Provided by: texlive-base_2024.20250309-1_all 
NAME
tlmgr - the native TeX Live Manager
SYNOPSIS
tlmgr [option...] action [option...] [operand...]
DESCRIPTION
tlmgr manages an existing TeX Live installation, both packages and configuration options. For
information on initially downloading and installing TeX Live, see <https://tug.org/texlive/acquire.html>.
The most up-to-date version of this documentation (updated nightly from the development sources) is
available at <https://tug.org/texlive/tlmgr.html>, along with procedures for updating "tlmgr" itself and
information about test versions.
WARNING: tlmgr in Debian runs always in user mode
TeX Live is organized into a few top-level schemes, each of which is specified as a different set of
collections and packages, where a collection is a set of packages, and a package is what contains actual
files. Schemes typically contain a mix of collections and packages, but each package is included in
exactly one collection, no more and no less. A TeX Live installation can be customized and managed at
any level.
See <https://tug.org/texlive/doc> for all the TeX Live documentation available.
EXAMPLES
After successfully installing TeX Live, here are a few common operations with "tlmgr":
"tlmgr option repository ctan"
"tlmgr option repository https://mirror.ctan.org/systems/texlive/tlnet"
Tell "tlmgr" to use a nearby CTAN mirror for future updates; useful if you installed TeX Live from
the DVD image and want to have continuing updates. The two commands are equivalent; "ctan" is just
an alias for the given url.
Caveat: "mirror.ctan.org" resolves to many different hosts, and they are not perfectly synchronized;
we recommend updating only daily (at most), and not more often. You can choose a particular mirror if
problems; the list of all CTAN mirrors with the status of each is at
<https://ctan.org/mirrors/mirmon>.
"tlmgr update --list"
Report what would be updated without actually updating anything.
"tlmgr update --all"
Make your local TeX installation correspond to what is in the package repository (typically useful
when updating from CTAN).
"tlmgr info" what
Display detailed information about a package what, such as the installation status and description,
of searches for what in all packages.
"tlmgr bug" what
Display available bug-reporting information for what, a package or file name.
For all the capabilities and details of "tlmgr", please read the following voluminous information.
OPTIONS
The following options to "tlmgr" are global options, not specific to any action. All options, whether
global or action-specific, can be given anywhere on the command line, and in any order. The first non-
option argument will be the main action. In all cases, "--"option and "-"option are equivalent, and an
"=" is optional between an option name and its value.
--repository url|path
Specify the package repository from which packages should be installed or updated, either a local
directory or network location, as below. This overridesthe default package repository found in the
installation's TeX Live Package Database (a.k.a. the TLPDB, which is given entirely in the file
"tlpkg/texlive.tlpdb").
This "--repository" option changes the location only for the current run; to make a permanent change,
use "option repository" (see the "option" action).
As an example, you can choose a particular CTAN mirror with something like this:
-repository http://ctan.example.org/its/ctan/dir/systems/texlive/tlnet
Of course a real hostname and its particular top-level CTAN directory have to be specified. The list
of CTAN mirrors is available at <https://ctan.org/mirrors/mirmon>.
Here's an example of using a local directory:
-repository /local/TL/repository
For backward compatibility and convenience, "--location" and "--repo" are accepted as aliases for
this option.
Locations can be specified as any of the following:
"/some/local/dir"
"file:/some/local/dir"
Equivalent ways of specifying a local directory.
"ctan"
"https://mirror.ctan.org/systems/texlive/tlnet"
Pick a CTAN mirror automatically, trying for one that is both nearby and up-to-date. The chosen
mirror is used for the entire download. The bare "ctan" is merely an alias for the full url. (See
<https://ctan.org> for more about CTAN and its mirrors.)
"http://server/path/to/tlnet"
Standard HTTP. If the (default) LWP method is used, persistent connections are supported. TL can
also use "curl" or "wget" to do the downloads, or an arbitrary user-specified program, as
described in the "tlmgr" documentation
(<https://tug.org/texlive/doc/tlmgr.html#ENVIRONMENT-VARIABLES>).
"https://server/path/to/tlnet"
Again, if the (default) LWP method is used, this supports persistent connections. Unfortunately,
some versions of "wget" and "curl" do not support https, and even when "wget" supports https,
certificates may be rejected even when the certificate is fine, due to a lack of local
certificate roots. The simplest workaround for this problem is to use http or ftp.
"ftp://server/path/to/tlnet"
If the (default) LWP method is used, persistent connections are supported.
"user@machine:/path/to/tlnet"
"scp://user@machine/path/to/tlnet"
"ssh://user@machine/path/to/tlnet"
These forms are equivalent; they all use "scp" to transfer files. Using "ssh-agent" is
recommended. (Info: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenSSH>,
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ssh-agent>.)
If the repository is on the network, trailing "/" characters and/or trailing "/tlpkg" and/or
"/archive" components are ignored.
--gui [action]
Two notable GUI front-ends for "tlmgr", "tlshell" and "tlcockpit", are started up as separate
programs; see their own documentation.
"tlmgr" itself has a graphical interface as well as the command line interface. You can give the
option to invoke it, "--gui", together with an action to be brought directly into the respective
screen of the GUI. For example, running
tlmgr --gui update
starts you directly at the update screen. If no action is given, the GUI will be started at the main
screen. See "GUI FOR TLMGR".
However, the native GUI requires Perl/TK, which is no longer included in TeX Live's Perl distribution
for Windows. You may find "tlshell" or "tlcockpit" easier to work with.
--gui-lang llcode
By default, the GUI tries to deduce your language from the environment (on Windows via the registry,
on Unix via "LC_MESSAGES"). If that fails you can select a different language by giving this option
with a language code (based on ISO 639-1). Currently supported (but not necessarily completely
translated) are: English (en, default), Czech (cs), German (de), French (fr), Italian (it),
Japanese (ja), Dutch (nl), Polish (pl), Brazilian Portuguese (pt_BR), Russian (ru), Slovak (sk),
Slovenian (sl), Serbian (sr), Ukrainian (uk), Vietnamese (vi), simplified Chinese (zh_CN), and
traditional Chinese (zh_TW).
tlshell shares its message catalog with tlmgr.
--command-logfile file
"tlmgr" logs the output of all programs invoked (mktexlr, mtxrun, fmtutil, updmap) to a separate log
file, by default "TEXMFSYSVAR/web2c/tlmgr-commands.log". This option allows you to specify a
different file for the log.
--debug-translation
In GUI mode, this switch tells "tlmgr" to report any untranslated (or missing) messages to standard
error. This can help translators to see what remains to be done.
--machine-readable
Instead of the normal output intended for human consumption, write (to standard output) a fixed
format more suitable for machine parsing. See the "MACHINE-READABLE OUTPUT" section below.
--no-execute-actions
Suppress the execution of the execute actions as defined in the tlpsrc files. Unless you are going to
do the postprocessing yourself (as, for example, "install-tl" does), this shouldn't be specified.
Otherwise, format files and the filename database will become stale, among other problems.
--package-logfile file
"tlmgr" logs all package actions (install, remove, update, failed updates, failed restores) to a
separate log file, by default "TEXMFSYSVAR/web2c/tlmgr.log". This option allows you to specify a
different file for the log.
--pause
This option makes "tlmgr" wait for user input before exiting. Useful on Windows to avoid
disappearing command windows.
--persistent-downloads
--no-persistent-downloads
For network-based installations, this option (on by default) makes "tlmgr" try to set up a persistent
connection (using the "LWP" Perl module). The idea is to open and reuse only one connection per
session between your computer and the server, instead of initiating a new download for each package.
If this is not possible, "tlmgr" will fall back to using "wget". To disable these persistent
connections, use "--no-persistent-downloads".
--pin-file
Change the pinning file location from "TEXMFLOCAL/tlpkg/pinning.txt" (see "Pinning" below).
Documented only for completeness, as this is only useful in debugging.
--usermode
Activates user mode for this run of "tlmgr"; see "USER MODE" below.
--usertree dir
Uses dir for the tree in user mode; see "USER MODE" below.
--verify-repo=[none|main|all]
Defines the level of verification done: If "none" is specified, no verification whatsoever is done.
If "main" is given and a working GnuPG ("gpg") binary is available, all repositories are checked, but
only the main repository is required to be signed. If "all" is given, then all repositories need to
be signed. See "CRYPTOGRAPHIC VERIFICATION" below for details.
