multi-backend declarative package manager for Linux
pacdef
is available in the AUR as stable release or development version.
The AUR package will also provide completions for zsh
.
Install it from crates.io using this command.
$ cargo install [-F <backend>[,...]] pacdef
See below ("supported backends") for the feature flags you will need for your distribution.
To get zsh completion to work you must copy the _completion.zsh
file to the right folder manually and rename it to _pacdef
.
pacdef
allows the user to have consistent packages among multiple Linux machines and different backends by managing packages in group files.
The idea is that (1) any package in the group files ("managed packages") will be installed explicitly, and (2) explicitly installed packages not found in any of the group files ("unmanaged packages") will be removed.
The group files are maintained outside of pacdef
by any VCS, like git.
If you work with multiple Linux machines and have asked yourself "Why do I have the program that I use every day on my other machine not installed here?", then pacdef
is the tool for you.
pacdef
manages multiple package groups (group files) that, e.g., may be tied to a specific use-case.
Each group has one or more section(s) which correspond to a specific backend, like your system's package manager (pacman
, apt
, ...), or your programming languages package manger (cargo
, pip
, ...).
Each section contains one or more packages that can be installed respective package manager.
This image illustrates the relationship.
1 n 1 n 1 n
pacdef ----> group ----> section ----> package
Let's assume you have the following group files.
base
:
[arch]
paru
zsh
[rust]
pacdef
topgrade
development
:
[arch]
rustup
rust-analyzer
[rust]
cargo-tree
flamegraph
Pacdef will make sure you have the following packages installed for each package manager:
- Arch (
pacman
, AUR helpers): paru, zsh, rustup, rust-analyzer - Rust (
cargo
): pacdef, topgrade, cargo-tree, flamegraph
Note that the name of the section corresponds to the ecosystem it relates to, rather than the package manager it uses.
At the moment, supported backends are the following. Pull requests for additional backends are welcome!
Application | Package Manager | Section | feature flag | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Arch Linux | pacman |
[arch] |
arch |
includes pacman-wrapping AUR helpers (configurable) |
Debian | apt |
[debian] |
debian |
minimum supported apt-version unknown (upstream issue) |
Flatpak | flatpak |
[flatpak] |
built-in | can manage either system-wide or per-user installation (configurable) |
Python | pip |
[python] |
built-in | |
Rust | cargo |
[rust] |
built-in |
Backends that have a feature flag
require setting the respective flag for the build process.
The appropriate system libraries and their header files must be present on the machine and be detectable by pkg-config
.
For backends that state "built-in", they are always supported during compile time.
Any backend can be disabled during runtime (see below, "Configuration").
For example, to build pacdef
with support for Debian Linux, you can run one of the two commands.
- (recommended)
cargo install -F debian pacdef
, this downloads and builds it from https://crates.io - in a clone of this repository,
cargo install --path . -F debian
This tree shows my pacdef repository (not the pacdef
config dir).
.
├── generic
│ ├── audio
│ ├── base
│ ├── desktop
│ ├── private
│ ├── rust
│ ├── wayland
│ ├── wireless
│ ├── work
│ └── xorg
├── hosts
│ ├── hostname_a
│ ├── hostname_b
│ └── hostname_c
└── pacdef.yaml
- The
base
group holds all packages I need unconditionally, and includes things like zfs, paru and neovim. - In
xorg
andwayland
I have stored the respective graphic servers and DEs. wireless
contains tools likeiwd
andbluez-utils
for machines with wireless interfaces.- Under
hosts
I have one file for each machine I use. The filenames match the corresponding hostname. The packages are specific to one machine only, like device drivers, or any programs I use exclusively on that machine.
Usage on different machines:
- home server:
base private hostname_a
- private PC:
audio base desktop private rust wayland hostname_b
- work PC:
base desktop rust work xorg hostname_c
Subcommand | Description |
---|---|
group import [<path>...] |
create a symlink to the specified group file(s) in your groups folder |
group export [args] <group> ... |
export (move) a non-symlink group and re-import it as symlink |
group list |
list names of all groups |
group new [-e] [<group>...] |
create new groups, use -e to edit them immediately after creation |
group remove [<group>...] |
remove a previously imported group |
group show [<group>...] |
show contents of a group |
package clean [--noconfirm] |
remove all unmanaged packages |
package review |
for each unmanaged package interactively decide what to do |
package search <regex> |
search for managed packages that match the search string |
package sync [--noconfirm] |
install managed packages |
package unmanaged |
show all unmanaged packages |
version |
show version information, supported backends |
Most subcommands have aliases.
For example, instead of pacdef package sync
you can write pacdef p sy
, and pacdef group show
would become pacdef g s
.
Use --help
or the zsh completion to find the right aliases.
On first execution, it will create an empty config file under $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/pacdef/pacdef.yaml
.
The following key-value pairs can be set.
The listed values are the defaults.
aur_helper: paru # AUR helper to use on Arch Linux (paru, yay, ...)
aur_rm_args: [] # additional args to pass to AUR helper when removing packages (optional)
disabled_backends: [] # backends that pacdef should not manage, e.g. ["python"], this can reduce runtime if the package manager is notoriously slow (like pip)
warn_not_symlinks: true # warn if a group file is not a symlink
flatpak_systemwide: true # whether flatpak packages should be installed system-wide or per user
pip_binary: pip # choose whether to use pipx instead of pip for python package management [See [Pitfalls while using pipx](#pitfalls-while-using-pipx)]
Group files loosely follow the syntax for ini
-files.
- Sections begin by their name in brackets.
- One package per line.
- Anything after a
#
is ignored. - Empty lines are ignored.
- If a package exists in multiple repositories, the repo can be specified as prefix followed by a forward slash. The package manager must understand this notation.
Example:
[arch]
alacritty
firefox # this comment is ignored
libreoffice-fresh
mycustomrepo/zsh-theme-powerlevel10k
[rust]
cargo-update
topgrade
Pacdef is supported by topgrade.
pacdef
combines the words "package" and "define".
MSRV is 1.70.0 due to dependencies that require this specific version. Development is conducted against the latest stable version.
Some packages like mdformat-myst do not provide an executable themselves but rather act as a plugin to their dependency, which is mdformat in this case. Please install such packages explicitly by running pipx install <package-name> --include-deps
.