[SOLVED] Upgrading: packages prev. installed via "makepkg"; upg. yay

starch2021 · 2021-03-05 17:35:11

I've recently set up Arch for the first time and carelessly installed some AUR packages via makepkg -si.
So pacman won't be able to upgrade those packages automatically via pacman -Syu.

Now I wanna handle those packages via yay.

makepkg -si installs the PKGBUILDs via pacman, so the packages are in the package database.

Will yay be able to identify those packages, and upgrade those AUR packages?
Or do I have to uninstall them via pacman (I don't wanna lose any application settings...), and reinstall them via yay?
Obviously, yay would need to know whether a package was installed via official repositories, and then would need the information about AUR repository URL etc.

Can yay upgrade itself?
It has to be installed via makepkg -si and cannot track itself, or can it?

Last edited by starch2021 (2021-03-07 08:03:49)

Alad · 2021-03-05 17:41:20

Helpers like "yay" wrap pacman; they're not separate package managers. I'd strongly suggest steering clear from these helpers if you don't master those basics.

Last edited by Alad (2021-03-05 17:42:48)

V1del · 2021-03-05 17:45:01

Yay determines which packages to check in the AUR by looking at all packages in the pacman database that do not belong to a repository (... are installed locally). So no it doesn't matter whether you initially used makepkg or are intending to use yay now.

Yay is a wrapper around both makepkg and pacman all relevant operations are handled by makepkg and pacman respectively, yay just glues automatic dependency resolution in between.

Also makepkg is the canonical and official tool to do this and AUR helpers can have varying degrees of issues. It's good you've learned how to use makepkg and you should remember how to use it if there are issues with yay for whatever reason.

starch2021 · 2021-03-05 18:29:29

Thanks for the quick answers.

It's no news to me that yay is relying on pacman and makepkg in the background, but obviously it adds some functionality for handling AUR packages. For security reasons, I'd consider it negligent and unnecessary effort to try to manually keep packages up to date.

@V1del
Well that's good news. I'll watch what yay is reporting when using it, so I should see the upgrades of the AUR packages at some point (none so far, which is why I asked in the first place).

loqs · 2021-03-05 18:41:59

starch2021 wrote:

For security reasons, I'd consider it negligent and unnecessary effort to try to manually keep packages up to date.

Did you review the PKGBUILD when you initially installed the package and check the update is by the same maintainer?
Otherwise how do you ensure the update is not executing as root commands from a complete stranger?

starch2021 · 2021-03-06 08:53:29

I had my concerns about AUR and read that the AUR got corrupted in the past, and thus I'm aware of the advise to check the PKGBUILD file before installing packages via AUR.

But of course security is a trade off for me - obviously I don't review each application's source code (for the same reason I don't review the Linux kernel source code).

Generally, I'm not a big fan of PPAs and AUR as compared to the official repository, and try to limit my usage of it to a minimum.

Alad · 2021-03-06 12:33:19

Generally, I'm not a big fan of PPAs and AUR as compared to the official repository, and try to limit my usage of it to a minimum.

If you try to limit your AUR usage, there's no point in AUR helpers. On the contrary, pacman wrappers like yay obscure the review process and remove the distinction between official repository and AUR packages by design.

If you want to be informed on AUR package updates, enable email notifcations instead.

starch2021 · 2021-03-06 16:46:15

Hm, is that because with each upgrade, the PKGBUILD info (e.g. URL) of an AUR package might change? So a one-time review of the PKGBUILD does not suffice for future upgrades?
I didn't really think of that.

I'm not aware of a system for email notifications for AUR packages...found only some hint in this thread.

Update: Found the notification on the AUR website TOC on the right top corner.

Last edited by starch2021 (2021-03-06 20:22:03)

Arch Linux

#1 2021-03-05 17:35:11

[SOLVED] Upgrading: packages prev. installed via "makepkg"; upg. yay

#2 2021-03-05 17:41:20

Re: [SOLVED] Upgrading: packages prev. installed via "makepkg"; upg. yay

#3 2021-03-05 17:45:01

Re: [SOLVED] Upgrading: packages prev. installed via "makepkg"; upg. yay

#4 2021-03-05 18:29:29

Re: [SOLVED] Upgrading: packages prev. installed via "makepkg"; upg. yay

#5 2021-03-05 18:41:59

Re: [SOLVED] Upgrading: packages prev. installed via "makepkg"; upg. yay

#6 2021-03-06 08:53:29

Re: [SOLVED] Upgrading: packages prev. installed via "makepkg"; upg. yay

#7 2021-03-06 12:33:19

Re: [SOLVED] Upgrading: packages prev. installed via "makepkg"; upg. yay

#8 2021-03-06 16:46:15

Re: [SOLVED] Upgrading: packages prev. installed via "makepkg"; upg. yay

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