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 with this
135 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 This is an alias for \fB\-\-reinstall=changed\-use\fR.
364 .BR "\-\-changelog " (\fB\-l\fR)
365 Use this in conjunction with the \fB\-\-pretend\fR option. This will
366 show the ChangeLog entries for all the packages that will be upgraded.
368 .BR "\-\-color < y | n >"
369 Enable or disable color output. This option will override \fINOCOLOR\fR
370 (see \fBmake.conf\fR(5)) and may also be used to force color output when stdout
371 is not a tty (by default, color is disabled unless stdout is a tty).
374 Used alongside \fB\-\-pretend\fR to cause the package name, new version,
375 and old version to be displayed in an aligned format for easy cut\-n\-paste.
377 .BR "\-\-complete\-graph [ y | n ]"
378 This causes \fBemerge\fR to consider the deep dependencies of all
379 packages from the world set. With this option enabled,
380 \fBemerge\fR will bail out if it determines that the given operation will
381 break any dependencies of the packages that have been added to the
382 graph. Like the \fB\-\-deep\fR option, the \fB\-\-complete\-graph\fR
383 option will significantly increase the time taken for dependency
384 calculations. Note that, unlike the \fB\-\-deep\fR option, the
385 \fB\-\-complete\-graph\fR option does not cause any more packages to
386 be updated than would have otherwise been updated with the option disabled.
387 Using \fB\-\-with\-bdeps=y\fR together with \fB\-\-complete\-graph\fR makes
388 the graph as complete as possible.
390 .BR "\-\-complete\-graph\-if\-new\-ver < y | n >"
391 Trigger the \fB\-\-complete\-graph\fR behavior if an installed package
392 version will change (upgrade or downgrade). This option is enabled by default.
394 .BR \-\-config\-root=DIR
395 Set the \fBPORTAGE_CONFIGROOT\fR environment variable.
397 .BR "\-\-debug " (\fB\-d\fR)
398 Tells emerge to run the emerge command in \fB\-\-debug\fR mode. In this
399 mode the bash build environment will run with the \-x option, causing
400 it to output verbose debugging information to stdout. This also enables
401 a plethora of other output (mostly dependency resolution messages).
403 .BR "\-\-deep [DEPTH] " (\fB\-D\fR)
405 \fBemerge\fR to consider the entire dependency tree of packages,
406 instead of checking only the immediate dependencies of the packages.
407 As an example, this catches updates in libraries that are not directly
408 listed in the dependencies of a package. Also see \fB\-\-with\-bdeps\fR for
409 behavior with respect to build time dependencies that are not strictly
412 .BR "\-\-depclean\-lib\-check [ y | n ]"
413 Account for library link-level dependencies during
414 \fB\-\-depclean\fR and \fB\-\-prune\fR actions. This
415 option is enabled by default. In some cases this can
416 be somewhat time\-consuming. This option is ignored
417 when FEATURES="preserve\-libs" is enabled in
418 \fBmake.conf\fR(5), since any libraries that have
419 consumers will simply be preserved.
421 .BR "\-\-dynamic\-deps < y | n >"
422 In dependency calculations, substitute the dependencies of installed
423 packages with the dependencies of corresponding unbuilt ebuilds from
424 source repositories. This causes the effective dependencies of
425 installed packages to vary dynamically when source ebuild dependencies
426 are modified. This option is enabled by default.
429 If you want to disable \-\-dynamic\-deps, then it may be necessary to
430 first run \fBfixpackages\fR(1) in order to get the best results. The
431 \fBfixpackages\fR(1) command performs two different operations that can
432 also be performed separately by the `emaint \-\-fix moveinst` and
433 `emaint \-\-fix movebin` commands (see \fBemaint\fR(1)).
435 .BR "\-\-emptytree " (\fB\-e\fR)
436 Reinstalls target atoms and their entire deep
437 dependency tree, as though no packages are currently
438 installed. You should run this with \fB\-\-pretend\fR
439 first to make sure the result is what you expect.
