1 .TH "EMERGE" "1" "Dec 2011" "Portage VERSION" "Portage"
3 emerge \- Command\-line interface to the Portage system
7 [\fIoptions\fR] [\fIaction\fR] [\fIebuild\fR | \fItbz2file\fR | \fIfile\fR | \fI@set\fR | \fIatom\fR] ...
10 \fB\-\-sync\fR | \fB\-\-version\fR
13 \fB\-\-info\fR [\fIatom\fR]
16 \fB\-\-search\fR \fIsomestring\fR
19 \fB\-\-help\fR [\fB\-\-verbose\fR]
21 \fBemerge\fR is the definitive command\-line interface to the Portage
22 system. It is primarily used for installing packages, and \fBemerge\fR
23 can automatically handle any dependencies that the desired package has.
24 \fBemerge\fR can also update the \fBportage tree\fR, making new and
25 updated packages available. \fBemerge\fR gracefully handles updating
26 installed packages to newer releases as well. It handles both source
27 and binary packages, and it can be used to create binary packages for
29 .SH "EBUILDS, TBZ2S, SETS AND ATOMS"
30 \fBemerge\fR primarily installs packages. You can specify
31 packages to install in five possible ways: an \fIatom\fR,
32 a \fIset\fR, an installed \fIfile\fR, an \fIebuild\fR, or
37 An \fIebuild\fR must be, at a minimum, a valid Portage
38 package directory name without a version or category, such as
39 \fBportage\fR or \fBpython\fR.
40 Both categories and version numbers may be used in addition, such
41 as \fBsys\-apps/portage\fR or \fB=python\-2.2.1\-r2\fR.
43 ignores a trailing slash so that filename completion can be used.
44 The \fIebuild\fR may also be an actual filename, such as
45 \fB/usr/portage/app\-admin/python/python\-2.2.1\-r2.ebuild\fR.
46 \fBWARNING:\fR The implementation of \fBemerge /path/to/ebuild\fR is broken and
47 so this syntax shouldn't be used.
50 A \fItbz2file\fR must be a valid .tbz2 created with \fBebuild
51 <package>\-<version>.ebuild package\fR or \fBemerge \-\-buildpkg
52 [category/]<package>\fR or \fBquickpkg /var/db/pkg/<category>/<package>\fR.
55 A \fIfile\fR must be a file or directory that has been installed by one or
56 more packages. If an absolute path is not used, then it must begin with
57 either "./" or "../". For directories that are owned by multiple packages, all
58 owning packages will be selected. See the portageq(1) owners command if you
59 would like to query the owners of one or more files or directories.
62 A \fIset\fR is a convenient shorthand for a large group of
63 packages. Three sets are currently always available: \fBselected\fR,
64 \fBsystem\fR and \fBworld\fR. \fBselected\fR contains the user-selected
65 "world" packages that are listed in \fB/var/lib/portage/world\fR,
66 and nested sets that may be listed
67 in \fB/var/lib/portage/world_sets\fR. \fBsystem\fR refers to a set of
68 packages deemed necessary for your system to run properly. \fBworld\fR
69 encompasses both the \fBselected\fR and \fBsystem\fR sets. [See
70 \fBFILES\fR below for more information.] Other sets can exist depending
71 on the current configuration. The default set configuration is located
72 in the \fB/usr/share/portage/config/sets\fR directory. Note that a \fIset\fR
73 is generally used in conjunction with \fB\-\-update\fR. When used as
74 arguments to \fBemerge\fR sets have to be prefixed with \fB@\fR to be
75 recognized. Use the \fB\-\-list\-sets\fR action to display a list of
76 available package sets.
79 An \fIatom\fR describes bounds on a package that you wish to install.
80 \fISee ebuild(5) for the details on atom syntax.\fR For example,
81 \fB>=dev\-lang/python\-2.2.1\-r2\fR matches the latest available version of
82 Python greater than or equal to 2.2.1\-r2. Similarly,
83 \fB<dev\-lang/python\-2.0\fR matches the latest available version of Python
84 before 2.0. Note that in many shells you will need to escape characters such
85 as '<' and '='; use single\- or double\-quotes around the \fIatom\fR
86 to get around escaping problems.
90 If no action is specified, the action is to merge in the specified
91 packages, satisfying any dependencies that they may have. The
92 arguments can be \fIatoms\fR, \fIsets\fR, installed \fIfiles\fR,
93 \fIebuilds\fR, or \fItbz2s\fR.
94 \fBNote that you need to use the \-\-usepkg
95 option if you want to install a tbz2\fR. The packages are added
96 to the \fBworld\fR file at the end, so that they are considered for
100 Scan all repositories for relevant unread GLEP 42 news items, and display
101 how many are found. See \fIhttp://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/glep/glep-0042.html\fR.
104 Cleans up the system by examining the installed packages and removing older
105 packages. This is accomplished by looking at each installed package and separating
106 the installed versions by \fBslot\fR. Clean will \fBremove all but the most recently
107 installed version in each \fbslot\fR. Clean should not remove unslotted packages.
108 Note: Most recently installed means most \fBrecent\fR, not highest version.
111 Run package specific actions needed to be executed after the emerge process
112 has completed. This usually entails configuration file setup or other similar
113 setups that the user may wish to run.
115 .BR "\-\-depclean (-c)"
116 Cleans the system by removing packages that are not associated
117 with explicitly merged packages. Depclean works by creating the
118 full dependency tree from the @world set,
119 then comparing it to installed packages. Packages installed, but
120 not part of the dependency tree, will be uninstalled by depclean.
121 See \fB\-\-with\-bdeps\fR for behavior with respect to build time dependencies
122 that are not strictly required. Packages that are part of the world set will
123 always be kept. They can be manually added to this set with \fIemerge
124 \-\-noreplace <atom>\fR. As a safety measure, depclean will not remove any
125 packages unless *all* required dependencies have been resolved. As a
126 consequence, it is often necessary to run \fIemerge \-\-update \-\-newuse
127 \-\-deep @world\fR prior to depclean. Also note that
128 depclean may break link level dependencies, especially when the
129 \fB\-\-depclean\-lib\-check\fR option is disabled. Thus, it is
130 recommended to use a tool such as \fBrevdep-rebuild\fR(1)
131 in order to detect such breakage.
