path: root/doc/pacman.conf.5.asciidoc

pacman.conf(5)
==============

Name
----
pacman.conf - pacman package manager configuration file


Synopsis
--------
{sysconfdir}/pacman.conf


Description
-----------
Pacman, using linkman:libalpm[3], will attempt to read pacman.conf each time it
is invoked. This configuration file is divided into sections or repositories.
Each section defines a package repository that pacman can use when searching
for packages in '\--sync' mode. The exception to this is the options section,
which defines global options.

Comments are only supported by beginning a line with the hash (#) symbol.
Comments cannot begin in the middle of a line.


Example
-------

--------
#
# pacman.conf
#
[options]
NoUpgrade = etc/passwd etc/group etc/shadow
NoUpgrade = etc/fstab

[core]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/core

[custom]
Server = file:///home/pkgs
--------

NOTE: Each directive must be in CamelCase. If the case isn't respected, the
directive won't be recognized. For example. noupgrade or NOUPGRADE will not
work.


Options
-------
*RootDir =* /path/to/root/dir::
	Set the default root directory for pacman to install to. This option is
	used if you want to install a package on a temporary mounted partition
	which is "owned" by another system, or for a chroot install.
	*NOTE*: If database path or log file are not specified on either the
	command line or in linkman:pacman.conf[5], their default location will
	be inside this root path.

*DBPath =* /path/to/db/dir::
	Overrides the default location of the toplevel database directory. The
	default is +{localstatedir}/lib/pacman/+. Most users will not need to set
	this option. *NOTE*: if specified, this is an absolute path and the root
	path is not automatically prepended.

*CacheDir =* /path/to/cache/dir::
	Overrides the default location of the package cache directory. The
	default is +{localstatedir}/cache/pacman/pkg/+. Multiple cache directories can be
	specified, and they are tried in the order they are listed in the config
	file. If a file is not found in any cache directory, it will be downloaded
	to the first cache directory with write access. *NOTE*: this is an absolute
	path, the root path is not automatically prepended.

*HookDir =* /path/to/hook/dir::
	Add directories to search for alpm hooks in addition to the system hook
	directory (+{datarootdir}/libalpm/hooks/+).  The default is
	+{sysconfdir}/pacman.d/hooks+.  Multiple directories can be specified with
	hooks in later directories taking precedence over hooks in earlier
	directories.  *NOTE*: this is an absolute path, the root path is not
	automatically prepended.  For more information on the alpm hooks, see
	linkman:alpm-hooks[5].

*GPGDir =* /path/to/gpg/dir::
	Overrides the default location of the directory containing configuration
	files for GnuPG. The default is +{sysconfdir}/pacman.d/gnupg/+.
	This directory should contain two files: `pubring.gpg` and `trustdb.gpg`.
	`pubring.gpg` holds the public keys of all packagers. `trustdb.gpg`
	contains a so-called trust database, which specifies that the keys are
	authentic and trusted.
	*NOTE*: this is an absolute path, the root path is not automatically
	prepended.

*LogFile =* /path/to/log/file::
	Overrides the default location of the pacman log file. The default
	is +{localstatedir}/log/pacman.log+. This is an absolute path and the root directory
	is not prepended.

*HoldPkg =* package ...::
	If a user tries to '\--remove' a package that's listed in `HoldPkg`,
	pacman will ask for confirmation before proceeding. Shell-style glob
	patterns are allowed.

*IgnorePkg =* package ...::
	Instructs pacman to ignore any upgrades for this package when performing
	a '\--sysupgrade'. Shell-style glob patterns are allowed.

*IgnoreGroup =* group ...::
	Instructs pacman to ignore any upgrades for all packages in this
	group when performing a '\--sysupgrade'. Shell-style glob patterns are
	allowed.

*Include =* /path/to/config/file::
	Include another configuration file. This file can include repositories or
	general configuration options. Wildcards in the specified paths will get
	expanded based on linkman:glob[7] rules.

*Architecture =* auto &| i686 &| x86_64 | ...::
	If set, pacman will only allow installation of packages with the given
	architectures (e.g. 'i686', 'x86_64', etc). The special value 'auto' will
	use the system architecture, provided via ``uname -m''. If unset, no
	architecture checks are made. *NOTE*: Packages with the special
	architecture 'any' can always be installed, as they are meant to be
	architecture independent.

