1 .TH "EMERGE" "1" "Sept 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 Cleans up the system by examining the installed packages and removing older
101 packages. This is accomplished by looking at each installed package and separating
102 the installed versions by \fBslot\fR. Clean will \fBremove all but the most recently
103 installed version in each \fbslot\fR. Clean should not remove unslotted packages.
104 Note: Most recently installed means most \fBrecent\fR, not highest version.
107 Run package specific actions needed to be executed after the emerge process
108 has completed. This usually entails configuration file setup or other similar
109 setups that the user may wish to run.
111 .BR "\-\-depclean (-c)"
112 Cleans the system by removing packages that are not associated
113 with explicitly merged packages. Depclean works by creating the
114 full dependency tree from the @world set,
115 then comparing it to installed packages. Packages installed, but
116 not part of the dependency tree, will be uninstalled by depclean.
117 See \fB\-\-with\-bdeps\fR for behavior with respect to build time dependencies
118 that are not strictly required. Packages that are part of the world set will
119 always be kept. They can be manually added to this set with \fIemerge
120 \-\-noreplace <atom>\fR. As a safety measure, depclean will not remove any
121 packages unless *all* required dependencies have been resolved. As a
122 consequence, it is often necessary to run \fIemerge \-\-update \-\-newuse
123 \-\-deep @world\fR prior to depclean. Also note that
124 depclean may break link level dependencies, especially when the
125 \fB\-\-depclean\-lib\-check\fR option is disabled. Thus, it is
126 recommended to use a tool such as \fBrevdep-rebuild\fR(1)
127 in order to detect such breakage.
130 Inexperienced users are advised to use \fB\-\-pretend\fR with this
131 option in order to see a preview of which packages
132 will be uninstalled. Always study the list of packages
133 to be cleaned for any obvious mistakes. Note that packages listed in
134 package.provided (see \fBportage\fR(5)) may be removed by
135 depclean, even if they are part of the world set.
137 Depclean serves as a dependency aware
138 version of \fB\-\-unmerge\fR. When given one or more atoms, it will
139 unmerge matched packages that have no reverse dependencies. Use
140 \fB\-\-depclean\fR together with \fB\-\-verbose\fR to show reverse
143 .BR "\-\-deselect [ y | n ]"
144 Remove atoms and/or sets from the world file. This action is implied
145 by uninstall actions, including \fB-\-depclean\fR,
146 \fB-\-prune\fR and \fB-\-unmerge\fR. Use \fB-\-deselect=n\fR
147 in order to prevent uninstall actions from removing
148 atoms from the world file.
150 .BR "\-\-help " (\fB\-h\fR)
151 Displays help information for emerge. Adding one of the additional
152 arguments listed above will give you more specific help information
153 on that subject. The internal \fBemerge\fR help documentation is
154 updated more frequently than this man page; check it out if you
155 are having problems that this man page does not help resolve.
158 Produces a list of information to include in bug reports which aids the
159 developers when fixing the reported problem. \fBPlease include this
160 information when submitting a bug report.\fR Expanded output can be obtained
161 with the \fI\-\-verbose\fR option.
164 Displays a list of available package sets.
167 Transfers metadata cache from ${PORTDIR}/metadata/cache/ to
168 /var/cache/edb/dep/ as is normally done on the
169 tail end of an rsync update using \fBemerge \-\-sync\fR. This process
170 populates the cache database that portage uses for pre-parsed lookups of
171 package data. It does not populate cache for the overlays listed in
172 PORTDIR_OVERLAY. In order to generate cache for overlays, use \fB\-\-regen\fR.
173 In versions of portage >=2.1.5 the \-\-metadata action is totally unnecessary
174 unless the user has enabled FEATURES="metadata-transfer" in \fBmake.conf\fR(5).
176 .BR "\-\-prune " (\fB\-P\fR)
177 \fBWARNING: This action can remove important packages!\fR Removes all but the
178 highest installed version of a package from your system. Use \fB\-\-prune\fR
179 together with \fB\-\-verbose\fR to show reverse dependencies or with
180 \fB\-\-nodeps\fR to ignore all dependencies.
183 Causes portage to check and update the dependency cache of all ebuilds in the
184 portage tree. The cache is used to speed up searches and the building of
185 dependency trees. This command is not recommended for rsync users as rsync
186 updates the cache using server\-side caches. If you do not know the
187 differences between a 'rsync user' and some other user, then you are a 'rsync
188 user' :). Rsync users should simply run \fBemerge \-\-sync\fR to regenerate
189 the cache. After a portage update, rsync users may find it convenient to run
190 \fBemerge \-\-metadata\fR to rebuild the cache as portage does at the end of
191 a sync operation. In order to specify parallel \fB\-\-regen\fR behavior, use
192 the \fB\-\-jobs\fR and \fB\-\-load\-average\fR options. If you would like to
193 generate and distribute cache for use by others, use \fBegencache\fR(1).
195 .BR "\-\-resume" (\fB\-r\fR)
196 Resumes the most recent merge list that has been aborted due to an error.
197 Please note that this operation will only return an error on failure. If there
198 is nothing for portage to do, then portage will exit with a message and a
199 success condition. A resume list will persist until it has been completed in
200 entirety or until another aborted merge list replaces it. The resume history
201 is capable of storing two merge lists. After one resume list completes, it is
202 possible to invoke \-\-resume once again in order to resume an older list.
