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#1 2020-05-14 07:49:45

fft2000
Member
Registered: 2020-04-08
Posts: 13

[pacman] customize output of package list

When e.g. doing a system update is there a way to group the packages into their repos (and probably even groups/meta), list each package in separate row and show both installed and new version?
I find the way packages are listed quite confusing. When going through the packages it happens that I jump over a line so I miss probably critical updates, like linux (which unfortunately removes modules from the currently running kernel...)

I couldn't find any info on that in the manpage.
I am coming from Gentoo and while the default output from emerge is already quite clear there are options that make it even more verbose.

Thx
Franz

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#2 2020-05-14 07:55:15

V1del
Forum Moderator
Registered: 2012-10-16
Posts: 21,418

Re: [pacman] customize output of package list

There's the VerbosePkgLists config that pretty much does this.

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#3 2020-05-14 08:17:35

fft2000
Member
Registered: 2020-04-08
Posts: 13

Re: [pacman] customize output of package list

Awesome, thank you!
I also went through pacman.conf, but I obviously missed that option.
Works as expected, though something like this would be even better as the PkgName really stands out:

core
    linux        oldVer      newVer
    glibc        oldVer      newVer
[....]

   
I also enabled Color, but that doesn't influence the PkgList.
I assume there is no way to color RepoName and PkgName differently?

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#4 2020-05-14 08:51:32

mpan
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Registered: 2012-08-01
Posts: 1,188
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Re: [pacman] customize output of package list

If you cancel the operation after seeing this output, you’re ending with a partial update. If your goal is to see what updates are available and decide what to do, see checkupdates from community/pacman-contrib.


Sometimes I seem a bit harsh — don’t get offended too easily!

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#5 2020-05-14 10:46:47

Lone_Wolf
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From: Netherlands, Europe
Registered: 2005-10-04
Posts: 11,868

Re: [pacman] customize output of package list

If you cancel the operation after seeing this output, you’re ending with a partial update.

Disagree, only if you continue with "pacman -S something" (or similar) you'll be doing a partial update.

If the next pacman command  with S is pacman -Syu, your system will be fine.

checkupdates is a useful tool though.


Disliking systemd intensely, but not satisfied with alternatives so focusing on taming systemd.


(A works at time B)  && (time C > time B ) ≠  (A works at time C)

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#6 2020-05-14 12:11:31

Trilby
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Registered: 2011-11-29
Posts: 29,442
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Re: [pacman] customize output of package list

This sounds like an XY problem.  You want the list displayed in a way so that you can spot packages like 'linux' easily to know if you should cancel the upgrade (which in and of itself does not result in a partial upgrade, but does set you up for failure in the near future).  And this is done so that you don't remove the modules for the running kernel.

If your problem is that you don't want to remove modules for the running kernel, there are several much much better solutions.  Even if your goal is to prevent pacman from updating the kernel, there is a much much better and much simpler solution: IgnorePkg.

I do like the verbose package list, but not because it need to scan the list to decide if I should continue.


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

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#7 2020-05-16 05:24:46

fft2000
Member
Registered: 2020-04-08
Posts: 13

Re: [pacman] customize output of package list

Thx, checkupdates helps a lot.

The "linux" package was an example. (I went for more than an hour into troubleshooting because musescore wouldn't output midi... just to find out it was a kernel update...) I also have user-local applications that rely on system packages. I check the update list for potentially ABI-breaking updates so I know when to do rebuilds.
In general I want to know exactly how an update transforms the system. If that's not intended (or regarded as the wrong approach) there should be an automatic cron-based update by default.

And while IgnorePkg might be a simple solution it might cause harm as it is a permanent solution that might get forgotten.
I currently set Immutable tag through chattr on the modules dir as soon as I see a linux update. I will automate that through a pacman hook in the future. Not sure yet if I am going to automate the removal of outdated modules on system reboot as that could cause more harm...

IMO the best solution for the linux package would be that pacman just didn't touch the modules at all, at least those for the running system. It contains e.g. crypto and fs stuff. A badly timed update might make your backup fail, or prevent you from logging into your encrypted user account.

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#8 2020-05-16 05:30:32

jasonwryan
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From: .nz
Registered: 2009-05-09
Posts: 30,424
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Re: [pacman] customize output of package list

fft2000 wrote:

If that's not intended (or regarded as the wrong approach) there should be an automatic cron-based update by default.

Arch is the wrong distro for this sort of approach. You are expected to pay attention to updates, and to manually intervene from time-to-time.


Arch + dwm   •   Mercurial repos  •   Surfraw

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#9 2020-05-17 04:49:23

eschwartz
Fellow
Registered: 2014-08-08
Posts: 4,097

Re: [pacman] customize output of package list

fft2000 wrote:

IMO the best solution for the linux package would be that pacman just didn't touch the modules at all, at least those for the running system. It contains e.g. crypto and fs stuff. A badly timed update might make your backup fail, or prevent you from logging into your encrypted user account.

https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/16702


Managing AUR repos The Right Way -- aurpublish (now a standalone tool)

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#10 2020-05-17 05:53:06

fft2000
Member
Registered: 2020-04-08
Posts: 13

Re: [pacman] customize output of package list

Thank you. The issue brought me to
https://github.com/saber-nyan/kernel-modules-hook
which is the fix I was looking for.
One thing less to worry about wink

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#11 2020-05-17 06:05:57

eschwartz
Fellow
Registered: 2014-08-08
Posts: 4,097

Re: [pacman] customize output of package list

That's uh actually a really terrible excuse for pretending to be a solution, but okay. I suppose the lack of a proper solution to date isn't a compelling argument to do it correctly.

(But really, I've seen some disastrous results with stuff like this, and it's just plain missing the point to boot.)


Managing AUR repos The Right Way -- aurpublish (now a standalone tool)

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