pacman Operations

The pacman module manages packages on Arch Linux systems using the pacman package manager.

Functions

packages

Install or remove pacman packages.

from pyinfra.operations import pacman

pacman.packages(
    name="Install development tools",
    packages=["git", "vim"],
    update=True,
)

str | list[str]

List of packages to ensure.

bool

default:true

Whether the packages should be installed.

bool

default:false

Run pacman -Sy before installing packages.

bool

default:false

Run pacman -Su before installing packages.

Package versions can be pinned like pacman: <pkg>=<version>

Example

from pyinfra.operations import pacman

pacman.packages(
    name="Install Vim and a plugin",
    packages=["vim-fugitive", "vim"],
    update=True,
)

update

Update pacman package database.

from pyinfra.operations import pacman

pacman.update(
    name="Update package database",
)

This operation is not idempotent - it will always execute.

upgrade

Upgrade all pacman packages.

from pyinfra.operations import pacman

pacman.upgrade(
    name="Upgrade all packages",
)

This operation is not idempotent - it will always execute.

Common Use Cases

System Setup

from pyinfra.operations import pacman

# Update package database
pacman.update(
    name="Update package database",
)

# Install base packages
pacman.packages(
    name="Install base development tools",
    packages=[
        "base-devel",
        "git",
        "vim",
        "wget",
        "curl",
    ],
)

Full System Upgrade

from pyinfra.operations import pacman

# Update and upgrade
pacman.packages(
    name="Perform full system upgrade",
    packages=[],
    update=True,
    upgrade=True,
)

Development Environment

from pyinfra.operations import pacman

# Install development tools
pacman.packages(
    name="Install development environment",
    packages=[
        "base-devel",
        "git",
        "vim",
        "tmux",
        "python",
        "python-pip",
        "docker",
        "docker-compose",
    ],
    update=True,
)

Web Server Setup

from pyinfra.operations import pacman

# Install web server stack
pacman.packages(
    name="Install NGINX and certbot",
    packages=[
        "nginx",
        "certbot",
        "certbot-nginx",
    ],
    update=True,
)

Desktop Environment

from pyinfra.operations import pacman

# Install Xorg and i3
pacman.packages(
    name="Install X server and i3 window manager",
    packages=[
        "xorg-server",
        "xorg-xinit",
        "i3-wm",
        "i3status",
        "dmenu",
        "termite",
    ],
    update=True,
)

Arch-Specific Tips

Package Groups

Pacman supports package groups which install multiple related packages:

from pyinfra.operations import pacman

# Install the base-devel group
pacman.packages(
    name="Install base development tools",
    packages=["base-devel"],
)

AUR Packages

For AUR (Arch User Repository) packages, you’ll need to use a helper like yay or paru:

from pyinfra.operations import server

# Install AUR helper (yay)
server.shell(
    name="Install yay AUR helper",
    commands=[
        "cd /tmp",
        "git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay.git",
        "cd yay",
        "makepkg -si --noconfirm",
    ],
)

# Install AUR packages with yay
server.shell(
    name="Install AUR packages",
    commands=["yay -S --noconfirm package-name"],
)

Cleaning Package Cache

Clean up old packages from cache:

from pyinfra.operations import server

# Remove all cached packages
server.shell(
    name="Clean package cache",
    commands=["pacman -Sc --noconfirm"],
)

# Remove all cached packages and unused sync databases
server.shell(
    name="Clean all cache",
    commands=["pacman -Scc --noconfirm"],
)

Orphaned Packages

Remove packages that were installed as dependencies but are no longer needed:

from pyinfra.operations import server

# Remove orphaned packages
server.shell(
    name="Remove orphaned packages",
    commands=["pacman -Rns $(pacman -Qtdq) --noconfirm || true"],
)

Important Notes

Always run pacman -Sy (update) before installing packages to ensure you’re installing the latest versions and avoid partial upgrades.

Pacman uses the --noconfirm flag in pyinfra operations to enable non-interactive installations.

Overview

Package Managers

Language Packages

Service Management

System Operations

Containers

Databases

Version Control

Security

pacman Operations

Functions

packages

Example

update

upgrade

Common Use Cases

System Setup

Full System Upgrade

Development Environment

Web Server Setup

Desktop Environment

Arch-Specific Tips

Important Notes

​Functions

​packages

​Example

​update

​upgrade

​Common Use Cases

​System Setup

​Full System Upgrade

​Development Environment

​Web Server Setup

​Desktop Environment

​Arch-Specific Tips

​Important Notes

Functions

packages

Example

update

upgrade

Common Use Cases

System Setup

Full System Upgrade

Development Environment

Web Server Setup

Desktop Environment

Arch-Specific Tips

Important Notes