441 .BR "\-\-exclude " ATOMS
442 A space separated list of package names or slot atoms.
443 Emerge won't install any ebuild or binary package that
444 matches any of the given package atoms.
446 .BR "\-\-fail\-clean [ y | n ]"
447 Clean up temporary files after a build failure. This is
448 particularly useful if you have \fBPORTAGE_TMPDIR\fR on
449 tmpfs. If this option is enabled, you probably also want
450 to enable \fBPORT_LOGDIR\fR (see \fBmake.conf\fR(5)) in
451 order to save the build log.
453 .BR "\-\-fetchonly " (\fB\-f\fR)
454 Instead of doing any package building, just perform fetches for all
455 packages (fetch things from SRC_URI based upon USE setting).
457 .BR "\-\-fetch\-all\-uri " (\fB\-F\fR)
458 Instead of doing any package building, just perform fetches for all
459 packages (fetch everything in SRC_URI regardless of USE setting).
461 .BR "\-\-getbinpkg [ y | n ] (\-g short option)"
462 Using the server and location defined in \fIPORTAGE_BINHOST\fR (see
463 \fBmake.conf\fR(5)), portage will download the information from each binary
464 package found and it will use that information to help build the dependency
465 list. This option implies \fB\-k\fR. (Use \fB\-gK\fR for binary\-only
468 .BR "\-\-getbinpkgonly [ y | n ] (\-G short option)"
469 This option is identical to \fB\-g\fR, as above, except binaries from the
470 remote server are preferred over local packages if they are not identical.
472 .BR "\-\-ignore-default-opts"
473 Causes \fIEMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS\fR (see \fBmake.conf\fR(5)) to be ignored.
475 .BR "-j [JOBS], \-\-jobs[=JOBS]"
476 Specifies the number of packages to build simultaneously. If this option is
477 given without an argument, emerge will not limit the number of jobs that can
478 run simultaneously. Also see the related \fB\-\-load\-average\fR option.
479 Similarly to the \-\-quiet\-build option, the \-\-jobs option causes all
480 build output to be redirected to logs.
481 Note that interactive packages currently force a setting
482 of \fI\-\-jobs=1\fR. This issue can be temporarily avoided
483 by specifying \fI\-\-accept\-properties=\-interactive\fR.
485 .BR "\-\-keep\-going [ y | n ]"
486 Continue as much as possible after an error. When an error occurs,
487 dependencies are recalculated for remaining packages and any with
488 unsatisfied dependencies are automatically dropped. Also see
489 the related \fB\-\-skipfirst\fR option.
491 .BR \-\-load\-average=LOAD
492 Specifies that no new builds should be started if there are other builds
493 running and the load average is at least LOAD (a floating-point number).
494 This option is recommended for use in combination with \fB\-\-jobs\fR in
495 order to avoid excess load. See \fBmake\fR(1) for information about
496 analogous options that should be configured via \fBMAKEOPTS\fR in
499 .BR "\-\-misspell\-suggestions < y | n >"
500 Enable or disable misspell suggestions. By default, emerge will show
501 a list of packages with similar names when a package doesn't exist.
502 The \fIEMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS\fR variable may be used to disable this
505 .BR "\-\-newuse " (\fB\-N\fR)
506 Tells emerge to include installed packages where USE
507 flags have changed since compilation. This option
508 also implies the \fB\-\-selective\fR option.
509 USE flag changes include:
511 A USE flag was added to a package.
512 A USE flag was removed from a package.
513 A USE flag was turned on for a package.
514 A USE flag was turned off for a package.
516 USE flags may be toggled by your profile as well as your USE and package.use
517 settings. If you would like to skip rebuilds for which disabled flags have
518 been added to or removed from IUSE, see the related
519 \-\-reinstall=changed\-use option.
522 Causes portage to disregard merge records indicating that a config file
523 inside of a \fBCONFIG_PROTECT\fR directory has been merged already. Portage
524 will normally merge those files only once to prevent the user from
525 dealing with the same config multiple times. This flag will cause the
526 file to always be merged.