The standard options for TeX Live programs are also accepted: "--help/-h/-?", "--version", "-q" (no
informational messages), "-v" (debugging messages, can be repeated). For the details about these, see
the "TeXLive::TLUtils" documentation.
The "--version" option shows version information about the TeX Live release and about the "tlmgr" script
itself. If "-v" is also given, revision number for the loaded TeX Live Perl modules are shown, too.
ACTIONS
help
Display this help information and exit (same as "--help", and on the web at
<https://tug.org/texlive/doc/tlmgr.html>). Sometimes the "perldoc" and/or "PAGER" programs on the system
have problems, resulting in control characters being literally output. This can't always be detected,
but you can set the "NOPERLDOC" environment variable and "perldoc" will not be used.
version
Gives version information (same as "--version").
If "-v" has been given the revisions of the used modules are reported, too.
backup
backup [option...] --all
backup [option...] pkg...
If the "--clean" option is not specified, this action makes a backup of the given packages, or all
packages given "--all". These backups are saved to the value of the "--backupdir" option, if that is
an existing and writable directory. If "--backupdir" is not given, the "backupdir" option setting in
the TLPDB is used, if present. If both are missing, no backups are made. (The installer sets
"backupdir" to ".../tlpkg/backups", under the TL root installation directory, so it is usually
defined; see the "option" description for more information.)
If the "--clean" option is specified, backups are pruned (removed) instead of saved. The optional
integer value N may be specified to set the number of backups that will be retained when cleaning. If
"N" is not given, the value of the "autobackup" option is used. If both are missing, an error is
issued. For more details of backup pruning, see the "option" action.
Options:
--backupdir directory
Overrides the "backupdir" option setting in the TLPDB. The directory argument is required and
must specify an existing, writable directory where backups are to be placed.
--all
If "--clean" is not specified, make a backup of all packages in the TeX Live installation; this
will take quite a lot of space and time. If "--clean" is specified, all packages are pruned.
--clean[=N]
Instead of making backups, prune the backup directory of old backups, as explained above. The
optional integer argument N overrides the "autobackup" option set in the TLPDB. You must use
"--all" or a list of packages together with this option, as desired.
--dry-run
Nothing is actually backed up or removed; instead, the actions to be performed are written to the
terminal.
bug [search-string]
Searches for search-string (prompted for, if not given) as a package name and in package descriptions, as
complete words, and in filenames, as any substring, and outputs bug-reporting and other information for
the package selected from the results.
The search is equivalent to "tlmgr search --word --file" search-string. Thus, search-string is
interpreted as a (Perl) regular expression.
candidates pkg
Shows the available candidate repositories for package pkg. See "MULTIPLE REPOSITORIES" below.
check [option...] [depends|executes|files|runfiles|texmfdbs|all]
Execute one (or all) check(s) of the consistency of the installation. If no problems are found, there
will be no output. (To get a view of what is being done, run "tlmgr -v check".)
depends
Lists those packages which occur as dependencies in an installed collection, but are themselves not
installed, and those packages which are not contained in any collection.
If you call "tlmgr check collections" this test will be carried out instead since former versions for
"tlmgr" called it that way.
executes
Check that the files referred to by "execute" directives in the TeX Live Database are present.
files
Checks that all files listed in the local TLPDB ("texlive.tlpdb") are actually present, and lists
those missing.
runfiles
List those filenames that are occurring more than one time in the runfiles sections, except for known
duplicates.
texmfdbs
Checks related to the "ls-R" files. If you have defined new trees, or changed the "TEXMF" or
"TEXMFDBS" variables, it can't hurt to run this. It checks that:
- all items in "TEXMFDBS" have the "!!" prefix.
- all items in "TEXMFBDS" have an "ls-R" file (if they exist at all).
- all items in "TEXMF" with "!!" are listed in "TEXMFDBS".
- all items in "TEXMF" with an "ls-R" file are listed in "TEXMFDBS".
Options:
--use-svn
Use the output of "svn status" instead of listing the files; for checking the TL development
repository. (This is run nightly.)
conf
conf [texmf|tlmgr|updmap [--conffile file] [--delete] [key [value]]]
conf auxtrees [--conffile file] [show|add|remove] [value]
With only "conf", show general configuration information for TeX Live, including active configuration
files, path settings, and more. This is like running "texconfig conf", but works on all supported
platforms.
With one of "conf texmf", "conf tlmgr", or "conf updmap", shows all key/value pairs (i.e., all
settings) as saved in "ROOT/texmf.cnf", the user-specific "tlmgr" configuration file (see below), or
the first found (via "kpsewhich") "updmap.cfg" file, respectively.
If key is given in addition, shows the value of only that key in the respective file. If option
--delete is also given, the value in the given configuration file is entirely removed (not just
commented out).
If value is given in addition, key is set to value in the respective file. No error checking is
done!
The "PATH" value shown by "conf" is as used by "tlmgr". The directory in which the "tlmgr"
executable is found is automatically prepended to the PATH value inherited from the environment.
Here is a practical example of changing configuration values. If the execution of (some or all)
system commands via "\write18" was left enabled during installation, you can disable it afterwards:
tlmgr conf texmf shell_escape 0
The subcommand "auxtrees" allows adding and removing arbitrary additional texmf trees, completely
under user control. "auxtrees show" shows the list of additional trees, "auxtrees add" tree adds a
tree to the list, and "auxtrees remove" tree removes a tree from the list (if present). The trees
should not contain an "ls-R" file (or files will not be found if the "ls-R" becomes stale). This
works by manipulating the Kpathsea variable "TEXMFAUXTREES", in (by default) "ROOT/texmf.cnf".
Example:
tlmgr conf auxtrees add /quick/test/tree
tlmgr conf auxtrees remove /quick/test/tree
In all cases the configuration file can be explicitly specified via the option "--conffile" file,
e.g., if you don't want to change the system-wide configuration.
Warning: The general facility for changing configuration values is here, but tinkering with settings
in this way is strongly discouraged. Again, no error checking on either keys or values is done, so
any sort of breakage is possible.
dump-tlpdb [option...] [--json]
Dump complete local or remote TLPDB to standard output, as-is. The output is analogous to the
"--machine-readable" output; see "MACHINE-READABLE OUTPUT" section.
Options:
--local
Dump the local TLPDB.
--remote
Dump the remote TLPDB.
--json
Instead of dumping the actual content, the database is dumped as JSON. For the format of JSON output
see "tlpkg/doc/json-formats.txt", format definition "TLPDB".
Exactly one of "--local" and "--remote" must be given.
In either case, the first line of the output specifies the repository location, in this format:
"location-url" "\t" location
where "location-url" is the literal field name, followed by a tab, and location is the file or url to the
repository.
Line endings may be either LF or CRLF depending on the current platform.
generate
generate [option...] language
generate [option...] language.dat
generate [option...] language.def
generate [option...] language.dat.lua
The "generate" action overwrites any manual changes made in the respective files: it recreates them from
scratch based on the information of the installed packages, plus local adaptations. The TeX Live
installer and "tlmgr" routinely call "generate" for all of these files.
For managing your own fonts, please read the "updmap --help" information and/or
<https://tug.org/fonts/fontinstall.html>.
For managing your own formats, please read the "fmtutil --help" information.
In more detail: "generate" remakes any of the configuration files "language.dat", "language.def", and
"language.dat.lua" from the information present in the local TLPDB, plus locally-maintained files.
The locally-maintained files are "language-local.dat", "language-local.def", or "language-local.dat.lua",
searched for in "TEXMFLOCAL" in the respective directories. If local additions are present, the final
file is made by starting with the main file, omitting any entries that the local file specifies to be
disabled, and finally appending the local file.
(Historical note: The formerly supported "updmap-local.cfg" and "fmtutil-local.cnf" are no longer read,
since "updmap" and "fmtutil" now reads and supports multiple configuration files. Thus, local additions
can and should be put into an "updmap.cfg" of "fmtutil.cnf" file in "TEXMFLOCAL". The "generate updmap"
and "generate fmtutil" actions no longer exist.)
