AUR User Guidelines
From ArchWiki
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Explains how to access and use the Arch User Repository. |
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Arch User Repository |
AUR User Guidelines |
AUR Trusted User Guidelines |
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. This document shows the normal user how to access AUR using the web interface and how to work with AUR.
Contents |
Using the AUR
Searching the AUR
The AUR web interface can be found here.
Queries search package names and descriptions via a MySQL LIKE comparison. This allows for more flexible search criteria (e.g. try searching for 'tool%like%grep' instead of 'tool like grep'). If you need to search for a description that contains '%', escape it with '\%'.
Installing Packages from the AUR
Installing packages from the AUR (aka the [unsupported] repository) is a relatively simple process. Essentially:
- Acquire a PKGBUILD and any other required files (e.g. patches)
- Run makepkg in the directory where the files are saved
- Install the resulting package with pacman
What follows is a detailed example of installation of a package called "foo".
Prerequisites
First ensure that the necessary tools are installed. The package group "base-devel" should be sufficient, as it includes makepkg and the tools needed for compiling from source.
# pacman -Sy base-devel
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. Examples of commonly used directories are:
~/builds
or if using ABS (the Arch Build System):
/var/abs/local
For more information on ABS read the Arch Build System article. The example will use ~/builds as the build directory.
Acquire build files
Locate the package in the AUR. This is done using the search feature (text 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.
Download the necessary build files. From the package's information page download the build files by clicking the "Tarball" link on the left-hand side near the end of the package details. This file should be saved to the build directory or otherwise copied to the directory after downloading. In this example, the file is called "foo.tar.gz" (standard format is <pkgname>.tar.gz, if it has been properly submitted).
Build the package
Extract the tarball. Change directories to the build directory if not already there and extract the build files.
$ cd ~/builds $ tar -xvzf foo.tar.gz
This should create a new directory called "foo" in the build directory.
$ cd foo $ nano PKGBUILD $ nano foo.install
Make the package. After manually confirming the integrity of the files, run makepkg as a normal user in the build directory.
$ makepkg -s
The -s switch will use sudo to install any needed dependencies. If the use of sudo is undesirable, use fakeroot (see #Using fakeroot) and exclude the -s in the above command.
Install the package
Install the package using pacman. A tarball should have been created named:
<application name>-<version number>-<architecture>.pkg.tar.gz
This package can be installed using pacman's "upgrade" command:
# pacman -U foo-0.1-i686.pkg.tar.gz
Using fakeroot
fakeroot simply allows a normal user the necessary root permissions to create packages in the build environment without being able to alter the wider system. If the build process attempts to alter files outside of the build environment then errors are produced and the build fails -- this is very useful for checking the quality/safety/integrity of PKGBUILDs for distribution. By default, export USE_FAKEROOT="y" is enabled in /etc/makepkg.conf.
Submitting Packages to UNSUPPORTED
After logging in to the AUR web interface, a user can submit a gzipped tarball (.tar.gz) of a directory containing build files for a package. The directory inside the tarball should contain a PKGBUILD, any .install files, patches, etc. (ABSOLUTELY no binaries). Examples of what such a directory should look like can be seen inside /var/abs if ABS was installed.
Note that this is a gzipped tarball - assuming you're uploading a package called 'libfoo', when you create the file it should look similar to this:
$ ls -a libfoo . .. PKGBUILD libfoo.install $ makepkg --source
# List contents of tarball. $ tar tf libfoo-0.1-1.src.tar.gz libfoo/ libfoo/PKGBUILD libfoo/libfoo.install
When submitting a package, observe the following rules:
- Check [core], [extra], and [community] for the package. If it is inside any of those repositories in ANY form, DO NOT submit the package (if the current package is broken or is lacking an included feature then please file a bug report in FlySpray).
- Check UNSUPPORTED for the package. If it is currently maintained, changes can be submitted in a comment for the maintainer's attention. If it is unmaintained, the package can be adopted and updated as required.
- Verify carefully that what you are uploading is correct. All contributors must read and adhere to the Arch Packaging Standards when writing PKGBUILDs. This is essential to the smooth running and general success of the AUR. Remember you are not going to earn any credit or respect from your peers by wasting their time with a bad PKGBUILD.
- Packages that contain binaries or that are very poorly written may be deleted without warning.
- If you are unsure about the package (or the build/submission process) in any way, submit the PKGBUILD to the AUR Mailing List or the AUR boards on the forum for public review before adding it to the AUR.
- Make sure the package is useful. Will anyone else want to use this package? Is it extremely specialized? If more than a few people would find this package useful, it is appropriate for submission.
- Gain some experience before submitting packages. Build a few packages to learn the process and then submit.
- If you submit a package.tar.gz with a file named 'package' in it you'll get a an error: 'Could not change to directory /home/aur/unsupported/package/package'. To resolve this rename the file named 'package' to something else, for example, 'package.rc'. When it is installed in the pkg directory you may rename it back to 'package'.
Maintaining Packages in UNSUPPORTED
- Check for feedback and comments from other users and try to incorporate any improvements they suggest; consider it a learning process!
- Please DO NOT just submit and forget about packages! While in UNSUPPORTED, it is the user's job to maintain the package by checking for updates and improving the PKGBUILD.
- If you do not want to continue to maintain the package for some reason,
disown
the pkg using the AUR web interface and/or post a message to the AUR Mailing List.
The User and the AUR
The normal user plays an essential role in the AUR and without the support, involvement and contribution of the wider user community the AUR cannot fulfill its potential. The lifecycle of an AUR package starts and ends with the user and requires the user to contribute in several ways.
Sharing PKGBUILDs in UNSUPPORTED
Users can share PKGBUILDs using the UNSUPPORTED area in the AUR. UNSUPPORTED does not contain any binary packages but allows users to upload PKGBUILDs that can be downloaded by others. A comments facility allows users to provide suggestions and feedback on improvements to the PKGBUILD contributor. These PKGBUILDs are completely unofficial and have not been thoroughly vetted, so they should be used at your own risk.
There is not and will never be an official mechanism for downloading build material from UNSUPPORTED, but there are many scripts and tools which can do so.
[community]
The [community] repo is a supplement to the [extra] and [core] repositories where the most popular packages from UNSUPPORTED are maintained by the Trusted Users group on behalf of the users. [community], unlike UNSUPPORTED, contains binary packages that can be installed directly with pacman and the build files can also be accessed with ABS. Some of these packages may eventually make the transition to the [core] or [extra] repositories as the developers consider them crucial to the distribution.
Users can access the AUR [community] repo by adding/uncommenting this line in their pacman.conf file (enabled by default):
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
If /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
does not exist then it should be created and contain the following:
[community] Server = ftp://ftp.archlinux.org/community/os/i686/
Users can also access the [community] build files by editing /etc/abs.conf
and removing the exclamation mark from in front of the community repo (disabled by default), as follows:
REPOS=(core extra community !testing)
Voting
One of the easiest activities for all Arch users is to browse the AUR and vote for their favorite packages using the online interface. All packages are eligible for adoption by a TU for inclusion in [community], and the vote count is one of the considerations in that process - so it is in everyone's interest to vote!
Install an AUR Helper
AUR Helpers add seamless access to the AUR. They vary in their features, but can ease in searching, fetching, building, and installing from PKGBUILDs found in AUR.
All of these scripts can be found in UNSUPPORTED.