Wrote man-page for planned '0install' command

[zeroinstall/zeroinstall-afb.git] / 0install.1

.TH 0INSTALL 1 "2011" "Thomas Leonard" ""
.SH NAME
0install \(em a decentralised software installation system

.SH SYNOPSIS

.SS Downloading and running:

.B 0install select \fBURI\fP

.B 0install download \fBURI\fP

.B 0install run \fBURI\fP [\fBARG\fP]...

.B 0install update \fBURI\fP

.SS Other commands:

.B 0install add-feed \fBFEED\fP

.B 0install config [NAME [VALUE]]

.B 0install import \fBFEED\fP

.B 0install list \fBPATTERN\fP

.B 0install remove-feed \fBFEED\fP

.SH DESCRIPTION
.PP
Zero Install is a decentralised cross-distribution software installation
system. Programs and libraries are identified by URIs, and there is no need
for a central repository. Zero Install ensures that packages cannot conflict
with each other and that programs can be shared between mutually untrusting
users. See the web-site for more information:

http://0install.net/

The simplest case is to ask 0install to run a program, given its URI. For
example:

.B 0install run http://rox.sourceforge.net/2005/interfaces/Edit

.PP
The first time you do this, details about available versions of the program are
downloaded and cached, along with details about any libraries it depends on.

Zero Install will run a solver to select the best version of each component
to use. For example, it will select binaries that are compatible with your
CPU and operating system, in your preferred language, and marked "stable" (by
default).

If $DISPLAY is set, 0install will display a window where you can confirm (or
change) the selected versions.

It will then download the corresponding archives for those version and store
them in the cache too. Each package unpacks to its own directory.

Finally, 0install will launch the program, setting environment variables to
let it locate its libraries.

.SH GLOBAL OPTIONS

The first non-option argument to 0install is the particular sub-command you
want to perform; these are described in detail in the next section.

However, there are some options that apply to all operations. These are:

.TP
\fB\-c\fP, \fB\-\-console\fP
Never use the GUI. Normally, 0launch switches to graphical mode if it needs to
download anything from the network (unless DISPLAY is not set).

.TP
\fB\-h\fP, \fB\-\-help\fP
Show the built-in help text.

.TP
\fB\-o\fP, \fB\-\-offline\fP
Run in off-line mode, overriding the default setting. This prevents 0install
from checking for updates, and from downloading updates even if it knows about
them.

.TP
\fB\-v\fP, \fB\-\-verbose\fP
More verbose output. Use twice for even more verbose output.

.TP
\fB\-V\fP, \fB\-\-version\fP
Display version information.

.TP
\fB\-\-with\-store=DIR\fP
Append a directory to the list of implementation caches. Each sub-directory
of DIR contains the contents of one version of a program or library.

.SH SUB-COMMANDS

.SS 0install select [OPTIONS] URI

.PP
Select a version of the program identified by URI, and compatible versions of
all of its dependencies. The information about available version is
downloaded if it's not yet in the cache.

.PP
The URI can be either an HTTP URL, such as
`http://site/program.xml', or a local path name like `/path/to/program.xml'.

.PP
For HTTP URLs, the remote file is a signed XML document. If the key is not
known and trusted, you will be prompted to accept it first. Local feed files
are not signed (any signature will be ignored).

.PP
You can also specificy a local selections document, as created previously using
the \fB\-\-xml\fP option, rather than a feed. In that case, 0install simply
uses those versions without running the solver.

.PP
After selecting (but not downloading) a set of versions, the selection is
displayed in a human-readable format. Use \fB\-\-xml\fP to get
machine-readable output.

.PP
If a set of versions cannot be selected using the cached information, 0install
will check for updates first.

.PP
If a set of versions can be selected based on the currently-cached information,
but that information is getting stale, 0install will immediately return the
current selection and will also start a background process to check for updates.
The `freshness' configuration setting controls when cached information is
considered to be stale.

.PP
Options for select:

.TP
\fB\-\-before=VERSION\fP
Select a version earlier than VERSION (i.e. force the use of an old version of
the program). You can only restrict the version of the program itself using this
option, not the version of any dependencies.

.TP
\fB\-\-command=COMMAND\fP
Some programs provide multiple commands. This selects which one you want. Common
values are `run' (the default), `test' (used by 0test) and `compile' (used by
0compile). You can also use \fB\-\-command=""\fP if you don't want to run any
command (for example, if the package contains data rather than a program).

.TP
\fB\-\-xml\fP
Print the set of chosen implementations as an XML document to stdout. This can
be used later with the `download' and `run' sub-commands.

.TP
\fB\-\-not\-before=VERSION\fP
The selected version must not be earlier than VERSION.
e.g. if you want to run version 2.0 or later, use \fB\-\-not\-before=2.0\fP.

.TP
\fB\-\-refresh\fP
Download a fresh copy of all used feeds before selecting. Normally, cached
copies will be used if available (checking for updates later, in the
background).

.TP
\fB\-\-source\fP
Select source code rather than a binary. This is used internally by `0compile'.

.PP
`select' returns an exit status of zero if it selected a set of versions, and
a status of 1 if it could not find a consistent set.


.SS 0install download [OPTIONS] URI

This behaves similarly to `0install select', except that it also downloads the
selected versions if they are not already cached. Unlike `select', it does not
print the selected versions by default.