Local files specify entries to be disabled with a comment line, namely one of these:
%!NAME
--!NAME
where "language.dat" and "language.def" use "%", and "language.dat.lua" use "--". In all cases, the name
is the respective format name or hyphenation pattern identifier. Examples:
%!german
--!usenglishmax
(Of course, you're not likely to actually want to disable those particular items. They're just
examples.)
After such a disabling line, the local file can include another entry for the same item, if a different
definition is desired. In general, except for the special disabling lines, the local files follow the
same syntax as the master files.
The form "generate language" recreates all three files "language.dat", "language.def", and
"language.dat.lua", while the forms with an extension recreates only that given language file.
Options:
--dest output_file
specifies the output file (defaults to the respective location in "TEXMFSYSVAR"). If "--dest" is
given to "generate language", it serves as a basename onto which ".dat" will be appended for the name
of the "language.dat" output file, ".def" will be appended to the value for the name of the
"language.def" output file, and ".dat.lua" to the name of the "language.dat.lua" file. (This is just
to avoid overwriting; if you want a specific name for each output file, we recommend invoking "tlmgr"
twice.)
--localcfg local_conf_file
specifies the (optional) local additions (defaults to the respective location in "TEXMFLOCAL").
--rebuild-sys
tells "tlmgr" to run necessary programs after config files have been regenerated. These are:
"fmtutil-sys --all" after "generate fmtutil", "fmtutil-sys --byhyphen .../language.dat" after
"generate language.dat", and "fmtutil-sys --byhyphen .../language.def" after "generate language.def".
These subsequent calls cause the newly-generated files to actually take effect. This is not done by
default since those calls are lengthy processes and one might want to made several related changes in
succession before invoking these programs.
The respective locations are as follows:
tex/generic/config/language.dat (and language-local.dat)
tex/generic/config/language.def (and language-local.def)
tex/generic/config/language.dat.lua (and language-local.dat.lua)
gui
Start the graphical user interface. See GUI below.
info
info [option...] pkg...
info [option...] collections
info [option...] schemes
With no argument, lists all packages available at the package repository, prefixing those already
installed with "i".
With the single word "collections" or "schemes" as the argument, lists the request type instead of
all packages.
With any other arguments, display information about pkg: the name, category, short and long
description, sizes, installation status, and TeX Live revision number. If pkg is not locally
installed, searches in the remote installation source.
For normal packages (not collections or schemes), the sizes of the four groups of files
(run/src/doc/bin files) are shown separately. For collections, the cumulative size is shown,
including all directly-dependent packages (but not dependent collections). For schemes, the
cumulative size is also shown, including all directly-dependent collections and packages.
If pkg is not found locally or remotely, the search action is used and lists matching packages and
files.
It also displays information taken from the TeX Catalogue, namely the package version, date, and
license. Consider these, especially the package version, as approximations only, due to timing skew
of the updates of the different pieces. By contrast, the "revision" value comes directly from TL and
is reliable.
The former actions "show" and "list" are merged into this action, but are still supported for
backward compatibility.
Options:
--list
If the option "--list" is given with a package, the list of contained files is also shown,
including those for platform-specific dependencies. When given with schemes and collections,
"--list" outputs their dependencies in a similar way.
--only-files
If this option is given, only the files for a given package are listed, no further information.
If more than one package name is given, each file list is preceded by the package name.
--only-installed
If this option is given, the installation source will not be used; only locally installed
packages, collections, or schemes are listed.
--only-remote
Only list packages from the remote repository. Useful when checking what is available in a remote
repository using "tlmgr --repo ... --only-remote info". Note that "--only-installed" and
"--only-remote" cannot both be specified.
--data "item1,item2,..."
If the option "--data" is given, its argument must be a comma or colon separated list of field
names from: "name", "category", "localrev", "remoterev", "shortdesc", "longdesc", "installed",
"size", "relocatable", "depends", "cat-version", "cat-date", "cat-license", plus various
"cat-contact-*" fields (see below).
The "cat-*" fields all come from the TeX Catalogue (<https://ctan.org/pkg/catalogue>). For each,
there are two more variants with prefix "l" and "r", e.g., "lcat-version" and "rcat-version",
which indicate the local and remote information, respectively. The variants without "l" and "r"
show the most current one, which is normally the remote value.
The requested packages' information is listed in CSV format, one package per line, and the column
information is given by the "itemN". The "depends" column contains the names of all the
dependencies separated by ":" characters.
At this writing, the "cat-contact-*" fields include: "home", "repository", "support", "bugs",
"announce", "development". Each may be empty or a url value. A brief description is on the CTAN
upload page for new packages: <https://ctan.org/upload>.
--json
If "--json" is specified, the output is a JSON encoded array where each array element is the JSON
representation of a single "TLPOBJ" but with additional information. For details see
"tlpkg/doc/json-formats.txt", format definition: "TLPOBJINFO". If both "--json" and "--data" are
given, "--json" takes precedence.
init-usertree
Sets up a texmf tree for so-called user mode management, either the default user tree ("TEXMFHOME"), or
one specified on the command line with "--usertree". See "USER MODE" below.
install [option...] pkg...
Install each pkg given on the command line, if it is not already installed. It does not touch existing
packages; see the "update" action for how to get the latest version of a package.
By default this also installs all packages on which the given pkgs are dependent. Options:
--dry-run
Nothing is actually installed; instead, the actions to be performed are written to the terminal.
--file
Instead of fetching a package from the installation repository, use the package files given on the
command line. These files must be standard TeX Live package files (with contained tlpobj file).
--force
If updates to "tlmgr" itself (or other parts of the basic infrastructure) are present, "tlmgr" will
bail out and not perform the installation unless this option is given. Not recommended.
--no-depends
Do not install dependencies. (By default, installing a package ensures that all dependencies of this
package are fulfilled.)
--no-depends-at-all
Normally, when you install a package which ships binary files the respective binary package will also
be installed. That is, for a package "foo", the package "foo.i386-linux" will also be installed on
an "i386-linux" system. This option suppresses this behavior, and also implies "--no-depends".
Don't use it unless you are sure of what you are doing.
--reinstall
Reinstall a package (including dependencies for collections) even if it already seems to be installed
(i.e, is present in the TLPDB). This is useful to recover from accidental removal of files in the
hierarchy.
When re-installing, only dependencies on normal packages are followed (i.e., not those of category
Scheme or Collection).
--with-doc
--with-src
While not recommended, the "install-tl" program provides an option to omit installation of all
documentation and/or source files. (By default, everything is installed.) After such an
installation, you may find that you want the documentation or source files for a given package after
all. You can get them by using these options in conjunction with "--reinstall", as in (using the
"fontspec" package as the example):
tlmgr install --reinstall --with-doc --with-src fontspec
This action does not automatically add new symlinks in system directories; you need to run "tlmgr path
add" ("path") yourself if you are using this feature and want new symlinks added.
key
key list
key add file
key remove keyid
The action "key" allows listing, adding and removing additional GPG keys to the set of trusted keys,
that is, those that are used to verify the TeX Live databases.
With the "list" argument, "key" lists all keys.
The "add" argument requires another argument, either a filename or "-" for stdin, from which the key
is added. The key is added to the local keyring "GNUPGHOME/repository-keys.gpg", which is normally
"tlpkg/gpg/repository-keys.gpg".
The "remove" argument requires a key id and removes the requested id from the local keyring.
list
Synonym for "info".
option
option [--json] [show]
option [--json] showall|help
option key [value]
The first form, "show", shows the global TeX Live settings currently saved in the TLPDB with a short
description and the "key" used for changing it in parentheses.
The second form, "showall", is similar, but also shows options which can be defined but are not currently
set to any value ("help" is a synonym).
Both "show..." forms take an option "--json", which dumps the option information in JSON format. In this
case, both forms dump the same data. For the format of the JSON output see "tlpkg/doc/json-formats.txt",
format definition "TLOPTION".
In the third form, with key, if value is not given, the setting for key is displayed. If value is
present, key is set to value.