134 Inexperienced users are advised to use \fB\-\-pretend\fR or \fB\-\-ask\fR
135 with this option in order to see a preview of which packages
136 will be uninstalled. Always study the list of packages
137 to be cleaned for any obvious mistakes. Note that packages listed in
138 package.provided (see \fBportage\fR(5)) may be removed by
139 depclean, even if they are part of the world set.
141 Depclean serves as a dependency aware
142 version of \fB\-\-unmerge\fR. When given one or more atoms, it will
143 unmerge matched packages that have no reverse dependencies. Use
144 \fB\-\-depclean\fR together with \fB\-\-verbose\fR to show reverse
147 .BR "\-\-deselect [ y | n ]"
148 Remove atoms and/or sets from the world file. This action is implied
149 by uninstall actions, including \fB-\-depclean\fR,
150 \fB-\-prune\fR and \fB-\-unmerge\fR. Use \fB-\-deselect=n\fR
151 in order to prevent uninstall actions from removing
152 atoms from the world file.
154 .BR "\-\-help " (\fB\-h\fR)
155 Displays help information for emerge. Adding one of the additional
156 arguments listed above will give you more specific help information
157 on that subject. The internal \fBemerge\fR help documentation is
158 updated more frequently than this man page; check it out if you
159 are having problems that this man page does not help resolve.
162 Produces a list of information to include in bug reports which aids the
163 developers when fixing the reported problem. \fBPlease include this
164 information when submitting a bug report.\fR Expanded output can be obtained
165 with the \fI\-\-verbose\fR option.
168 Displays a list of available package sets.
171 Transfers metadata cache from ${PORTDIR}/metadata/cache/ to
172 /var/cache/edb/dep/ as is normally done on the
173 tail end of an rsync update using \fBemerge \-\-sync\fR. This process
174 populates the cache database that portage uses for pre-parsed lookups of
175 package data. It does not populate cache for the overlays listed in
176 PORTDIR_OVERLAY. In order to generate cache for overlays, use \fB\-\-regen\fR.
177 In versions of portage >=2.1.5 the \-\-metadata action is totally unnecessary
178 unless the user has enabled FEATURES="metadata-transfer" in \fBmake.conf\fR(5).
180 .BR "\-\-prune " (\fB\-P\fR)
181 Removes all but the highest installed version of a package from your
182 system. Use \fB\-\-prune\fR together with \fB\-\-verbose\fR to show
183 reverse dependencies or with \fB\-\-nodeps\fR to ignore all dependencies.
184 \fBWARNING: This action can remove packages from your world file! Check
185 the emerge output of the next \-\-depclean run carefully! Use
186 \-\-depclean to avoid this issue.\fR
189 Causes portage to check and update the dependency cache of all ebuilds in the
190 portage tree. The cache is used to speed up searches and the building of
191 dependency trees. This command is not recommended for rsync users as rsync
192 updates the cache using server\-side caches. If you do not know the
193 differences between a 'rsync user' and some other user, then you are a 'rsync
194 user' :). Rsync users should simply run \fBemerge \-\-sync\fR to regenerate
195 the cache. After a portage update, rsync users may find it convenient to run
196 \fBemerge \-\-metadata\fR to rebuild the cache as portage does at the end of
197 a sync operation. In order to specify parallel \fB\-\-regen\fR behavior, use
198 the \fB\-\-jobs\fR and \fB\-\-load\-average\fR options. If you would like to
199 generate and distribute cache for use by others, use \fBegencache\fR(1).
201 .BR "\-\-resume" (\fB\-r\fR)
202 Resumes the most recent merge list that has been aborted due to an error.
203 Please note that this operation will only return an error on failure. If there
204 is nothing for portage to do, then portage will exit with a message and a
205 success condition. A resume list will persist until it has been completed in
206 entirety or until another aborted merge list replaces it. The resume history
207 is capable of storing two merge lists. After one resume list completes, it is
208 possible to invoke \-\-resume once again in order to resume an older list.
210 .BR "\-\-search " (\fB\-s\fR)
211 Searches for matches of the supplied string in the portage tree.
212 By default emerge uses a case-insensitive simple search, but you can
213 enable a regular expression search by prefixing the search string with %.
214 For example, \fBemerge \-\-search "%^kde"\fR searches for any package whose
215 name starts with "kde"; \fBemerge \-\-search "%gcc$"\fR searches for any
216 package that ends with "gcc"; \fBemerge \-\-search "office"\fR searches for
217 any package that contains the word "office". If you want to include the
218 category into the search string, prepend an @: \fBemerge \-\-search
219 "%@^dev-java.*jdk"\fR. If you want to search the package descriptions as well,
220 use the \fB\-\-searchdesc\fR action.
222 .BR "\-\-searchdesc " (\fB\-S\fR)
223 Matches the search string against the description field as well as
224 the package name. \fBTake caution\fR as the descriptions are also
225 matched as regular expressions.
228 This updates the portage tree that is located in the
229 directory that the PORTDIR variable refers to (default
230 location is /usr/portage). The SYNC variable specifies
231 the remote URI from which files will be synchronized.
232 The \fBPORTAGE_SYNC_STALE\fR variable configures
233 warnings that are shown when emerge \-\-sync has not
234 been executed recently.
237 The emerge \-\-sync action will modify and/or delete
238 files located inside the directory that the PORTDIR
239 variable refers to (default location is /usr/portage).
240 For more information, see the PORTDIR documentation in
241 the make.conf(5) man page.
244 The \fBemerge\-webrsync\fR program will download the entire
245 portage tree as a tarball, which is much faster than emerge
246 \-\-sync for first time syncs.
249 .BR "\-\-unmerge " (\fB\-C\fR)
250 \fBWARNING: This action can remove important packages!\fR Removes
251 all matching packages. This does no checking of dependencies, so
252 it may remove packages necessary for the proper operation of your
253 system. Its arguments can be \fIatoms\fR or
254 \fIebuilds\fR. For a dependency aware version of \fB\-\-unmerge\fR,
255 use \fB\-\-depclean\fR or \fB\-\-prune\fR.