528 .BR "\-\-nodeps " (\fB\-O\fR)
529 Merges specified packages without merging any dependencies. Note that
530 the build may fail if the dependencies aren't satisfied.
532 .BR "\-\-noreplace " (\fB\-n\fR)
533 Skips the packages specified on the command\-line that have already
534 been installed. Without this option, any packages, ebuilds, or deps
535 you specify on the command\-line \fBwill\fR cause Portage to remerge
536 the package, even if it is already installed. Note that Portage will
537 not remerge dependencies by default.
540 Disables the spinner for the session. The spinner is active when the
541 terminal device is determined to be a TTY. This flag disables it regardless.
543 .BR "\-\-usepkg\-exclude " ATOMS
544 A space separated list of package names or slot atoms. Emerge will ignore
545 matching binary packages.
547 .BR "\-\-rebuild\-exclude " ATOMS
548 A space separated list of package names or slot atoms. Emerge will not rebuild
549 matching packages due to \fB\-\-rebuild\fR.
551 .BR "\-\-rebuild\-ignore " ATOMS
552 A space separated list of package names or slot atoms. Emerge will not rebuild
553 packages that depend on matching packages due to \fB\-\-rebuild\fR.
555 .BR "\-\-oneshot " (\fB\-1\fR)
556 Emerge as normal, but do not add the packages to the world file
559 .BR "\-\-onlydeps " (\fB\-o\fR)
560 Only merge (or pretend to merge) the dependencies of the packages
561 specified, not the packages themselves.
563 .BR "\-\-package\-moves [ y | n ]"
564 Perform package moves when necessary. This option is enabled
565 by default. Package moves are typically applied immediately
566 after a \fB\-\-sync\fR action. They are applied in an
567 incremental fashion, using only the subset of the history of
568 package moves which have been added or modified since the
569 previous application of package moves.
571 \fBWARNING:\fR This option
572 should remain enabled under normal circumstances.
573 Do not disable it unless you know what you are
576 \fBNOTE:\fR The \fBfixpackages\fR(1) command can be used to
577 exhaustively apply the entire history of package moves,
578 regardless of whether or not any of the package moves have
579 been previously applied.
581 .BR "\-\-pretend " (\fB\-p\fR)
582 Instead of actually performing the merge, simply display what *would*
583 have been installed if \fB\-\-pretend\fR weren't used. Using \fB\-\-pretend\fR
584 is strongly recommended before installing an unfamiliar package. In
589 N new (not yet installed)
590 S new SLOT installation (side-by-side versions)
591 U updating (to another version)
592 D downgrading (best version seems lower)
593 R replacing (remerging same version))
594 F fetch restricted (must be manually downloaded)
595 f fetch restricted (already downloaded)
596 I interactive (requires user input)
597 B blocked by another package (unresolved conflict)
598 b blocked by another package (automatically resolved conflict)
601 .BR "\-\-quiet [ y | n ] (\-q short option)"
602 Results may vary, but the general outcome is a reduced or condensed
603 output from portage's displays.
605 .BR "\-\-quiet\-build [ y | n ]"
606 Redirect all build output to logs alone, and do not display it on
607 stdout. If a build failure occurs for a single package, the build
608 log will be automatically displayed on stdout. If there are multiple
609 build failures (due to options like \-\-keep\-going or \-\-jobs),
610 then the content of the log files will not be displayed, and instead
611 the paths of the log files will be displayed together with the
612 corresponding die messages.
613 Note that interactive packages currently force all build output to
614 be displayed on stdout. This issue can be temporarily avoided
615 by specifying \fI\-\-accept\-properties=\-interactive\fR.
617 .BR \-\-quiet\-unmerge\-warn
618 Disable the warning message that's shown prior to
619 \fB\-\-unmerge\fR actions. This option is intended
620 to be set in the \fBmake.conf\fR(5)
621 \fBEMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS\fR variable.
623 .BR "\-\-rebuild\-if\-new\-rev [ y | n ]"
624 Rebuild packages when build\-time dependencies are built from source, if the
625 dependency is not already installed with the same version and revision.