204 .BR "\-\-search " (\fB\-s\fR)
205 Searches for matches of the supplied string in the portage tree.
206 By default emerge uses a case-insensitive simple search, but you can
207 enable a regular expression search by prefixing the search string with %.
208 For example, \fBemerge \-\-search "%^kde"\fR searches for any package whose
209 name starts with "kde"; \fBemerge \-\-search "%gcc$"\fR searches for any
210 package that ends with "gcc"; \fBemerge \-\-search "office"\fR searches for
211 any package that contains the word "office". If you want to include the
212 category into the search string, prepend an @: \fBemerge \-\-search
213 "%@^dev-java.*jdk"\fR. If you want to search the package descriptions as well,
214 use the \fB\-\-searchdesc\fR action.
216 .BR "\-\-searchdesc " (\fB\-S\fR)
217 Matches the search string against the description field as well as
218 the package name. \fBTake caution\fR as the descriptions are also
219 matched as regular expressions.
222 This updates the portage tree that is located in the
223 directory that the PORTDIR variable refers to (default
224 location is /usr/portage). The SYNC variable specifies
225 the remote URI from which files will be synchronized.
226 The \fBPORTAGE_SYNC_STALE\fR variable configures
227 warnings that are shown when emerge \-\-sync has not
228 been executed recently.
231 The emerge \-\-sync action will modify and/or delete
232 files located inside the directory that the PORTDIR
233 variable refers to (default location is /usr/portage).
234 For more information, see the PORTDIR documentation in
235 the make.conf(5) man page.
238 The \fBemerge\-webrsync\fR program will download the entire
239 portage tree as a tarball, which is much faster than emerge
240 \-\-sync for first time syncs.
243 .BR "\-\-unmerge " (\fB\-C\fR)
244 \fBWARNING: This action can remove important packages!\fR Removes
245 all matching packages. This does no checking of dependencies, so
246 it may remove packages necessary for the proper operation of your
247 system. Its arguments can be \fIatoms\fR or
248 \fIebuilds\fR. For a dependency aware version of \fB\-\-unmerge\fR,
249 use \fB\-\-depclean\fR or \fB\-\-prune\fR.
251 .BR "\-\-version " (\fB\-V\fR)
252 Displays the version number of \fBemerge\fR.
255 .BR \-\-accept\-properties=ACCEPT_PROPERTIES
256 This option temporarily overrides the \fBACCEPT_PROPERTIES\fR
257 variable. The \fBACCEPT_PROPERTIES\fR variable is incremental,
258 which means that the specified setting is appended to the
259 existing value from your configuration. The special \fB-*\fR
260 token can be used to discard the existing configuration
261 value and start fresh. See the \fBMASKED PACKAGES\fR section
262 and \fBmake.conf\fR(5) for more information about
263 ACCEPT_PROPERTIES. A typical usage example for this option
264 would be to use \fI\-\-accept\-properties=\-interactive\fR to
265 temporarily mask interactive packages. With default
266 configuration, this would result in an effective
267 \fBACCEPT_PROPERTIES\fR value of "* -interactive".
269 .BR "\-\-alphabetical "
270 When displaying USE and other flag output, combines the enabled and
271 disabled lists into one list and sorts the whole list alphabetically.
273 .BR "\-\-ask [ y | n ] (\-a short option)"
274 Before performing the action, display what will take place (server info for
275 \fB\-\-sync\fR, \fB\-\-pretend\fR output for merge, and so forth), then ask
276 whether to proceed with the action or abort. Using \fB\-\-ask\fR is more
277 efficient than using \fB\-\-pretend\fR and then executing the same command
278 without \fB\-\-pretend\fR, as dependencies will only need to be calculated once.
279 \fBWARNING: If the "Enter" key is pressed at the prompt (with no other input),
280 it is interpreted as acceptance of the first choice. Note that the input
281 buffer is not cleared prior to the prompt, so an accidental press of the
282 "Enter" key at any time prior to the prompt will be interpreted as a choice!
283 Use the \-\-ask\-enter\-invalid option if you want a single "Enter" key
284 press to be interpreted as invalid input.\fR
286 .BR "\-\-ask\-enter\-invalid"
287 When used together with the \fB\-\-ask\fR option,
288 interpret a single "Enter" key press as
289 invalid input. This helps prevent accidental
290 acceptance of the first choice. This option is
291 intended to be set in the \fBmake.conf\fR(5)
292 \fBEMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS\fR variable.
294 .BR "\-\-autounmask [ y | n ]"
295 Automatically unmask packages and generate package.use
296 settings as necessary to satisfy dependencies. This
297 option is enabled by default. If any configuration
298 changes are required, then they will be displayed
299 after the merge list and emerge will immediately
300 abort. If the displayed configuration changes are
301 satisfactory, you should copy and paste them into
302 the specified configuration file(s), or enable the
303 \fB\-\-autounmask\-write\fR option. The
304 \fBEMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS\fR variable may be used to
305 disable this option by default in \fBmake.conf\fR(5).
307 .BR "\-\-autounmask\-unrestricted\-atoms [ y | n ]"
308 If \-\-autounmask is enabled, keyword and mask changes
309 using the \'=\' operator will be written. With this
310 option, \'>=\' operators will be used whenever possible.
