Installing from aur arch linux

How to install AUR packages (manually + helpers)

The Arch Linux repositories are one of the most complete in all of Linux. If a program is not available in the official Arch Linux repository, it should be available in the Arch User Repository or AUR. So, this post will teach you how to install AUR packages both manually and with some helping program.

INTRODUCTION

So, if a package is available for Linux, it is unlikely you will not find it in the AUR. Many Arch users say that the AUR is one of the main reasons they use Arch Linux. If you use Arch Linux or you are about to move to Arch Linux, you will have to use the AUR sooner or later. However, installing packages from the AUR seems to be complicated if you have never done it before. But I will try to present the process in the easiest way possible.

In the first part of this post, I will show you how to install AUR packages manually. Then, in the second part, you will learn how to use some AUR helpers that simplify and automate the installation process. There are several helpers available. In the video above, I showed how to install and use Yaourt, and aurman. But both these programs are discontinued now. So, in this post, I will show you how to install and use yay, yet another yogurt. The video tutorial showing yay is at the end of this post.

Before we start I would like to warn you that all AUR packages are user-produced content, so use them at your own risk.

Prerequisites

To install AUR packages, you need to have some building programs on your system to compile a program. You will also need the git program to download the source code of the AUR packages. To install all the required packages, run the following command:

In addition, I also recommend enabling parallel compiling on your system to improve the compiling speed. To do that, open the file /etc/makepkg.conf .

It is a very large file but if you press the combination CTRL + W, you can search for a term MAKEFLAGS .

So, most likely you will have a value of -j2 , which means to use 2 threads of the processor. But if your processor has more than two threads, you can replace -j2 with -j$(nproc) . The variable $(nproc) will define a number of available threads in your processor automatically.

Then, press CTRL+O to save the changes and CTRL+X to exit.

After that, you should be able to install AUR packages without problems.

Manual Installation

To install a program from AUR manually, you need to perform a few steps. Basically, you have to do the following:

1. Find the package in the AUR.
2. Clone the repository.
3. Check the PKGBUILD file.
4. Compile and install the program.

1. Find the package in the AUR

On Arch Linux website, you need to go to the AUR section. and search for the package you are about to install. For example, I will search for Spotify. Spotify is not in the official repository of Arch Linux because it is proprietary software.

Then, you will see all the information about the program on the next screen. To install an AUR package, you will need to copy the link in Git Clone URL.

2. Clone the repository

After doing that, it is necessary to clone the repository using git . However, I recommend creating a dedicated folder for this type of programs. For example, I created the Programs folder where I compile all the non-official program. Next, enter this folder and clone the repository of the program you selected earlier (Spotify in my case)”

3. Check the PKGBUILD file.

After the cloning is finished, a new folder containing the program code will be created. In this case, it is called spotify. Enter it and list its contents with the command ls . In that folder, you should see the PKGBUILD file.

You can open it with nano , explore its content and edit it if necessary. You can learn about PKGBUILD format at the Arch Linux Wiki.

4. Compile and install the program.

After that, you can start compiling it by running this command in the program directory:

Depending on the package, it can take quite some time. Next, you have to type your password to install the program.

Now, the program is installed and you can open the program from the main menu.

This way you can install any program from the AUR. As you can see, the process is quite simple, it all comes down to cloning the repository, accessing the folder, verifying the PKGBUILD file and finally, starting the installation.

Install AUR Packages using a helper

There are several AUR helpers available. You can see the full list at this page of Arch Linux Wiki. The installation procedure for these helpers is the same as manual installation from the AUR shown above. I will show how to install yay. It is recommended by the developer of aurman, which I used before, and it is also a recommended helper on Manjaro website. I also liked it after I tested it.

To start installing it, find the git URL of yay in the AUR webpage and clone the repository:

Now, enter the downloaded folder, build and install the program.

Now, yay is available for use. For example, to search for a program in the AUR, use this command:

If you already know that package name, you can install it right away with the -S option:

You can also use yay to search both the AUR and official repositories with -Ss option.

Finally, to upgrade all the packages, use this command.

As you can see from these commands yay uses the same syntax as in pacman. You can discover all available options of yay with the man command:

I hope you will enjoy using yay.

CONCLUSION

The AUR is a very large source of packages for Arch Linux. It should satisfy the needs of any Linux user. If you were unsure how to use the AUR, I hope you are more confident now as you know how to install AUR packages either manually or with some a helper program such as yay.

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Arch User Repository

The Arch User Repository (AUR) is a community-driven repository for Arch users. It contains package descriptions (PKGBUILDs) that allow you to compile a package from source with makepkg and then install it via pacman. The AUR was created to organize and share new packages from the community and to help expedite popular packages’ inclusion into the community repository. This document explains how users can access and utilize the AUR.

A good number of new packages that enter the official repositories start in the AUR. In the AUR, users are able to contribute their own package builds ( PKGBUILD and related files). The AUR community has the ability to vote for packages in the AUR. If a package becomes popular enough — provided it has a compatible license and good packaging technique — it may be entered into the community repository (directly accessible by pacman or abs).

