Eselect
emerge — configuration — ebuild repository — dispatch-conf
world file — USE flags — ebuilds — profiles
upgrades — using testing packages — binary packages
tools — gentoolkit — eselect
Portage FAQ — cheat sheet — FAQ
all articles
eselect is a tool for administration and configuration on Gentoo systems. It will modify the system's behavior and should be used with care by the system administrator. eselect is a modular framework for writing configuration utilities, consisting of:
- a main program named eselect (found in app-admin/eselect)
- various modules (*.eselect files) which carry out different tasks
- several libraries which help to ensure consistent behavior and simplify the creation of new modules
A module provides several actions. Actions typically either display some information (list and show actions are common) or update the system somehow (for example, set and update). Each module also provides help and usage actions which explain how to use the module.
To list all currently installed modules, run eselect without any arguments. See also the eselect user guide.
Installation
Deployments of Gentoo Linux should already have eselect installed, as the app-admin/eselect package is part of the system set.
USE flags
USE flags for app-admin/eselect Gentoo's multi-purpose configuration and management tool
doc
|
Add extra documentation (API, Javadoc, etc). It is recommended to enable per package instead of globally |
emacs
|
Add support for GNU Emacs |
vim-syntax
|
Pulls in related vim syntax scripts |
Emerge
After USE flag changes
After changing USE flags just for the eselect package, rebuild eselect for the new flags to be applied. As eselect is in the system set, --oneshot should be used to avoid adding it to the world file:
root #emerge --ask --changed-use --oneshot app-admin/eselectAfter changing any global USE flags in make.conf that affect the eselect package, emerge world to update to the new USE flags:
root #emerge --ask --verbose --update --deep --newuse @worldModules
Install an eselect module just like any other package. For example, for the app-eselect/eselect-repository module:
root #emerge --ask --verbose app-eselect/eselect-repositorySome modules will be pulled in when installing packages that depend on them.
See the modules section for information on finding optional modules for installation.
Invocation
Just running eselect, or eselect help for a little more information, will provide usage information and list all installed modules and their function:
root #eselect helpUsage: eselect <global options> <module name> <module options>
Global options:
--brief Make output shorter
--colour=<yes|no|auto> Enable or disable colour output (default 'auto')
Built-in modules:
help Display a help message
usage Display a usage message
version Display version information
Extra modules:
arptables Manage the iptables/arptables/ebtables symlinks
binutils Manage installed versions of sys-devel/binutils
cdparanoia Manage /usr/bin/cdparanoia implementation
ctags Manage /usr/bin/ctags implementations
ebtables Manage the iptables/arptables/ebtables symlinks
editor Manage the EDITOR environment variable
emacs Manage /usr/bin/emacs version
env Manage environment variables set in /etc/env.d/
etags Manage /usr/bin/etags implementations
fontconfig Manage fontconfig /etc/fonts/conf.d/ symlinks
gcc Manage installed versions of sys-devel/gcc
gnuclient Manage /usr/bin/gnuclient implementations
iptables Manage the iptables/arptables/ebtables symlinks
kernel Manage the /usr/src/linux symlink
locale Manage the LANG environment variable
lua Manage lua symlinks
modules Query eselect modules
mpg123 Manage /usr/bin/mpg123 implementation
news Read Gentoo ("GLEP 42") news items
notify-send Manage /usr/bin/notify-send implementation
pager Manage the PAGER environment variable
pinentry Manage /usr/bin/pinentry implementation
postgresql Manage active PostgreSQL client applications and libraries
profile Manage the make.profile symlink
rc Manage /etc/init.d scripts in runlevels
repository Manage repository list in repos.conf
rust Manage the Rust compiler versions
sh Manage /bin/sh (POSIX shell) implementations
vi Manage /usr/bin/vi implementations
visual Manage the VISUAL environment variable
wxwidgets Manage the system default wxWidgets profile
Modules
Gentoo has tens of eselect modules available, to automate various system configuration tasks. Several modules allow to select between optional subsytems, such as which installed vi editor package to use, emacs distribution to be default, or what shell to use for login...
Some modules are shipped by default with eselect, while other modules can be installed from the Gentoo repository.
To list all modules currently installed, run eselect without any arguments.
Default modules
These modules are maintained as part of the eselect project, so they should be available as long as the app-admin/eselect package is installed.