All options for `select' can also be used for `download'. In addition, these
options are available:

.TP
\fB\-\-show\fP
Print the selected versions in a human-readable format to stdout.

.PP
`download' returns an exit status of zero if it selected a suitable set of
versions and they are now all downloaded and in the cache. It returns a
status of 1 otherwise.


.SS 0install run [OPTIONS] URI [ARGS]

.PP
This behaves similarly to `0install download', except that it also runs the
program after ensuring it is in the cache.

.PP
To avoid having to keep typing the full URI, use the 0alias(1) command
to create shortcuts to run your programs.

.PP
All options for `select' and `download' can also be used for `run'. In
addition, these options are available:

.TP
\fB\-m\fP, \fB\-\-main=MAIN\fP
Run the specified executable instead of the default. If MAIN starts with '/'
then the path is relative to the implementation's top-level directory,
whereas otherwise it is relative to the directory containing the default
MAIN program. For example, if the default MAIN is \fBbin/svn\fP then
using \fB\-\-main=svnadmin\fP will run \fB.../bin/svnadmin\fP instead.
This option has been largely superseded by the newer \fB\-\-command\fP option.

.TP
\fB\-w\fP, \fB\-\-wrapper=WRAPPER\fP
Instead of executing the chosen program directly, run \fBWRAPPER PROGRAM ARGS\fP.
This is useful for running debuggers and tracing tools on the program (rather
than on 0install!). Note that the wrapper is executed in the environment selected
by the program; hence, this mechanism cannot be used for sandboxing. See the
DEBUGGING section below.

.PP
`run' returns an exit status of 1 if the download step failed. Otherwise,
the exit status will be the exit status of the program being run.

.SS 0install update [OPTIONS] URI

.PP
Check for updates to the program and download them if found. This is similar to
\fB0install download \-\-refresh\fP, except that it prints information about
whether any changes were found.

.PP
The options are the same as for `download'.

.SS 0install import FEED

.PP
Import a feed from a local file, as if it had been downloaded from the network.
This is useful when testing a feed file, to avoid uploading it to a remote
server in order to download it again. The file must have a trusted digital
signature, as when fetching from the network.

.PP
It is also useful when installing a feed from a CD or similar. Note: to create
a full bundle, for archiving or distribution on CD, see 0export(1).

.SS 0install add-feed FEED

.PP
Register an additional source of implementations (versions) of a program.

.PP
For example, when you check out a developer version of a project, it may
contain an XML feed file. To add this version to the list of available
versions, use `add-feed' on the XML file. The file is not copied, so you don't
need to re-add the feed each time it is updated. You will probably also want to
set the `help_with_testing' configuration option to ensure that testing
versions are selected by default.

.PP
Note that if you just want to run the program, you can invoke 0install on the
feed file directly (without using `add-feed'). This will force the it to
use that version, but won't affect what happens when you run it using the URI
as normal. Use `add-feed' when you want to use the developer version even when
using the URI, or if the program is a library (and thus referenced by URI by
other programs).

.SS 0install remove-feed FEED

.PP
Un-register a feed, reversing the effect of `add-feed'.

.SS 0install list PATTERN

.PP
List all known interface (program) URIs. If a search term is given, only
URIs containing that string are shown (case insensitive).

.SS 0install config [NAME [VALUE]]

.PP
View or change configuration settings.

.PP
With no arguments, `0install config' displays all configuration settings.
With one argument, it displays the current value of the named setting.
With two arguments, it sets the setting to the given value.


.SH DEBUGGING TIPS

.PP
To debug 0install itself, use the \-\-verbose and \-\-console options. For
example:

.B $ 0install \-vvc run http://myprog

.PP
To trace or debug programs run by 0install, use the \-\-wrapper option.
For example, to run \fBmyprog \-\-help\fP, displaying all calls to open(2):

.B $ 0install run \-\-wrapper="strace \-e open" http://myprog \-\-help

If your program is interpreted (e.g. a Python program), and you wish to debug
the interpreter running it, you can do it like this:

.B $ 0install run \-\-wrapper="gdb \-\-args python" http://myprog \-\-help

.SH FILES

Configuration files (see freedesktop.org basedir spec):

.IP "~/.config/0install.net/injector/global"
Global configuration settings.

.IP "~/.config/0install.net/injector/trustdb.xml"
List of trusted keys.

.IP "~/.config/0install.net/injector/feeds"
Per-feed information (e.g. time of last check).

.IP "~/.config/0install.net/injector/interfaces"
Per-interface settings (preferred stability and any extra feeds that have been
registered).

.PP
Cached data (can be re-downloaded if lost):

.IP "~/.cache/0install.net/interfaces"
Downloaded cached feed files.

.IP "~/.cache/0install.net/implementations"
Downloaded cached implementations, indexed by manifest digest.

.PP
See the 0store(1) man page for more information.

.SH LICENSE
.PP
Copyright (C) 2010 Thomas Leonard.

.PP
You may redistribute copies of this program under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License.
.SH BUGS
.PP
Please report bugs to the developer mailing list:

http://0install.net/support.html

.SH AUTHOR
.PP
The Zero Install Injector was created by Thomas Leonard.

.SH SEE ALSO
0alias(1), 0store(1), 0launch(1)
.PP
The Zero Install web-site:

.B http://0install.net