Difference between revisions of "Change to a Different Download Server"

Change to a Different Download Server (view source)

Revision as of 17:27, 20 May 2019

1,246 bytes removed , 5 years ago

General updates, add new reference to pacman-mirrors

Anonymous user

imported>Dalto

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 = Overview =
-The official Manjaro repositories (also known as ''mirrors'') are hosted on ''Software Servers''. Physically located throughout the world, these servers are responsible for receiving requests for software packages via the terminal and/or pacman-gui, and consequently delivering them to your system. There are therefore three primary factors that will determine how fast your downloads are:
+The official Manjaro repositories are hosted on ''Software Servers''(also known as ''mirrors'') . Physically located throughout the world, these mirrors are responsible for receiving requests for software packages and delivering them to your system. There are therefore three primary factors that will determine how fast your downloads are:
 * Your internet connection
-* The speed of the server itself, and
+* The speed of the mirror itself, and
-* The proximity of the server to you, that is, how close or how far away it is.
+* The proximity of the mirror to you, that is, how close or how far away it is from a network perspective.
-Other than upgrading your internet package or switching providers, it is therefore, potentially possible to improve the speed of downloads from the Manjaro repositories by selecting a different server to use.
+Other than upgrading your internet package or switching providers, it is therefore, potentially possible to improve the speed of downloads from the Manjaro repositories by selecting a different mirror to use.
 To get a list of countries currently serving mirrors use the command
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   sudo pacman-mirrors --country-list
-Two methods to switch servers are available. The first is to manually determine the server to use, as is provided in this guide. The second is to use the ''Rankmirrors'' command to automatically determine and set the fastest possible server on your behalf, provided in the '''[[Rankmirrors to Set the Fastest Download Server|Use Rankmirrors to Set the Fastest Download Server]]''' guide.
+{{note|The geographically closest server may not always necessarily be the fastest!}}
-{{note|The closest server may not always necessarily be the fastest!}}
+=Updating the mirrorlist the easy way=
-= Step 1: Changing Servers =
+The easiest method is to use '''pacman-mirrors''' which automates the process of determining the fastest mirrors and updating the mirrrorlist accordingly.  A full description of how to use '''pacman-mirrors''' can be found one the [[Pacman-mirrors]] page.
-This is undertaken by amending the '''mirrorlist''' file, which is read by Manjaro's package manager, '''[[pacman]]''', for the internet addresses of the Manjaro servers to download updates and software applications from.
+=Updating the mirrorlist manually=
+This is undertaken by amending the '''mirrorlist''' file, which is read by Manjaro's package managers, for the internet addresses of the Manjaro servers to download updates and software applications from.
 == Edit the Mirrorlist ==
-If you prefer editing your mirror list by hand - here is how
+{{tip|More than one server can be enabled. However, they will be selected in the order they are listed, and the package manager will only select another server if there is a problem with the one before it.}}
-{{tip|More than one server can be enabled. However, they will be selected in the order they are listed, and ''pacman'' will only select another server if there is a problem with the one before it.}}
+You have a multitude of options for editing text file. Every system and every user has a preferred GUI text editor. However due to security concerns, it is difficult to launch a GUI editor to correctly edit a protected system configuration file.
-Due to the versatility of GNU you have a multitude of options for editing text file. Every system and every user has a preferred GUI text editor. However due to security concerns, it is difficult to launch a GUI editor to correctly edit a protected system configuration file.
+Therefore you need to be familiar with basic terminal usage. '''nano''' is a terminal based text editor available with all Manjaro editions that we will use as an example.
-Therefore you need to be familiar with basic terminal usage. '''nano''' is a terminal based text editor available with all Manjaro editions.
 === Terminal ===
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   sudo nano /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
-=== GUI loophole ===
-However, a loophole exist for editing system files with a GUI editor. That requires you to know the binary name for the editor. For example does Gnome based editions often include the '''gedit''' text editor. If you are unsure - just type <code>gedit</code> in a terminal. Depending on availability it will open or the terminal displays an error message.
-To use gedit (if available), the command is:
- gedit admin:/etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
-If above command fails, the '''gvfs''' package is not installed. This package can be installed with
- sudo pacman -Syu gvfs
-or with pamac
- pamac install gvfs
-A list of common GUI editors (a lot more exist)
-* gedit
-* xed
-* pluma
-* mousepad
-* leafpad
-* l3afpad
-* kate
-* geany
-* juffed
 === Editing the mirrorlist ===
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 #----->snipped
 </pre>
-{{warning|Do not remove hashes from the lines that contain the names of the server countries.}}
+{{note|Do not remove hashes from the lines that contain the names of the server countries.}}
-Once you have disabled and/or enabled the desired server(s), save the changes and close the mirrorlist as follows:
+Once you have disabled and/or enabled the desired server(s), save the changes and close the mirrorlist.
-*'''nano''': Press '''<code>F2</code>''' or '''<code>CTRL-x</code>''' to exit, '''<code>y</code>''' to save, then '''<code>enter</code>''' to finish, or
-*'''gedit''' and others: Press '''<code>CTRL-q</code>''' and save the file or select the '''<code>Save</code>''' option and close the window.
-'''Now, all that is required is to Synchronise the newly enabled server(s)'''.
+= Step 2: Synchronising with the Newly Enabled Server(s) =
-= Step 2: Synchronising with the Newly Enabled Server(s) =
+{{warning|Always synchronise with '''-Syyu''' after changing mirrors.  Failure to do so may result in a broken system after updates}}
 Your Manjaro system has a database of all the software packages that are available from the official repositories. These are used by pacman to locate and download them for installation. Synchronising your database after changing servers will therefore ensure that it is up to date, and avoid any potential problems when subsequently downloading software packages.
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   sudo pacman -Syyu
+Once the Mirrorlist has been amended and the database synchronised, the change will be immediate. There will be no need to reboot your system for the change to take effect.
-Once the Mirrorlist has been amended and the database synchronised, the change will be immediate. There will be no need to reboot your system for the change to take effect.
 = See Also =
-* '''[[Rankmirrors to Set the Fastest Download Server|Use Rankmirrors to Set the Fastest Download Server]]'''
+* [[Pacman-mirrors|Reference Guide to pacman-mirrrors]]
 [[Category:Contents Page]]
-[[Category:Software Management]]