/etc/portage/package.mask

/etc/portage/package.mask is a file, or a directory of files, controlled by the system administrator that can be used to prevent certain packages from being installed.

Format

• One DEPEND atom per line; comment lines begin with a # (hash).
• For DEPEND atom syntax, see version specifier.

Example

FILE /etc/portage/package.maskpackage.mask example

# Mask beta versions greater than 1.97 of powertop since they have less features
>=sys-power/powertop-1.97

# Prevent MySQL from being installed by masking the package (use MariaDB)
dev-db/mysql

# Want to go without Java 7; mask JDK and JRE that use Java 7.
virtual/jdk:1.7
virtual/jre:1.7

See also

• Knowledge Base:Masking a package
• /etc/portage — the primary configuration directory for Portage, Gentoo's package manager.
• Cleaning /etc/portage/package.* from unused entries

External resources

• Portage manpage