311 USE and license changes always use the latter behavior.
313 .BR "\-\-autounmask\-keep\-masks [ y | n ]"
314 If \-\-autounmask is enabled, no package.unmask or ** keyword changes
315 will be created. This leads to unsatisfied dependencies if
316 no other solution exists.
318 .BR "\-\-autounmask\-write [ y | n ]"
319 If \-\-autounmask is enabled, changes are written
320 to config files, respecting \fBCONFIG_PROTECT\fR and \fB\-\-ask\fR.
321 If the corresponding package.* is a file, the changes are appended to
322 it, if it is a directory, changes are written to the lexicographically
323 last file. This way it is always ensured that the new changes take
324 precedence over existing changes.
326 .BR \-\-backtrack=COUNT
327 Specifies an integer number of times to backtrack if
328 dependency calculation fails due to a conflict or an
329 unsatisfied dependency (default: \'10\').
331 .BR "\-\-binpkg\-respect\-use [ y | n ]"
332 Tells emerge to ignore binary packages if their use flags
333 don't match the current configuration. (default: \'n\')
335 .BR "\-\-buildpkg [ y | n ] (\-b short option)"
336 Tells emerge to build binary packages for all ebuilds processed in
337 addition to actually merging the packages. Useful for maintainers
338 or if you administrate multiple Gentoo Linux systems (build once,
339 emerge tbz2s everywhere) as well as disaster recovery. The package
340 will be created in the \fBPKGDIR\fR directory (see \fBmake.conf\fR(5)).
341 An alternative for already\-merged
342 packages is to use \fBquickpkg\fR(1) which creates a tbz2 from the
345 .BR "\-\-buildpkgonly " (\fB\-B\fR)
346 Creates binary packages for all ebuilds processed without actually
347 merging the packages. This comes with the caveat that all build-time
348 dependencies must already be emerged on the system.
350 .BR "\-\-changed\-use"
351 This is an alias for \fB\-\-reinstall=changed\-use\fR.
353 .BR "\-\-changelog " (\fB\-l\fR)
354 Use this in conjunction with the \fB\-\-pretend\fR option. This will
355 show the ChangeLog entries for all the packages that will be upgraded.
357 .BR "\-\-color < y | n >"
358 Enable or disable color output. This option will override \fINOCOLOR\fR
359 (see \fBmake.conf\fR(5)) and may also be used to force color output when stdout
360 is not a tty (by default, color is disabled unless stdout is a tty).
363 Used alongside \fB\-\-pretend\fR to cause the package name, new version,
364 and old version to be displayed in an aligned format for easy cut\-n\-paste.
366 .BR "\-\-complete\-graph [ y | n ]"
367 This causes \fBemerge\fR to consider the deep dependencies of all
368 packages from the world set. With this option enabled,
369 \fBemerge\fR will bail out if it determines that the given operation will
370 break any dependencies of the packages that have been added to the
371 graph. Like the \fB\-\-deep\fR option, the \fB\-\-complete\-graph\fR
372 option will significantly increase the time taken for dependency
373 calculations. Note that, unlike the \fB\-\-deep\fR option, the
374 \fB\-\-complete\-graph\fR option does not cause any more packages to
375 be updated than would have otherwise been updated with the option disabled.
376 Using \fB\-\-with\-bdeps=y\fR together with \fB\-\-complete\-graph\fR makes
377 the graph as complete as possible.
379 .BR "\-\-complete\-graph\-if\-new\-ver < y | n >"
380 Trigger the \fB\-\-complete\-graph\fR behavior if an installed package
381 version will change (upgrade or downgrade). This option is enabled by default.
383 .BR \-\-config\-root=DIR
384 Set the \fBPORTAGE_CONFIGROOT\fR environment variable.
386 .BR "\-\-debug " (\fB\-d\fR)
387 Tells emerge to run the emerge command in \fB\-\-debug\fR mode. In this
388 mode the bash build environment will run with the \-x option, causing
389 it to output verbose debugging information to stdout. This also enables
390 a plethora of other output (mostly dependency resolution messages).
392 .BR "\-\-deep [DEPTH] " (\fB\-D\fR)
394 \fBemerge\fR to consider the entire dependency tree of packages,
395 instead of checking only the immediate dependencies of the packages.
396 As an example, this catches updates in libraries that are not directly
397 listed in the dependencies of a package. Also see \fB\-\-with\-bdeps\fR for
398 behavior with respect to build time dependencies that are not strictly
401 .BR "\-\-depclean\-lib\-check [ y | n ]"
402 Account for library link-level dependencies during
403 \fB\-\-depclean\fR and \fB\-\-prune\fR actions. This
404 option is enabled by default. In some cases this can
405 be somewhat time\-consuming. This option is ignored
406 when FEATURES="preserve\-libs" is enabled in
407 \fBmake.conf\fR(5), since any libraries that have
408 consumers will simply be preserved.
410 .BR "\-\-emptytree " (\fB\-e\fR)
411 Reinstalls target atoms and their entire deep
412 dependency tree, as though no packages are currently
413 installed. You should run this with \fB\-\-pretend\fR
414 first to make sure the result is what you expect.
416 .BR "\-\-exclude " ATOMS
417 A space separated list of package names or slot atoms.
418 Emerge won't install any ebuild or binary package that
419 matches any of the given package atoms.