257 .BR "\-\-version " (\fB\-V\fR)
258 Displays the version number of \fBemerge\fR.
261 .BR \-\-accept\-properties=ACCEPT_PROPERTIES
262 This option temporarily overrides the \fBACCEPT_PROPERTIES\fR
263 variable. The \fBACCEPT_PROPERTIES\fR variable is incremental,
264 which means that the specified setting is appended to the
265 existing value from your configuration. The special \fB-*\fR
266 token can be used to discard the existing configuration
267 value and start fresh. See the \fBMASKED PACKAGES\fR section
268 and \fBmake.conf\fR(5) for more information about
269 ACCEPT_PROPERTIES. A typical usage example for this option
270 would be to use \fI\-\-accept\-properties=\-interactive\fR to
271 temporarily mask interactive packages. With default
272 configuration, this would result in an effective
273 \fBACCEPT_PROPERTIES\fR value of "* -interactive".
275 .BR "\-\-alphabetical "
276 When displaying USE and other flag output, combines the enabled and
277 disabled lists into one list and sorts the whole list alphabetically.
279 .BR "\-\-ask [ y | n ] (\-a short option)"
280 Before performing the action, display what will take place (server info for
281 \fB\-\-sync\fR, \fB\-\-pretend\fR output for merge, and so forth), then ask
282 whether to proceed with the action or abort. Using \fB\-\-ask\fR is more
283 efficient than using \fB\-\-pretend\fR and then executing the same command
284 without \fB\-\-pretend\fR, as dependencies will only need to be calculated once.
285 \fBWARNING: If the "Enter" key is pressed at the prompt (with no other input),
286 it is interpreted as acceptance of the first choice. Note that the input
287 buffer is not cleared prior to the prompt, so an accidental press of the
288 "Enter" key at any time prior to the prompt will be interpreted as a choice!
289 Use the \-\-ask\-enter\-invalid option if you want a single "Enter" key
290 press to be interpreted as invalid input.\fR
292 .BR "\-\-ask\-enter\-invalid"
293 When used together with the \fB\-\-ask\fR option,
294 interpret a single "Enter" key press as
295 invalid input. This helps prevent accidental
296 acceptance of the first choice. This option is
297 intended to be set in the \fBmake.conf\fR(5)
298 \fBEMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS\fR variable.
300 .BR "\-\-autounmask [ y | n ]"
301 Automatically unmask packages and generate package.use
302 settings as necessary to satisfy dependencies. This
303 option is enabled by default. If any configuration
304 changes are required, then they will be displayed
305 after the merge list and emerge will immediately
306 abort. If the displayed configuration changes are
307 satisfactory, you should copy and paste them into
308 the specified configuration file(s), or enable the
309 \fB\-\-autounmask\-write\fR option. The
310 \fBEMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS\fR variable may be used to
311 disable this option by default in \fBmake.conf\fR(5).
313 .BR "\-\-autounmask\-unrestricted\-atoms [ y | n ]"
314 If \-\-autounmask is enabled, keyword and mask changes
315 using the \'=\' operator will be written. With this
316 option, \'>=\' operators will be used whenever possible.
317 USE and license changes always use the latter behavior.
319 .BR "\-\-autounmask\-keep\-masks [ y | n ]"
320 If \-\-autounmask is enabled, no package.unmask or ** keyword changes
321 will be created. This leads to unsatisfied dependencies if
322 no other solution exists.
324 .BR "\-\-autounmask\-write [ y | n ]"
325 If \-\-autounmask is enabled, changes are written
326 to config files, respecting \fBCONFIG_PROTECT\fR and \fB\-\-ask\fR.
327 If the corresponding package.* is a file, the changes are appended to
328 it, if it is a directory, changes are written to the lexicographically
329 last file. This way it is always ensured that the new changes take
330 precedence over existing changes.
332 .BR \-\-backtrack=COUNT
333 Specifies an integer number of times to backtrack if
334 dependency calculation fails due to a conflict or an
335 unsatisfied dependency (default: \'10\').
337 .BR "\-\-binpkg\-respect\-use [ y | n ]"
338 Tells emerge to ignore binary packages if their use flags
339 don't match the current configuration. (default: \'n\')
341 .BR "\-\-buildpkg [ y | n ] (\-b short option)"
342 Tells emerge to build binary packages for all ebuilds processed in
343 addition to actually merging the packages. Useful for maintainers
344 or if you administrate multiple Gentoo Linux systems (build once,
345 emerge tbz2s everywhere) as well as disaster recovery. The package
346 will be created in the \fBPKGDIR\fR directory (see \fBmake.conf\fR(5)).
347 An alternative for already\-merged
348 packages is to use \fBquickpkg\fR(1) which creates a tbz2 from the
351 .BR "\-\-buildpkg\-exclude " ATOMS
352 A space separated list of package atoms for which
353 no binary packages should be built. This option overrides all
354 possible ways to enable building of binary packages.
356 .BR "\-\-buildpkgonly " (\fB\-B\fR)
357 Creates binary packages for all ebuilds processed without actually
358 merging the packages. This comes with the caveat that all build-time
359 dependencies must already be emerged on the system.
361 .BR "\-\-changed\-use"
362 Tells emerge to include installed packages where USE flags have
363 changed since installation. This option also implies the
364 \fB\-\-selective\fR option. Unlike \fB\-\-newuse\fR, the
365 \fB\-\-changed\-use\fR option does not trigger reinstallation when
366 flags that the user has not enabled are added or removed.
368 .BR "\-\-changelog " (\fB\-l\fR)
369 Use this in conjunction with the \fB\-\-pretend\fR option. This will
370 show the ChangeLog entries for all the packages that will be upgraded.
372 .BR "\-\-color < y | n >"
373 Enable or disable color output. This option will override \fINOCOLOR\fR
374 (see \fBmake.conf\fR(5)) and may also be used to force color output when stdout
375 is not a tty (by default, color is disabled unless stdout is a tty).
378 Used alongside \fB\-\-pretend\fR to cause the package name, new version,
379 and old version to be displayed in an aligned format for easy cut\-n\-paste.