627 .BR "\-\-rebuild\-if\-new\-ver [ y | n ]"
628 Rebuild packages when build\-time dependencies are built from source, if the
629 dependency is not already installed with the same version. Revision numbers
632 .BR "\-\-rebuild\-if\-unbuilt [ y | n ]"
633 Rebuild packages when build\-time dependencies are built from source.
635 .BR "\-\-rebuilt\-binaries [ y | n ]"
636 Replace installed packages with binary packages that have
637 been rebuilt. Rebuilds are detected by comparison of
638 BUILD_TIME package metadata. This option is enabled
639 automatically when using binary packages
640 (\fB\-\-usepkgonly\fR or \fB\-\-getbinpkgonly\fR) together with
641 \fB\-\-update\fR and \fB\-\-deep\fR.
643 .BR "\-\-rebuilt\-binaries\-timestamp=TIMESTAMP"
644 This option modifies emerge's behaviour only if
645 \fB\-\-rebuilt\-binaries\fR is given. Only binaries that
646 have a BUILD_TIME that is larger than the given TIMESTAMP
647 and that is larger than that of the installed package will
648 be considered by the rebuilt\-binaries logic.
650 .BR "\-\-reinstall changed\-use"
651 Tells emerge to include installed packages where USE flags have
652 changed since installation. Unlike \fB\-\-newuse\fR, this option does
653 not trigger reinstallation when flags that the user has not
654 enabled are added or removed.
656 .BR "\-\-reinstall\-atoms " ATOMS
657 A space separated list of package names or slot atoms. Emerge will treat
658 matching packages as if they are not installed, and reinstall them if
662 Set the \fBROOT\fR environment variable.
664 .BR "\-\-root\-deps[=rdeps]"
665 If no argument is given then build\-time dependencies of packages for
666 \fBROOT\fR are installed to
667 \fBROOT\fR instead of /. If the \fBrdeps\fR argument is given then discard
668 all build\-time dependencies of packages for \fBROOT\fR. This option is
669 only meaningful when used together with \fBROOT\fR and it should not
670 be enabled under normal circumstances. For currently supported
671 \fBEAPI\fR values, the build-time dependencies are specified in the
672 \fBDEPEND\fR variable. However, behavior may change for new
673 \fBEAPI\fRs when related extensions are added in the future.
675 .BR "\-\-select [ y | n ]"
676 Add specified packages to the world set (inverse of
677 \fB\-\-oneshot\fR). This is useful if you want to
678 use \fBEMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS\fR to make
679 \fB\-\-oneshot\fR behavior default.
681 .BR "\-\-selective [ y | n ]"
682 This is identical to the \fB\-\-noreplace\fR option.
683 Some options, such as \fB\-\-update\fR, imply \fB\-\-selective\fR.
684 Use \fB\-\-selective=n\fR if you want to forcefully disable
685 \fB\-\-selective\fR, regardless of options like \fB\-\-newuse\fR,
686 \fB\-\-noreplace\fR, or \fB\-\-update\fR.
689 This option is only valid when used with \fB\-\-resume\fR. It removes the
690 first package in the resume list. Dependencies are recalculated for
691 remaining packages and any that have unsatisfied dependencies or are
692 masked will be automatically dropped. Also see the related
693 \fB\-\-keep\-going\fR option.
695 .BR "\-\-tree " (\fB\-t\fR)
696 Shows the dependency tree for the given target by indenting dependencies.
697 This is only really useful in combination with \fB\-\-emptytree\fR or
698 \fB\-\-update\fR and \fB\-\-deep\fR.
700 .BR "\-\-unordered\-display"
701 By default the displayed merge list is sorted using the
702 order in which the packages will be merged. When
703 \fB\-\-tree\fR is used together with this option, this
704 constraint is removed, hopefully leading to a more
705 readable dependency tree.
707 .BR "\-\-update " (\fB\-u\fR)
708 Updates packages to the best version available, which may
709 not always be the highest version number due to masking
710 for testing and development. Package atoms specified on
711 the command line are greedy, meaning that unspecific
712 atoms may match multiple versions of slotted packages.
