Arch Linux

e3d7830e16188Laurence5905

Member

Registered: 2025-12-24

Posts: 2

I just want a LIST of packages that need updating...

pacman -Syu

will update everything on the system.

I don't want to *do* the update; I just want a *list* of everything that needs updating.

I've read the entire pacman wiki page and there is no mention of any way to simply list the packages that need updating.  Yes,

pacman -Q

will query the list of packages, but I don't want a list of *all* packages, I just want a list of the ones that are already installed on my system and which need to be updated.

skunktrader

Member

From: Brisbane, Australia

Registered: 2010-02-14

Posts: 1,660

Re: I just want a LIST of packages that need updating...

checkupdates

system72

Member

Registered: 2025-11-22

Posts: 347

Website

Re: I just want a LIST of packages that need updating...

checkupdates is in pacman-contrib

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Succulent of your garden

Member

From: Majestic kingdom of pot plants

Registered: 2024-02-29

Posts: 1,157

Re: I just want a LIST of packages that need updating...

is this thing ? https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/chec … ystemd-git

Does that thing also update the data bases of packages like Syu ? Just asking cuz that checkupdates thing is new to me, but I'm pacman -Syu ^^, and probably not going to change it, just ctrl + r to launch fuzzy finder and write Syu and the command magically appears in front of me with the sudo included

Last edited by Succulent of your garden (2025-12-25 01:13:42)

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str( @soyg ) == str( @potplant ) btw!

e3d7830e16188Laurence5905

Member

Registered: 2025-12-24

Posts: 2

Re: I just want a LIST of packages that need updating...

Ahhh, so I have to install pacman-contrib then I can type checkupdates at any terminal prompt and it'll do what I'm looking for?  Thanks!

StarWolf3000

Member

Registered: 2025-06-23

Posts: 43

Re: I just want a LIST of packages that need updating...

pacman -Qu

will show all packages for which are updates available.

Last edited by StarWolf3000 (2025-12-25 06:55:30)

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Daerandin

Member

From: Norway

Registered: 2013-05-07

Posts: 280

Website

Re: I just want a LIST of packages that need updating...

pacman -Qu

will show all packages for which are updates available.

This will only work if you have run pacman -Sy (don't actually do this) first. the -Q operation only queries the local package database, which will only be aware of outdated local packages if you already updated the package database with the -Sy option. But note that you should never do -Sy as it can lead to partial upgrades which are unsupported.

The best way to check for updates is already mentioned: checkupdates which is part of the pacman-contrib package.

cryptearth

Member

Registered: 2024-02-03

Posts: 1,858

Re: I just want a LIST of packages that need updating...

I don't want to *do* the update; I just want a *list* of everything that needs updating.

the way more important question that hasn't come up yet: Why EXACTLY do you want to do this?
Partial updates (only update selected packages) are not supported on Arch - so you either do the full update with Syu - or you don't do any update at all.
If whatever you want to do is something else than these two options the only proper answer is: You do something wrong because of sonething you not told us yet.

Daerandin

Member

From: Norway

Registered: 2013-05-07

Posts: 280

Website

Re: I just want a LIST of packages that need updating...

I don't want to *do* the update; I just want a *list* of everything that needs updating.

the way more important question that hasn't come up yet: Why EXACTLY do you want to do this?
Partial updates (only update selected packages) are not supported on Arch - so you either do the full update with Syu - or you don't do any update at all.
If whatever you want to do is something else than these two options the only proper answer is: You do something wrong because of sonething you not told us yet.

I don't fully agree with this. I often use checkupdates to decide if I do an update now or at a later time, depending on what packages are being updated. If a package I plan to use shortly has an update, I may sometimes want to put off the update because of the potential for newly introduced bugs. But if it's unrelated packages, then I may decide to do a full update on the spot.

Some updates require a restart, which I may also want to hold off. So checkupdates has very valid use cases in my opinion, which is also probably why it exists as part of pacman-contrib.

system72

Member

Registered: 2025-11-22

Posts: 347

Website

Re: I just want a LIST of packages that need updating...

checkupdates does not do a partial update system wide so it is safe

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seth

Member

From: Don't DM me only for attention

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 71,544

Re: I just want a LIST of packages that need updating...

People also have widgets that tell the about the current weather despite sitting next to a window.
Keeping track of available updates is a perfectly valid task, whether necessity or because you got to have that in your inxi screenshot doesn't matter.

Caveat the AUR: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 5#p2234565

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