Possible values for key are (run "tlmgr option showall" for the definitive list):
repository (default package repository),
formats (generate formats at installation or update time),
postcode (run postinst code blobs)
docfiles (install documentation files),
srcfiles (install source files),
backupdir (default directory for backups),
autobackup (number of backups to keep).
sys_bin (directory to which executables are linked by the path action)
sys_man (directory to which man pages are linked by the path action)
sys_info (directory to which Info files are linked by the path action)
desktop_integration (Windows-only: create Start menu shortcuts)
fileassocs (Windows-only: change file associations)
multiuser (Windows-only: install for all users)
One common use of "option" is to permanently change the installation to get further updates from the
Internet, after originally installing from DVD. To do this, you can run
tlmgr option repository https://mirror.ctan.org/systems/texlive/tlnet
The "install-tl" documentation has more information about the possible values for "repository". (For
backward compatibility, "location" can be used as a synonym for "repository".)
If "formats" is set (this is the default), then formats are regenerated when either the engine or the
format files have changed. Disable this only when you know how and want to regenerate formats yourself
whenever needed (which is often, in practice).
The "postcode" option controls execution of per-package postinstallation action code. It is set by
default, and again disabling is not likely to be of interest except to developers doing debugging.
The "docfiles" and "srcfiles" options control the installation of their respective file groups
(documentation, sources; grouping is approximate) per package. By default both are enabled (1). Either
or both can be disabled (set to 0) if disk space is limited or for minimal testing installations, etc.
When disabled, the respective files are not downloaded at all.
The options "autobackup" and "backupdir" determine the defaults for the actions "update", "backup" and
"restore". These three actions need a directory in which to read or write the backups. If "--backupdir"
is not specified on the command line, the "backupdir" option value is used (if set). The TL installer
sets "backupdir" to ".../tlpkg/backups", under the TL root installation directory.
The "autobackup" option (de)activates automatic generation of backups. Its value is an integer. If the
"autobackup" value is -1, no backups are removed. If "autobackup" is 0 or more, it specifies the number
of backups to keep. Thus, backups are disabled if the value is 0. In the "--clean" mode of the "backup"
action this option also specifies the number to be kept. The default value is 1, so that backups are
made, but only one backup is kept.
To setup "autobackup" to -1 on the command line, use:
tlmgr option -- autobackup -1
The "--" avoids having the -1 treated as an option. (The "--" stops parsing for options at the point
where it appears; this is a general feature across most Unix programs.)
The "sys_bin", "sys_man", and "sys_info" options are used on Unix systems to control the generation of
links for executables, Info files and man pages. See the "path" action for details.
The last three options affect behavior on Windows installations. If "desktop_integration" is set, then
some packages will install items in a sub-folder of the Start menu for "tlmgr gui", documentation, etc.
If "fileassocs" is set, Windows file associations are made (see also the "postaction" action). Finally,
if "multiuser" is set, then changes to the registry and the menus are done for all users on the system
instead of only the current user. All three options are on by default.
paper
paper [a4|letter]
<[xdvi|pdftex|dvips|dvipdfmx|context|psutils] paper [papersize|--list]>
paper --json
With no arguments ("tlmgr paper"), shows the default paper size setting for all known programs.
With one argument (e.g., "tlmgr paper a4"), sets the default for all known programs to that paper size.
With a program given as the first argument and no paper size specified (e.g., "tlmgr dvips paper"), shows
the default paper size for that program.
With a program given as the first argument and a paper size as the last argument (e.g., "tlmgr dvips
paper a4"), set the default for that program to that paper size.
If either "pdftex" or "context" is one of the arguments, whether implicitly or explicitly, existing
formats are rebuilt (i.e., "fmtutil --refresh" is called), unless "--no-execute-actions" is specified.
With a program given as the first argument and "--list" given as the last argument (e.g., "tlmgr dvips
paper --list"), shows all valid paper sizes for that program. The first size shown is the default.
If "--json" is specified without other options, the paper setup is dumped in JSON format. For the format
of JSON output see "tlpkg/doc/json-formats.txt", format definition "TLPAPER".
Incidentally, this syntax of having a specific program name before the "paper" keyword is unusual. It is
inherited from the longstanding "texconfig" script, which supports other configuration settings for some
programs, notably "dvips". "tlmgr" does not support those extra settings.
path
path [--windowsmode=user|admin] add
path [--windowsmode=user|admin] remove
On Unix, adds or removes symlinks for executables, man pages, and info pages in the system
directories specified by the respective options (see the "option" description above). Does not change
any initialization files, either system or personal. Furthermore, any executables added or removed by
future updates are not taken care of automatically; this command must be rerun as needed.
On Windows, the registry part where the binary directory is added or removed is determined in the
following way:
If the user has admin rights, and the option "--windowsmode" is not given, the setting w32_multi_user
determines the location (i.e., if it is on then the system path, otherwise the user path is changed).
If the user has admin rights, and the option "--windowsmode" is given, this option determines the
path to be adjusted.
If the user does not have admin rights, and the option "--windowsmode" is not given, and the setting
w32_multi_user is off, the user path is changed, while if the setting w32_multi_user is on, a warning
is issued that the caller does not have enough privileges.
If the user does not have admin rights, and the option "--windowsmode" is given, it must be "user"
and the user path will be adjusted. If a user without admin rights uses the option "--windowsmode
admin" a warning is issued that the caller does not have enough privileges.
pinning
The "pinning" action manages the pinning file, see "Pinning" below.
"pinning show"
Shows the current pinning data.
"pinning add" repo pkgglob...
Pins the packages matching the pkgglob(s) to the repository repo.
"pinning remove" repo pkgglob...
Any packages recorded in the pinning file matching the <pkgglob>s for the given repository repo are
removed.
"pinning remove repo --all"
Remove all pinning data for repository repo.
platform
platform list|add|remove platform...
platform set platform
platform set auto
"platform list" lists the TeX Live names of all the platforms (a.k.a. architectures), ("i386-linux",
...) available at the package repository.
"platform add" platform... adds the executables for each given platform platform to the installation
from the repository.
"platform remove" platform... removes the executables for each given platform platform from the
installation, but keeps the currently running platform in any case.
"platform set" platform switches TeX Live to always use the given platform instead of auto detection.
"platform set auto" switches TeX Live to auto detection mode for platform.
Platform detection is needed to select the proper "xz" and "wget" binaries that are shipped with TeX
Live.
"arch" is a synonym for "platform".
Options:
--dry-run
Nothing is actually installed; instead, the actions to be performed are written to the terminal.
postaction
postaction [option...] install [shortcut|fileassoc|script] [pkg...]
postaction [option...] remove [shortcut|fileassoc|script] [pkg...]
Carry out the postaction "shortcut", "fileassoc", or "script" given as the second required argument
in install or remove mode (which is the first required argument), for either the packages given on
the command line, or for all if "--all" is given.
Options:
--windowsmode=[user|admin]
If the option "--windowsmode" is given the value "user", all actions will only be carried out in
the user-accessible parts of the registry/filesystem, while the value "admin" selects the system-
wide parts of the registry for the file associations. If you do not have enough permissions,
using "--windowsmode=admin" will not succeed.
--fileassocmode=[1|2]
"--fileassocmode" specifies the action for file associations. If it is set to 1 (the default),
only new associations are added; if it is set to 2, all associations are set to the TeX Live
programs. (See also "option fileassocs".)
--all
Carry out the postactions for all packages
print-platform
Print the TeX Live identifier for the detected platform (hardware/operating system) combination to
standard output, and exit. "--print-arch" is a synonym.
print-platform-info
Print the TeX Live platform identifier, TL platform long name, and original output from guess.
remove [option...] pkg...
Remove each pkg specified. Removing a collection removes all package dependencies (unless "--no-depends"
is specified), but not any collection dependencies of that collection. However, when removing a package,
dependencies are never removed. Options:
--all
Uninstalls all of TeX Live, asking for confirmation unless "--force" is also specified.
--backup
--backupdir directory
These options behave just as with the update action (q.v.), except they apply to making backups of
packages before they are removed. The default is to make such a backup, that is, to save a copy of
packages before removal.
The "restore" action explains how to restore from a backup.
--no-depends
Do not remove dependent packages.
--no-depends-at-all
See above under install (and beware).
--force
By default, removal of a package or collection that is a dependency of another collection or scheme
is not allowed. With this option, the package will be removed unconditionally. Use with care.
A package that has been removed using the "--force" option because it is still listed in an installed
collection or scheme will not be updated, and will be mentioned as "forcibly removed" in the output
of "tlmgr update --list".
--dry-run
Nothing is actually removed; instead, the actions to be performed are written to the terminal.