Arptables, iptables, and ebtables
Manage the iptables/arptables/ebtables symlinks. Because sys-apps/iproute2 is part of the system set, app-eselect/eselect-iptables is often pulled in by the dependency graph, to provide these modules.
user $eselect arptables helpManage the iptables/arptables/ebtables symlinks
Usage: eselect arptables <action> <options>
Standard actions:
help Display help text
usage Display usage information
version Display version information
Extra actions:
list List available arptables symlink targets
set Set a new arptables symlink target
target Target name or number (from 'list' action)
show Show the current arptables symlink
unset Unset arptables symlink targets
Binutils
Manage installed versions of sys-devel/binutils. This module is not provided as part of the app-admin/eselect package, but is from sys-devel/binutils-config, a dependency of sys-devel/binutils. As sys-devel/binutils is part of the system set, eselect binutils should be available on all Gentoo systems.
user $eselect binutils helpManage installed versions of sys-devel/binutils
Usage: eselect binutils <action> <options>
Standard actions:
help Display help text
usage Display usage information
version Display version information
Extra actions:
list List all installed version of binutils
set <target> Activate one of the installed binutils
target Target name or number (from 'list' action)
show Print the currently active binutils version
Editor
Manage the EDITOR environment variable, this determines what many CLI programs will run to edit text files.
See also the visual module section.
user $eselect editor helpUsage: eselect editor <action> <options>
Standard actions:
help Display help text usage Display usage information version Display version information
Extra actions:
list List available targets for the EDITOR variable set <target> Set the EDITOR variable in profile target Target name or number (from 'list' action) show Show value of the EDITOR variable in profile update Update the EDITOR variable if it is unset or invalid
See setting default text editor.
Env
Manage environment variables set in /etc/env.d.
user $eselect env helpManage environment variables set in /etc/env.d/
Usage: eselect env <action> <options>
Standard actions:
help Display help text
usage Display usage information
version Display version information
Extra actions:
update <noldconfig> Collect environment variables from all scripts in /etc/env.d/
noldconfig Do not alter the ld.so cache or configuration.
Gcc
Manage installed versions of sys-devel/gcc. Because sys-devel/gcc is part of the system set, sys-devel/gcc-config will be pulled in, providing this module.
user $eselect gcc helpManage installed versions of sys-devel/gcc
Usage: eselect gcc <action> <options>
Standard actions:
help Display help text
usage Display usage information
version Display version information
Extra actions:
list List all installed version of gcc
set <target> Activate one of the installed gcc
target Target name or number (from 'list' action)
show Print the currently active gcc version
See also upgrading GCC.
Kernel
The /usr/src/linux symlink should point to the currently running kernel, this can be done with eselect.
user $eselect kernel helpManage the /usr/src/linux symlink
Usage: eselect kernel <action> <options>
Standard actions:
help Display help text
usage Display usage information
version Display version information
Extra actions:
list List available kernel symlink targets
set <target> Set a new kernel symlink target
target Target name or number (from 'list' action)
show Show the current kernel symlink
See setting the kernel link with eselect.
Locale
Manage the LANG environment variable, this sets the system language for users, date formats etc.
user $eselect locale helpManage the LANG environment variable
Usage: eselect locale <action> <options>
Standard actions:
help Display help text
usage Display usage information
version Display version information
Extra actions:
list List available targets for the LANG variable
set <target> Set the LANG variable in profile
target Target name or number (from 'list' action)
show Show value of the LANG variable in profile
See the handbook, localization guide and UTF-8 article.
Modules
Query eselect modules.
user $eselect modules helpQuery eselect modules
Usage: eselect modules <action> <options>
Standard actions:
help Display help text
usage Display usage information
version Display version information
Extra actions:
has <module> Return true if the module is installed, and false otherwise
list List all available modules
--only-names Output names of modules only
News
Read Gentoo ("GLEP 42") news items. It is important to read and follow these, when they are shown after a Gentoo ebuild repository synchronization.
user $eselect news helpRead Gentoo ("GLEP 42") news items
Usage: eselect news <action> <options>
Standard actions:
help Display help text
usage Display usage information
version Display version information
Extra actions:
count Display number of news items
new Count unread news items (default)
all Count all news items
list List news items
purge Purge read news
read <item>... Read news items
--mbox Output in mbox format
--quiet Suppress output, only change status
--raw Output in raw format
new Read unread news items (default)
all Read all news items
item Item name or number (from 'list' action)
unread <item>... Mark read news items as unread again
all Mark all news items as unread
item Item name or number (from 'list' action)
Pager
Manage the PAGER environment variable, this will influence what programs will use to display pages of text to the user.
