| Meta Package Manager |
pc-metapkgmanager is the back-end command line utility used by the PC-BSD® installer, System Manager, Update Manager, and Warden® to manage meta-packages. Meta-packages are like system components, and include supported and unsupported desktops, development utilities, hardware drivers, and miscellaneous applications such as MythTV or XBMC.
Beginning with version 9.1, PC-BSD® uses metapkgsets to determine which system components are available and which applications are installed with each system component. Currently, two metapkgsets are available: "pcbsd" which defines the available desktop components, and "warden" which defines the components available when creating a jail with Warden® or installing a PC-BSD® server. You can view the contents of these metapkgsets on trac[1].
The pc-metapkgmanager command can be used at the command line to install or delete meta-packages, update to the latest package set, or to change the default metapkgset. If you type the command without any options, it will display its usage:
pc-metapkgmanager
usage: pc-metapkgmanager [options]
Options:
add pkg1,pkg2 <loc> -- Add the specified list of meta-packages
<loc> should be a FTP / HTTP url where pkg_add
can fetch packages, or an absolute path to
location of pkg files on disk.
checkup -- Check for updates to pkgs
del pkg1,pkg2 -- Delete the specified list of meta-packages
list -- List the available meta-packages
status <pkg> -- List the status of the specified meta-packages
update pkg,pkg2 <loc> -- Update system packages. Can use 'all' or <pkg,pkg2>.
<loc> should be a FTP / HTTP url where pkg_add
can fetch packages, or an absolute path to
location of pkg files on disk.
--pkgset <pkgset> -- Change default pkgset we are using
--chroot <dir> -- Operate on the directory specified using chroot
To determine which meta-packages are available:
pc-metapkgmanager list |more Meta Package: Awesome ------------------------------------- Description: A highly configurable, next generation framework window manager Icon: /var/db/pc-metapkgmanager/pkgsets/pcbsd/Awesome/pkg-icon.png Parent: Unsupported-Desktops Desktop: YES Required Packages: awesome-3.4.11_1 Meta Package: Compiz ------------------------------------- Description: Compiz - OpenGL compositing manager Icon: /var/db/pc-metapkgmanager/pkgsets/pcbsd/Compiz/pkg-icon.png Parent: Misc Desktop: NO Required Packages: compiz-fusion-0.8.4_2 Meta Package: Desktops ------------------------------------- Description: Supported Desktop Environments for your PC-BSD system. Icon: /var/db/pc-metapkgmanager/pkgsets/pcbsd/Desktops/pkg-icon.png Desktop: NO Category Entry Meta Package: Development ------------------------------------- Description: Development tools and utilities for your Desktop --More--(byte 885)
To determine if a meta-package is installed, specify its name as shown in the above list:
pc-metapkgmanager status Awesome The meta-pkg Awesome is not installed
To install the meta-package, specify the meta-package name shown in the above list and provide the URL to the meta-package location for your architecture. The following example installs the Awesome meta-package on a 64-bit system. Only the superuser can install meta-packages.
pc-metapkgmanager add Awesome ftp://mirrors.isc.org/pub/pcbsd/9-STABLE-20120605/amd64/netinstall/metapackages/pcbsd/All/ URL WILL CHANGE FOR RELEASE Pending Meta-Package changes: 1 Installing Meta-Package: Awesome Pending package changes: 1 Installing package: awesome-3.4.11_1 The meta-pkg Awesome is installed Finished Meta-Package: Awesome Meta-Package changes finished!
To delete an installed meta-package, specify its name. Only the superuser can install meta-packages.
pc-metapkgmanager del Awesome Pending Meta-Package changes: 1 Removing Meta-Package: Awesome Pending package changes: 1 Removing: awesome-3.4.11_1 The meta-pkg Awesome is not installed Pruning unused packages... This may take a while... Meta-Package changes finished!
To change the default metapkgset between "pcbsd" and "warden", modify the PCBSD_METAPKGSET variable in /usr/local/etc/pcbsd.conf.
pc-metapkgmanager can also be used to upgrade the packages that came with the operating system. When you run the pc-metapkgmanager list | more command, the "base-system" meta-package lists these packages. To determine if any are out-of-date:
pc-metapkgmanager status base-system ??The meta-pkg base-system is partially installed??
??To update the out-of-date base packages, run the following command as the superuser:??
pc-metapkgmanager update base-system ftp://mirrors.isc.org/pub/pcbsd/9-STABLE-20120605/amd64/netinstall/metapackages/pcbsd/All/ URL WILL CHANGE FOR RELEASE
pc-metapkgmanager records any error messages to /tmp/.pc-metamanager.log. This log file automatically rotates whenever it reaches 5MB in size.
References
