Decoding pacman debug messages

Out of curiosity, I ran:

sudo pacman -Syu --debug |& cat -n  >> pacman-log

Just to see what is really happening under the hood when we run pacman operations. Then I came across several debug messages that I don’t know whether I should be concerned about. Here is the contents of pacman-log:

     1	debug: pacman v6.0.0 - libalpm v13.0.0
     2	debug: config: attempting to read file /etc/pacman.conf
     3	debug: config: new section 'options'
     4	debug: config: CacheDir: /var/cache/pacman/pkg/
     5	debug: config: HoldPkg: pacman
     6	debug: config: HoldPkg: glibc
     7	debug: config: HoldPkg: manjaro-system
     8	debug: config: SyncFirst: manjaro-system
     9	debug: config: SyncFirst: archlinux-keyring
    10	debug: config: SyncFirst: manjaro-keyring
    11	debug: config: Architecture: auto
    12	debug: config: arch: x86_64
    13	debug: config: SigLevel: Required
    14	debug: config: SigLevel: DatabaseOptional
    15	debug: config: LocalFileSigLevel: Optional
    16	debug: config: new section 'core'
    17	debug: config: SigLevel: PackageRequired
    18	debug: config file /etc/pacman.conf, line 77: including /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
    19	debug: config: new section 'extra'
    20	debug: config: SigLevel: PackageRequired
    21	debug: config file /etc/pacman.conf, line 81: including /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
    22	debug: config: new section 'community'
    23	debug: config: SigLevel: PackageRequired
    24	debug: config file /etc/pacman.conf, line 85: including /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
    25	debug: config: new section 'multilib'
    26	debug: config: SigLevel: PackageRequired
    27	debug: config file /etc/pacman.conf, line 92: including /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
    28	debug: config: finished parsing /etc/pacman.conf
    29	debug: setup_libalpm called
    30	debug: option 'logfile' = /var/log/pacman.log
    31	debug: option 'gpgdir' = /etc/pacman.d/gnupg/
    32	debug: option 'hookdir' = /etc/pacman.d/hooks/
    33	debug: option 'cachedir' = /var/cache/pacman/pkg/
    34	debug: registering sync database 'core'
    35	debug: database path for tree core set to /var/lib/pacman/sync/core.db
    36	debug: "/var/lib/pacman/sync/core.db.sig" is not readable: No such file or directory
    37	debug: sig path /var/lib/pacman/sync/core.db.sig could not be opened
    38	debug: got error 43 at _alpm_gpgme_checksig (../lib/libalpm/signing.c: 593) : missing PGP signature
    39	debug: missing optional signature
    40	debug: setting usage of 15 for core repository
    41	debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://mirrors.fossho.st/manjaro/stable/core/x86_64
    42	debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://mirrors.manjaro.org/repo/stable/core/x86_64
    43	debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': http://mirror.datacenter.by/pub/mirrors/manjaro/stable/core/x86_64
    44	debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://mirror.koddos.net/manjaro/stable/core/x86_64
    45	debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://osmirror.org/manjaro/stable/core/x86_64
    46	debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://manjaro.mirror.liquidtelecom.com/stable/core/x86_64
    47	debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://ftp.cc.uoc.gr/mirrors/linux/manjaro/stable/core/x86_64
    48	debug: adding new server URL to database 'core': https://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/os/Linux/distr/manjaro/stable/core/x86_64
    49	debug: registering sync database 'extra'
    50	debug: database path for tree extra set to /var/lib/pacman/sync/extra.db
    51	debug: "/var/lib/pacman/sync/extra.db.sig" is not readable: No such file or directory
    52	debug: sig path /var/lib/pacman/sync/extra.db.sig could not be opened
    53	debug: got error 43 at _alpm_gpgme_checksig (../lib/libalpm/signing.c: 593) : missing PGP signature
    54	debug: missing optional signature
    55	debug: setting usage of 15 for extra repository
    56	debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://mirrors.fossho.st/manjaro/stable/extra/x86_64
