Pacman Overview
Overview
Pacman is a package manager developed specifically for use in Arch Linux. It is used to install, upgrade, configure and remove software (i.e. to manage software packages). Pacman is used through typing commands terminal; all the commands listed below to undertake various tasks assume that you have your terminal open.
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Updating the System
To update your system, enter the following command in the terminal:
sudo pacman -Syu
Searching for Software
It is also possible to use pacman to search Manjaro's software repositories for any desired software, provided you know the name of what you want. This is undertaken by entering the following command:
sudo pacman -Ss [software package name]
For example, to search the repositories to see if a text editor called Leafpad is available, the following command would be entered:
sudo pacman -Ss leafpad
Installing Applications and Software Packages
To install a software package using pacman, the basic syntax is:
sudo pacman -S [software package name]
For example, to download and install leafpad, the following command would be entered:
sudo pacman -S leafpad
Removing Applications and Software Packages
The basic command to remove a software package (e.g. application) is to enter:
sudo pacman -R [software package name]
For example, to remove the software application Leafpad, the following command would be entered:
sudo pacman -R leafpad
However, it is also possible to remove both the package and any other related packages (called dependencies) with the following command:
sudo pacman -R --nosave --recursive [software package name]
This will remove the dependencies provided they:
- are not required by any other package.
- were not explicitly installed (i.e. they were not installed separately, but were downloaded automatically as dependencies by pacman when the software package to be removed was installed itself).
This command will also remove the appropriate configuration files used by the deleted package. Using this command will therefore result in a clean system, free of useless dependencies that aren't used by any other software packages (known as orphans).
Learning pacman's options
It is a very good idea to become familiar with the varied and powerful uses of pacman. A comprehensive list of options that can be used with pacman can be found by entering the following command:
man pacman
To exit out of the list, simply press q.
Troubleshooting
A separate page for pacman troubleshooting is available here.