content/wiki/pkg_man.md

Package management is the process of installing, updating and removing software, tools and libraries. On GNU/Linux systems, package management is usually done with a package manager.

MatterLinux Package Manager

In a Matter system, package management is generally done with the MatterLinux Package Manager (mp). mp lets you install, remove, update and search different MatterLinux packages across different repos.

Installation

mp should be already installed on a MatterLinux system. However if you want to install mp from the source, then you should follow this section from the README.

Note that you should run all the mp and related commands as the root user.

Configuration

Configuration file for mp can be found at /etc/mp/cfg. This file is used specify repos and configure general settings.

Here is the configuration shipped with the releases:

[general]
tmpdir = /tmp/mp

[base]
uri = https://pkgs.matterlinux.xyz/base

[desktop]
uri = https://pkgs.matterlinux.xyz/desktop

Lets start by breaking down the [general] section:

• tmpdir (path): Specifies the temporary directory used by the mp. This directory will be used to save packages and signatures, most of the files in this directory will be removed after operation.

Other general configuration options are:

• debug (yes/no): This setting is used to enable the debug logging, however mp don't have any debug logging (it will be implemented in the future) so there is no point at enabling it.

Next sections specify the repos. Section name is the repo name, and it should match with the actual repo name. Repo options are:

• uri (URI): Repo URI, you can use http, https or ftp protocols.
• signing (yes/no): Enable/disable PGP signature verification for the repo, by default it's enabled.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT DISABLE SIGNATURE VERIFICATION IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING! THERE IS NO WAY TO CONFIRM IF THE PACKAGES ARE LEGIT WITHOUT THE SIGNATURE VERIFICATION!

MP_ROOT

Another configuration option that you can use is the MP_ROOT option. Unlike the other options, this option is not specified in the configuration file, it's specified as an enviroment variable.

This option lets you change the target root directory. By default mp install all the packages to /, stores all the information under the / etc. By changing the target root directory you can change this.

For example lets say you want to install all the packages to /tmp/testroot. To do so, first you will need to setup a root file system structure inside /tmp/testroot:

# mkdir /tmp/testroot
# pushd /tmp/testroot
# mkdir -p etc boot dev home proc root run srv sys tmp usr/lib usr/bin usr/sbin var/lib
# ln -sf bin usr/bin
# ln -sf sbin usr/sbin
# ln -sf lib usr/lib
# ln -sf lib64 usr/lib
# popd

Now you can use mp with the MP_ROOT variable, for example:

# MP_ROOT=/tmp/testroot mp-sync
# MP_ROOT=/tmp/testroot mp-install which 

Syncing Repos

To sync remote repo information and package lists, you can use the mp-repo command. After running it mp will:

1. Download the repo metadata for all the repos. Repo metadata is located at REPO_URI/repo
2. Parse the repo metadata and download all the repo package lists. These lists are located at REPO_URI/REPO_NAME.tar.gz
3. Move and extract the repo lists to $MP_ROOT/var/lib/mp/repos/REPO_NAME and parse the plain package lists (pkgs)
4. Tell you the repo signatures

You can add these signatures to your public key ring with gpg:

# gpg --receive-keys [fingerprint]

Installing Packages

To install a package, you can use the mp-install command:

# mp-install which 

After running this command, mp will:

1. Check all the synced repos for the which package
2. Check if the package is already installed
3. Resolve all the dependencies for the which package
4. Ask you if you want to continue with the installation
5. Download the which package and it's signature from the repo to the tmpdir
6. Verify the package using the signature
7. Extract the package to $MP_ROOT
8. Run the package install script if it contains one
9. Add an entry for the which package to $MP_ROOT/var/lib/mp/db and $MP_ROOT/var/lib/mp/files

You can also install multiple packages using the mp-install command:

# mp-install grub systemd linux

Removing/Uninstalling Packages

To remove an installed package, you can use the mp-remove command:

# mp-remove which

After running this command, mp will:

1. Check all the installed packages to see if which is installed or not
2. Find all the files that which package extracted during the installation
3. Ask you if you want to continue with the removal
4. Delete all the files found in the step 2
5. Remove the package entry for the which package from $MP_ROOT/var/lib/mp/db and $MP_ROOT/var/lib/mp/files

You can also remove multiple packages:

# mp-remove git curl

Updating Packages

You can update all of the installed packages using the mp-update command. After running this command, mp will:

1. Check if all the installed packages are up-to-date
2. Find all the packages that are not up-to-date
3. Ask if you want to continue with the update
4. Act like the mp-install command, it will download, verify and install all the packages, overwriting old files
5. Save new up-to-date package entries to the $MP_ROOT/var/lib/mp/db and $MP_ROOT/var/lib/mp/files, overwriting the old entries.

Searching Packages

You can search for packages in the repos using the mp-search command:

# mp-search which

This will provide the following information about the package:

• Name of the package
• Repo that the package is in
• Description
• Hash (sum)
• Version
• If the package is installed
• If the package is up-to-date

After running this command, mp will:

1. Check all the repos for the which package
2. Fetch information about the package from the $MP_ROOT/var/lib/mp/repos/REPO_NAME and $MP_ROOT/var/lib/mp/db.

Other Package Managers

It's a really bad idea to use multiple package managers as they may conflict and may result in an unstable system. However package managers such as flatpak and snap offer containerized packages, making them possible to use with other package managers.

• Flatpak will be added to desktop repo in the future. Currently the only way to use flatpak is to install it from the source.
• Snap will never be added to any official repo, so only way to use it is to install it from the source.