381 .BR "\-\-complete\-graph [ y | n ]"
382 This causes \fBemerge\fR to consider the deep dependencies of all
383 packages from the world set. With this option enabled,
384 \fBemerge\fR will bail out if it determines that the given operation will
385 break any dependencies of the packages that have been added to the
386 graph. Like the \fB\-\-deep\fR option, the \fB\-\-complete\-graph\fR
387 option will significantly increase the time taken for dependency
388 calculations. Note that, unlike the \fB\-\-deep\fR option, the
389 \fB\-\-complete\-graph\fR option does not cause any more packages to
390 be updated than would have otherwise been updated with the option disabled.
391 Using \fB\-\-with\-bdeps=y\fR together with \fB\-\-complete\-graph\fR makes
392 the graph as complete as possible.
394 .BR "\-\-complete\-graph\-if\-new\-ver < y | n >"
395 Trigger the \fB\-\-complete\-graph\fR behavior if an installed package
396 version will change (upgrade or downgrade). This option is enabled by default.
398 .BR \-\-config\-root=DIR
399 Set the \fBPORTAGE_CONFIGROOT\fR environment variable.
401 .BR "\-\-debug " (\fB\-d\fR)
402 Tells emerge to run the emerge command in \fB\-\-debug\fR mode. In this
403 mode the bash build environment will run with the \-x option, causing
404 it to output verbose debugging information to stdout. This also enables
405 a plethora of other output (mostly dependency resolution messages).
407 .BR "\-\-deep [DEPTH] " (\fB\-D\fR)
409 \fBemerge\fR to consider the entire dependency tree of packages,
410 instead of checking only the immediate dependencies of the packages.
411 As an example, this catches updates in libraries that are not directly
412 listed in the dependencies of a package. Also see \fB\-\-with\-bdeps\fR for
413 behavior with respect to build time dependencies that are not strictly
416 .BR "\-\-depclean\-lib\-check [ y | n ]"
417 Account for library link-level dependencies during
418 \fB\-\-depclean\fR and \fB\-\-prune\fR actions. This
419 option is enabled by default. In some cases this can
420 be somewhat time\-consuming. This option is ignored
421 when FEATURES="preserve\-libs" is enabled in
422 \fBmake.conf\fR(5), since any libraries that have
423 consumers will simply be preserved.
425 .BR "\-\-dynamic\-deps < y | n >"
426 In dependency calculations, substitute the dependencies of installed
427 packages with the dependencies of corresponding unbuilt ebuilds from
428 source repositories. This causes the effective dependencies of
429 installed packages to vary dynamically when source ebuild dependencies
430 are modified. This option is enabled by default.
433 If you want to disable \-\-dynamic\-deps, then it may be necessary to
434 first run \fBfixpackages\fR(1) in order to get the best results. The
435 \fBfixpackages\fR(1) command performs two different operations that can
436 also be performed separately by the `emaint \-\-fix moveinst` and
437 `emaint \-\-fix movebin` commands (see \fBemaint\fR(1)).
439 .BR "\-\-emptytree " (\fB\-e\fR)
440 Reinstalls target atoms and their entire deep
441 dependency tree, as though no packages are currently
442 installed. You should run this with \fB\-\-pretend\fR
443 first to make sure the result is what you expect.
445 .BR "\-\-exclude " ATOMS
446 A space separated list of package names or slot atoms.
447 Emerge won't install any ebuild or binary package that
448 matches any of the given package atoms.
450 .BR "\-\-fail\-clean [ y | n ]"
451 Clean up temporary files after a build failure. This is
452 particularly useful if you have \fBPORTAGE_TMPDIR\fR on
453 tmpfs. If this option is enabled, you probably also want
454 to enable \fBPORT_LOGDIR\fR (see \fBmake.conf\fR(5)) in
455 order to save the build log.
457 .BR "\-\-fetchonly " (\fB\-f\fR)
458 Instead of doing any package building, just perform fetches for all
459 packages (fetch things from SRC_URI based upon USE setting).
461 .BR "\-\-fetch\-all\-uri " (\fB\-F\fR)
462 Instead of doing any package building, just perform fetches for all
463 packages (fetch everything in SRC_URI regardless of USE setting).
465 .BR "\-\-getbinpkg [ y | n ] (\-g short option)"
466 Using the server and location defined in \fIPORTAGE_BINHOST\fR (see
467 \fBmake.conf\fR(5)), portage will download the information from each binary
468 package found and it will use that information to help build the dependency
469 list. This option implies \fB\-k\fR. (Use \fB\-gK\fR for binary\-only
472 .BR "\-\-getbinpkgonly [ y | n ] (\-G short option)"
473 This option is identical to \fB\-g\fR, as above, except binaries from the
474 remote server are preferred over local packages if they are not identical.
476 .BR "\-\-ignore-default-opts"
477 Causes \fIEMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS\fR (see \fBmake.conf\fR(5)) to be ignored.
479 .BR "-j [JOBS], \-\-jobs[=JOBS]"
480 Specifies the number of packages to build simultaneously. If this option is
481 given without an argument, emerge will not limit the number of jobs that can
482 run simultaneously. Also see the related \fB\-\-load\-average\fR option.
483 Similarly to the \-\-quiet\-build option, the \-\-jobs option causes all
484 build output to be redirected to logs.
485 Note that interactive packages currently force a setting
486 of \fI\-\-jobs=1\fR. This issue can be temporarily avoided
487 by specifying \fI\-\-accept\-properties=\-interactive\fR.
489 .BR "\-\-keep\-going [ y | n ]"
490 Continue as much as possible after an error. When an error occurs,
491 dependencies are recalculated for remaining packages and any with
492 unsatisfied dependencies are automatically dropped. Also see
493 the related \fB\-\-skipfirst\fR option.
495 .BR \-\-load\-average=LOAD
496 Specifies that no new builds should be started if there are other builds
497 running and the load average is at least LOAD (a floating-point number).
498 This option is recommended for use in combination with \fB\-\-jobs\fR in
499 order to avoid excess load. See \fBmake\fR(1) for information about
500 analogous options that should be configured via \fBMAKEOPTS\fR in
503 .BR "\-\-misspell\-suggestions < y | n >"
504 Enable or disable misspell suggestions. By default, emerge will show
505 a list of packages with similar names when a package doesn't exist.
506 The \fIEMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS\fR variable may be used to disable this
509 .BR "\-\-newuse " (\fB\-N\fR)
510 Tells emerge to include installed packages where USE
511 flags have changed since compilation. This option
512 also implies the \fB\-\-selective\fR option.