421 .BR "\-\-fail\-clean [ y | n ]"
422 Clean up temporary files after a build failure. This is
423 particularly useful if you have \fBPORTAGE_TMPDIR\fR on
424 tmpfs. If this option is enabled, you probably also want
425 to enable \fBPORT_LOGDIR\fR (see \fBmake.conf\fR(5)) in
426 order to save the build log.
428 .BR "\-\-fetchonly " (\fB\-f\fR)
429 Instead of doing any package building, just perform fetches for all
430 packages (fetch things from SRC_URI based upon USE setting).
432 .BR "\-\-fetch\-all\-uri " (\fB\-F\fR)
433 Instead of doing any package building, just perform fetches for all
434 packages (fetch everything in SRC_URI regardless of USE setting).
436 .BR "\-\-getbinpkg [ y | n ] (\-g short option)"
437 Using the server and location defined in \fIPORTAGE_BINHOST\fR (see
438 \fBmake.conf\fR(5)), portage will download the information from each binary
439 package found and it will use that information to help build the dependency
440 list. This option implies \fB\-k\fR. (Use \fB\-gK\fR for binary\-only
443 .BR "\-\-getbinpkgonly [ y | n ] (\-G short option)"
444 This option is identical to \fB\-g\fR, as above, except binaries from the
445 remote server are preferred over local packages if they are not identical.
447 .BR "\-\-ignore-default-opts"
448 Causes \fIEMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS\fR (see \fBmake.conf\fR(5)) to be ignored.
450 .BR "-j [JOBS], \-\-jobs[=JOBS]"
451 Specifies the number of packages to build simultaneously. If this option is
452 given without an argument, emerge will not limit the number of jobs that can
453 run simultaneously. Also see the related \fB\-\-load\-average\fR option.
454 Note that interactive packages currently force a setting
455 of \fI\-\-jobs=1\fR. This issue can be temporarily avoided
456 by specifying \fI\-\-accept\-properties=\-interactive\fR.
458 .BR "\-\-keep\-going [ y | n ]"
459 Continue as much as possible after an error. When an error occurs,
460 dependencies are recalculated for remaining packages and any with
461 unsatisfied dependencies are automatically dropped. Also see
462 the related \fB\-\-skipfirst\fR option.
464 .BR \-\-load\-average=LOAD
465 Specifies that no new builds should be started if there are other builds
466 running and the load average is at least LOAD (a floating-point number).
467 This option is recommended for use in combination with \fB\-\-jobs\fR in
468 order to avoid excess load. See \fBmake\fR(1) for information about
469 analogous options that should be configured via \fBMAKEOPTS\fR in
472 .BR "\-\-misspell\-suggestions < y | n >"
473 Enable or disable misspell suggestions. By default, emerge will show
474 a list of packages with similar names when a package doesn't exist.
475 The \fIEMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS\fR variable may be used to disable this
478 .BR "\-\-newuse " (\fB\-N\fR)
479 Tells emerge to include installed packages where USE
480 flags have changed since compilation. This option
481 also implies the \fB\-\-selective\fR option.
482 USE flag changes include:
484 A USE flag was added to a package.
485 A USE flag was removed from a package.
486 A USE flag was turned on for a package.
487 A USE flag was turned off for a package.
489 USE flags may be toggled by your profile as well as your USE and package.use
490 settings. If you would like to skip rebuilds for which disabled flags have
491 been added to or removed from IUSE, see the related
492 \-\-reinstall=changed\-use option.
495 Causes portage to disregard merge records indicating that a config file
496 inside of a \fBCONFIG_PROTECT\fR directory has been merged already. Portage
497 will normally merge those files only once to prevent the user from
498 dealing with the same config multiple times. This flag will cause the
499 file to always be merged.
501 .BR "\-\-nodeps " (\fB\-O\fR)
502 Merges specified packages without merging any dependencies. Note that
503 the build may fail if the dependencies aren't satisfied.
505 .BR "\-\-noreplace " (\fB\-n\fR)
506 Skips the packages specified on the command\-line that have already
507 been installed. Without this option, any packages, ebuilds, or deps
508 you specify on the command\-line \fBwill\fR cause Portage to remerge
509 the package, even if it is already installed. Note that Portage will
510 not remerge dependencies by default.
513 Disables the spinner for the session. The spinner is active when the
514 terminal device is determined to be a TTY. This flag disables it regardless.
516 .BR "\-\-usepkg\-exclude " ATOMS
517 A space separated list of package names or slot atoms. Emerge will ignore
518 matching binary packages.
520 .BR "\-\-rebuild\-exclude " ATOMS
521 A space separated list of package names or slot atoms. Emerge will not rebuild
522 matching packages due to \fB\-\-rebuild\fR.
524 .BR "\-\-rebuild\-ignore " ATOMS
525 A space separated list of package names or slot atoms. Emerge will not rebuild
526 packages that depend on matching packages due to \fB\-\-rebuild\fR.
528 .BR "\-\-oneshot " (\fB\-1\fR)
529 Emerge as normal, but do not add the packages to the world file
532 .BR "\-\-onlydeps " (\fB\-o\fR)
533 Only merge (or pretend to merge) the dependencies of the packages
534 specified, not the packages themselves.
536 .BR "\-\-package\-moves [ y | n ]"
537 Perform package moves when necessary. This option
538 is enabled by default. \fBWARNING:\fR This option
539 should remain enabled under normal circumstances.
