Using portage - Revision history

Gr0x0rd: /* Global and per-package USE flags */

2016-11-23T04:12:43Z

Global and per-package USE flags

Gr0x0rd: /* Uninstalling packages */

2011-03-14T04:40:08Z

Uninstalling packages

Gr0x0rd: /* = Uninstalling packages */

2011-03-14T04:39:07Z

= Uninstalling packages

Gr0x0rd at 04:24, 14 March 2011

2011-03-14T04:24:09Z

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Gr0x0rd: Created page with " one of the best (and worst) things about gentoo is the portage system. think of portage as the equivalent of the windows installer, but without a graphical user interface, that…"

2010-12-04T02:41:54Z

Created page with " one of the best (and worst) things about gentoo is the portage system. think of portage as the equivalent of the windows installer, but without a graphical user interface, that…"

New page

one of the best (and worst) things about gentoo is the portage system. think of
portage as the equivalent of the windows installer, but without a graphical user
interface, that acts as an "agent" between your computer and the software you
want to install.

portage is run by using the command "emerge". the syntax is as follows:

emerge -<flags> <what to emerge>

portage will read the contents of your /etc/make.conf file to determine which
gentoo mirror to download packages from. your make.conf file also contains an
rsync server, which will update the local information available to portage so
it has the latest list of packages. To sync portage, use the command

emerge --sync

Portage flags tell portage which action to take. Some of the available flags are

-u : update the package in question.
-D : update the package in question, and any packages it depends on
-N : re-emerge the package with new USE flags
-v : verbose mode
-a : ask before emerging the package(s)
-C : uninstall the package in question.
-s : search for package(s) in question.
-p : pretend to emerge package (see what would happen)

*** always use the -p flag before emerging any package. ***

If I had just run an emerge --sync and wanted to see if there was a new version
of the ati video drivers, I would issue the command

emerge -p ati-drivers

If I wanted to search for vlc media player, I would issue the command

emerge -s vlc

To see all the packages on my system that could be updated,

emerge -uDNvp world

Your etc/make.conf contains your global USE flags. Portage reads these flags
before emerging any package, and will use them to compile and optimize the package
based on the flags you have set. To view a list of the packages available in
portage, and the USE flags available for each, visit

http://gentoo-portage.com/Browse

If there is a USE flag you want to use for a specific package but don't want to
use globally, you can specify the package and USE flag in /etc/portage/package.use.

nano -w /etc/portage/package.use

For example, if we wanted to emerge conky without the ivp6 USE flag, but we had
the ipv6 USE flag in our make.conf, we would add a line such as

app-admin/conky truetype audacious -ipv6

to specify that portage emerge conky with the truetype and audacious USE flags, but
not the ipv6 USE flag.

Some packages in portage may be masked (or blocked) for various reasons. You may run
into an issue where you can't install a certain package because it or one of its
dependencies are masked. To unmask a package, edit your /etc/portage/package.keywords
file:

nano -w /etc/portage/package.keywords

to unmask a specific package, you'll need to package type and package name in the
format <package-type>/<package-name>. For example, if we wanted to emerge masked
versions of portage, we would add

sys-apps/portage **

to our package.keywords file. This strategy can be used to emerge any masked package.

Since there may be many different versions of each package in portage, and in many
cases, the latest package may not always be the best. You can specify specific package
versions and prevent portage from upgrading them by specifying

=pkg-type/pkg-name-version

in your package.keywords file. you can also tell portage to install a specific package
on-the-fly using the syntax

emerge =pkg-type/pkg-name-version

The most common problem when using portage is circular dependencies and blocked or
masked packages. package x may require package y which may require package z which
cannot coexist with package x. there are a number of ways to circumvent these types
of issues.

* uninstall packages blocking other packages. *

to do this, use portage's -C flag.

emerge -C <package to uninstall>

* upgrade or downgrade packages. *

change your package.keywords file and try to emerge problematic packages individually.
to do this, you can specify the package version in your package.keywords file, or do
it on-the-fly using

emerge =pkg-type/pkg-name-version

* run revdep-rebuild. *

to run gentoo's revdep-rebuild (review dependencies and rebuild packages) command, you
will need to emerge the gentoolkit.

emerge gentoolkit

revdep-rebuild

this will rebuild any libraries that have broken associations. it is recommended to run
revdep-rebuild every time you emerge packages that have significant impact on your system.

* try using a beta version of portage. *

add

sys-apps/portage **

to your /etc/portage/package.keywords file and then run

emerge portage

unsupported versions of portage may pull in other masked packages, so you'll have to
note these packages and add them to your package.keywords in similar fashion. Once a
newer version of portage is installed, you'll want to run

emerge --sync

and try emerging your packages again.

you don't need to understand all of this information- just remember that it is here
and you can use it as a reference if needed.

@@ Line 44: / Line 44: @@
 === Global and per-package USE flags ===
-If there is a USE flag you want to use for a specific package but don't want to use globally, you can specify the package and USE flag in ''/etc/portage/package.use''.
+If there is a USE flag you want to use for a specific package but don't want to use globally, you can specify the package and USE flag in ''/etc/portage/package.use/''. To organize things better, individual files for the package classes are now kept in this folder. In this example we'll use the conky package, which is in the app-admin class:
-  '''$''' sudo nano -w /etc/portage/package.use
+  '''$''' sudo nano -w /etc/portage/package.use/app-admin
 For example, if we wanted to emerge conky without the ivp6 USE flag, but we had the ipv6 USE flag in our make.conf, we would add a line such as
@@ Line 52: / Line 52: @@
   app-admin/conky truetype audacious -ipv6
 to specify that portage emerge conky with the truetype and audacious USE flags, but not the ipv6 USE flag.
 === Masked Packages ===

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:40, 14 March 2011
Line 83:		Line 83:

	'''$''' sudo emerge -avC ''packagename''		'''$''' sudo emerge -avC ''packagename''
		+
		+	This is usually your best tool for the dreaded cyclical dependencies: you may have to uninstall certain packages or change your USE flags then try emerging again.

@@ Line 78: / Line 78: @@
 The most common problem when using portage is circular dependencies and blocked or masked packages. package x may require package y which may require package z which cannot coexist with package x. There are a number of ways to circumvent these types of issues, one of which is uninstalling a certain package.
-=== Uninstalling packages ==
+=== Uninstalling packages ===
 To uninstall or unmerge a package, use portage's -C flag.
   '''$''' sudo emerge -avC ''packagename''