Except with "--all", this "remove" action does not automatically remove symlinks to executables from
system directories; you need to run "tlmgr path remove" ("path") yourself if you remove an individual
package with a symlink in a system directory.
repository
repository list
repository list path|url|tag
repository add path [tag]
repository remove path|tag
repository set path[#tag] [path[#tag] ...]
repository status
This action manages the list of repositories. See MULTIPLE REPOSITORIES below for detailed
explanations.
The first form, "repository list", lists all configured repositories and the respective tags if set.
If a path, url, or tag is given after the "list" keyword, it is interpreted as the source from which
to initialize a TL database and lists the contained packages. This can also be an otherwise-unused
repository, either local or remote. If the option "--with-platforms" is specified in addition, for
each package the available platforms (if any) are also listed.
The form "repository add" adds a repository (optionally attaching a tag) to the list of repositories,
while "repository remove" removes a repository, either by full path/url, or by tag.
The form "repository set" sets the list of available repositories to the items given on the command
line, overwriting previous settings.
The form "repository status" reports the verification status of the loaded repositories with the
format of one repository per line with fields separated by a single space:
The tag (which can be the same as the url);
= the url;
= iff machine-readable output is specified, the verification code (a number);
= a textual description of the verification status, as the last field extending to the end of
line.
That is, in normal (not machine-readable) output, the third field (numeric verification status) is
not present.
In all cases, one of the repositories must be tagged as "main"; otherwise, all operations will fail!
restore
restore [option...] pkg [rev]
restore [option...] --all
Restore a package from a previously-made backup.
If "--all" is given, try to restore the latest revision of all package backups found in the backup
directory.
Otherwise, if neither pkg nor rev are given, list the available backup revisions for all packages.
With pkg given but no rev, list all available backup revisions of pkg.
When listing available packages, "tlmgr" shows the revision, and in parenthesis the creation time if
available (in format yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm).
If (and only if) both pkg and a valid revision number rev are specified, try to restore the package
from the specified backup.
Options:
--all
Try to restore the latest revision of all package backups found in the backup directory.
Additional non-option arguments (like pkg) are not allowed.
--backupdir directory
Specify the directory where the backups are to be found. If not given it will be taken from the
configuration setting in the TLPDB.
--dry-run
Nothing is actually restored; instead, the actions to be performed are written to the terminal.
--force
Don't ask questions.
--json
When listing backups, the option "--json" writes JSON output. The format is an array of JSON
objects ("name", "rev", "date"). For details see "tlpkg/doc/json-formats.txt", format definition:
"TLBACKUPS". If both "--json" and "--data" are given, "--json" takes precedence.
search
search [option...] what
search [option...] --file what
search [option...] --all what
By default, search the names, short descriptions, and long descriptions of all locally installed
packages for the argument what, interpreted as a (Perl) regular expression.
Options:
--file
List all filenames containing what.
--all
Search everything: package names, descriptions and filenames.
--global
Search the TeX Live Database of the installation medium, instead of the local installation.
--word
Restrict the search of package names and descriptions (but not filenames) to match only full
words. For example, searching for "table" with this option will not output packages containing
the word "tables" (unless they also contain the word "table" on its own).
--json
Output search results as a JSON hash with two keys: files and packages. For the format of the
JSON output see "tlpkg/doc/json-formats.txt", format definition "TLSEARCH".
shell
Starts an interactive mode, where tlmgr prompts for commands. This can be used directly, or for
scripting. The first line of output is "protocol" n, where n is an unsigned number identifying the
protocol version (currently 1).
In general, tlmgr actions that can be given on the command line translate to commands in this shell mode.
For example, you can say "update --list" to see what would be updated. The TLPDB is loaded the first time
it is needed (not at the beginning), and used for the rest of the session.
Besides these actions, a few commands are specific to shell mode:
protocol
Print "protocol n", the current protocol version.
help
Print pointers to this documentation.
version
Print tlmgr version information.
quit, end, bye, byebye, EOF
Exit.
restart
Restart "tlmgr shell" with the original command line; most useful when developing "tlmgr".
load [local|remote]
Explicitly load the local or remote, respectively, TLPDB.
save
Save the local TLPDB, presumably after other operations have changed it.
get [var] =item set [var [val]]
Get the value of var, or set it to val. Possible var names: "debug-translation", "machine-readable",
"no-execute-actions", "require-verification", "verify-downloads", "repository", and "prompt". All
except "repository" and "prompt" are booleans, taking values 0 and 1, and behave like the
corresponding command line option. The "repository" variable takes a string, and sets the remote
repository location. The "prompt" variable takes a string, and sets the current default prompt.
If var or then val is not specified, it is prompted for.
show
Synonym for "info".
uninstall
Synonym for remove.
update [option...] [pkg...]
Updates the packages given as arguments to the latest version available at the installation source.
Either "--all" or at least one pkg name must be specified. Options:
--all
Update all installed packages except for "tlmgr" itself. If updates to "tlmgr" itself are present,
this gives an error, unless also the option "--force" or "--self" is given. (See below.)
In addition to updating the installed packages, during the update of a collection the local
installation is (by default) synchronized to the status of the collection on the server, for both
additions and removals.
This means that if a package has been removed on the server (and thus has also been removed from the
respective collection), "tlmgr" will remove the package in the local installation. This is called
``auto-remove'' and is announced as such when using the option "--list". This auto-removal can be
suppressed using the option "--no-auto-remove" (not recommended, see option description).
Analogously, if a package has been added to a collection on the server that is also installed
locally, it will be added to the local installation. This is called ``auto-install'' and is
announced as such when using the option "--list". This auto-installation can be suppressed using the
option "--no-auto-install" (also not recommended).
An exception to the collection dependency checks (including the auto-installation of packages just
mentioned) are those that have been ``forcibly removed'' by you, that is, you called "tlmgr remove
--force" on them. (See the "remove" action documentation.) To reinstall any such forcibly removed
packages use "--reinstall-forcibly-removed".
To reiterate: automatic removals and additions are entirely determined by comparison of collections.
Thus, if you manually install an individual package "foo" which is later removed from the server,
"tlmgr" will not notice and will not remove it locally. (It has to be this way, without major
rearchitecture work, because the tlpdb does not record the repository from which packages come from.)
If you want to exclude some packages from the current update run (e.g., due to a slow link), see the
"--exclude" option below.
--self
Update "tlmgr" itself (that is, the infrastructure packages) if updates to it are present. On Windows
this includes updates to the private Perl interpreter shipped inside TeX Live.
If this option is given together with either "--all" or a list of packages, then "tlmgr" will be
updated first and, if this update succeeds, the new version will be restarted to complete the rest of
the updates.
In short:
tlmgr update --self # update infrastructure only
tlmgr update --self --all # update infrastructure and all packages
tlmgr update --force --all # update all packages but *not* infrastructure
# ... this last at your own risk, not recommended!
--dry-run
Nothing is actually installed; instead, the actions to be performed are written to the terminal.
This is a more detailed report than "--list".
--list [pkg]
Concisely list the packages which would be updated, newly installed, or removed, without actually
changing anything. If "--all" is also given, all available updates are listed. If "--self" is
given, but not "--all", only updates to the critical packages (tlmgr, texlive infrastructure, perl on
Windows, etc.) are listed. If neither "--all" nor "--self" is given, and in addition no pkg is
given, then "--all" is assumed (thus, "tlmgr update --list" is the same as "tlmgr update --list
--all"). If neither "--all" nor "--self" is given, but specific package names are given, those
packages are checked for updates.
--exclude pkg
Exclude pkg from the update process. If this option is given more than once, its arguments
accumulate.
An argument pkg excludes both the package pkg itself and all its related platform-specific packages
pkg.ARCH. For example,
tlmgr update --all --exclude a2ping
will not update "a2ping", "a2ping.i386-linux", or any other "a2ping."ARCH package.
If this option specifies a package that would otherwise be a candidate for auto-installation, auto-
removal, or reinstallation of a forcibly removed package, "tlmgr" quits with an error message.
Excludes are not supported in these circumstances.
This option can also be set permanently in the tlmgr config file with the key "update-exclude".
--no-auto-remove [pkg...]
By default, "tlmgr" tries to remove packages in an existing collection which have disappeared on the
server, as described above under "--all". This option prevents such removals, either for all
packages (with "--all"), or for just the given pkg names. This can lead to an inconsistent TeX
installation, since packages are not infrequently renamed or replaced by their authors. Therefore
this is not recommended.
