Pacnew and Pacsave files
A .pacnew file may be created during a package upgrade to avoid overwriting a file which already exists. A .pacsave file may be created during a package removal, or by a package installation of a package that was removed. These files require manual intervention from the user and it is good practice to handle them regularly. The program pacdiff can help manage this process. For example, here is what it looks like when the /etc/default/grub grub file has changed:
sudo DIFFPROG=diff pacdiff|result=
==> pacnew file found for /etc/default/grub
:: (V)iew, (S)kip, (R)emove pacnew, (O)verwrite with pacnew, (Q)uit: [v/s/r/o/q]
V shows the differences between the two filesS skips to the next change and allows you to deal with it later or manuallyR keeps your existing file and delete the new fileO overwrites the existing file with the new fileQ quits the process without making further changes
Unfortunately, there is no perfect road map for how to deal with these files. If you keep the original config file, and the syntax has changed, the program may stop working or fail to use the existing config. If you remove the original file and use the new file without any changes, all your configuration settings can be overwritten. Sometimes, you need to combine pieces from the new and old files to make everything to work. In these situations it is better to integrate the files manually.
One of the .pacnew files deals with an important change to /etc/pacman.conf, i.e. the fact that the community repository was merged into the extra repository, and that as such, the community repository is now empty and should be removed from /etc/pacman.conf.
1 Like