714 .BR "\-\-use\-ebuild\-visibility [ y | n ]"
715 Use unbuilt ebuild metadata for visibility
716 checks on built packages.
718 .BR "\-\-useoldpkg\-atoms " ATOMS
719 A space separated list of package names or slot atoms. Emerge will prefer
720 matching binary packages over newer unbuilt packages.
722 .BR "\-\-usepkg [ y | n ] (\-k short option)"
723 Tells emerge to use binary packages (from $PKGDIR) if they are available, thus
724 possibly avoiding some time\-consuming compiles. This option is useful for CD
725 installs; you can export PKGDIR=/mnt/cdrom/packages and then use this option to
726 have emerge "pull" binary packages from the CD in order to satisfy dependencies.
728 .BR "\-\-usepkgonly [ y | n ] (\-K short option)"
729 Tells emerge to only use binary packages (from $PKGDIR). All the binary
730 packages must be available at the time of dependency calculation or emerge
731 will simply abort. Portage does not use $PORTDIR when calculating dependency
732 information so all masking information is ignored.
734 .BR "\-\-verbose " (\fB\-v\fR)
735 Tell emerge to run in verbose mode. Currently this flag causes emerge to print
736 out GNU info errors, if any, and to show the USE flags that will be used for
737 each package when pretending. The following symbols are affixed to USE flags
738 in order to indicate their status:
744 Symbol Location Meaning
746 - prefix not enabled (either disabled or removed)
747 * suffix transition to or from the enabled state
748 % suffix newly added or removed
749 () circumfix forced, masked, or removed
752 .BR "\-\-with\-bdeps < y | n >"
753 In dependency calculations, pull in build time dependencies
754 that are not strictly required. This defaults to \'n\' for
755 installation actions, meaning they will not be installed, and
756 \'y\' for the \fB\-\-depclean\fR action, meaning they will not be removed.
757 This setting can be added to
758 \fBEMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS\fR (see make.conf(5)) and later overridden via the
760 .SH "ENVIRONMENT OPTIONS"
762 \fBROOT\fR = \fI[path]\fR
763 Use \fBROOT\fR to specify the target root filesystem to be used for
764 merging packages or ebuilds. This variable can be set via the \fB\-\-root\fR
765 option or in \fBmake.conf\fR(5) (the command line overrides other settings).
769 \fBPORTAGE_CONFIGROOT\fR = \fI[path]\fR
770 Use \fBPORTAGE_CONFIGROOT\fR to specify the location for various portage
772 (see \fBFILES\fR for a detailed list of configuration files). This variable
773 can be set via the \fB\-\-config\-root\fR option.
777 When utilizing \fBemerge\fR with the \fB\-\-pretend\fR and \fB\-\-verbose\fR
778 flags, the output may be a little hard to understand at first. This section
779 explains the abbreviations.
781 .B [blocks B ] app\-text/dos2unix ("app\-text/dos2unix" is blocking app\-text/hd2u\-0.8.0)
782 Dos2unix is Blocking hd2u from being emerged. Blockers are defined when
783 two packages will clobber each others files, or otherwise cause some form
784 of breakage in your system. However, blockers usually do not need to be
785 simultaneously emerged because they usually provide the same functionality.
787 .B [ebuild N ] app\-games/qstat\-25c
788 Qstat is New to your system, and will be emerged for the first time.
790 .B [ebuild NS ] dev-libs/glib-2.4.7
791 You already have a version of glib installed, but a 'new' version in
792 a different SLOT is available.
794 .B [ebuild R ] sys\-apps/sed\-4.0.5
795 Sed 4.0.5 has already been emerged, but if you run the command, then
796 portage will Re\-emerge the specified package (sed in this case).
798 .B [ebuild F ] media\-video/realplayer\-8\-r6
799 The realplayer package requires that you Fetch the sources manually.
800 When you attempt to emerge the package, if the sources are not found,
801 then portage will halt and you will be provided with instructions on how
802 to download the required files.