    57	debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://mirrors.manjaro.org/repo/stable/extra/x86_64
    58	debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': http://mirror.datacenter.by/pub/mirrors/manjaro/stable/extra/x86_64
    59	debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://mirror.koddos.net/manjaro/stable/extra/x86_64
    60	debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://osmirror.org/manjaro/stable/extra/x86_64
    61	debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://manjaro.mirror.liquidtelecom.com/stable/extra/x86_64
    62	debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://ftp.cc.uoc.gr/mirrors/linux/manjaro/stable/extra/x86_64
    63	debug: adding new server URL to database 'extra': https://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/os/Linux/distr/manjaro/stable/extra/x86_64
    64	debug: registering sync database 'community'
    65	debug: database path for tree community set to /var/lib/pacman/sync/community.db
    66	debug: "/var/lib/pacman/sync/community.db.sig" is not readable: No such file or directory
    67	debug: sig path /var/lib/pacman/sync/community.db.sig could not be opened
    68	debug: got error 43 at _alpm_gpgme_checksig (../lib/libalpm/signing.c: 593) : missing PGP signature
    69	debug: missing optional signature
    70	debug: setting usage of 15 for community repository
    71	debug: adding new server URL to database 'community': https://mirrors.fossho.st/manjaro/stable/community/x86_64
    72	debug: adding new server URL to database 'community': https://mirrors.manjaro.org/repo/stable/community/x86_64
    73	debug: adding new server URL to database 'community': http://mirror.datacenter.by/pub/mirrors/manjaro/stable/community/x86_64
    74	debug: adding new server URL to database 'community': https://mirror.koddos.net/manjaro/stable/community/x86_64
    75	debug: adding new server URL to database 'community': https://osmirror.org/manjaro/stable/community/x86_64
    76	debug: adding new server URL to database 'community': https://manjaro.mirror.liquidtelecom.com/stable/community/x86_64
    77	debug: adding new server URL to database 'community': https://ftp.cc.uoc.gr/mirrors/linux/manjaro/stable/community/x86_64
    78	debug: adding new server URL to database 'community': https://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/os/Linux/distr/manjaro/stable/community/x86_64
    79	debug: registering sync database 'multilib'
    80	debug: database path for tree multilib set to /var/lib/pacman/sync/multilib.db
    81	debug: "/var/lib/pacman/sync/multilib.db.sig" is not readable: No such file or directory
    82	debug: sig path /var/lib/pacman/sync/multilib.db.sig could not be opened
    83	debug: got error 43 at _alpm_gpgme_checksig (../lib/libalpm/signing.c: 593) : missing PGP signature
    84	debug: missing optional signature
    85	debug: setting usage of 15 for multilib repository
    86	debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://mirrors.fossho.st/manjaro/stable/multilib/x86_64
    87	debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://mirrors.manjaro.org/repo/stable/multilib/x86_64
    88	debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': http://mirror.datacenter.by/pub/mirrors/manjaro/stable/multilib/x86_64
    89	debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://mirror.koddos.net/manjaro/stable/multilib/x86_64
    90	debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://osmirror.org/manjaro/stable/multilib/x86_64
    91	debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://manjaro.mirror.liquidtelecom.com/stable/multilib/x86_64
    92	debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://ftp.cc.uoc.gr/mirrors/linux/manjaro/stable/multilib/x86_64
    93	debug: adding new server URL to database 'multilib': https://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/os/Linux/distr/manjaro/stable/multilib/x86_64
    94	:: Synchronizing package databases...
    95	 core downloading...
    96	 extra downloading...
    97	 community downloading...
    98	 multilib downloading...
    99	debug: core.db: url is https://mirrors.fossho.st/manjaro/stable/core/x86_64/core.db
