[HowTo] Install updates from TTY

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Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆

Why would I update using the console?

There are several reasons you may wish to update using TTY and not the regular GUI process. The most common are when you update kernels, graphics drivers, or other apps the could hinder your current GUI session. It can also be handy when a problematic update lands as has happened once or twice in the past. By problematic I mean required user intervention before reboot. This method creates a clean easy update environment that allows for a full view of what pamac is up to.

How do I update using the console/TTY?

  1. Save and close all applications.
  2. Logout [Eg. In KDE press Ctrl+Alt+Del and then click logout]
  3. Press Ctrl+Alt+F2 and switch to TTY2. You can also try Ctrl+Alt+F3 for TTY3 if required.
  4. Login on TTY2 with your username/password
  5. Run nmtui (Ncurses based network manager GUI to connect to LAN / WiFi.)
  6. Run sudo pacman-mirrors -f 5 (Update mirror list with 5 fastest up to date mirrors)
  7. Run sudo pacman -Syyuw (First only download all packages to manage breaking change during package installation)
  8. Run sudo pacman -Syu (to install the packages you just downloaded)
  9. Done with the update, Run systemctl reboot
  10. If you have any issues related to keyrings or signatures, run the commands below ¹:
    sudo pacman -Sy archlinux-keyring manjaro-keyring #installs keyring packages
sudo pacman-key --populate archlinux manjaro #updates keyring database with new files
sudo pacman-key --refresh-keys #Refresh all keys

Note 1: If you update regularly keyring errors shouldn’t happen.
Note 2: It has previously been raised that it would be beneficial to boot into multi-user mode along with logging out, but that can cause issues with networking access and others things. Although it would be safer to do that, this author’s opinion is that using the process above contains sufficient update hygiene.
Note 3: Don’t forget, nothing will get you out of trouble like a good backup.

20 Likes
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this is good except the only thing i do differently is i begin with downloading all packages with -Syyuw before logging out. that way i have no troubles having no network access in TTY. and after loggin in to TTY directly proceed to -Su to update them.

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I can not use my regular login password in TTY2 or TTY3 to log in. The keyboard seems to be changed to a non german one. Can I change this?

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https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Linux_console/Keyboard_configuration

1 Like
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I am a newbie getting accustomed to updating packages in Manjaro KDE 21.0, without breaking my stable branch. I followed your tutorial to the letter for updating system packages. It worked flawlessly, thank you. I just have some questions.
Can yay be used instead of pacman, like

  1. yay -Syyuw to download packages
  2. yay -Syu to install tjem
  3. yay -Y --clean to remove dependancies

Can this way be used to update AUR packages, which pacman can’t? Also, how to update flatpak packages using tty2?

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Yes, yay is a wrapper.
However, for TTY updates we use pacman and upgrade the main system first before doing pamac or yay upgrades.
To install ‘tjem’ you can do ‘yay tjem’ and select, or ‘yay -S tjem’.
yay -Syu is the equivalent of pacman -Syu with AUR included.

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