Frequently Asked Questions

The answer to every question is ‘Read The Documentation’. However, for your convenience, the most common problem solutions are linked here.

Basics

Why use Exherbo?
Please see Exherbo’s Features.

How do I…

…add new repositories?
To add a new repository you have to create a configuration file for the repository in /etc/paludis/repositories/, for example “x11.conf”, which should have the following content:
```
location = ${ROOT}/var/db/paludis/repositories/<repo_name>
sync = git://git.exherbo.org/<repo_name>.git
format = exheres
```
If you have not yet configured caching, add the following lines to /etc/paludis/repository_defaults.conf
```
names_cache = ${ROOT}/var/cache/paludis/names
write_cache = ${ROOT}/var/cache/paludis/metadata
```
Replace <repo_name> with the name of the repository you want to add, for example “x11”. If you add a third party repository the url you enter for “sync” may differ.

For more detailed information about the repository configuration please consult the Paludis documentation: ebuild and exheres Repository Formats

Don’t forget to prepend x- when syncing for the first time!
…manage packages not in any repository?
man importare
If you have the source untarred in some directory, and you already did ./configure && make, try the following.
```
# importare --install --location ~/code/foo-v0.3.4/ category/foo 0.3.4
```
…search for packages in repositories?
with inquisitio, e.g.: search for all packages with vim in name:
```
# inquisitio vim
```
…list installed packages?
```
# cave show */*::/
```
…work with binary packages?
You are going to have to delve a bit into the source code, as this feature is not meant for end-users just yet.
…start writing exheres?
Exheres for smarties
…update my configuration files?
```
# eclectic config
```

Package Masked Errors

It is a good idea to carefully read every error message output by paludis, they are verbose for a reason and easy to understand.

* All versions of 'category/package' are masked. Candidates are:

Masked by unavailable
* dev-perl/XML-Simple-2.18:0::unavailable (in ::perl): Masked by unavailable (In a repository which is unavailable)
Add the perl repository, see ‘How do I add new repositories?’ above.
Masked by unwritten
* net-fs/samba-3.0.32:0::unwritten: Masked by unwritten (Package has not been written yet)
This means the package hasn’t been written, try ‘paludis -q samba’, then see ‘How do I start writing exheres?’ above.
Masked by platform
* sys-boot/grub-1.96:0::arbor: Masked by platform (~x86)
```
 # echo "sys-boot/grub ~x86" >> /etc/paludis/platforms.conf
```

Misc

When trying to install a package with paludis within a chroot it shows the following error:
```
  * When creating pty FDs:
  * posix_openpt(3) failed: No such file or directory (paludis::PtyError)
```
The problem is that /dev/pts/ is missing in your chroot, use the following command to bind-mount /dev/ properly:
```
  # mount -o rbind /dev /mnt/exherbo/dev
```

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