user $eselect pager helpManage the PAGER environment variable
Usage: eselect pager <action> <options>
Standard actions:
help Display help text
usage Display usage information
version Display version information
Extra actions:
list List available targets for the PAGER variable
set <target> Set the PAGER variable in profile
target Target name or number (from 'list' action)
show Show value of the PAGER variable in profile
update Update the PAGER variable if it is unset or invalid
Profile
Manage the make.profile symlink, this is an important configuration item for Portage, and for the whole system.
user $eselect profile helpManage the make.profile symlink
Usage: eselect profile <action> <options>
Standard actions:
help Display help text
usage Display usage information
version Display version information
Extra actions:
list List available profile symlink targets
set <target> Set a new profile symlink target
target Target name or number (from 'list' action)
--force Forcibly set the symlink
show Show the current make.profile symlink
See handbook, and the article about profiles.
Rc
Manage OpenRC scripts.
user $eselect rc helpManage /etc/init.d scripts in runlevels
Usage: eselect rc <action> <options>
Standard actions:
help Display help text
usage Display usage information
version Display version information
Extra actions:
add <script> <runlevels> Add script to existing runlevel(s)
script Init script (from 'list' action)
runlevels Runlevels to add to (defaults to 'default')
delete <script> <runlevels>
Delete script from existing runlevel(s)
script Init script (from 'list' action)
runlevels Runlevels to delete from (defaults to 'default')
list <runlevel> List all available init scripts
runlevel Runlevel to list (defaults to all)
pause <scripts> Pauses given set of init scripts manually
scripts Init scripts to pause
reload <scripts> Reload given set of init scripts
scripts Init scripts to reload
restart <scripts> Restart given set of init scripts
scripts Init scripts to restart
show <runlevels> Show init script status
runlevels Runlevels to list (defaults to current runlevel)
--all List all runlevels
--unused Show scripts not assigned to any runlevel
start <scripts> Start given set of init scripts manually
scripts Init scripts to start
stop <scripts> Stop given set of init scripts manually
scripts Init scripts to stop
Visual
Manage the VISUAL environment variable, to set the default text editor for capable terminals.
See also the editor module section.
user $eselect visual helpManage the VISUAL environment variable
Usage: eselect visual <action> <options>
Standard actions:
help Display help text
usage Display usage information
version Display version information
Extra actions:
list List available targets for the VISUAL variable
set <target> Set the VISUAL variable in profile
target Target name or number (from 'list' action)
show Show value of the VISUAL variable in profile
update Update the VISUAL variable if it is unset or invalid
See the text editor article.
Additional modules
Here are some of the modules that can be installed from the Gentoo repository, and are documented in the wiki:
- eselect bashcomp - enable or disable specific completions.
- eselect blas / eselect lapack - BLAS/LAPACK switching: numerical linear algebra libraries.
- eselect emacs - link /usr/bin/emacs and its auxiliary programs to the ones belonging to the desired Emacs version.
- eselect fontconfig - manage symlinks of files in /etc/fonts/conf.avail/.
- eselect gnome-shell-extensions - manage system defaults that control whether Gnome shell extensions were installed system-wide.
- eselect java-vm - set default Java VM.
- eselect php cli - select which CLI PHP version to use by default.
- eselect php apache2 - change which version of PHP is used by Apache.
- eselect pinentry - choose between pinentry windows.
- eselect python - configure preferred/active Python interpreters.
- eselect repository — an eselect module for configuring ebuild repositories for Portage.
- eselect ruby - change the selected Ruby slot.
- eselect vi - mange the /usr/bin/vi symlink.
See also
- Project:Eselect/User guide — a modular framework for writing configuration utilities.
- Project:Eselect/Developer guide — a framework for simplifying and introducing consistency to the various foo-config and blah-update tools.
- Project:Base/Alternatives
- app-alternatives/sh guide - change the default system shell.
- Useful Portage tools — provides a list of Gentoo-specific system management tools, notably for Portage, available in the ebuild repository.