--no-auto-install [pkg...]
Under normal circumstances "tlmgr" will install packages which are new on the server, as described
above under "--all". This option prevents any such automatic installation, either for all packages
(with "--all"), or the given pkg names.
Furthermore, after the "tlmgr" run using this has finished, the packages that would have been auto-
installed will be considered as forcibly removed. So, if "foobar" is the only new package on the
server, then
tlmgr update --all --no-auto-install
is equivalent to
tlmgr update --all
tlmgr remove --force foobar
Again, since packages are sometimes renamed or replaced, using this option is not recommended.
--reinstall-forcibly-removed
Under normal circumstances "tlmgr" will not install packages that have been forcibly removed by the
user; that is, removed with "remove --force", or whose installation was prohibited by
"--no-auto-install" during an earlier update.
This option makes "tlmgr" ignore the forcible removals and re-install all such packages. This can be
used to completely synchronize an installation with the server's idea of what is available:
tlmgr update --reinstall-forcibly-removed --all
--backup
--backupdir directory
These two options control the creation of backups of packages before updating; that is, backing up
packages as currently installed. If neither option is given, no backup will made. If "--backupdir"
is given and specifies a writable directory then a backup will be made in that location. If only
"--backup" is given, then a backup will be made to the directory previously set via the "option"
action (see below). If both are given then a backup will be made to the specified directory.
You can also set options via the "option" action to automatically make backups for all packages,
and/or keep only a certain number of backups.
"tlmgr" always makes a temporary backup when updating packages, in case of download or other failure
during an update. In contrast, the purpose of this "--backup" option is to save a persistent backup
in case the actual content of the update causes problems, e.g., introduces an TeX incompatibility.
The "restore" action explains how to restore from a backup.
--no-depends
If you call for updating a package normally all depending packages will also be checked for updates
and updated if necessary. This switch suppresses this behavior.
--no-depends-at-all
See above under install (and beware).
--force
Force update of normal packages, without updating "tlmgr" itself (unless the "--self" option is also
given). Not recommended.
Also, "update --list" is still performed regardless of this option.
If the package on the server is older than the package already installed (e.g., if the selected mirror is
out of date), "tlmgr" does not downgrade. Also, packages for uninstalled platforms are not installed.
"tlmgr" saves one copy of the main "texlive.tlpdb" file used for an update with a suffix representing the
repository url, as in "tlpkg/texlive.tlpdb.main."long-hash-string. Thus, even when many mirrors are used,
only one main "tlpdb" backup is kept. For non-main repositories, which do not generally have (m)any
mirrors, no pruning of backups is done.
This action does not automatically add or remove new symlinks in system directories; you need to run
"tlmgr" "path" yourself if you are using this feature and want new symlinks added.
CONFIGURATION FILE FOR TLMGR
"tlmgr" reads two configuration files: one is system-wide, in "TEXMFSYSCONFIG/tlmgr/config", and the
other is user-specific, in "TEXMFCONFIG/tlmgr/config". The user-specific one is the default for the
"conf tlmgr" action. (Run "kpsewhich -var-value=TEXMFSYSCONFIG" or "... TEXMFCONFIG ..." to see the
actual directory names.)
A few defaults corresponding to command-line options can be set in these configuration files. In
addition, the system-wide file can contain a directive to restrict the allowed actions.
In these config files, empty lines and lines starting with # are ignored. All other lines must look
like:
key = value
where the spaces are optional but the "=" is required.
The allowed keys are:
"auto-remove =" 0 or 1 (default 1), same as command-line option.
"gui-expertmode =" 0 or 1 (default 1). This switches between the full GUI and a simplified GUI with only
the most common settings.
"gui-lang =" llcode, with a language code value as with the command-line option.
"no-checksums =" 0 or 1 (default 0, see below).
"persistent-downloads =" 0 or 1 (default 1), same as command-line option.
"require-verification =" 0 or 1 (default 0), same as command-line option.
"tkfontscale =" floating-point number (default 1.0); scaling factor for fonts in the Tk-based frontends.
"update-exclude =" comma-separated list of packages (no spaces allowed). Same as the command line option
"--exclude" for the "update" action.
"verify-downloads =" 0 or 1 (default 1), same as command-line option.
The system-wide config file can contain one additional key:
"allowed-actions =" action1[,action2,...] The value is a comma-separated list (no spaces) of "tlmgr"
actions which are allowed to be executed when "tlmgr" is invoked in system mode (that is, without
"--usermode"). This allows distributors to include "tlmgr" in their packaging, but allow only a
restricted set of actions that do not interfere with their distro package manager. For native TeX Live
installations, it doesn't make sense to set this.
Finally, the "no-checksums" key needs more explanation. By default, package checksums computed and stored
on the server (in the TLPDB) are compared to checksums computed locally after downloading.
"no-checksums" disables this process. The checksum algorithm is SHA-512. Your system must have one of
(looked for in this order) the Perl "Digest::SHA" module, the "openssl" program (<https://openssl.org>),
the "sha512sum" program (from GNU Coreutils, <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils>), or finally the
"shasum" program (just to support old Macs). If none of these are available, a warning is issued and
"tlmgr" proceeds without checking checksums. "no-checksums" avoids the warning. (Incidentally, other SHA
implementations, such as the pure Perl and pure Lua modules, are much too slow to be usable in our
context.)
CRYPTOGRAPHIC VERIFICATION
"tlmgr" and "install-tl" perform cryptographic verification if possible. If verification is performed
and successful, the programs report "(verified)" after loading the TLPDB; otherwise, they report "(not
verified)". But either way, by default the installation and/or updates proceed normally.
If a program named "gpg" is available (that is, found in "PATH"), by default cryptographic signatures
will be checked: we require the main repository be signed, but not any additional repositories. If "gpg"
is not available, by default signatures are not checked and no verification is carried out, but "tlmgr"
still proceeds normally.
The behavior of the verification can be controlled by the command line and config file option
"verify-repo" which takes one of the following values: "none", "main", or "all". With "none", no
verification whatsoever is attempted. With "main" (the default) verification is required only for the
main repository, and only if "gpg" is available; though attempted for all, missing signatures of
subsidiary repositories will not result in an error. Finally, in the case of "all", "gpg" must be
available and all repositories need to be signed.
In all cases, if a signature is checked and fails to verify, an error is raised.
Cryptographic verification requires checksum checking (described just above) to succeed, and a working
GnuPG ("gpg") program (see below for search method). Then, unless cryptographic verification has been
disabled, a signature file ("texlive.tlpdb.*.asc") of the checksum file is downloaded and the signature
verified. The signature is created by the TeX Live Distribution GPG key 0x0D5E5D9106BAB6BC, which in turn
is signed by Karl Berry's key 0x0716748A30D155AD and Norbert Preining's key 0x6CACA448860CDC13. All of
these keys are obtainable from the standard key servers.
Additional trusted keys can be added using the "key" action.
Configuration of GnuPG invocation
The executable used for GnuPG is searched as follows: If the environment variable "TL_GNUPG" is set, it
is tested and used; otherwise "gpg" is checked; finally "gpg2" is checked.
Further adaptation of the "gpg" invocation can be made using the two environment variables
"TL_GNUPGHOME", which is passed to "gpg" as the value for "--homedir", and "TL_GNUPGARGS", which replaces
the default options "--no-secmem-warning --no-permission-warning".
USER MODE
"tlmgr" provides a restricted way, called ``user mode'', to manage arbitrary texmf trees in the same way
as the main installation. For example, this allows people without write permissions on the installation
location to update/install packages into a tree of their own.
"tlmgr" is switched into user mode with the command line option "--usermode". It does not switch
automatically, nor is there any configuration file setting for it. Thus, this option has to be
explicitly given every time user mode is to be activated.
This mode of "tlmgr" works on a user tree, by default the value of the "TEXMFHOME" variable. This can be
overridden with the command line option "--usertree". In the following when we speak of the user tree we
mean either "TEXMFHOME" or the one given on the command line.
Not all actions are allowed in user mode; "tlmgr" will warn you and not carry out any problematic
actions. Currently not supported (and probably will never be) is the "platform" action. The "gui"
action is currently not supported, but may be in a future release.