540 Do not disable it unless you know what you are
543 .BR "\-\-pretend " (\fB\-p\fR)
544 Instead of actually performing the merge, simply display what *would*
545 have been installed if \fB\-\-pretend\fR weren't used. Using \fB\-\-pretend\fR
546 is strongly recommended before installing an unfamiliar package. In
551 N new (not yet installed)
552 S new SLOT installation (side-by-side versions)
553 U updating (to another version)
554 D downgrading (best version seems lower)
555 R replacing (remerging same version))
556 F fetch restricted (must be manually downloaded)
557 f fetch restricted (already downloaded)
558 I interactive (requires user input)
559 B blocked by another package (unresolved conflict)
560 b blocked by another package (automatically resolved conflict)
563 .BR "\-\-quiet [ y | n ] (\-q short option)"
564 Results may vary, but the general outcome is a reduced or condensed
565 output from portage's displays.
567 .BR "\-\-quiet\-build [ y | n ]"
568 Redirect all build output to logs alone, and do not
569 display it on stdout.
571 .BR \-\-quiet\-unmerge\-warn
572 Disable the warning message that's shown prior to
573 \fB\-\-unmerge\fR actions. This option is intended
574 to be set in the \fBmake.conf\fR(5)
575 \fBEMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS\fR variable.
577 .BR "\-\-rebuild\-if\-new\-rev [ y | n ]"
578 Rebuild packages when build\-time dependencies are built from source, if the
579 dependency is not already installed with the same version and revision.
581 .BR "\-\-rebuild\-if\-new\-ver [ y | n ]"
582 Rebuild packages when build\-time dependencies are built from source, if the
583 dependency is not already installed with the same version. Revision numbers
586 .BR "\-\-rebuild\-if\-unbuilt [ y | n ]"
587 Rebuild packages when build\-time dependencies are built from source.
589 .BR "\-\-rebuilt\-binaries [ y | n ]"
590 Replace installed packages with binary packages that have
591 been rebuilt. Rebuilds are detected by comparison of
592 BUILD_TIME package metadata. This option is enabled
593 automatically when using binary packages
594 (\fB\-\-usepkgonly\fR or \fB\-\-getbinpkgonly\fR) together with
595 \fB\-\-update\fR and \fB\-\-deep\fR.
597 .BR "\-\-rebuilt\-binaries\-timestamp=TIMESTAMP"
598 This option modifies emerge's behaviour only if
599 \fB\-\-rebuilt\-binaries\fR is given. Only binaries that
600 have a BUILD_TIME that is larger than the given TIMESTAMP
601 and that is larger than that of the installed package will
602 be considered by the rebuilt\-binaries logic.
604 .BR "\-\-reinstall changed\-use"
605 Tells emerge to include installed packages where USE flags have
606 changed since installation. Unlike \fB\-\-newuse\fR, this option does
607 not trigger reinstallation when flags that the user has not
608 enabled are added or removed.
610 .BR "\-\-reinstall\-atoms " ATOMS
611 A space separated list of package names or slot atoms. Emerge will treat
612 matching packages as if they are not installed, and reinstall them if
616 Set the \fBROOT\fR environment variable.
618 .BR "\-\-root\-deps[=rdeps]"
619 If no argument is given then build\-time dependencies of packages for
620 \fBROOT\fR are installed to
621 \fBROOT\fR instead of /. If the \fBrdeps\fR argument is given then discard
622 all build\-time dependencies of packages for \fBROOT\fR. This option is
623 only meaningful when used together with \fBROOT\fR and it should not
624 be enabled under normal circumstances. For currently supported
625 \fBEAPI\fR values, the build-time dependencies are specified in the
626 \fBDEPEND\fR variable. However, behavior may change for new
627 \fBEAPI\fRs when related extensions are added in the future.
629 .BR "\-\-select [ y | n ]"
630 Add specified packages to the world set (inverse of
631 \fB\-\-oneshot\fR). This is useful if you want to
632 use \fBEMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS\fR to make
633 \fB\-\-oneshot\fR behavior default.
635 .BR "\-\-selective [ y | n ]"
636 This is identical to the \fB\-\-noreplace\fR option.
637 Some options, such as \fB\-\-update\fR, imply \fB\-\-selective\fR.
638 Use \fB\-\-selective=n\fR if you want to forcefully disable
639 \fB\-\-selective\fR, regardless of options like \fB\-\-update\fR.
642 This option is only valid when used with \fB\-\-resume\fR. It removes the
643 first package in the resume list. Dependencies are recalculated for
644 remaining packages and any that have unsatisfied dependencies or are
645 masked will be automatically dropped. Also see the related
646 \fB\-\-keep\-going\fR option.
648 .BR "\-\-tree " (\fB\-t\fR)
649 Shows the dependency tree for the given target by indenting dependencies.
650 This is only really useful in combination with \fB\-\-emptytree\fR or
651 \fB\-\-update\fR and \fB\-\-deep\fR.
653 .BR "\-\-unordered\-display"
654 By default the displayed merge list is sorted using the
655 order in which the packages will be merged. When
656 \fB\-\-tree\fR is used together with this option, this
657 constraint is removed, hopefully leading to a more
658 readable dependency tree.
