Arch Linux

ACodispo

Member

Registered: 2007-08-24

Posts: 8

use `pacman --root` to install large packages to removable drive?

Hello,

I'm operating Arch on a netbook with a small harddrive (12GB). It'd be very useful for me to install a few large, infrequently-used packages to an SD card.

Is the `--root` option for Pacman meant or useable for this sort of thing?

-r, --root <path>
Specify an alternative installation root (default is /). This should not be used as a way to install software into /usr/local instead of /usr. This option is used if you want to install a package on a temporary mounted partition that is "owned" by another system. NOTE: if database path or logfile are not specified on either the command line or in pacman.conf(5), their default location will be inside this root path.

My hopes are not high. This flag is probably meant for installing an entire Arch system to an external drive, right?

Thanks!

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acodispo

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 30,456

Website

Re: use `pacman --root` to install large packages to removable drive?

Your hopes were suitably low.  This will not work.  It would install the package on the SD card, but then you couldn't use that package as it wouldn't be installed to the running system's root filesystem.

You can, however, mount the SD as part of your root filesystem.  For example, you could move some directory there, then just mount that.  Another approach would be to use a unionFS - though I don't know enough about this to advise on it.

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"UNIX is simple and coherent" - Dennis Ritchie; "GNU's Not Unix" - Richard Stallman

ACodispo

Member

Registered: 2007-08-24

Posts: 8

Re: use `pacman --root` to install large packages to removable drive?

Thanks, Trilby! I figured this was the case, but I will check in to your other suggestions.

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ACodispo