Some "tlmgr" actions don't need any write permissions and thus work the same in user mode and normal
mode. Currently these are: "check", "help", "list", "print-platform", "print-platform-info", "search",
"show", "version".
On the other hand, most of the actions dealing with package management do need write permissions, and
thus behave differently in user mode, as described below: "install", "update", "remove", "option",
"paper", "generate", "backup", "restore", "uninstall", "symlinks".
Before using "tlmgr" in user mode, you have to set up the user tree with the "init-usertree" action.
This creates usertree"/web2c" and usertree"/tlpkg/tlpobj", and a minimal usertree"/tlpkg/texlive.tlpdb".
At that point, you can tell "tlmgr" to do the (supported) actions by adding the "--usermode" command line
option.
In user mode the file usertree"/tlpkg/texlive.tlpdb" contains only the packages that have been installed
into the user tree using "tlmgr", plus additional options from the ``virtual'' package
"00texlive.installation" (similar to the main installation's "texlive.tlpdb").
All actions on packages in user mode can only be carried out on packages that are known as "relocatable".
This excludes all packages containing executables and a few other core packages. Of the 2500 or so
packages currently in TeX Live the vast majority are relocatable and can be installed into a user tree.
Description of changes of actions in user mode:
User mode install
In user mode, the "install" action checks that the package and all dependencies are all either relocated
or already installed in the system installation. If this is the case, it unpacks all containers to be
installed into the user tree (to repeat, that's either "TEXMFHOME" or the value of "--usertree") and add
the respective packages to the user tree's "texlive.tlpdb" (creating it if need be).
Currently installing a collection in user mode installs all dependent packages, but in contrast to normal
mode, does not install dependent collections. For example, in normal mode "tlmgr install
collection-context" would install "collection-basic" and other collections, while in user mode, only the
packages mentioned in "collection-context" are installed.
If a package shipping map files is installed in user mode, a backup of the user's "updmap.cfg" in
"USERTREE/web2c/" is made, and then this file regenerated from the list of installed packages.
User mode backup, restore, remove, update
In user mode, these actions check that all packages to be acted on are installed in the user tree before
proceeding; otherwise, they behave just as in normal mode.
User mode generate, option, paper
In user mode, these actions operate only on the user tree's configuration files and/or "texlive.tlpdb".
User mode logs
In user mode, "tlmgr.log" and <tlmgr-commands.log> are written in the "TEXMFVAR/web2c/" directlry instead
of "TEXMFSYSVAR/web2c/".
MULTIPLE REPOSITORIES
The main TeX Live repository contains a vast array of packages. Nevertheless, additional local
repositories can be useful to provide locally-installed resources, such as proprietary fonts and house
styles. Also, alternative package repositories distribute packages that cannot or should not be included
in TeX Live, for whatever reason.
The simplest and most reliable method is to temporarily set the installation source to any repository
(with the "-repository" or "option repository" command line options), and perform your operations.
When you are using multiple repositories over a sustained length of time, however, explicitly switching
between them becomes inconvenient. Thus, it's possible to tell "tlmgr" about additional repositories you
want to use. The basic command is "tlmgr repository add". The rest of this section explains further.
When using multiple repositories, one of them has to be set as the main repository, which distributes
most of the installed packages. When you switch from a single repository installation to a multiple
repository installation, the previous sole repository will be set as the main repository.
By default, even if multiple repositories are configured, packages are still only installed from the main
repository. Thus, simply adding a second repository does not actually enable installation of anything
from there. You also have to specify which packages should be taken from the new repository, by
specifying so-called ``pinning'' rules, described next.
Pinning
When a package "foo" is pinned to a repository, a package "foo" in any other repository, even if it has a
higher revision number, will not be considered an installable candidate.
As mentioned above, by default everything is pinned to the main repository. Let's now go through an
example of setting up a second repository and enabling updates of a package from it.
First, check that we have support for multiple repositories, and have only one enabled (as is the case by
default):
$ tlmgr repository list
List of repositories (with tags if set):
/var/www/norbert/tlnet
Ok. Let's add the "tlcontrib" repository (this is a real repository hosted at
<http://contrib.texlive.info>) with the tag "tlcontrib":
$ tlmgr repository add http://contrib.texlive.info/current tlcontrib
Check the repository list again:
$ tlmgr repository list
List of repositories (with tags if set):
http://contrib.texlive.info/current (tlcontrib)
/var/www/norbert/tlnet (main)
Now we specify a pinning entry to get the package "classico" from "tlcontrib":
$ tlmgr pinning add tlcontrib classico
Check that we can find "classico":
$ tlmgr show classico
package: classico
...
shortdesc: URW Classico fonts
...
- install "classico":
$ tlmgr install classico
tlmgr: package repositories:
...
[1/1, ??:??/??:??] install: classico @tlcontrib [737k]
In the output here you can see that the "classico" package has been installed from the "tlcontrib"
repository (@tlcontrib).
Finally, "tlmgr pinning" also supports removing certain or all packages from a given repository:
$ tlmgr pinning remove tlcontrib classico # remove just classico
$ tlmgr pinning remove tlcontrib --all # take nothing from tlcontrib
A summary of "tlmgr pinning" actions is given above.
GUI FOR TLMGR
The graphical user interface for "tlmgr" requires Perl/Tk
<https://search.cpan.org/search?query=perl%2Ftk>. For Unix-based systems Perl/Tk (as well as Perl of
course) has to be installed outside of TL. <https://tug.org/texlive/distro.html#perltk> has a list of
invocations for some distros. For Windows the necessary modules are no longer shipped within TeX Live,
so you'll have to have an external Perl available that includes them.
We are talking here about the GUI built into tlmgr itself, not about the other tlmgr GUIs, which are:
tlshell (Tcl/Tk-based), tlcockpit (Java-based) and, only on Macs, TeX Live Utility. These are invoked as
separate programs.
The GUI mode of tlmgr is started with the invocation "tlmgr gui"; assuming Tk is loadable, the graphical
user interface will be shown. The main window contains a menu bar, the main display, and a status area
where messages normally shown on the console are displayed.
Within the main display there are three main parts: the "Display configuration" area, the list of
packages, and the action buttons.
Also, at the top right the currently loaded repository is shown; this also acts as a button and when
clicked will try to load the default repository. To load a different repository, see the "tlmgr" menu
item.
Finally, the status area at the bottom of the window gives additional information about what is going on.
Main display
Display configuration area
The first part of the main display allows you to specify (filter) which packages are shown. By default,
all are shown. Changes here are reflected right away.
Status
Select whether to show all packages (the default), only those installed, only those not installed, or
only those with update available.
Category
Select which categories are shown: packages, collections, and/or schemes. These are briefly
explained in the "DESCRIPTION" section above.
Match
Select packages matching for a specific pattern. By default, this searches both descriptions and
filenames. You can also select a subset for searching.
Selection
Select packages to those selected, those not selected, or all. Here, ``selected'' means that the
checkbox in the beginning of the line of a package is ticked.
Display configuration buttons
To the right there are three buttons: select all packages, select none (a.k.a. deselect all), and
reset all these filters to the defaults, i.e., show all available.
Package list area
The second are of the main display lists all installed packages. If a repository is loaded, those that
are available but not installed are also listed.
Double clicking on a package line pops up an informational window with further details: the long
description, included files, etc.
Each line of the package list consists of the following items:
a checkbox
Used to select particular packages; some of the action buttons (see below) work only on the selected
packages.
package name
The name (identifier) of the package as given in the database.
local revision (and version)
If the package is installed the TeX Live revision number for the installed package will be shown. If
there is a catalogue version given in the database for this package, it will be shown in parentheses.
However, the catalogue version, unlike the TL revision, is not guaranteed to reflect what is actually
installed.
remote revision (and version)
If a repository has been loaded the revision of the package in the repository (if present) is shown.
As with the local column, if a catalogue version is provided it will be displayed. And also as with
the local column, the catalogue version may be stale.
short description
The short description of the package.
Main display action buttons
Below the list of packages are several buttons:
Update all installed
This calls "tlmgr update --all", i.e., tries to update all available packages. Below this button is
a toggle to allow reinstallation of previously removed packages as part of this action.
The other four buttons only work on the selected packages, i.e., those where the checkbox at the
beginning of the package line is ticked.