804 .B [ebuild f ] media\-video/realplayer\-8\-r6
805 The realplayer package's files are already downloaded.
807 .B [ebuild U ] net\-fs/samba\-2.2.8_pre1 [2.2.7a]
808 Samba 2.2.7a has already been emerged and can be Updated to version
811 .B [ebuild UD] media\-libs/libgd\-1.8.4 [2.0.11]
812 Libgd 2.0.11 is already emerged, but if you run the command, then
813 portage will Downgrade to version 1.8.4 for you.
815 This may occur if a newer version of a package has been masked because it is
816 broken or it creates a security risk on your system and a fix has not been
819 Another reason this may occur is if a package you are trying to emerge requires
820 an older version of a package in order to emerge successfully. In this case,
821 libgd 2.x is incompatible with libgd 1.x. This means that packages that were
822 created with libgd 1.x will not compile with 2.x and must downgrade libgd first
823 before they can emerge.
825 .B [ebuild U ] sys\-devel/distcc\-2.16 [2.13\-r1] USE="ipv6* \-gtk \-qt%"
826 Here we see that the make.conf variable \fBUSE\fR affects how this package is
827 built. In this example, ipv6 optional support is enabled and both gtk and qt
828 support are disabled. The asterisk following ipv6 indicates that ipv6 support
829 was disabled the last time this package was installed. The percent sign
830 following qt indicates that the qt option has been added to the package since
831 it was last installed. For information about all \fBUSE\fR symbols, see the
832 \fB\-\-verbose\fR option documentation above.
834 \fB*Note:\fR Flags that haven't changed since the last install are only
835 displayed when you use the \fB\-\-pretend\fR and \fB\-\-verbose\fR options.
836 Using the \fB\-\-quiet\fR option will prevent all information from being
839 .B [ebuild U *] sys\-apps/portage\-2.2.0_alpha6 [2.1.9.25]
840 Portage 2.1.9.25 is installed, but if you run the command, then
841 portage will upgrade to version 2.2.0_alpha6. In this case,
842 the \fB*\fR symbol is displayed, in order to indicate that version
843 2.2.0_alpha6 is masked by missing keyword. This type of masking
844 display is disabled by the \fB\-\-quiet\fR option if the
845 \fB\-\-verbose\fR option is not enabled simultaneously.
846 The following symbols are used to indicate various types
859 \fBNOTE:\fR The unstable keyword symbol (~) will not be shown in cases
860 in which the corresponding unstable keywords have been accepted
861 globally via \fBACCEPT_KEYWORDS\fR.
866 You should almost always precede any package install or update attempt with a
867 \fB\-\-pretend\fR install or update. This lets you see how much will be
868 done, and shows you any blocking packages that you will have to rectify.
869 This goes doubly so for the \fBsystem\fR and \fBworld\fR sets, which can
870 update a large number of packages if the portage tree has been particularly
873 You also want to typically use \fB\-\-update\fR, which ignores packages that
874 are already fully updated but updates those that are not.
876 When you install a package with uninstalled dependencies and do
877 not explicitly state those dependencies in the list of parameters,
878 they will not be added to the world file. If you want them to be
879 detected for world updates, make sure to explicitly list them as
880 parameters to \fBemerge\fR.
882 \fBUSE variables\fR may be specified on the command line to
883 override those specified in the default locations, letting you
884 avoid using some dependencies you may not want to have. \fBUSE
885 flags specified on the command line are NOT remembered\fR. For
886 example, \fBenv USE="\-X \-gnome" emerge mc\fR will emerge mc with
887 those USE settings (on Bourne-compatible shells you may omit the \fBenv\fR
888 part). If you want those USE settings to be more
889 permanent, you can put them in /etc/portage/package.use instead.
891 If \fBemerge \-\-update system\fR or \fBemerge \-\-update world\fR
892 fails with an error message, it may be that an ebuild uses some
893 newer feature not present in this version of \fBemerge\fR. You
894 can use \fBemerge \-\-update portage\fR to upgrade to the lastest
895 version, which should support any necessary new features.