660 .BR "\-\-update " (\fB\-u\fR)
661 Updates packages to the best version available, which may
662 not always be the highest version number due to masking
663 for testing and development. Package atoms specified on
664 the command line are greedy, meaning that unspecific
665 atoms may match multiple versions of slotted packages.
667 .BR "\-\-use\-ebuild\-visibility [ y | n ]"
668 Use unbuilt ebuild metadata for visibility
669 checks on built packages.
671 .BR "\-\-useoldpkg\-atoms " ATOMS
672 A space separated list of package names or slot atoms. Emerge will prefer
673 matching binary packages over newer unbuilt packages.
675 .BR "\-\-usepkg [ y | n ] (\-k short option)"
676 Tells emerge to use binary packages (from $PKGDIR) if they are available, thus
677 possibly avoiding some time\-consuming compiles. This option is useful for CD
678 installs; you can export PKGDIR=/mnt/cdrom/packages and then use this option to
679 have emerge "pull" binary packages from the CD in order to satisfy dependencies.
681 .BR "\-\-usepkgonly [ y | n ] (\-K short option)"
682 Tells emerge to only use binary packages (from $PKGDIR). All the binary
683 packages must be available at the time of dependency calculation or emerge
684 will simply abort. Portage does not use $PORTDIR when calculating dependency
685 information so all masking information is ignored.
687 .BR "\-\-verbose " (\fB\-v\fR)
688 Tell emerge to run in verbose mode. Currently this flag causes emerge to print
689 out GNU info errors, if any, and to show the USE flags that will be used for
690 each package when pretending. The following symbols are affixed to USE flags
691 in order to indicate their status:
697 Symbol Location Meaning
699 - prefix not enabled (either disabled or removed)
700 * suffix transition to or from the enabled state
701 % suffix newly added or removed
702 () circumfix forced, masked, or removed
705 .BR "\-\-with\-bdeps < y | n >"
706 In dependency calculations, pull in build time dependencies
707 that are not strictly required. This defaults to \'n\' for
708 installation actions, meaning they will not be installed, and
709 \'y\' for the \fB\-\-depclean\fR action, meaning they will not be removed.
710 This setting can be added to
711 \fBEMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS\fR (see make.conf(5)) and later overridden via the
713 .SH "ENVIRONMENT OPTIONS"
715 \fBROOT\fR = \fI[path]\fR
716 Use \fBROOT\fR to specify the target root filesystem to be used for
717 merging packages or ebuilds. This variable can be set via the \fB\-\-root\fR
718 option or in \fBmake.conf\fR(5) (the command line overrides other settings).
722 \fBPORTAGE_CONFIGROOT\fR = \fI[path]\fR
723 Use \fBPORTAGE_CONFIGROOT\fR to specify the location for various portage
725 (see \fBFILES\fR for a detailed list of configuration files). This variable
726 can be set via the \fB\-\-config\-root\fR option.
730 When utilizing \fBemerge\fR with the \fB\-\-pretend\fR and \fB\-\-verbose\fR
731 flags, the output may be a little hard to understand at first. This section
732 explains the abbreviations.
734 .B [blocks B ] app\-text/dos2unix ("app\-text/dos2unix" is blocking app\-text/hd2u\-0.8.0)
735 Dos2unix is Blocking hd2u from being emerged. Blockers are defined when
736 two packages will clobber each others files, or otherwise cause some form
737 of breakage in your system. However, blockers usually do not need to be
738 simultaneously emerged because they usually provide the same functionality.
740 .B [ebuild N ] app\-games/qstat\-25c
741 Qstat is New to your system, and will be emerged for the first time.
743 .B [ebuild NS ] dev-libs/glib-2.4.7
744 You already have a version of glib installed, but a 'new' version in
745 a different SLOT is available.
747 .B [ebuild R ] sys\-apps/sed\-4.0.5
748 Sed 4.0.5 has already been emerged, but if you run the command, then
749 portage will Re\-emerge the specified package (sed in this case).
751 .B [ebuild F ] media\-video/realplayer\-8\-r6
752 The realplayer package requires that you Fetch the sources manually.
753 When you attempt to emerge the package, if the sources are not found,
754 then portage will halt and you will be provided with instructions on how
755 to download the required files.
757 .B [ebuild f ] media\-video/realplayer\-8\-r6
758 The realplayer package's files are already downloaded.
760 .B [ebuild U ] net\-fs/samba\-2.2.8_pre1 [2.2.7a]
761 Samba 2.2.7a has already been emerged and can be Updated to version
764 .B [ebuild UD] media\-libs/libgd\-1.8.4 [2.0.11]
765 Libgd 2.0.11 is already emerged, but if you run the command, then
766 portage will Downgrade to version 1.8.4 for you.
768 This may occur if a newer version of a package has been masked because it is
769 broken or it creates a security risk on your system and a fix has not been
772 Another reason this may occur is if a package you are trying to emerge requires
773 an older version of a package in order to emerge successfully. In this case,
774 libgd 2.x is incompatible with libgd 1.x. This means that packages that were
775 created with libgd 1.x will not compile with 2.x and must downgrade libgd first
776 before they can emerge.
