Arch Linux

sshaikh

Member

Registered: 2019-07-03

Posts: 53

[SOLVED] "custom" base install across instances

I have multiple Arch installs, and wish to keep a common set of packages installed on each of them. Is there a canonical way to achieve this?

My initial thought was to create my own meta package. The pros and cons of this approach are discussed here:

https://disconnected.systems/blog/archl … ta-package.

Although great for stable lists, this seems like a lot of overhead for a list that will probably be in flux, even though I do have a pretty mature aurutils/local repo setup already.

I use git for dotfiles, and leveraging that workflow seems to be a more appropriate approach, eg to just maintain a list of package names to sync and tap into during my regular maintenance cycle and will probably investigate that approach. I presume pacman can consume a list already, but it would be really nice if -Syu would do it somehow for me.

I understand that removing packages from the list is a more difficult problem but am happy to keep that a manual process for now.

What approach do users here take?

Last edited by sshaikh (2021-07-07 11:54:13)

Lone_Wolf

Member

From: Netherlands, Europe

Registered: 2005-10-04

Posts: 11,911

Re: [SOLVED] "custom" base install across instances

pacman is very powerful and lots of goodies are found on https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Pacman/Tips_and_tricks .
You'll prob be interested in section 2.5 & 2.6 .

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sshaikh

Member

Registered: 2019-07-03

Posts: 53

Re: [SOLVED] "custom" base install across instances

Exactly what I needed and adds more weight to the textfile vs meta-package choice.

I wouldn't want /all/ packages sync'd, just a subset so the list would probably be curated manually. A meta-package might possibly deal with removal elegantly though.

At this point the task becomes too trivial to ask for alternatives, but I'd still be interested in knowing how others do this.

Last edited by sshaikh (2021-07-07 11:55:42)

Alad

Wiki Admin/IRC Op

From: Bagelstan

Registered: 2014-05-04

Posts: 2,412

Website

Re: [SOLVED] "custom" base install across instances

You can automate creation/update of metapackages (e.g. from a list) with makepkg-meta:

https://github.com/andrewgregory/makepkg-meta

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