896 .SH "MASKED PACKAGES"
897 \fINOTE: Please use caution when using development packages. Problems
898 and bugs resulting from misusing masked packages drains Gentoo
899 developer time. Please be sure you are capable of handling any problems
902 Masks in \fBportage\fR have many uses: they allow a
903 testing period where the packages can be used in live machines; they
904 prevent the use of a package when it will fail; and they mask existing
905 packages that are broken or could pose a security risk. Read below
906 to find out how to unmask in various cases. Also note that if you give
907 \fBemerge\fR an ebuild, then all forms of masking will be ignored and
908 \fBemerge\fR will attempt to emerge the package.
911 When packages are masked for \fBbacktracking\fR, it means that the dependency
912 resolver has temporarily masked them in order to avoid dependency conflicts
913 and/or unsatisfied dependencies. This type of mask is typically accompanied
914 by a message about a missed package update which has been skipped in order to
915 avoid dependency conflicts and/or unsatisfied dependencies.
918 The \fBpackage.mask\fR file primarily blocks the use of packages that cause
919 problems or are known to have issues on different systems. It resides in
920 \fI/usr/portage/profiles\fR.
923 Use the \fBACCEPT_CHOSTS\fR variable in \fBmake.conf\fR(5) to control
924 \fBCHOST\fR acceptance.
927 The \fBEAPI\fR variable in an \fBebuild\fR(5) file is used to mask packages
928 that are not supported by the current version of portage. Packages masked by
929 \fBEAPI\fR can only be installed after portage has been upgraded.
932 The \fBKEYWORDS\fR variable in an \fBebuild\fR file is also used for masking
933 a package still in testing. There are architecture\-specific keywords for
934 each package that let \fBportage\fR know which systems are compatible with
935 the package. Packages which compile on an architecture, but have not been
936 proven to be "stable", are masked with a tilde (\fB~\fR) in front of the
937 architecture name. \fBemerge\fR examines the \fBACCEPT_KEYWORDS\fR environment
938 variable to allow or disallow the emerging of a package masked by
939 \fBKEYWORDS\fR. To inform \fBemerge\fR that it should build these 'testing'
940 versions of packages, you should update your
941 \fI/etc/portage/package.accept_keywords\fR
942 file to list the packages you want the
943 \'testing\' version. See \fBportage\fR(5) for more information.
946 The \fBLICENSE\fR variable in an \fBebuild\fR file can be used to mask
947 packages based on licensing restrictions. \fBemerge\fR examines the
948 \fBACCEPT_LICENSE\fR environment variable to allow or disallow the emerging
949 of a package masked by \fBLICENSE\fR. See \fBmake.conf\fR(5) for information
950 about \fBACCEPT_LICENSE\fR, and see \fBportage\fR(5) for information about
951 \fI/etc/portage/package.license\fR.
954 The \fBPROPERTIES\fR variable in an \fBebuild\fR file can be used to mask
955 packages based on properties restrictions. \fBemerge\fR examines the
956 \fBACCEPT_PROPERTIES\fR environment variable to allow or disallow the emerging
957 of a package masked by \fBPROPERTIES\fR. See \fBmake.conf\fR(5) for information
958 about \fBACCEPT_PROPERTIES\fR, and see \fBportage\fR(5) for information about
959 \fI/etc/portage/package.properties\fR. Use the \fB\-\-accept\-properties\fR
960 option to temporarily override \fBACCEPT_PROPERTIES\fR.
961 .SH "CONFIGURATION FILES"
962 Portage has a special feature called "config file protection". The purpose of
963 this feature is to prevent new package installs from clobbering existing
964 configuration files. By default, config file protection is turned on for /etc
965 and the KDE configuration dirs; more may be added in the future.