778 .B [ebuild U ] sys\-devel/distcc\-2.16 [2.13\-r1] USE="ipv6* \-gtk \-qt%"
779 Here we see that the make.conf variable \fBUSE\fR affects how this package is
780 built. In this example, ipv6 optional support is enabled and both gtk and qt
781 support are disabled. The asterisk following ipv6 indicates that ipv6 support
782 was disabled the last time this package was installed. The percent sign
783 following qt indicates that the qt option has been added to the package since
784 it was last installed. For information about all \fBUSE\fR symbols, see the
785 \fB\-\-verbose\fR option documentation above.
787 \fB*Note:\fR Flags that haven't changed since the last install are only
788 displayed when you use the \fB\-\-pretend\fR and \fB\-\-verbose\fR options.
789 Using the \fB\-\-quiet\fR option will prevent all information from being
792 .B [ebuild U *] sys\-apps/portage\-2.2.0_alpha6 [2.1.9.25]
793 Portage 2.1.9.25 is installed, but if you run the command, then
794 portage will upgrade to version 2.2.0_alpha6. In this case,
795 the \fB*\fR symbol is displayed, in order to indicate that version
796 2.2.0_alpha6 is masked by missing keyword. This type of masking
797 display is disabled by the \fB\-\-quiet\fR option if the
798 \fB\-\-verbose\fR option is not enabled simultaneously.
799 The following symbols are used to indicate various types
812 \fBNOTE:\fR The unstable keyword symbol (~) will not be shown in cases
813 in which the corresponding unstable keywords have been accepted
814 globally via \fBACCEPT_KEYWORDS\fR.
819 You should almost always precede any package install or update attempt with a
820 \fB\-\-pretend\fR install or update. This lets you see how much will be
821 done, and shows you any blocking packages that you will have to rectify.
822 This goes doubly so for the \fBsystem\fR and \fBworld\fR sets, which can
823 update a large number of packages if the portage tree has been particularly
826 You also want to typically use \fB\-\-update\fR, which ignores packages that
827 are already fully updated but updates those that are not.
829 When you install a package with uninstalled dependencies and do
830 not explicitly state those dependencies in the list of parameters,
831 they will not be added to the world file. If you want them to be
832 detected for world updates, make sure to explicitly list them as
833 parameters to \fBemerge\fR.
835 \fBUSE variables\fR may be specified on the command line to
836 override those specified in the default locations, letting you
837 avoid using some dependencies you may not want to have. \fBUSE
838 flags specified on the command line are NOT remembered\fR. For
839 example, \fBenv USE="\-X \-gnome" emerge mc\fR will emerge mc with
840 those USE settings (on Bourne-compatible shells you may omit the \fBenv\fR
841 part). If you want those USE settings to be more
842 permanent, you can put them in /etc/portage/package.use instead.
844 If \fBemerge \-\-update system\fR or \fBemerge \-\-update world\fR
845 fails with an error message, it may be that an ebuild uses some
846 newer feature not present in this version of \fBemerge\fR. You
847 can use \fBemerge \-\-update portage\fR to upgrade to the lastest
848 version, which should support any necessary new features.
849 .SH "MASKED PACKAGES"
850 \fINOTE: Please use caution when using development packages. Problems
851 and bugs resulting from misusing masked packages drains Gentoo
852 developer time. Please be sure you are capable of handling any problems
855 Masks in \fBportage\fR have many uses: they allow a
856 testing period where the packages can be used in live machines; they
857 prevent the use of a package when it will fail; and they mask existing
858 packages that are broken or could pose a security risk. Read below
859 to find out how to unmask in various cases. Also note that if you give
860 \fBemerge\fR an ebuild, then all forms of masking will be ignored and
861 \fBemerge\fR will attempt to emerge the package.
864 When packages are masked for \fBbacktracking\fR, it means that the dependency
865 resolver has temporarily masked them in order to avoid dependency conflicts
866 and/or unsatisfied dependencies. This type of mask is typically accompanied
867 by a message about a missed package update which has been skipped in order to
868 avoid dependency conflicts and/or unsatisfied dependencies.
871 The \fBpackage.mask\fR file primarily blocks the use of packages that cause
872 problems or are known to have issues on different systems. It resides in
873 \fI/usr/portage/profiles\fR.
876 Use the \fBACCEPT_CHOSTS\fR variable in \fBmake.conf\fR(5) to control
877 \fBCHOST\fR acceptance.
880 The \fBEAPI\fR variable in an \fBebuild\fR(5) file is used to mask packages
881 that are not supported by the current version of portage. Packages masked by
882 \fBEAPI\fR can only be installed after portage has been upgraded.
885 The \fBKEYWORDS\fR variable in an \fBebuild\fR file is also used for masking
886 a package still in testing. There are architecture\-specific keywords for
887 each package that let \fBportage\fR know which systems are compatible with
888 the package. Packages which compile on an architecture, but have not been
889 proven to be "stable", are masked with a tilde (\fB~\fR) in front of the
890 architecture name. \fBemerge\fR examines the \fBACCEPT_KEYWORDS\fR environment
891 variable to allow or disallow the emerging of a package masked by
892 \fBKEYWORDS\fR. To inform \fBemerge\fR that it should build these 'testing'
893 versions of packages, you should update your
894 \fI/etc/portage/package.accept_keywords\fR
895 file to list the packages you want the
896 \'testing\' version. See \fBportage\fR(5) for more information.