513 USE flag changes include:
515 A USE flag was added to a package.
516 A USE flag was removed from a package.
517 A USE flag was turned on for a package.
518 A USE flag was turned off for a package.
520 USE flags may be toggled by your profile as well as your USE and package.use
521 settings. If you would like to skip rebuilds for which disabled flags have
522 been added to or removed from IUSE, see the related
523 \fB\-\-changed\-use\fR option. If you would like to skip rebuilds for
524 specific packages, see the \fB\-\-exclude\fR option.
527 Causes portage to disregard merge records indicating that a config file
528 inside of a \fBCONFIG_PROTECT\fR directory has been merged already. Portage
529 will normally merge those files only once to prevent the user from
530 dealing with the same config multiple times. This flag will cause the
531 file to always be merged.
533 .BR "\-\-nodeps " (\fB\-O\fR)
534 Merges specified packages without merging any dependencies. Note that
535 the build may fail if the dependencies aren't satisfied.
537 .BR "\-\-noreplace " (\fB\-n\fR)
538 Skips the packages specified on the command\-line that have already
539 been installed. Without this option, any packages, ebuilds, or deps
540 you specify on the command\-line \fBwill\fR cause Portage to remerge
541 the package, even if it is already installed. Note that Portage will
542 not remerge dependencies by default.
545 Disables the spinner for the session. The spinner is active when the
546 terminal device is determined to be a TTY. This flag disables it regardless.
548 .BR "\-\-usepkg\-exclude " ATOMS
549 A space separated list of package names or slot atoms. Emerge will ignore
550 matching binary packages.
552 .BR "\-\-rebuild\-exclude " ATOMS
553 A space separated list of package names or slot atoms. Emerge will not rebuild
554 matching packages due to \fB\-\-rebuild\fR.
556 .BR "\-\-rebuild\-ignore " ATOMS
557 A space separated list of package names or slot atoms. Emerge will not rebuild
558 packages that depend on matching packages due to \fB\-\-rebuild\fR.
560 .BR "\-\-oneshot " (\fB\-1\fR)
561 Emerge as normal, but do not add the packages to the world file
564 .BR "\-\-onlydeps " (\fB\-o\fR)
565 Only merge (or pretend to merge) the dependencies of the packages
566 specified, not the packages themselves.
568 .BR "\-\-package\-moves [ y | n ]"
569 Perform package moves when necessary. This option is enabled
570 by default. Package moves are typically applied immediately
571 after a \fB\-\-sync\fR action. They are applied in an
572 incremental fashion, using only the subset of the history of
573 package moves which have been added or modified since the
574 previous application of package moves.
576 \fBWARNING:\fR This option
577 should remain enabled under normal circumstances.
578 Do not disable it unless you know what you are
581 \fBNOTE:\fR The \fBfixpackages\fR(1) command can be used to
582 exhaustively apply the entire history of package moves,
583 regardless of whether or not any of the package moves have
584 been previously applied.
586 .BR "\-\-pretend " (\fB\-p\fR)
587 Instead of actually performing the merge, simply display what *would*
588 have been installed if \fB\-\-pretend\fR weren't used. Using \fB\-\-pretend\fR
589 is strongly recommended before installing an unfamiliar package. In
594 N new (not yet installed)
595 S new SLOT installation (side-by-side versions)
596 U updating (to another version)
597 D downgrading (best version seems lower)
598 R replacing (remerging same version))
599 F fetch restricted (must be manually downloaded)
600 f fetch restricted (already downloaded)
601 I interactive (requires user input)
602 B blocked by another package (unresolved conflict)
603 b blocked by another package (automatically resolved conflict)
606 .BR "\-\-quiet [ y | n ] (\-q short option)"
607 Results may vary, but the general outcome is a reduced or condensed
608 output from portage's displays.
610 .BR "\-\-quiet\-build [ y | n ]"
611 Redirect all build output to logs alone, and do not display it on
612 stdout. If a build failure occurs for a single package, the build
613 log will be automatically displayed on stdout. If there are multiple
614 build failures (due to options like \-\-keep\-going or \-\-jobs),
615 then the content of the log files will not be displayed, and instead
616 the paths of the log files will be displayed together with the
617 corresponding die messages.
618 Note that interactive packages currently force all build output to
619 be displayed on stdout. This issue can be temporarily avoided
620 by specifying \fI\-\-accept\-properties=\-interactive\fR.
622 .BR "\-\-quiet\-repo\-display"
623 In the package merge list display, suppress ::repository output, and
624 instead use numbers to indicate which repositories package come from.
626 .BR \-\-quiet\-unmerge\-warn
627 Disable the warning message that's shown prior to
628 \fB\-\-unmerge\fR actions. This option is intended
629 to be set in the \fBmake.conf\fR(5)
630 \fBEMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS\fR variable.
632 .BR "\-\-rebuild\-if\-new\-rev [ y | n ]"
633 Rebuild packages when build\-time dependencies are built from source, if the
634 dependency is not already installed with the same version and revision.
636 .BR "\-\-rebuild\-if\-new\-ver [ y | n ]"
637 Rebuild packages when build\-time dependencies are built from source, if the
638 dependency is not already installed with the same version. Revision numbers
641 .BR "\-\-rebuild\-if\-unbuilt [ y | n ]"
642 Rebuild packages when build\-time dependencies are built from source.
644 .BR "\-\-rebuilt\-binaries [ y | n ]"
645 Replace installed packages with binary packages that have
646 been rebuilt. Rebuilds are detected by comparison of
647 BUILD_TIME package metadata. This option is enabled
648 automatically when using binary packages
649 (\fB\-\-usepkgonly\fR or \fB\-\-getbinpkgonly\fR) together with
650 \fB\-\-update\fR and \fB\-\-deep\fR.
652 .BR "\-\-rebuilt\-binaries\-timestamp=TIMESTAMP"
653 This option modifies emerge's behaviour only if
654 \fB\-\-rebuilt\-binaries\fR is given. Only binaries that
655 have a BUILD_TIME that is larger than the given TIMESTAMP
656 and that is larger than that of the installed package will
657 be considered by the rebuilt\-binaries logic.
