pkgcli - Man Page

pkgcli [GLOBAL-OPTIONS...] COMMAND [COMMAND-OPTIONS...] [ARGUMENTS...]

pkgcli is a command line client for PackageKit, a distribution-neutral interface to the operating system's package manager. It provides a set of subcommands for querying and managing software packages, repositories and transaction history.

Use pkgcli --help to get a list of available commands, and pkgcli COMMAND --help for command-specific help.

The following options are parsed before the command name and affect most subcommands:

-v,  --version

Show the pkgcli version and exit.

-h,  --help

Show generic help and a list of available commands.

-q,  --quiet

Only provide minimal output.

--verbose

Show more detailed and debug-style output.

--json

Output results in JSON format suitable for consumption by other tools. Output is generated in the JSONL (JSON Lines) format, with one JSON object per line.

--no-color

Disable colored terminal output. This is also enabled when the NO_COLOR environment variable is set.

-y,  --yes

Answer “yes” to all questions and run in non-interactive mode.

-f,  --filter=FILTER

Apply one or more filters when querying packages, such as restricting results to installed or available packages. You can view all supported filter options by running pkgcli organization.

-n,  --background

Hint that the command is not urgent and may use idle network bandwidth and power-saving settings where supported.

The following commands are available:

backend

Display information about the PackageKit backend currently in use, including the backend name, version, and the roles it supports.

history

Show a list of recent package management transactions (like installation, removal, and update operations performed on the system).

search

Search for packages matching a given pattern. The first argument may optionally be one of name, details, file or group, to limit the search to the selected domain. If only one argument is given, a search across package details (name, summary, and description) is performed.

list

List packages, optionally filtered by installation status or name pattern. Use with --filter to show only installed, available, or other categories of packages.

show

Display detailed information about one or more packages, including version, size, description, license, and repository information.

list-depends

List all packages that the specified package depends on. Use the --recursive flag to list dependencies of the entire chain.

list-required-by

List packages that depend on or require the specified package.

what-provides

Find and list packages that provide a given capability, shared library, or file path.

files

Display a list of all files contained in the specified package.

list-updates

List all available package updates for installed software.

show-update

Display detailed information about a specific update, including changelog entries, security advisories, and other update metadata.

resolve

Resolve package names or identifiers to their package state, showing whether they are installed, available, or unavailable.

organization

Display available package filters (such as installed, available, newest), groups (such as system, development, graphics), and categories that can be used to query packages.

show-os-upgrade

Check for and display information about available operating system or distribution upgrades, such as upgrades to a newer OS release.

last-time

Show the elapsed time since the last transaction of a specified role occurred, such as the last package update or cache refresh.

refresh

Refresh the local package metadata cache by downloading the latest package information from configured repositories. This should be run before checking for updates or searching for new packages.

install

Install one or more packages by name, or install local package files if a path is provided instead of a package name.

remove

Remove one or more installed packages from the system. This may also remove dependent packages if they are no longer needed. Use with the --autoremove option to clean up unused packages as well.

update

Install available updates for all installed packages on the system, or for specific packages if specified as arguments.

upgrade

Perform a system upgrade to newer package versions or a new distribution release. This may involve major version updates and significant changes.

download

Download package files to the local system without installing them. This is useful for offline installation or package inspection.

offline-update

Prepare, trigger, cancel, or inspect offline system updates. Offline updates are applied during system boot before the desktop environment starts, allowing critical system packages to be updated safely.

install-sig

Install a cryptographic signature for a package to verify its authenticity and integrity.

repair

Attempt to automatically repair problems with the package management system, such as broken dependencies, corrupted databases, or interrupted transactions.

quit

Request the PackageKit daemon to terminate gracefully after completing any ongoing operations. The daemon will restart automatically when needed.

repo-list

Display a list of all configured software repositories, showing their identifiers, descriptions, and enabled/disabled status.

repo-enable

Enable a previously disabled repository, allowing packages from that repository to be installed and updated.

repo-disable

Disable a repository, preventing packages from that source from being installed or updated while keeping the repository configuration.

repo-remove

Completely remove a repository from the system configuration. This is permanent and the repository will need to be re-added if needed later. Takes a repository-ID as parameter.

monitor

Monitor and display real-time PackageKit transaction events and status changes on the bus. This is useful for debugging or observing package management activity.

Use pkgcli COMMAND --help for detailed usage information including supported options and arguments for each command.

The following exit codes are used by pkgcli:

0

The command completed successfully.

1

A non-specific error occurred.

2

Invalid syntax or command-line options were supplied.

3

Insufficient permissions to perform the requested operation.

4

Required information or packages could not be found.

5

The transaction failed.

Additional exit codes may be used for more specific failure conditions by individual commands.

NO_COLOR

When set to any non-empty value, disables colored output, equivalent to passing --no-color.

Search for packages related to text editors

Search only in package names

Show detailed information about a package

Install a package non-interactively

List all installed packages

Check for available updates

List dependencies of a package

Find which package provides the AV1 GStreamer codec

appstreamcli(1), and the PackageKit documentation at https://www.freedesktop.org/software/PackageKit/.

Matthias Klumpp <matthias@tenstral.net>

Richard Hughes <richard@hughsie.com>

Copyright © 2012-2026 Matthias Klumpp