*XferCommand =* /path/to/command %u::
	If set, an external program will be used to download all remote files.
	All instances of `%u` will be replaced with the download URL. If present,
	instances of `%o` will be replaced with the local filename, plus a
	``.part'' extension, which allows programs like wget to do file resumes
	properly.
	+
	This option is useful for users who experience problems with built-in
	HTTP/FTP support, or need the more advanced proxy support that comes with
	utilities like wget.

*NoUpgrade =* file ...::
	All files listed with a `NoUpgrade` directive will never be touched during
	a package install/upgrade, and the new files will be installed with a
	'.pacnew' extension.
	These files refer to files in the package archive, so do not include the
	leading slash (the RootDir) when specifying them. Shell-style glob patterns
	are allowed. It is possible to invert matches by prepending a file with
	an exclamation mark. Inverted files will result in previously blacklisted
	files being whitelisted again. Subsequent matches will override previous
	ones. A leading literal exclamation mark or backslash needs to be escaped.

*NoExtract =* file ...::
	All files listed with a `NoExtract` directive will never be extracted from
	a package into the filesystem. This can be useful when you don't want part
	of a package to be installed. For example, if your httpd root uses an
	'index.php', then you would not want the 'index.html' file to be extracted
	from the 'apache' package.
	These files refer to files in the package archive, so do not include the
	leading slash (the RootDir) when specifying them. Shell-style glob patterns
	are allowed. It is possible to invert matches by prepending a file with
	an exclamation mark. Inverted files will result in previously blacklisted
	files being whitelisted again. Subsequent matches will override previous
	ones. A leading literal exclamation mark or backslash needs to be escaped.

*CleanMethod =* KeepInstalled &| KeepCurrent::
	If set to `KeepInstalled` (the default), the '-Sc' operation will clean
	packages that are no longer installed (not present in the local database).
	If set to `KeepCurrent`, '-Sc' will clean outdated packages (not present in
	any sync database).
	The second behavior is useful when the package cache is shared among
	multiple machines, where the local databases are usually different, but the
	sync databases in use could be the same. If both values are specified,
	packages are only cleaned if not installed locally and not present in any
	known sync database.

*SigLevel =* ...::
	Set the default signature verification level. For more information, see
	<<SC,Package and Database Signature Checking>> below.

*LocalFileSigLevel =* ...::
	Set the signature verification level for installing packages using the "-U"
	operation on a local file. Uses the value from SigLevel as the default.

*RemoteFileSigLevel =* ...::
	Set the signature verification level for installing packages using the "-U"
	operation on a remote file URL. Uses the value from SigLevel as the default.

*UseSyslog*::
	Log action messages through syslog(). This will insert log entries into
	+{localstatedir}/log/messages+ or equivalent.

*Color*::
	Automatically enable colors only when pacman's output is on a tty.

*NoProgressBar*::
	Disables progress bars. This is useful for terminals which do
	not support escape characters.

*CheckSpace*::
	Performs an approximate check for adequate available disk space before
	installing packages.

*VerbosePkgLists*::
	Displays name, version and size of target packages formatted
	as a table for upgrade, sync and remove operations.

*DisableDownloadTimeout*::
	Disable defaults for low speed limit and timeout on downloads. Use this
	if you have issues downloading files with proxy and/or security gateway.

*ParallelDownloads*::
	Specifies number of concurrent download streams. The value needs to be a
	positive integer. If this config option is not set then only one download
	stream is used (i.e. downloads happen sequentially).


Repository Sections
-------------------
Each repository section defines a section name and at least one location where
the packages can be found. The section name is defined by the string within
square brackets (the two above are 'core'  and  'custom'). Repository names
must be unique and the name 'local' is reserved for the database of installed
packages. Locations are defined with the 'Server' directive and follow a URL
naming structure. If you want to use a local directory, you can specify the
full path with a ``file://'' prefix, as shown above.

A common way to define DB locations utilizes the 'Include' directive. For each
repository defined in the configuration file, a single 'Include' directive can
contain a file that lists the servers for that repository.

--------
[core]
# use this server first
Server = ftp://ftp.archlinux.org/$repo/os/$arch
# next use servers as defined in the mirrorlist below
Include = {sysconfdir}/pacman.d/mirrorlist
--------

The order of repositories in the configuration files matters; repositories
listed first will take precedence over those listed later in the file when
packages in two repositories have identical names, regardless of version
number.

