Arch Linux

wioo

Member

Registered: 2017-05-18

Posts: 27

Skip unavailable servers when upgrade packages

Hello.

When downloading new packages sometimes there are unavailable servers (for whatever reason).
e.g. error: failed retrieving file 'xxx' from mirror ...  : Connection timed out

Why does pacman not skip those servers for current session (and continue to use good ones)?

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 29,530

Website

Re: Skip unavailable servers when upgrade packages

It does.  Do you mean why does it check for the next package on that server again?  If that's your question, it has no (easy) way of knowing if the server itself is bad, or it was just the one file.  Certainly pacman could keep track of "strikes" for a given server, and if it times out a few times then it could be dropped - this is not a horrible suggestion for pacman, except for the point that it should be irrelevant: select good mirrors in the first place and this should not be an issue that you'd be seeking a solution for.

See rankmirrors, or reflector (I prefer the latter).

---

"UNIX is simple and coherent..." - Dennis Ritchie, "GNU's Not UNIX" -  Richard Stallman

wioo

Member

Registered: 2017-05-18

Posts: 27

Re: Skip unavailable servers when upgrade packages

Do you mean why does it check for the next package on that server again?

Yes.

See rankmirrors, or reflector (I prefer the latter).

I will try reflector, because rankmirrors will be removed from pacman in the next release.

Thanks for your answer.

edit:

If that's your question, it has no (easy) way of knowing if the server itself is bad, or it was just the one file.

Well, if pacman gives you an error as early as synchronizing package databases, that would be a good sign of broken or offline server.

Last edited by wioo (2017-07-16 11:33:31)

Spyhawk

Member

Registered: 2006-07-07

Posts: 485

Re: Skip unavailable servers when upgrade packages

I will try reflector, because rankmirrors will be removed from pacman in the next release.

It is moved out of pacman codebase, but it will be available in the pacman-contrib package alongside some other useful tools.
As such, there is no reason to avoid rankmirrors if you prefer it over reflector.

Last edited by Spyhawk (2017-07-16 14:19:35)

wioo

Member

Registered: 2017-05-18

Posts: 27

Re: Skip unavailable servers when upgrade packages

Good to know. Thanks.