659 .BR "\-\-reinstall changed\-use"
660 This is an alias for \fB\-\-changed\-use\fR.
662 .BR "\-\-reinstall\-atoms " ATOMS
663 A space separated list of package names or slot atoms. Emerge will treat
664 matching packages as if they are not installed, and reinstall them if
668 Set the \fBROOT\fR environment variable.
670 .BR "\-\-root\-deps[=rdeps]"
671 If no argument is given then build\-time dependencies of packages for
672 \fBROOT\fR are installed to
673 \fBROOT\fR instead of /. If the \fBrdeps\fR argument is given then discard
674 all build\-time dependencies of packages for \fBROOT\fR. This option is
675 only meaningful when used together with \fBROOT\fR and it should not
676 be enabled under normal circumstances. For currently supported
677 \fBEAPI\fR values, the build-time dependencies are specified in the
678 \fBDEPEND\fR variable. However, behavior may change for new
679 \fBEAPI\fRs when related extensions are added in the future.
681 .BR "\-\-select [ y | n ]"
682 Add specified packages to the world set (inverse of
683 \fB\-\-oneshot\fR). This is useful if you want to
684 use \fBEMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS\fR to make
685 \fB\-\-oneshot\fR behavior default.
687 .BR "\-\-selective [ y | n ]"
688 This is identical to the \fB\-\-noreplace\fR option.
689 Some options, such as \fB\-\-update\fR, imply \fB\-\-selective\fR.
690 Use \fB\-\-selective=n\fR if you want to forcefully disable
691 \fB\-\-selective\fR, regardless of options like \fB\-\-changed\-use\fR,
692 \fB\-\-newuse\fR, \fB\-\-noreplace\fR, or \fB\-\-update\fR.
695 This option is only valid when used with \fB\-\-resume\fR. It removes the
696 first package in the resume list. Dependencies are recalculated for
697 remaining packages and any that have unsatisfied dependencies or are
698 masked will be automatically dropped. Also see the related
699 \fB\-\-keep\-going\fR option.
701 .BR "\-\-tree " (\fB\-t\fR)
702 Shows the dependency tree for the given target by indenting dependencies.
703 This is only really useful in combination with \fB\-\-emptytree\fR or
704 \fB\-\-update\fR and \fB\-\-deep\fR.
706 .BR "\-\-unordered\-display"
707 By default the displayed merge list is sorted using the
708 order in which the packages will be merged. When
709 \fB\-\-tree\fR is used together with this option, this
710 constraint is removed, hopefully leading to a more
711 readable dependency tree.
713 .BR "\-\-update " (\fB\-u\fR)
714 Updates packages to the best version available, which may
715 not always be the highest version number due to masking
716 for testing and development. Package atoms specified on
717 the command line are greedy, meaning that unspecific
718 atoms may match multiple versions of slotted packages.
720 .BR "\-\-use\-ebuild\-visibility [ y | n ]"
721 Use unbuilt ebuild metadata for visibility
722 checks on built packages.
724 .BR "\-\-useoldpkg\-atoms " ATOMS
725 A space separated list of package names or slot atoms. Emerge will prefer
726 matching binary packages over newer unbuilt packages.
728 .BR "\-\-usepkg [ y | n ] (\-k short option)"
729 Tells emerge to use binary packages (from $PKGDIR) if they are available, thus
730 possibly avoiding some time\-consuming compiles. This option is useful for CD
731 installs; you can export PKGDIR=/mnt/cdrom/packages and then use this option to
732 have emerge "pull" binary packages from the CD in order to satisfy dependencies.
734 .BR "\-\-usepkgonly [ y | n ] (\-K short option)"
735 Tells emerge to only use binary packages (from $PKGDIR). All the binary
736 packages must be available at the time of dependency calculation or emerge
737 will simply abort. Portage does not use $PORTDIR when calculating dependency
738 information so all masking information is ignored.
740 .BR "\-\-verbose " (\fB\-v\fR)
741 Tell emerge to run in verbose mode. Currently this flag causes emerge to print
742 out GNU info errors, if any, and to show the USE flags that will be used for
743 each package when pretending. The following symbols are affixed to USE flags
744 in order to indicate their status:
750 Symbol Location Meaning
752 - prefix not enabled (either disabled or removed)
753 * suffix transition to or from the enabled state
754 % suffix newly added or removed
755 () circumfix forced, masked, or removed
758 .BR "\-\-with\-bdeps < y | n >"
759 In dependency calculations, pull in build time dependencies
760 that are not strictly required. This defaults to \'n\' for
761 installation actions, meaning they will not be installed, and
762 \'y\' for the \fB\-\-depclean\fR action, meaning they will not be removed.
763 This setting can be added to
764 \fBEMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS\fR (see make.conf(5)) and later overridden via the
766 .SH "ENVIRONMENT OPTIONS"
768 \fBROOT\fR = \fI[path]\fR
769 Use \fBROOT\fR to specify the target root filesystem to be used for
770 merging packages or ebuilds. This variable can be set via the \fB\-\-root\fR
771 option or in \fBmake.conf\fR(5) (the command line overrides other settings).
775 \fBPORTAGE_CONFIGROOT\fR = \fI[path]\fR
776 Use \fBPORTAGE_CONFIGROOT\fR to specify the location for various portage
778 (see \fBFILES\fR for a detailed list of configuration files). This variable
779 can be set via the \fB\-\-config\-root\fR option.
783 When utilizing \fBemerge\fR with the \fB\-\-pretend\fR and \fB\-\-verbose\fR
784 flags, the output may be a little hard to understand at first. This section
785 explains the abbreviations.
787 .B [blocks B ] app\-text/dos2unix ("app\-text/dos2unix" is blocking app\-text/hd2u\-0.8.0)
788 Dos2unix is Blocking hd2u from being emerged. Blockers are defined when
789 two packages will clobber each others files, or otherwise cause some form
790 of breakage in your system. However, blockers usually do not need to be
791 simultaneously emerged because they usually provide the same functionality.
793 .B [ebuild N ] app\-games/qstat\-25c
794 Qstat is New to your system, and will be emerged for the first time.
796 .B [ebuild NS ] dev-libs/glib-2.4.7
797 You already have a version of glib installed, but a 'new' version in
798 a different SLOT is available.
