Arch Linux

eilenbeb

Member

Registered: 2009-03-08

Posts: 44

[solved] rolling install, some pacman questions

Hello.  I've got two linux installs which I alternately rebuild as I learn.  Having switched to Arch, it's time to get rid of the other one.

First of all, the Arch has been upgraded considerably since the 2009.02 cd.  I do -not- want to download download download.
When I install the new base system, I want to copy my old /var/cache/pacman/pkg directory over to the new install.
Question1:  Will pacman properly see the new files in cache when I sync the databases?  Is there more I must do?
Question2:  Uhh, can someone remind me the diference between pacman -Sy and -Syy please?
Question3:  How can I make sure pacman uses the cache first?

Also, I've notices that in pacman.conf, both pacman and glibc are held.
Question4:  What is (or where is) the procedure for upgrading these two?

Thanks, all, gonna get started.
laters,
b

Last edited by eilenbeb (2009-06-05 19:24:57)

Cerebral

Forum Fellow

From: Waterloo, ON, CA

Registered: 2005-04-08

Posts: 3,108

Website

Re: [solved] rolling install, some pacman questions

When I install the new base system, I want to copy my old /var/cache/pacman/pkg directory over to the new install.
Question1:  Will pacman properly see the new files in cache when I sync the databases?  Is there more I must do?

That should be all that's necessary to ensure the packages are read from the cache instead of downloading.

Question2:  Uhh, can someone remind me the diference between pacman -Sy and -Syy please?

pacman -Sy attempts to check the timestamps on your current sync DB, and doesn't fetch the DB if it determines yours is 'up-to-date'.
pacman -Syy forces the update of all sync DBs, regardless of timestamp.

Question3:  How can I make sure pacman uses the cache first?

Pacman will use the cache first, if the package is there.  Any packages found in cache will not show any progressbars in the pacman output - only packages being downloaded will appear that way.

Also, I've notices that in pacman.conf, both pacman and glibc are held.
Question4:  What is (or where is) the procedure for upgrading these two?

I forget exactly what HoldPkg means (and don't have man pacman.conf access at the moment), but when upgrading during a standard -Syu, if pacman has a new version, it generally asks "Do you want to update Pacman first?" - glibc might be the same way? 

Generally, I don't think there's any 'special procedure' for it.

eilenbeb

Member

Registered: 2009-03-08

Posts: 44

Re: [solved] rolling install, some pacman questions

Excellent!  Thanks for the replies Cerebral.  Add this to the list of things I couldn't do in other distro's...
Backing up my old home, can't wait to start working on my new install.

Thanks again,
laters,
b

Garns

Member

Registered: 2008-05-28

Posts: 239

Re: [solved] rolling install, some pacman questions

Just for completeness, glibc and pacman are hold to prevent you from removing them:

# pacman -R glibc
:: glibc is designated as a HoldPkg. Remove anyway? [Y/n]

I think you confused hold and ignore.