages; and (B)
381 they were not explicitly installed by the user. This operation is
382 recursive and analogous to a backwards --sync operation, and it
383 helps keep a clean system without orphans. If you want to omit
384 condition (B), pass this option twice.
385 -u, --unneeded
387 Removes targets that are not required by any other packages. This
388 is mostly useful when removing a group without using the -c option,
389 to avoid breaking any dependencies.
390
392 -c, --clean
393 Remove packages that are no longer installed from the cache as well
394 as currently unused sync databases to free up disk space. When
395 pacman downloads packages, it saves them in a cache directory. In
396 addition, databases are saved for every sync DB you download from
397 and are not deleted even if they are removed from the configuration
398 file pacman.conf(5). Use one --clean switch to only remove packages
399 that are no longer installed; use two to remove all files from the
400 cache. In both cases, you will have a yes or no option to remove
401 packages and/or unused downloaded databases.
402 If you use a network shared cache, see the CleanMethod option in
404 pacman.conf(5).
405 -g, --groups
407 Display all the members for each package group specified. If no
408 group names are provided, all groups will be listed; pass the flag
409 twice to view all groups and their members.
410 -i, --info
412 Display information on a given sync database package. Passing two
413 --info or -i flags will also display those packages in all
414 repositories that depend on this package.
415 -l, --list
417 List all packages in the specified repositories. Multiple
418 repositories can be specified on the command line.
419 -q, --quiet
421 Show less information for certain sync operations. This is useful
422 when pacman’s output is processed in a script. Search will only
423 show package names and not repository, version, group, and
424 description information; list will only show package names and omit
425 databases and versions; group will only show package names and omit
426 group names.
427 -s, --search <regexp>
429 This will search each package in the sync databases for names or
430 descriptions that match regexp. When you include multiple search
431 terms, only packages with descriptions matching ALL of those terms
432 will be returned.
433 -u, --sysupgrade
435 Upgrades all packages that are out-of-date. Each
436 currently-installed package will be examined and upgraded if a
437 newer package exists. A report of all packages to upgrade will be
438 presented, and the operation will not proceed without user
439 confirmation. Dependencies are automatically resolved at this level
440 and will be installed/upgraded if necessary.
441 Pass this option twice to enable package downgrades; in this case,
443 pacman will select sync packages whose versions do not match with
444 the local versions. This can be useful when the user switches from
445 a testing repository to a stable one.
446 Additional targets can also be specified manually, so that -Su foo
448 will do a system upgrade and install/upgrade the "foo" package in
449 the same operation.
450 -w, --downloadonly
452 Retrieve all packages from the server, but do not install/upgrade
453 anything.
454 -y, --refresh
456 Download a fresh copy of the master package database from the
457 server(s) defined in pacman.conf(5). This should typically be used
458 each time you use --sysupgrade or -u. Passing two --refresh or -y
459 flags will force a refresh of all package databases, even if they
460 appear to be up-to-date.
461
463 --asdeps <package>
464 Mark a package as non-explicitly installed; in other words, set
465 their install reason to be installed as a dependency.
466 --asexplicit <package>
468 Mark a package as explicitly installed; in other words, set their
469 install reason to be explicitly installed. This is useful it you
470 want to keep a package installed even when it was initially
471 installed as a dependency of another package.
472 -k, --check
474 Check the local package database is internally consistent. This
475 will check all required files are present and that installed
476 packages have the required dependencies, do not conflict and that
477 multiple packages do not own the same file. Specifying this option
478 twice will perform a check on the sync databases to ensure all
479 specified dependencies are available.
480 -q, --quiet
482 Suppress messages on successful completion of database operations.
483
485 -y, --refresh
486 Download fresh package databases from the server. Use twice to
487 force a refresh even if databases are up to date.
488 -l, --list
490 List the files owned by the queried package.
491 -x, --regex
493 Interpret each query as a regular expression.
494 -q, --quiet
496 Show less information for certain file operations. This is useful
497 when pacman’s output is processed in a script, however, you may
498 want to use --machinereadable instead.
499 --machinereadable
501 Print each match in a machine readable output format. The format is
502 repository\0pkgname\0pkgver\0path\n with \0 being the NULL
503 character and \n a linefeed.
504
506 Pacman uses the same logic as rpm to determine action against files
507 that are designated to be backed up. During an upgrade, three MD5
508 hashes are used for each backup file to determine the required action:
509 one for the original file installed, one for the new file that is about
510 to be installed, and one for the actual file existing on the file
511 system. After comparing these three hashes, the following scenarios can
512 result:
513 original=X, current=X, new=X
515 All three files are the same, so overwrites are not an issue.
516 Install the new file.
517 original=X, current=X, new=Y
519 The current file is the same as the original, but the new one
520 differs. Since the user did not ever modify the file, and the new
521 one may contain improvements or bug fixes, install the new file.
522 original=X, current=Y, new=X
524 Both package versions contain the exact same file, but the one on
525 the file system has been modified. Leave the current file in place.
526 original=X, current=Y, new=Y
528 The new file is identical to the current file. Install the new
529 file.
530 original=X, current=Y, new=Z
532 All three files are different, so install the new file with a
533 .pacnew extension and warn the user. The user must then manually
534 merge any necessary changes into the original file.
535 original=NULL, current=Y, new=Z
537 The package was not previously installed, and the file already
538 exists on the file system. Install the new file with a .pacnew
539 extension and warn the user. The user must then manually merge any
540 necessary changes into the original file.
541
543 pacman -Ss ne.hack
544 Search for regexp "ne.hack" in package database.
545 pacman -S gpm
547 Download and install gpm including dependencies.
548 pacman -U /home/user/ceofhack-0.6-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.gz
550 Install ceofhack-0.6-1 package from a local file.
551 pacman -Syu
553 Update package list and upgrade all packages afterwards.
554 pacman -Syu gpm
556 Update package list, upgrade all packages, and then install gpm if
557 it wasn’t already installed.
558
560 See pacman.conf(5) for more details on configuring pacman using the
561 pacman.conf file.
562
564 alpm-hooks(5), libalpm(3), makepkg(8), pacman.conf(5)
565 See the pacman website at https://www.archlinux.org/pacman/ for current
567 information on pacman and its related tools.
568
570 Bugs? You must be kidding; there are no bugs in this software. But if
571 we happen to be wrong, submit a bug report with as much detail as
572 possible at the Arch Linux Bug Tracker in the Pacman section.
573
575 Current maintainers:
576 · Allan McRae <allan@archlinux.org>
578 · Andrew Gregory <andrew.gregory.8@gmail.com>
580 · Dan McGee <dan@archlinux.org>
582 · Dave Reisner <dreisner@archlinux.org>
584 Past major contributors:
586 · Judd Vinet <jvinet@zeroflux.org>
588 · Aurelien Foret <aurelien@archlinux.org>
590 · Aaron Griffin <aaron@archlinux.org>
592 · Xavier Chantry <shiningxc@gmail.com>
594 · Nagy Gabor <ngaba@bibl.u-szeged.hu>
596 For additional contributors, use git shortlog -s on the pacman.git
598 repository.
599Pacman 5.2.1 2020-07-29 PACMAN(8)