800 .B [ebuild R ] sys\-apps/sed\-4.0.5
801 Sed 4.0.5 has already been emerged, but if you run the command, then
802 portage will Re\-emerge the specified package (sed in this case).
804 .B [ebuild F ] media\-video/realplayer\-8\-r6
805 The realplayer package requires that you Fetch the sources manually.
806 When you attempt to emerge the package, if the sources are not found,
807 then portage will halt and you will be provided with instructions on how
808 to download the required files.
810 .B [ebuild f ] media\-video/realplayer\-8\-r6
811 The realplayer package's files are already downloaded.
813 .B [ebuild U ] net\-fs/samba\-2.2.8_pre1 [2.2.7a]
814 Samba 2.2.7a has already been emerged and can be Updated to version
817 .B [ebuild UD] media\-libs/libgd\-1.8.4 [2.0.11]
818 Libgd 2.0.11 is already emerged, but if you run the command, then
819 portage will Downgrade to version 1.8.4 for you.
821 This may occur if a newer version of a package has been masked because it is
822 broken or it creates a security risk on your system and a fix has not been
825 Another reason this may occur is if a package you are trying to emerge requires
826 an older version of a package in order to emerge successfully. In this case,
827 libgd 2.x is incompatible with libgd 1.x. This means that packages that were
828 created with libgd 1.x will not compile with 2.x and must downgrade libgd first
829 before they can emerge.
831 .B [ebuild U ] sys\-devel/distcc\-2.16 [2.13\-r1] USE="ipv6* \-gtk \-qt%"
832 Here we see that the make.conf variable \fBUSE\fR affects how this package is
833 built. In this example, ipv6 optional support is enabled and both gtk and qt
834 support are disabled. The asterisk following ipv6 indicates that ipv6 support
835 was disabled the last time this package was installed. The percent sign
836 following qt indicates that the qt option has been added to the package since
837 it was last installed. For information about all \fBUSE\fR symbols, see the
838 \fB\-\-verbose\fR option documentation above.
840 \fB*Note:\fR Flags that haven't changed since the last install are only
841 displayed when you use the \fB\-\-pretend\fR and \fB\-\-verbose\fR options.
842 Using the \fB\-\-quiet\fR option will prevent all information from being
845 .B [ebuild U *] sys\-apps/portage\-2.2.0_alpha6 [2.1.9.25]
846 Portage 2.1.9.25 is installed, but if you run the command, then
847 portage will upgrade to version 2.2.0_alpha6. In this case,
848 the \fB*\fR symbol is displayed, in order to indicate that version
849 2.2.0_alpha6 is masked by missing keyword. This type of masking
850 display is disabled by the \fB\-\-quiet\fR option if the
851 \fB\-\-verbose\fR option is not enabled simultaneously.
852 The following symbols are used to indicate various types
865 \fBNOTE:\fR The unstable keyword symbol (~) will not be shown in cases
866 in which the corresponding unstable keywords have been accepted
867 globally via \fBACCEPT_KEYWORDS\fR.
872 You should almost always precede any package install or update attempt with a
873 \fB\-\-pretend\fR install or update. This lets you see how much will be
874 done, and shows you any blocking packages that you will have to rectify.
875 This goes doubly so for the \fBsystem\fR and \fBworld\fR sets, which can
876 update a large number of packages if the portage tree has been particularly
879 You also want to typically use \fB\-\-update\fR, which ignores packages that
880 are already fully updated but updates those that are not.
882 When you install a package with uninstalled dependencies and do
883 not explicitly state those dependencies in the list of parameters,
884 they will not be added to the world file. If you want them to be
885 detected for world updates, make sure to explicitly list them as
886 parameters to \fBemerge\fR.
888 \fBUSE variables\fR may be specified on the command line to
889 override those specified in the default locations, letting you
890 avoid using some dependencies you may not want to have. \fBUSE
891 flags specified on the command line are NOT remembered\fR. For
892 example, \fBenv USE="\-X \-gnome" emerge mc\fR will emerge mc with
893 those USE settings (on Bourne-compatible shells you may omit the \fBenv\fR
894 part). If you want those USE settings to be more
895 permanent, you can put them in /etc/portage/package.use instead.
897 If \fBemerge \-\-update system\fR or \fBemerge \-\-update world\fR
898 fails with an error message, it may be that an ebuild uses some
899 newer feature not present in this version of \fBemerge\fR. You
900 can use \fBemerge \-\-update portage\fR to upgrade to the lastest
901 version, which should support any necessary new features.
902 .SH "MASKED PACKAGES"
903 \fINOTE: Please use caution when using development packages. Problems
904 and bugs resulting from misusing masked packages drains Gentoo
905 developer time. Please be sure you are capable of handling any problems
908 Masks in \fBportage\fR have many uses: they allow a
909 testing period where the packages can be used in live machines; they
910 prevent the use of a package when it will fail; and they mask existing
911 packages that are broken or could pose a security risk. Read below
912 to find out how to unmask in various cases. Also note that if you give
913 \fBemerge\fR an ebuild, then all forms of masking will be ignored and
914 \fBemerge\fR will attempt to emerge the package.
917 When packages are masked for \fBbacktracking\fR, it means that the dependency
918 resolver has temporarily masked them in order to avoid dependency conflicts
919 and/or unsatisfied dependencies. This type of mask is typically accompanied
920 by a message about a missed package update which has been skipped in order to
921 avoid dependency conflicts and/or unsatisfied dependencies.
924 The \fBpackage.mask\fR file primarily blocks the use of packages that cause
925 problems or are known to have issues on different systems. It resides in
926 \fI/usr/portage/profiles\fR.
929 Use the \fBACCEPT_CHOSTS\fR variable in \fBmake.conf\fR(5) to control
930 \fBCHOST\fR acceptance.
933 The \fBEAPI\fR variable in an \fBebuild\fR(5) file is used to mask packages
934 that are not supported by the current version of portage. Packages masked by
935 \fBEAPI\fR can only be installed after portage has been upgraded.