899 The \fBLICENSE\fR variable in an \fBebuild\fR file can be used to mask
900 packages based on licensing restrictions. \fBemerge\fR examines the
901 \fBACCEPT_LICENSE\fR environment variable to allow or disallow the emerging
902 of a package masked by \fBLICENSE\fR. See \fBmake.conf\fR(5) for information
903 about \fBACCEPT_LICENSE\fR, and see \fBportage\fR(5) for information about
904 \fI/etc/portage/package.license\fR.
907 The \fBPROPERTIES\fR variable in an \fBebuild\fR file can be used to mask
908 packages based on properties restrictions. \fBemerge\fR examines the
909 \fBACCEPT_PROPERTIES\fR environment variable to allow or disallow the emerging
910 of a package masked by \fBPROPERTIES\fR. See \fBmake.conf\fR(5) for information
911 about \fBACCEPT_PROPERTIES\fR, and see \fBportage\fR(5) for information about
912 \fI/etc/portage/package.properties\fR. Use the \fB\-\-accept\-properties\fR
913 option to temporarily override \fBACCEPT_PROPERTIES\fR.
914 .SH "CONFIGURATION FILES"
915 Portage has a special feature called "config file protection". The purpose of
916 this feature is to prevent new package installs from clobbering existing
917 configuration files. By default, config file protection is turned on for /etc
918 and the KDE configuration dirs; more may be added in the future.
920 When Portage installs a file into a protected directory tree like /etc, any
921 existing files will not be overwritten. If a file of the same name already
922 exists, Portage will change the name of the to\-be\-installed file from 'foo' to
923 \'._cfg0000_foo\'. If \'._cfg0000_foo\' already exists, this name becomes
924 \'._cfg0001_foo\', etc. In this way, existing files are not overwritten,
925 allowing the administrator to manually merge the new config files and avoid any
928 In addition to protecting overwritten files, Portage will not delete any files
929 from a protected directory when a package is unmerged. While this may be a
930 little bit untidy, it does prevent potentially valuable config files from being
931 deleted, which is of paramount importance.
933 Protected directories are set using the \fICONFIG_PROTECT\fR variable, normally
934 defined in make.globals. Directory exceptions to the CONFIG_PROTECTed
935 directories can be specified using the \fICONFIG_PROTECT_MASK\fR variable. To find
936 files that need to be updated in /etc, type \fBfind /etc \-iname \'._cfg????_*\'\fR.
938 You can disable this feature by setting \fICONFIG_PROTECT="\-*"\fR in /etc/make.conf.
939 Then, Portage will mercilessly auto\-update your config files. Alternatively,
940 you can leave Config File Protection on but tell Portage that it can overwrite
941 files in certain specific /etc subdirectories. For example, if you wanted
942 Portage to automatically update your rc scripts and your wget configuration,
943 but didn't want any other changes made without your explicit approval, you'd
944 add this to /etc/make.conf:
946 .I CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/wget /etc/rc.d"
948 Tools such as dispatch\-conf, cfg\-update, and etc\-update are also available to
949 aid in the merging of these files. They provide interactive merging and can
950 auto\-merge trivial changes.
952 Please report any bugs you encounter through our website:
954 \fBhttp://bugs.gentoo.org/\fR
956 Please include the output of \fBemerge \-\-info\fR when you submit your
960 Daniel Robbins <drobbins@gentoo.org>
961 Geert Bevin <gbevin@gentoo.org>
962 Achim Gottinger <achim@gentoo.org>
963 Nicholas Jones <carpaski@gentoo.org>
964 Phil Bordelon <phil@thenexusproject.org>
965 Mike Frysinger <vapier@gentoo.org>
966 Marius Mauch <genone@gentoo.org>
967 Jason Stubbs <jstubbs@gentoo.org>
968 Brian Harring <ferringb@gmail.com>
969 Zac Medico <zmedico@gentoo.org>
972 Here is a common list of files you will probably be interested in. For a
973 complete listing, please refer to the \fBportage\fR(5) man page.
975 .B /usr/share/portage/config/sets/
976 Contains the default set configuration.
978 .B /var/lib/portage/world
979 Contains a list of all user\-specified packages. You can safely edit
980 this file, adding packages that you want to be considered in \fBworld\fR
981 set updates and removing those that you do not want to be considered.
984 Contains variables for the build process, overriding those in
987 .B /etc/portage/color.map
988 Contains variables customizing colors.
990 .B /etc/dispatch\-conf.conf
991 Contains settings to handle automatic updates/backups of configuration
994 .B /etc/make.profile/make.defaults
995 Contains profile\-specific variables for the build process. \fBDo not
998 .B /usr/portage/profiles/use.desc
999 Contains the master list of USE flags with descriptions of their
1000 functions. \fBDo not edit this file\fR.
1002 .B /etc/make.profile/virtuals
1003 Contains a list of default packages used to resolve virtual dependencies.
1004 \fBDo not edit this file\fR.
1006 .B /etc/make.profile/packages
1007 Contains a list of packages used for the base system. The \fBsystem\fR
1008 and \fBworld\fR sets consult this file. \fBDo not edit this file\fR.
1010 .B /usr/share/portage/config/make.globals
1011 Contains the default variables for the build process. \fBDo not edit
1014 .BR "emerge \-\-help",
1022 A number of helper applications reside in \fI/usr/lib/portage/bin\fR.
1024 The \fBapp\-portage/gentoolkit\fR package contains useful scripts such as
1025 \fBequery\fR (a package query tool).
projects / portage.git / blob