   100	debug: core.db: maxsize 134217728
   101	debug: core.db: using time condition 1627462598
   102	debug: core.db: opened tempfile for download: /var/lib/pacman/sync/core.db.part (wb)
   103	debug: core.db: curl returned result 0 from transfer
   104	debug: core.db: response code 304
   105	debug: core.db.sig: url is https://mirrors.fossho.st/manjaro/stable/core/x86_64/core.db.sig
   106	debug: core.db.sig: maxsize 16384
   107	debug: core.db.sig: opened tempfile for download: /var/lib/pacman/sync/core.db.sig.part (wb)
   108	debug: core.db: file met time condition
   109	debug: core.db.sig: curl returned result 0 from transfer
   110	debug: core.db.sig: response code 404
   111	debug: core.db.sig: no more servers to retry
   112	debug: extra.db: url is https://mirrors.fossho.st/manjaro/stable/extra/x86_64/extra.db
   113	debug: extra.db: maxsize 134217728
   114	debug: extra.db: using time condition 1627569942
   115	debug: extra.db: opened tempfile for download: /var/lib/pacman/sync/extra.db.part (wb)
   116	debug: extra.db: curl returned result 0 from transfer
   117	debug: extra.db: response code 304
   118	debug: extra.db.sig: url is https://mirrors.fossho.st/manjaro/stable/extra/x86_64/extra.db.sig
   119	debug: extra.db.sig: maxsize 16384
   120	debug: extra.db.sig: opened tempfile for download: /var/lib/pacman/sync/extra.db.sig.part (wb)
   121	debug: extra.db: file met time condition
   122	debug: extra.db.sig: curl returned result 0 from transfer
   123	debug: extra.db.sig: response code 404
   124	debug: extra.db.sig: no more servers to retry
   125	debug: community.db: url is https://mirrors.fossho.st/manjaro/stable/community/x86_64/community.db
   126	debug: community.db: maxsize 134217728
   127	debug: community.db: using time condition 1627569949
   128	debug: community.db: opened tempfile for download: /var/lib/pacman/sync/community.db.part (wb)
   129	debug: community.db: curl returned result 0 from transfer
   130	debug: community.db: response code 304
   131	debug: community.db.sig: url is https://mirrors.fossho.st/manjaro/stable/community/x86_64/community.db.sig
   132	debug: community.db.sig: maxsize 16384
   133	debug: community.db.sig: opened tempfile for download: /var/lib/pacman/sync/community.db.sig.part (wb)
   134	debug: community.db: file met time condition
   135	debug: community.db.sig: curl returned result 0 from transfer
   136	debug: community.db.sig: response code 404
   137	debug: community.db.sig: no more servers to retry
   138	debug: multilib.db: url is https://mirrors.fossho.st/manjaro/stable/multilib/x86_64/multilib.db
   139	debug: multilib.db: maxsize 134217728
   140	debug: multilib.db: using time condition 1627462602
   141	debug: multilib.db: opened tempfile for download: /var/lib/pacman/sync/multilib.db.part (wb)
   142	debug: multilib.db: curl returned result 0 from transfer
   143	debug: multilib.db: response code 304
   144	debug: multilib.db.sig: url is https://mirrors.fossho.st/manjaro/stable/multilib/x86_64/multilib.db.sig

I was wondering about lines 36, 37, 38, and 39 (there are other similar messages throughout the log)

Should I be concerned?

No. As line 39 states, the signature is optional. It’s just telling you that an optional thing is missing.

Package signatures are required, but database signatures are optional. It will use database signatures, if they exist, but it will also continue if they don’t.

1 Like

Hello. Thank you for your reply.

Can you point out what changes I should make to the system to make it go away? I just want to tinker a bit so that I can get a better understanding of the system.

It seems to have something to do with the _alpm_gpgme_checksig function (i assume it’s a function written in the signing.c file at line 593)

They are debug messages. Not errors. No need to make them go away.

To make them go away you would need to either use a repo that has database signatures (Manjaro’s do not) or change the line SigLevel = Required DatabaseOptional in your /etc/pacman.conf to SigLevel = PackageRequired I think.

You should look up the options in man pacman.conf before editing it.

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