[SOLVED] Overwrite files with pacman.

Raws · 2009-12-09 03:21:54

Hello all

I know that pacman, as a design feature, does not overwrite files by default. I've read the post and the wiki about it.

But I've a situation where I would need to overwrite dozens of files, in different directories, and it would be very nice, If possible, to make an exception to this rule.

I dont know how, but I've messed up an Kdemod upgrade. It stopped working and I cant uninstall it, because pacman doesnt find the appropriate groups (Kdemod-complete and Kdemod-uninstall).

On the other hand, I cant simply reinstall it, or kde[extra], because pacman gives dozens "leftover file" messages in different directories, and refuses to overwrite them.

I just want a way to reinstall KDEmod, at least to try to remove everything with "pacman -Rd kdemod-uninstall" and start from scratch, if it doesnt work. And, I would like to escape manually removing all the files in different directories or a full system reinstall.

Any Ideas?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Last edited by Raws (2009-12-09 03:44:51)

chpln · 2009-12-09 03:30:21

I suspect you're looking for:

# pacman -Sf

hunterthomson · 2009-12-09 03:33:01

Well, this doesn't really help you but.... I had the same problem when I installed Gnome and removed KDEmod then went back to KDEmod because Gnome looks so Old.

When I tried to install KDEmod it said it could not overwritten a but load of files. It also would not let me remove KDEmod because I already did. I just wrote a little script to cut out all names of the files then it made a remove command with all the files that needed to go. It was fun and now I know a few more vary useful bash commands.

Last edited by hunterthomson (2009-12-09 03:34:08)

Raws · 2009-12-09 03:44:23

Yep! That did it. Pacman -Sf was exactly what I was looking for. I didnt find this in the wiki pages. Thanks a lot!

Changing to solved.

tavianator · 2009-12-09 03:57:03

man pacman will be of great use to you in the future for similar things. The wiki probably doesn't mention -Sf very loudly 'cause it's generally not recommended.

Raws · 2009-12-09 14:30:30

Thanks for the tip. I really need to get more used with man pages.

falstaff_ch · 2013-06-25 15:16:34

Just in case someone Googles this Thread, nowadays its

# pacman -S --force <package>

HalosGhost · 2013-06-25 15:19:00

1. Thread is ancient. Don't necrobump.
2. Why would you suggest --force'ing?
3. No really, don't use --force, unless explicitly told to do so by the devs.

All the best,

-HG

ewaller · 2013-06-25 15:27:33

falstaff_ch wrote:

Just in case someone Googles this Thread, nowadays its
# pacman -S --force <package>

Moderator comment: That is true as far as the synatax of Pacman command is concerned -- BUT -- using 'force', unless you know exactly what you're doing, is not recommended. It can cause serious breakage.

In fact, the -f flag was deliberately deprecated in favor of --force specifically to make it less likely that someone will try using it.

Closing this old thread....

Arch Linux

#1 2009-12-09 03:21:54

[SOLVED] Overwrite files with pacman.

#2 2009-12-09 03:30:21

Re: [SOLVED] Overwrite files with pacman.

#3 2009-12-09 03:33:01

Re: [SOLVED] Overwrite files with pacman.

#4 2009-12-09 03:44:23

Re: [SOLVED] Overwrite files with pacman.

#5 2009-12-09 03:57:03

Re: [SOLVED] Overwrite files with pacman.

#6 2009-12-09 14:30:30

Re: [SOLVED] Overwrite files with pacman.

#7 2013-06-25 15:16:34

Re: [SOLVED] Overwrite files with pacman.

#8 2013-06-25 15:19:00

Re: [SOLVED] Overwrite files with pacman.

#9 2013-06-25 15:27:33

Re: [SOLVED] Overwrite files with pacman.

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