Update
Update only the selected packages.
Install
Install the selected packages; acts like "tlmgr install", i.e., also installs dependencies. Thus,
installing a collection installs all its constituent packages.
Remove
Removes the selected packages; acts like "tlmgr remove", i.e., it will also remove dependencies of
collections (but not dependencies of normal packages).
Backup
Makes a backup of the selected packages; acts like "tlmgr backup". This action needs the option
"backupdir" set (see "Options -" General>).
Menu bar
The following entries can be found in the menu bar:
"tlmgr" menu
The items here load various repositories: the default as specified in the TeX Live database, the
default network repository, the repository specified on the command line (if any), and an arbitrarily
manually-entered one. Also has the so-necessary "quit" operation.
"Options menu"
Provides access to several groups of options: "Paper" (configuration of default paper sizes),
"Platforms" (only on Unix, configuration of the supported/installed platforms), "GUI Language"
(select language used in the GUI interface), and "General" (everything else).
Several toggles are also here. The first is "Expert options", which is set by default. If you turn
this off, the next time you start the GUI a simplified screen will be shown that display only the
most important functionality. This setting is saved in the configuration file of "tlmgr"; see
"CONFIGURATION FILE FOR TLMGR" for details.
The other toggles are all off by default: for debugging output, to disable the automatic installation
of new packages, and to disable the automatic removal of packages deleted from the server. Playing
with the choices of what is or isn't installed may lead to an inconsistent TeX Live installation;
e.g., when a package is renamed.
"Actions menu"
Provides access to several actions: update the filename database (aka "ls-R", "mktexlsr", "texhash"),
rebuild all formats ("fmtutil-sys --all"), update the font map database ("updmap-sys"), restore from
a backup of a package, and use of symbolic links in system directories (not on Windows).
The final action is to remove the entire TeX Live installation (also not on Windows).
"Help menu"
Provides access to the TeX Live manual (also on the web at <https://tug.org/texlive/doc.html>) and
the usual ``About'' box.
GUI options
Some generic Perl/Tk options can be specified with "tlmgr gui" to control the display:
"-background" color
Set background color.
"-font "" fontname fontsize """
Set font, e.g., "tlmgr gui -font "helvetica 18"". The argument to "-font" must be quoted, i.e.,
passed as a single string.
"-foreground" color
Set foreground color.
"-geometry" geomspec
Set the X geometry, e.g., "tlmgr gui -geometry 1024x512-0+0" creates the window of (approximately)
the given size in the upper-right corner of the display.
"-xrm" xresource
Pass the arbitrary X resource string xresource.
A few other obscure options are recognized but not mentioned here. See the Perl/Tk documentation
(<https://search.cpan.org/perldoc?Tk>) for the complete list, and any X documentation for general
information.
MACHINE-READABLE OUTPUT
With the "--machine-readable" option, "tlmgr" writes to stdout in the fixed line-oriented format
described here, and the usual informational messages for human consumption are written to stderr
(normally they are written to stdout). The idea is that a program can get all the information it needs
by reading stdout.
Currently this option only applies to the update, install, and "option" actions.
Machine-readable "update" and "install" output
The output format is as follows:
fieldname "\t" value
...
"end-of-header"
pkgname status localrev serverrev size runtime esttot
...
"end-of-updates"
other output from post actions, not in machine readable form
The header section currently has two fields: "location-url" (the repository source from which updates are
being drawn), and "total-bytes" (the total number of bytes to be downloaded).
The localrev and serverrev fields for each package are the revision numbers in the local installation and
server repository, respectively. The size field is the number of bytes to be downloaded, i.e., the size
of the compressed tar file for a network installation, not the unpacked size. The runtime and esttot
fields are only present for updated and auto-install packages, and contain the currently passed time
since start of installation/updates and the estimated total time.
Line endings may be either LF or CRLF depending on the current platform.
"location-url" location
The location may be a url (including "file:///foo/bar/..."), or a directory name ("/foo/bar"). It is
the package repository from which the new package information was drawn.
"total-bytes" count
The count is simply a decimal number, the sum of the sizes of all the packages that need updating or
installing (which are listed subsequently).
Then comes a line with only the literal string "end-of-header".
Each following line until a line with literal string "end-of-updates" reports on one package. The fields
on each line are separated by a tab. Here are the fields.
pkgname
The TeX Live package identifier, with a possible platform suffix for executables. For instance,
"pdftex" and "pdftex.i386-linux" are given as two separate packages, one on each line.
status
The status of the package update. One character, as follows:
"d" The package was removed on the server.
"f" The package was removed in the local installation, even though a collection depended on it.
(E.g., the user ran "tlmgr remove --force".)
"u" Normal update is needed.
"r" Reversed non-update: the locally-installed version is newer than the version on the server.
"a" Automatically-determined need for installation, the package is new on the server and is (most
probably) part of an installed collection.
"i" Package will be installed and isn't present in the local installation (action install).
"I" Package is already present but will be reinstalled (action install).
localrev
The revision number of the installed package, or "-" if it is not present locally.
serverrev
The revision number of the package on the server, or "-" if it is not present on the server.
size
The size in bytes of the package on the server. The sum of all the package sizes is given in the
"total-bytes" header field mentioned above.
runtime
The run time since start of installations or updates.
esttot
The estimated total time.
Machine-readable "option" output
The output format is as follows:
key "\t" value
If a value is not saved in the database the string "(not set)" is shown.
If you are developing a program that uses this output, and find that changes would be helpful, do not
hesitate to write the mailing list.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
"tlmgr" uses many of the standard TeX environment variables, as reported by, e.g., "tlmgr conf" ("conf").
In addition, for ease in scripting and debugging, "tlmgr" looks for the following environment variables.
These are not of interest for normal user installations.
"TEXLIVE_COMPRESSOR"
This variable allows selecting a different compressor program for backups and intermediate rollback
containers. The order of selection is:
1. If the environment variable "TEXLIVE_COMPRESSOR" is defined, use it; abort if it doesn't
work. Possible values: "lz4", "gzip", "xz". The necessary options are added internally.
2. If lz4 is available (either from the system or TL) and working, use that.
3. If gzip is available (from the system) and working, use that.
4. If xz is available (either from the system or TL) and working, use that.
lz4 and gzip are faster in creating tlmgr's local backups, hence they are preferred. The
unconditional use of xz for the tlnet containers is unaffected, to minimize download sizes.
"TEXLIVE_DOWNLOADER"
"TL_DOWNLOAD_PROGRAM"
"TL_DOWNLOAD_ARGS"
These options allow selecting different download programs then the ones automatically selected by the
installer. The order of selection is:
1. If the environment variable "TEXLIVE_DOWNLOADER" is defined, use it; abort if the specified
program doesn't work. Possible values: "lwp", "curl", "wget". The necessary options are added
internally.
2. If the environment variable "TL_DOWNLOAD_PROGRAM" is defined (can be any value), use it
together with "TL_DOWNLOAD_ARGS"; abort if it doesn't work.
3. If LWP is available and working, use that (by far the most efficient method, as it supports
persistent downloads).
4. If curl is available (from the system) and working, use that.
5. If wget is available (either from the system or TL) and working, use that.
TL provides "wget" binaries for platforms where necessary, so some download method should always be
available.
"TEXLIVE_PREFER_OWN"
By default, compression and download programs provided by the system, i.e., found along "PATH" are
preferred over those shipped with TeX Live.
This can create problems with systems that are too old, and so can be overridden by setting the
environment variable "TEXLIVE_PREFER_OWN" to 1. In this case, executables shipped with TL will be
preferred.
Extra compression/download programs not provided by TL, such as gzip, lwp, and curl, are still
checked for on the system and used if available, per the above. "TEXLIVE_PREFER_OWN" only applies
when the program being checked for is shipped with TL, namely the lz4 and xz compressors and wget
downloader.
Exception: on Windows, the "tar.exe" shipped with TL is always used, regardless of any setting.
AUTHORS AND COPYRIGHT
This script and its documentation were written for the TeX Live distribution (<https://tug.org/texlive>)
and both are licensed under the GNU General Public License Version 2 or later.
$Id: tlmgr.pl 73493 2025-01-17 22:28:29Z karl $
perl v5.40.1 2025-02-23 TLMGR(1)