How to update Manjaro Linux or Arch Linux? This sounds like a simple topic, isn’t it? While this is certainly useful for beginners, reading these ‘simple topics’ often lead to some hidden gems that you might not be aware of.
For example, in this article I’ll discuss both GUI and terminal way of updating your Arch-based distribution. The interesting part is the subtle difference between pacman -Syu and pacman -Syyu (with an extra y) commands.
I am a Manjaro user and I love it. I have written this tutorial using Manjaro but the command part is applicable for other Arch-based distributions as well. I’ll also show the GUI application for Manjaro.
- Updating Manjaro and other Arch-based distributions using command line
- Updating Manjaro Linux using GUI
Let’s see how to keep your software and system up-to-date
Update Arch or Manjaro Linux using command line
You can access the terminal by typing Ctrl+Alt+T or by clicking on the menu button on the left hand side corner and find it by typing terminal. Personally I find that updating any distro through terminal is faster and robust.
Simplest way to update Arch Linux distributions is to use:
sudo pacman -SyuIt compares the local package database against the distribution’s software repository. If there are any new package versions available, you will be prompted to type yes to update the outstanding packages.
There is another way to update your system.
sudo pacman -SyyuYou can notice the extra y in this command. The extra y forces the package manager to download package database regardless of whether there is any change in the versions or not.
This is helpful when you have a corrupted package database and you want to force a synchronization.
I don’t recommend using sudo pacman -Syyu all the time because it will unnecessarily take a long time in synchronizing the database. It will also consume more network bandwidth.
As you can see in the image above, even if my system is up-to-date, the database is still being updated.
Recommended Read:
How to Install and Remove Software in Manjaro Linux
This complete beginner’s guide shows you multiple ways to install and remove software in Manjaro Linux.
Update Manjaro the Graphical Interface (GUI)
I find Manjaro an excellent distribution. If you find it difficult to install Arch Linux, you can try Manjaro Linux. It is based on Arch Linux but a lot more beginner-friendly.
Manjaro provides plenty of graphical tools so you won’t have to use the terminal for most tasks, if you don’t want to.
The process for updating Manjaro through Xfce GUI is quite straight forward. You can either click on the Menu icon on the left handside corner and type software update or you can navigate to the software update option as shown below.
My system is already up-to-date and no further action is needed. If there were any updates, you would see it here.
You might be prompted to restart your system after installing updates in some cases.
I hope you like this quick little tip. Keep on reading It’s FOSS as I add more Arch and Manjaro tutorials.
Hi, how do you update with the command line with you are in another user account, not the main? With the gui it asks you for the admin pw. But the command line doesn’t ask you this.
Thanks Dimitrios. Useful tips for new users. I find it a powerful and useful system. An easy transition from Windows. Had an annoying experience in setting up email clients, but that’s part and parcel of today’s security requirements. Can even run MS Office through the web if you still want to. But Onlyoffice and Libre Office are perfectly capable replacements.
this and so many things I have tried already hav’t worked
Hi Dimitrios
Thanks for your information, your a manjaro Fan?. It could the system for me, but my biggest problem is, how to mount my Network folders permanently. In linux mint this whas easy because it is very good documented. In manjaro i didnt find the way. Any tips?