kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

0strodamus · 2015-09-24 00:23:20

Cool. Thanks for the fast response!

0strodamus · 2015-12-18 23:37:41

I don't know if this is a bug in kalu, but thought I would post in case someone else finds this information useful.

Shortly after replacing systemd with OpenRC, I started intermittently getting "unable to create FIFO file exists" errors when kalu was launched. What I found was that there were many kalu_fifo_<PID> files in ~/.cache. Because I'm not using systemd, there is no XDG_RUNTIME_DIR tmpfs created at /run/user/1000. The fallback location is ~/.cache. I added a line to my ~/.bash_logout to delete these files which is working well.

jjacky · 2015-12-19 14:00:12

Well, I'd say this would be a bug in kalu yes. That is, I assume you didn't close/exit kalu before closing your session, and kalu didn't handle SIGTERM so it would leave its fifo behind indeed. I've just pushed a fix to next on github, so that on SIGTERM it exits properly & thus removes its fifo.
Let me mention that branch next also has some other changes, notably in how templates are handled (and some "redesign" in the Prefs window). It should work fine w/out any user intervention needed, but just so you know.

Thanks for the report.

On a slightly related note, it might be good to have a proper $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR set, since kalu certainly isn't the only one to look for/use it. Also should e.g. kalu crash or something the fifo would be left behind again. I don't use OpenRC myself, but I don't use systemd (or systemd-logind in this case) either and so confronted with this issue, I just wrote myself a little PAM module: pam_rundir. This was a good occasion to finally push it, in case you - or anyone else - is interested, so thanks.
(And with it, no need for your .bash_logout hack and no fifos left behind either, even if kalu crashes.)

0strodamus · 2015-12-21 01:52:03

Thanks for looking into the fifo issue! I built and installed pam_rundir and it is working great. I've been trying to figure out how to get that functionality back and your solution is perfect. Thanks again!

Bednar · 2016-01-02 15:10:37

jjacky,

many thanks for this handy tool. It's one of the first applications I install on my arch systems. Any word when the next version might go live?:)

B

jjacky · 2016-01-02 16:56:32

Glad you like it.

And a new version is long overdue indeed (hadn't realized it's been so long since the last one already!), but seeing as pacman 5 is coming, and a new version will then be needed to account for API changes in ALPM, I might wait for that to happen and make a new release (4.0.0) then...

Feel free to use kalu-git to get the latest improvements without waiting though

jjacky · 2016-02-01 19:37:12

I somehow managed to not release a single version in 2015, even though a few things were done along that year. I'll try to do better in the future... Anyhow, kalu 4.0.0 is out, it is compatible with pacman-5, but also :

Fix possible double-free memory when parsing config
When processing "Include" directives from pacman.conf with multiple matches there was a risk of double-free memory attempt.
updater: Show download progress for deltas; Support multiple downloads (deltas) for one package
It is possible that the download size for a package upgrade isn't that of one file, but multiple - in case of deltas.
Make sure the progress bar reflect the actual size of the current download, and only toggle the color once all downloads are done.
Add AutoShowLog tweak for kalu's updater
Fix nb of sync dbs in tooltip
Watched AUR: Fix segfault when no description (Thanks to 0strodamus)
watched: Add support for repo/package
This allows to have kalu watch for a given package in a specific repo, instead of using the usual "first repo where package is found" logic.
This could be useful when e.g. one has a repo like testing enabled, but wants to watch packages from core.
Note that the package name (i.e. $PKG) will be kept as "repo/package" to indicate the "restriction" that was in effect.
Rework how templates are saved/shown in preferences
Couple things happened here. First off, the way things worked wasn't how things were happening in the preferences window:
- in kalu.conf, no option meant default, or fallback if there's none; an option w/out value meant fallback; and an option w/ a value to use said custom value.
- However, in Prefs. it was only a custom value, or fallback. Any default being saved as custom value instead.
This was fixed, making the Prefs. window actually reflect how things actually work in the conf file.
Also, we now introduce for each field a new "source" option (e.g. TitleSce) that can be DEFAULT or CUSTOM for titles, because titles do not have fallbacks anymore (it never really made sense anyways) and always have a default (for that same reason).
For other fields (Package & Sep) it can be DEFAULT, FALLBACK, CUSTOM or NONE. (Noting that they all have a default and/or a fallback, i.e. not always both.)
Setting Package to NONE will mean the notification is only a title.
Handle SIGINT/SIGTERM to cleanly exit
Gives us a chance to e.g. remove FIFO
Thanks to 0strodamus for the report.
Some other fixes (see git log for details)