967 When Portage installs a file into a protected directory tree like /etc, any
968 existing files will not be overwritten. If a file of the same name already
969 exists, Portage will change the name of the to\-be\-installed file from 'foo' to
970 \'._cfg0000_foo\'. If \'._cfg0000_foo\' already exists, this name becomes
971 \'._cfg0001_foo\', etc. In this way, existing files are not overwritten,
972 allowing the administrator to manually merge the new config files and avoid any
975 In addition to protecting overwritten files, Portage will not delete any files
976 from a protected directory when a package is unmerged. While this may be a
977 little bit untidy, it does prevent potentially valuable config files from being
978 deleted, which is of paramount importance.
980 Protected directories are set using the \fICONFIG_PROTECT\fR variable, normally
981 defined in make.globals. Directory exceptions to the CONFIG_PROTECTed
982 directories can be specified using the \fICONFIG_PROTECT_MASK\fR variable. To find
983 files that need to be updated in /etc, type \fBfind /etc \-iname \'._cfg????_*\'\fR.
985 You can disable this feature by setting \fICONFIG_PROTECT="\-*"\fR in /etc/make.conf.
986 Then, Portage will mercilessly auto\-update your config files. Alternatively,
987 you can leave Config File Protection on but tell Portage that it can overwrite
988 files in certain specific /etc subdirectories. For example, if you wanted
989 Portage to automatically update your rc scripts and your wget configuration,
990 but didn't want any other changes made without your explicit approval, you'd
991 add this to /etc/make.conf:
993 .I CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/wget /etc/rc.d"
995 Tools such as dispatch\-conf, cfg\-update, and etc\-update are also available to
996 aid in the merging of these files. They provide interactive merging and can
997 auto\-merge trivial changes.
999 Please report any bugs you encounter through our website:
1001 \fBhttp://bugs.gentoo.org/\fR
1003 Please include the output of \fBemerge \-\-info\fR when you submit your
1007 Daniel Robbins <drobbins@gentoo.org>
1008 Geert Bevin <gbevin@gentoo.org>
1009 Achim Gottinger <achim@gentoo.org>
1010 Nicholas Jones <carpaski@gentoo.org>
1011 Phil Bordelon <phil@thenexusproject.org>
1012 Mike Frysinger <vapier@gentoo.org>
1013 Marius Mauch <genone@gentoo.org>
1014 Jason Stubbs <jstubbs@gentoo.org>
1015 Brian Harring <ferringb@gmail.com>
1016 Zac Medico <zmedico@gentoo.org>
1019 Here is a common list of files you will probably be interested in. For a
1020 complete listing, please refer to the \fBportage\fR(5) man page.
1022 .B /usr/share/portage/config/sets/
1023 Contains the default set configuration.
1025 .B /var/lib/portage/world
1026 Contains a list of all user\-specified packages. You can safely edit
1027 this file, adding packages that you want to be considered in \fBworld\fR
1028 set updates and removing those that you do not want to be considered.
1031 Contains variables for the build process, overriding those in
1034 .B /etc/portage/color.map
1035 Contains variables customizing colors.
1037 .B /etc/dispatch\-conf.conf
1038 Contains settings to handle automatic updates/backups of configuration
1041 .B /etc/make.profile/make.defaults
1042 Contains profile\-specific variables for the build process. \fBDo not
1045 .B /usr/portage/profiles/use.desc
1046 Contains the master list of USE flags with descriptions of their
1047 functions. \fBDo not edit this file\fR.
1049 .B /etc/make.profile/virtuals
1050 Contains a list of default packages used to resolve virtual dependencies.
1051 \fBDo not edit this file\fR.
1053 .B /etc/make.profile/packages
1054 Contains a list of packages used for the base system. The \fBsystem\fR
1055 and \fBworld\fR sets consult this file. \fBDo not edit this file\fR.
1057 .B /usr/share/portage/config/make.globals
1058 Contains the default variables for the build process. \fBDo not edit
1061 .BR "emerge \-\-help",
1069 A number of helper applications reside in \fI/usr/lib/portage/bin\fR.
1071 The \fBapp\-portage/gentoolkit\fR package contains useful scripts such as
1072 \fBequery\fR (a package query tool).
projects / portage.git / blob