938 The \fBKEYWORDS\fR variable in an \fBebuild\fR file is also used for masking
939 a package still in testing. There are architecture\-specific keywords for
940 each package that let \fBportage\fR know which systems are compatible with
941 the package. Packages which compile on an architecture, but have not been
942 proven to be "stable", are masked with a tilde (\fB~\fR) in front of the
943 architecture name. \fBemerge\fR examines the \fBACCEPT_KEYWORDS\fR environment
944 variable to allow or disallow the emerging of a package masked by
945 \fBKEYWORDS\fR. To inform \fBemerge\fR that it should build these 'testing'
946 versions of packages, you should update your
947 \fI/etc/portage/package.accept_keywords\fR
948 file to list the packages you want the
949 \'testing\' version. See \fBportage\fR(5) for more information.
952 The \fBLICENSE\fR variable in an \fBebuild\fR file can be used to mask
953 packages based on licensing restrictions. \fBemerge\fR examines the
954 \fBACCEPT_LICENSE\fR environment variable to allow or disallow the emerging
955 of a package masked by \fBLICENSE\fR. See \fBmake.conf\fR(5) for information
956 about \fBACCEPT_LICENSE\fR, and see \fBportage\fR(5) for information about
957 \fI/etc/portage/package.license\fR.
960 The \fBPROPERTIES\fR variable in an \fBebuild\fR file can be used to mask
961 packages based on properties restrictions. \fBemerge\fR examines the
962 \fBACCEPT_PROPERTIES\fR environment variable to allow or disallow the emerging
963 of a package masked by \fBPROPERTIES\fR. See \fBmake.conf\fR(5) for information
964 about \fBACCEPT_PROPERTIES\fR, and see \fBportage\fR(5) for information about
965 \fI/etc/portage/package.properties\fR. Use the \fB\-\-accept\-properties\fR
966 option to temporarily override \fBACCEPT_PROPERTIES\fR.
967 .SH "CONFIGURATION FILES"
968 Portage has a special feature called "config file protection". The purpose of
969 this feature is to prevent new package installs from clobbering existing
970 configuration files. By default, config file protection is turned on for /etc
971 and the KDE configuration dirs; more may be added in the future.
973 When Portage installs a file into a protected directory tree like /etc, any
974 existing files will not be overwritten. If a file of the same name already
975 exists, Portage will change the name of the to\-be\-installed file from 'foo' to
976 \'._cfg0000_foo\'. If \'._cfg0000_foo\' already exists, this name becomes
977 \'._cfg0001_foo\', etc. In this way, existing files are not overwritten,
978 allowing the administrator to manually merge the new config files and avoid any
981 In addition to protecting overwritten files, Portage will not delete any files
982 from a protected directory when a package is unmerged. While this may be a
983 little bit untidy, it does prevent potentially valuable config files from being
984 deleted, which is of paramount importance.
986 Protected directories are set using the \fICONFIG_PROTECT\fR variable, normally
987 defined in make.globals. Directory exceptions to the CONFIG_PROTECTed
988 directories can be specified using the \fICONFIG_PROTECT_MASK\fR variable. To find
989 files that need to be updated in /etc, type \fBfind /etc \-iname \'._cfg????_*\'\fR.
991 You can disable this feature by setting \fICONFIG_PROTECT="\-*"\fR in /etc/make.conf.
992 Then, Portage will mercilessly auto\-update your config files. Alternatively,
993 you can leave Config File Protection on but tell Portage that it can overwrite
994 files in certain specific /etc subdirectories. For example, if you wanted
995 Portage to automatically update your rc scripts and your wget configuration,
996 but didn't want any other changes made without your explicit approval, you'd
997 add this to /etc/make.conf:
999 .I CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/wget /etc/rc.d"
1001 Tools such as dispatch\-conf, cfg\-update, and etc\-update are also available to
1002 aid in the merging of these files. They provide interactive merging and can
1003 auto\-merge trivial changes.
1004 .SH "REPORTING BUGS"
1005 Please report any bugs you encounter through our website:
1007 \fBhttp://bugs.gentoo.org/\fR
1009 Please include the output of \fBemerge \-\-info\fR when you submit your
1013 Daniel Robbins <drobbins@gentoo.org>
1014 Geert Bevin <gbevin@gentoo.org>
1015 Achim Gottinger <achim@gentoo.org>
1016 Nicholas Jones <carpaski@gentoo.org>
1017 Phil Bordelon <phil@thenexusproject.org>
1018 Mike Frysinger <vapier@gentoo.org>
1019 Marius Mauch <genone@gentoo.org>
1020 Jason Stubbs <jstubbs@gentoo.org>
1021 Brian Harring <ferringb@gmail.com>
1022 Zac Medico <zmedico@gentoo.org>
1025 Here is a common list of files you will probably be interested in. For a
1026 complete listing, please refer to the \fBportage\fR(5) man page.
1028 .B /usr/share/portage/config/sets/
1029 Contains the default set configuration.
1031 .B /var/lib/portage/world
1032 Contains a list of all user\-specified packages. You can safely edit
1033 this file, adding packages that you want to be considered in \fBworld\fR
1034 set updates and removing those that you do not want to be considered.
1037 Contains variables for the build process, overriding those in
1040 .B /etc/portage/color.map
1041 Contains variables customizing colors.
1043 .B /etc/dispatch\-conf.conf
1044 Contains settings to handle automatic updates/backups of configuration
1047 .B /etc/make.profile/make.defaults
1048 Contains profile\-specific variables for the build process. \fBDo not
1051 .B /usr/portage/profiles/use.desc
1052 Contains the master list of USE flags with descriptions of their
1053 functions. \fBDo not edit this file\fR.
1055 .B /etc/make.profile/virtuals
1056 Contains a list of default packages used to resolve virtual dependencies.
1057 \fBDo not edit this file\fR.
1059 .B /etc/make.profile/packages
1060 Contains a list of packages used for the base system. The \fBsystem\fR
1061 and \fBworld\fR sets consult this file. \fBDo not edit this file\fR.
1063 .B /usr/share/portage/config/make.globals
1064 Contains the default variables for the build process. \fBDo not edit
1067 .BR "emerge \-\-help",
1075 A number of helper applications reside in \fI/usr/lib/portage/bin\fR.
1077 The \fBapp\-portage/gentoolkit\fR package contains useful scripts such as
1078 \fBequery\fR (a package query tool).
projects / portage.git / blob