*Include =* path::
	Include another config file. This file can include repositories or
	general configuration options. Wildcards in the specified paths will get
	expanded based on linkman:glob[7] rules.

*Server =* url::
	A full URL to a location where the database, packages, and signatures (if
	available) for this repository can be found.
+
During parsing, pacman will define the `$repo` variable to the name of the
current section. This is often utilized in files specified using the 'Include'
directive so all repositories can use the same mirrorfile. pacman also defines
the `$arch` variable to the first (or only) value of the `Architecture` option,
so the same mirrorfile can even be used for different architectures.

*SigLevel =* ...::
	Set the signature verification level for this repository. For more
	information, see <<SC,Package and Database Signature Checking>> below.

*Usage =* ...::
	Set the usage level for this repository. This option takes a list of tokens
	which must be at least one of the following:
		*Sync*;;
			Enables refreshes for this repository.
		*Search*;;
			Enables searching for this repository.
		*Install*;;
			Enables installation of packages from this repository during a '\--sync'
			operation.
		*Upgrade*;;
			Allows this repository to be a valid source of packages when performing
			a '\--sysupgrade'.
		*All*;;
			Enables all of the above features for the repository. This is the default
			if not specified.
+
Note that an enabled repository can be operated on explicitly, regardless of the Usage
level set.


Package and Database Signature Checking[[SC]]
---------------------------------------------
The 'SigLevel' directive is valid in both the `[options]` and repository
sections. If used in `[options]`, it sets a default value for any repository
that does not provide the setting.

* If set to *Never*, no signature checking will take place.
* If set to *Optional* , signatures will be checked when present, but unsigned
  databases and packages will also be accepted.
* If set to *Required*, signatures will be required on all packages and
  databases.

Alternatively, you can get more fine-grained control by combining some of
the options and prefixes described below. All options in a config file are
processed in top-to-bottom, left-to-right fashion, where later options override
and/or supplement earlier ones. If 'SigLevel' is specified in a repository
section, the starting value is that from the `[options]` section, or the
built-in system default as shown below if not specified.

The options are split into two main groups, described below. Terms used such as
``marginally trusted'' are terms used by GnuPG, for more information please
consult linkman:gpg[1].

When to Check::
	These options control if and when signature checks should take place.

	*Never*;;
		All signature checking is suppressed, even if signatures are present.

	*Optional* (default);;
		Signatures are checked if present; absence of a signature is not an
		error. An invalid signature is a fatal error, as is a signature from a
		key not in the keyring.

	*Required*;;
		Signatures are required; absence of a signature or an invalid signature
		is a fatal error, as is a signature from a key not in the keyring.

What is Allowed::
	These options control what signatures are viewed as permissible. Note that
	neither of these options allows acceptance of invalid or expired
	signatures, or those from revoked keys.

	*TrustedOnly* (default);;
		If a signature is checked, it must be in the keyring and fully trusted;
		marginal trust does not meet this criteria.

	*TrustAll*;;
		If a signature is checked, it must be in the keyring, but is not
		required to be assigned a trust level (e.g., unknown or marginal
		trust).

Options in both groups can additionally be prefixed with either *Package* or
*Database*, which will cause it to only take effect on the specified object
type. For example, `PackageTrustAll` would allow marginal and unknown trust
level signatures for packages.

The built-in default is the following:

--------
SigLevel = Optional TrustedOnly
--------


Using Your Own Repository
-------------------------
If you have numerous custom packages of your own, it is often easier to generate
your own custom local repository than install them all with the '\--upgrade'
option. All you need to do is generate a compressed package database in the
directory with these packages so pacman can find it when run with '\--refresh'.

	repo-add /home/pkgs/custom.db.tar.gz /home/pkgs/*.pkg.tar.gz

The above command will generate a compressed database named
'/home/pkgs/custom.db.tar.gz'. Note that the database must be of the form
'\{treename\}.db.tar.{ext}', where '\{treename\}' is the name of the section
defined in the configuration file and '\{ext\}' is a valid compression type as
documented in linkman:repo-add[8]. That's it! Now configure your custom section
in the configuration file as shown in the config example above. Pacman will now
use your package repository. If you add new packages to the repository,
remember to re-generate the database and use pacman's '\--refresh' option.

For more information on the repo-add command, see ``repo-add \--help'' or
linkman:repo-add[8].


See Also
--------
linkman:pacman[8], linkman:libalpm[3]

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