emacsomancer · 2017-02-23 02:03:21

The man page says

ICONS
kalu uses 4 versions of its icon in the systray, based on its current state. The regular (blue) icon indicates that upgrades were found
during the last checks, the gray version indicates that nothing was found; Both versions exists with a pause symbol on top, when kalu is
paused.
If the icon happens to blink from gray to blue, it means kalu is currently busy. kalu tries to load all icons from the current theme, thus allowing you to override any (and all) of them as you wish. The main icon is "kalu", the paused version "kalu-paused", the gray versions are "kalu-gray" and "kalu-gray-paused" respectively.
So to e.g. use a different gray icon, one could simply put a file kalu-gray.png in folder ~/.local/share/icons
Of course, kalu will still create the gray and/or paused versions as needed, based on loaded icons.
Note that the regular icon is also used elsewhere in kalu, e.g. in buttons or menus.

Putting appropriately named pngs in ~/.local/share/icons didn't seem to have any effect. Am I doing something wrong?

jjacky · 2017-02-28 17:50:10

Well, as it says it uses the current theme, so it might not be placing files inside ~/.local/share/icons directly actually. Maybe you need to place your files inside e.g. ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/32x32 or ~/.local/share/icons/gnome/32x32 or something similar.

Quickly tried with some ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/32x32/kalu-gray.png and it was used by kalu, so that's probably it I guess. Not sure if something changed or not, but either way the man page might use some tweaking here indeed.

emacsomancer · 2017-03-01 04:27:47

jjacky wrote:

Well, as it says it uses the current theme, so it might not be placing files inside ~/.local/share/icons directly actually. Maybe you need to place your files inside e.g. ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/32x32 or ~/.local/share/icons/gnome/32x32 or something similar.
Quickly tried with some ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/32x32/kalu-gray.png and it was used by kalu, so that's probably it I guess. Not sure if something changed or not, but either way the man page might use some tweaking here indeed.

Ah. For me it ended up being in ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/32x32/apps/

jjacky · 2017-03-01 15:18:59

Right, my bad, I had the "apps" folder as well. Tweaked the man page accordingly, thanks.

emacsomancer · 2017-03-10 03:34:37

is there way to update the gui via the commandline?

jjacky · 2017-03-11 10:21:37

I'm not sure what you mean? You can trigger some actions (run checks, pause, etc) using kalu's fifo...

emacsomancer · 2017-03-11 17:03:52

jjacky wrote:

I'm not sure what you mean? You can trigger some actions (run checks, pause, etc) using kalu's fifo...

So I usually up date things using the terminal. Is there a way, from the command-line, to force kalu to trigger the systray icon to check for updates? So that, after updating via the commandline, I don't have to then click on the kalu icon and click "check for updates"?

jjacky · 2017-03-11 17:16:10

Yeah, as I said you can trigger actions, including running checks, by simply writing to kalu's fifo. So e.g:

echo run-checks > $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/kalu_fifo_$(pidof kalu)

Also note that, as the help says, if you run the update from kalu (e.g. use kalu to run "pacman -Syu" in a terminal) then as soon as it's done (i.e. terminal closed) kalu will automatically run its checks.

zaxdan69 · 2017-03-23 09:43:56

Hello,
How can kalu update aur packages also?
In preferences -> AUR I have checked the box "Show a button 'upgrade Aur packages' on notifications". I also in "When clicking the button run the following:" I put "pacaur -S --noedit $PACKAGES" as command.
But when I click on the button it just check for updates again and then re-shows the same notifications but doesn't upgrade anything.