Contents

Getting started

Users can search and download PKGBUILDs from the AUR Web Interface. These PKGBUILD s can be built into installable packages using makepkg, then installed using pacman.

• Ensure the base-devel package group is installed in full ( pacman -S —needed base-devel ).
• Glance over the #FAQ for answers to the most common questions.
• You may wish to adjust /etc/makepkg.conf to optimize the build process to your system prior to building packages from the AUR. A significant improvement in package build times can be realized on systems with multi-core processors by adjusting the MAKEFLAGS variable, by using multiple cores for compression, or by using different compression algorithm. Users can also enable hardware-specific compiler optimizations via the CFLAGS variable. See makepkg#Tips and tricks for more information.

It is also possible to interact with the AUR through SSH: type ssh aur@aur.archlinux.org help for a list of available commands.

History

In the beginning, there was ftp://ftp.archlinux.org/incoming , and people contributed by simply uploading the PKGBUILD, the needed supplementary files, and the built package itself to the server. The package and associated files remained there until a Package Maintainer saw the program and adopted it.

Then the Trusted User Repositories were born. Certain individuals in the community were allowed to host their own repositories for anyone to use. The AUR expanded on this basis, with the aim of making it both more flexible and more usable. In fact, the AUR maintainers are still referred to as TUs (Trusted Users).

Between 2015-06-08 and 2015-08-08 the AUR transitioned from version 3.5.1 to 4.0.0, introducing the use of Git repositories for publishing the PKGBUILD s. Existing packages were dropped unless manually migrated to the new infrastructure by their maintainers.

Git repositories for AUR3 packages

The AUR Archive on GitHub has a repository for every package that was in AUR 3 at the time of the migration. Alternatively, there is the aur3-mirror repository which provides the same.

Installing and upgrading packages

Installing packages from the AUR is a relatively simple process. Essentially:

1. Acquire the build files, including the PKGBUILD and possibly other required files, like systemd units and patches (often not the actual code).
2. Verify that the PKGBUILD and accompanying files are not malicious or untrustworthy.
3. Run makepkg in the directory where the files are saved. This will download the code, compile it, and package it.
4. Run pacman -U package_file to install the package onto your system.

Prerequisites

First ensure that the necessary tools are installed by installing the base-devel group in full which includes make and other tools needed for compiling from source.

Next choose an appropriate build directory. A build directory is simply a directory where the package will be made or «built» and can be any directory. The examples in the following sections will use

/builds as the build directory.

Acquire build files

Locate the package in the AUR. This is done using the search field at the top of the AUR home page. Clicking the application’s name in the search list brings up an information page on the package. Read through the description to confirm that this is the desired package, note when the package was last updated, and read any comments.

There are several methods for acquiring the build files for a package:

• Clone its git repository, labeled «Git Clone URL» in the «Package Details» on its AUR page. This is the preferred method, an advantage of which is that you can easily get updates to the package via git pull .

• Download a snapshot, either by clicking the «Download snapshot» link under «Package Actions» on the right hand side of its AUR page, or in a terminal:

Acquire a PGP public key if needed

Check if a signature file in the form of .sig or .asc is part of the PKGBUILD source array, if that is the case, then acquire one of the public keys listed in the PKGBUILD validpgpkeys array. Refer to makepkg#Signature checking for more information.

Build the package

Change directories to the directory containing the package’s PKGBUILD.

View the contents of all provided files. For example, to use the pager less to view PKGBUILD do:

..@ vimdiff . The advantage of vimdiff is that you view the entire contents of each file along with indicators on what has changed.

Make the package. After manually confirming the contents of the files, run makepkg as a normal user. Some helpful flags:

• -s / —syncdeps automatically resolves and installs any dependencies with pacman before building. If the package depends on other AUR packages, you will need to manually install them first.
• -i / —install installs the package if it is built successfully. This lets you skip the next step that is usually done manually.
• -r / —rmdeps removes build-time dependencies after the build, as they are no longer needed. However these dependencies may need to be reinstalled the next time the package is updated.
• -c / —clean cleans up temporary build files after the build, as they are no longer needed. These files are usually needed only when debugging the build process.

Install the package

The package can now be installed with pacman:

Upgrading packages

In the directory containing the package’s PKGBUILD you must first update the files and changes by using the command

then follow the previous build and install instructions.

Feedback

Commenting on packages

The AUR Web Interface has a comments facility that allows users to provide suggestions and feedback on improvements to the PKGBUILD contributor.

Python-Markdown provides basic Markdown syntax to format comments.

Voting for packages

One of the easiest activities for all Arch users is to browse the AUR and vote for their favourite packages using the online interface. All packages are eligible for adoption by a TU for inclusion in the community repository, and the vote count is one of the considerations in that process; it is in everyone’s interest to vote!

Sign up on the AUR website to get a «Vote for this package» option while browsing packages. After signing up it is also possible to vote from the commandline with aurvote AUR , aurvote-git AUR or aur-auto-vote-git AUR .

