How to Install and Use Yay on Arch Linux and Manjaro

$ sudo pacman -S yay

#OR

$ sudo pamac install yay

Yay (Yet Another Yaourt) is a popular Arch User Repository (AUR) helper for Arch Linux and its derivatives, such as Manjaro, after the discontinuation of Yaourt and Packer.

It is a command-line utility that simplifies the process of searching, installing, and managing packages from both the official repositories and the AUR.

In this article, you will learn how to install Yay on your Arch-based systems, how to use it (with practical examples), and when not to use it.

Tutorial Details

How to Install Yay (AUR Helper) on Arch-Based Systems

Here are the steps to install Yay (the AUR helper) on your Arch-based systems:

1. Open your terminal, refresh the package cache, and update the system by using the pacman command:

$ sudo pacman -Syu

2. Install “git” (required to clone the Yay git repository) and “base-devel” (install essential development tools and libraries for building AUR packages).

$ sudo pacman -S --needed git base-devel

When using the “--needed” flag, it won’t reinstall packages that are already installed.

3. Now, use the git command to clone the Yay repository from the AUR in your current directory:

$ git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay.git

4. Once done, switch to the cloned Yay directory using the cd command:

$ cd yay

5. Lastly, build and install Yay using the “makepkg” utility.

$ makepkg -si

The “-s” flag is used to automatically resolve and install required Yay dependencies, and the “-i” flag is used to install the package once it’s built.

6. After the installation is successfully completed, you can delete the Yay directory using the following command:

$ cd .. && rm -rf yay

7. Ensure the “yay” command is accessible from the terminal by checking its version information using the following command:

$ yay --version

Output:

How to Use Yay in Arch Linux and Manjaro

Once Yay is installed, you can simplify the process of searching, installing, and managing the packages from the AUR repositories. Here are some examples of how to use “yay“:

Update System and Packages

When you issue the “yay” command without specifying any flags, it will automatically consider using the “yay -Syu” command used to update your Arch Linux system. It’s also equivalent to the “pacman -Syu” command:

$ yay

#OR

$ yay -Syu

After issuing the above command, it will update the system’s package database and upgrade the installed packages.

Update AUR Packages Only

The previously mentioned command will also upgrade the packages installed by Pacman and Yay. If you only want to upgrade packages installed from Yay, run:

$ yay -Sua

Check for Updates

To check for available updates for all installed packages from the “yay” command without upgrading them, you can use the following command:

$ yay -Qua

Or use the “yay -Qu” command to include the pending package update information installed from official repositories.

Search for a Package

To search for a package in the official repositories or AUR repository, you can use the “yay” command followed by the package name (e.g., “firefox“):

$ yay firefox

#OR

$ yay -Ss firefox

Install a Package

To install a package from the official repositories or AUR repository, you can use the “yay” command with the “-S” flag followed by the package name (e.g., “neofetch“):

$ yay -S neofetch

Print Package Information

To print the installed or uninstalled package information from the official repositories or AUR, you can use the “yay” command with the “-Si” flag followed by the package name (e.g., “neofetch“):

$ yay -Si neofetch

Remove a Package

To remove a package, you can use the “-R” flag with the “yay” command followed by the installed package name (e.g., “neofetch“):

$ yay -R neofetch

Clean Package Cache

To clean the package cache and remove the old, unwanted dependencies and leftover packages, run:

$ yay -Sc

Print the System Statistics

To check the list of total installed packages, including foreign and explicitly installed packages, the total size occupied by the installed packages, and the total size of the Pacman and Yay caches, run:

$ yay -Ps

When Not to Use Yay or AUR Packages

AUR packages are entirely user-contributed, and while many maintainers are careful, some packages might not be thoroughly reviewed for security issues. Before installing any package from the AUR, you should review the PKGBUILD file (the build script for the package) and inspect the code to ensure its safety.

And most of the packages can be updated frequently, but not all maintainers follow the same update standards as the official repositories. So, installing updates from the AUR might introduce instability or compatibility issues with other system packages. It’s a good practice to be cautious and only update AUR packages when necessary.

If you have multiple AUR helpers installed on your system, then they might conflict while installing and managing the packages. So, stick to using a single AUR helper to avoid potential issues.

While using AUR helpers like “yay” can automate certain tasks, it might also take away some of the details of package management. If you want more control over the installation process or want to be directly involved in package building, you can choose to manually install AUR packages.

How to Remove Yay (AUR Helper) from Arch-Based Systems

If you do not want to have Yay any more for any reason, you can use the following command to remove it from your Arch-based systems:

$ sudo pacman -Rs yay

Final Word

I hope you find this article useful. If you have any questions or queries related to this article, then feel free to ask them in the comment section.

Till then, peace!