Last edited by zaxdan69 (2017-03-23 09:45:45)

jjacky · 2017-03-23 18:41:56

I'm not sure what pacaur is, but I'm assuming it's a command-line AUR helper; Then as the help mentions, you probably want your command-line to be that of a terminal emulator running pacaur, so you can see/interact with it.
And yes, kalu does run the specified command-line and wait while it runs, then (i.e. once it ends) re-run its checks. If it seems to happen instantly it's probably that pacaur ends(/fails?) quite fast.

So for example w/ urxvt, you might want to use a command line like so:

urxvt -hold -e pacaur -S --noedit $PACKAGES

zaxdan69 · 2017-03-24 09:17:40

Thanks,
I thought that it will display the "upgrade system" window and do the update there. I also forgot to run it from terminal to see if there is an error.
Using xterm(I don't have urxvt) it works fine. Thanks again.

Daerun · 2017-05-17 19:43:31

Hi there, I wonder if there is a way to perform a pacman -Sc via Kalu.

jjacky · 2017-05-21 17:41:28

Nope. But if you're looking for some GUI helper to clean your pacman cache, maybe have a look at PkgClip

pepecuis · 2017-08-25 00:46:14

Hi all:
I have just finished mi translation to spanish.
You can download it from: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7dqc … mp4YVRXVms
Enjoy!!

Hola a todos:
Acabo de finalizar mi traducción al español.
Pueden bajarsela de: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7dqc … mp4YVRXVms
Disfrutenla!!

7thSon · 2017-11-22 10:07:47

Is it possible to output a text string to the Kalu GUI log after finishing updates?
I'm running the command "xfce4-terminal -e "yaourt -Syua --noconfirm" after the kalu system upgrade, and I would like to run another command like "echo "System upgrade incl AUR completed."" which would output to the Kalu GUI log after the yaourt command.

jjacky · 2017-11-25 20:57:34

No, sorry, there's no way to send text to kalu's log; It only shows kalu's internal messages or whatever comes from ALPM.

(Besides the post-sysupgrade commands are run async all at once, so that wouldn't work. Also their output isn't captured.)

7thSon · 2017-11-27 17:19:23

Is there a way to permanently mark news as read, or is it a bug that is causing the same news to pop up again every time I reboot or relaunch kalu?

jjacky · 2017-11-28 18:52:59

That would be a bug, fixed in git (branch next); you can e.g. install kalu-git from AUR to have it fixed.

Arch Linux

#176 2015-09-24 00:23:20

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#177 2015-12-18 23:37:41

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#178 2015-12-19 14:00:12

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#179 2015-12-21 01:52:03

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#180 2016-01-02 15:10:37

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#181 2016-01-02 16:56:32

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#182 2016-02-01 19:37:12

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#183 2017-02-23 02:03:21

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#184 2017-02-28 17:50:10

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#185 2017-03-01 04:27:47

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#186 2017-03-01 15:18:59

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#187 2017-03-10 03:34:37

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#188 2017-03-11 10:21:37

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#189 2017-03-11 17:03:52

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#190 2017-03-11 17:16:10

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#191 2017-03-23 09:43:56

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#192 2017-03-23 18:41:56

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#193 2017-03-24 09:17:40

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#194 2017-05-17 19:43:31

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#195 2017-05-21 17:41:28

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#196 2017-08-25 00:46:14

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#197 2017-11-22 10:07:47

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#198 2017-11-25 20:57:34

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#199 2017-11-27 17:19:23

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

#200 2017-11-28 18:52:59

Re: kalu: Keeping Arch Linux Up-to-date

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