Alternatively, if you have set up ssh authentication, you can directly vote from the command line using your ssh key. This means that you will not need to save or type in your AUR password.

Flagging packages out-of-date

First, you should flag the package out-of-date indicating details on why the package is outdated, preferably including links to the release announcement or the new release tarball.

You should also try to reach out to the maintainer directly by email. If there is no response from the maintainer after two weeks, you can file an orphan request. See AUR submission guidelines#Requests for details.

Debugging the package build process

1. Ensure your build environment is up-to-date by upgrading before building anything.
2. Ensure you have the base-devel group installed.
3. Use the -s option with makepkg to check and install all dependencies needed before starting the build process.
4. Try the default makepkg configuration.
5. See Makepkg#Troubleshooting for common issues.

If you are having trouble building a package, first read its PKGBUILD and the comments on its AUR page.

It is possible that a PKGBUILD is broken for everyone. If you cannot figure it out on your own, report it to the maintainer (e.g. by posting the errors you are getting in the comments on the AUR page). You may also seek help in the AUR Issues, Discussion & PKGBUILD Requests forum.

The reason might not be trivial after all. Custom CFLAGS , LDFLAGS and MAKEFLAGS can cause failures. To avoid problems caused by your particular system configuration, build packages in a clean chroot. If the build process still fails in a clean chroot, the issue is probably with the PKGBUILD .

See Creating packages#Checking package sanity about using namcap . If you would like to have a PKGBUILD reviewed, post it on the aur-general mailing list to get feedback from the TUs and fellow AUR members, or the Creating & Modifying Packages forum. You could also seek help in the IRC channel #archlinux-aur on the Libera Chat network.

Submitting packages

Users can share PKGBUILDs using the Arch User Repository. See AUR submission guidelines for details.

Web interface translation

See i18n.txt in the AUR source tree for information about creating and maintaining translation of the AUR Web Interface.

What kind of packages are permitted on the AUR?

The packages on the AUR are merely «build scripts», i.e. recipes to build binaries for pacman. For most cases, everything is permitted, subject to usefulness and scope guidelines, as long as you are in compliance with the licensing terms of the content. For other cases, where it is mentioned that «you may not link» to downloads, i.e. contents that are not redistributable, you may only use the file name itself as the source. This means and requires that users already have the restricted source in the build directory prior to building the package. When in doubt, ask.

How can I vote for packages in the AUR?

What is a Trusted User / TU?

A Trusted User, in short TU, is a person who is chosen to oversee AUR and the community repository. They are the ones who maintain popular PKGBUILDs in community, and overall keep the AUR running.

What is the difference between the Arch User Repository and the community repository?

The Arch User Repository is where all PKGBUILDs that users submit are stored, and must be built manually with makepkg. When PKGBUILD s receive enough community interest and the support of a TU, they are moved into the community repository (maintained by the TUs), where the binary packages can be installed with pacman.

Foo in the AUR is outdated; what should I do?

In the meantime, you can try updating the package yourself by editing the PKGBUILD locally. Sometimes, updates do not require changes to the build or package process, in which case simply updating the pkgver or source array is sufficient.

Foo in the AUR does not compile when I run makepkg; what should I do?

You are probably missing something trivial, see #Debugging the package build process.

ERROR: One or more PGP signatures could not be verified!; what should I do?

Most likely you do not have the required public key(s) in your personal keyring to verify downloaded files. See Makepkg#Signature checking for details.

How do I create a PKGBUILD?

I have a PKGBUILD I would like to submit; can someone check it to see if there are any errors?

There are several channels available to submit your package for review; see #Debugging the package build process.

How to get a PKGBUILD into the community repository?

Usually, at least 10 votes are required for something to move into community. However, if a TU wants to support a package, it will often be found in the repository.

Reaching the required minimum of votes is not the only requirement, there has to be a TU willing to maintain the package. TUs are not required to move a package into the community repository even if it has thousands of votes.

Usually when a very popular package stays in the AUR it is because:

• Arch Linux already has another version of a package in the repositories
• Its license prohibits redistribution
• It helps retrieve user-submitted PKGBUILDs. AUR helpers are unsupported by definition.

How can I speed up repeated build processes?

What is the difference between foo and foo-git packages?

Many AUR packages come in «stable» release and «unstable» development versions. Development packages usually have a suffix denoting their Version Control System and are not intended for regular use, but may offer new features or bugfixes. Because these packages only download the latest available source when you execute makepkg , their pkgver() in the AUR does not reflect upstream changes. Likewise, these packages cannot perform an authenticity checksum on any VCS source.

Why has foo disappeared from the AUR?

It is possible the package has been adopted by a TU and is now in the community repository.

Packages may be deleted if they did not fulfill the rules of submission. See the aur-requests archives for the reason for deletion.

If the package used to exist in AUR3, it might not have been migrated to AUR4. See the #Git repositories for AUR3 packages where these are preserved.

How do I find out if any of my installed packages disappeared from AUR?

The simplest way is to check the HTTP status of the package’s AUR page:

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