Package sets

Package sets are lists of packages used by Portage. They define the packages that make up the base system and those that are installed based on system administrator action. This article describes package sets in high detail and includes a list of all typically available sets on a Gentoo system.

Configuration

Static sets

All Gentoo systems have six static sets which define the packages that make up the system. Three sets include "@selected-" as a prefix in their name and refer to the member sets and their packages which the system administrator has selected to be installed.

The sets entitled @system and @profile define a static list of packages which are required for the base system to operate as intended. These two sets are defined by the Gentoo development team.

The @world set is a superset consisting of the sum of the members of the previously mentioned sets.

@selected-packages

The selected-packages set is the list of packages found in the world file (/var/lib/portage/world). It is a static list of packages that have been explicitly installed by the system administrator. Adding a package to this set can be avoided by passing the --oneshot option to emerge.

@selected-sets

The @selected-sets set is a superset: a union of any and all custom sets emerged by the system administrator. It includes a list of every package that been explicitly installed onto the system by a result of inclusion of an installed set (except if --oneshot was used - see below). The members of this set are listed in the /var/lib/portage/world_sets file. The file will be empty if the system administrator has not (yet) emerged any custom sets.

If the --oneshot option was passed when installing a custom set then the packages included in the set will not be listed, nor will the custom set be recorded in the world_sets file.

@selected

The @selected set is a superset: a union of @selected-packages and @selected-sets. That is to say, the output of this set includes all packages intentionally installed by the system administrator.

Take careful note that packages which are listed in the @selected set may or may not include packages which are also defined in the @system or @profile sets by Gentoo developers. It is unwise to blindly uninstall packages from this set. Portage will provide a warning when attemping to unmerge a package which is defined in the @system or @profile set.

@system

The @system set (along with the following @profile set) define the base set of packages on a Gentoo system. The @system set is maintained by the Gentoo development team.

As of 2024-03-27, the @system set contains:

@profile

The profile set (along with @system defined in the preceding section) define the base set of packages on a Gentoo system. The differences between the two is described in the man pages of Portage but the distinction does not usually matter to the system administrator. The packages that make up this set are determined by the system's profile and/or computer's architecture.

@world

The @world set is the largest superset on a Gentoo system: a union of @selected, @system, and @profile sets. That is to say the @world set includes all packages installed on the system: those defined by the system administrator and those defined by the Gentoo development team.

Note
It is conceptually important to understand the @world set is superset of all of the aforementioned sets. It does not merely represent the packages from the world file itself. The world file is represented by the @selected-packages set.

Dynamic sets

Portage maintains additional dynamic sets that are based on the state of the package database or the type of packages installed on the system. Unlike the previous sets, these dynamically maintained sets cannot be used to define packages that should be installed. These sets are listed in the /usr/share/portage/config/sets/portage.conf file and are determined and maintained by Portage. They are therefore not intended to be modified by the system administrator.

@changed-deps

changed-deps is the set of packages that have changed dependencies.

@deprecated-live-rebuild

deprecated-live-rebuild is the older way to get the set of live packages.

@downgrade

downgrade is the set of packages that have an installed version that is higher than the highest visible ebuild version.

@installed

installed is the set of all installed packages.

@live-rebuild

live-rebuild is the set of live (category/package-9999) packages.

@module-rebuild

module-rebuild is the set of out of kernel modules, packages that own files in /lib/modules.

@preserved-rebuild

preserved-rebuild is the set of packages that are using preserved libraries.

@rebuilt-binaries

rebuilt-binaries is the set of binary package that can be replaced with packages that have been rebuilt.

@security

security is the set of packages for which there is a new GLSA.

@unavailable

unavailable is the set of installed packages that do not have an ebuild.

@unavailable-binaries

unavailable is the set of installed packages that do not have a binary package.

@x11-module-rebuild

x11-module-rebuild is the set of packages that own files inside /usr/lib/xorg/modules with the exception of the package that owns /usr/bin/Xorg.

Custom sets

Example: @larrys-custom-set

larrys-custom-set is an example of a custom set as defined by the system administrator. Custom sets are defined as files in the /etc/portage/sets directory can be easily installed or rebuilt as a group by the package manager. Members defined within a custom set are static and will only change via direct modification by the system administrator.

Once a list of packages have been defined, install a custom set via:

root #emerge --ask @larrys-custom-set

In addition to emerging the packages, the set itself will be added to @selected-sets and therefore the individual packages within the set also be part of @selected. This is fine if the packages in Larry's set are all admin defined packages. However if some of the packages in Larry's set are only dependencies, then problems are likely to occur over time because the package will continue to be updated even if it is no longer required. This is equivalent to having a package's dependencies in the world file.

To emerge a custom set without adding the package(s) to the @selected-sets run:

root #emerge --ask --oneshot @larrys-custom-set

To stop using a custom set, deselect it:

root #emerge --deselect @larrys-custom-set

Warning
It is dangerous to use --unmerge with sets. Doing so with certain packages listed in a set could render the system inoperable if a critical system package is removed.

After deselection, issue a dependency clean. This will safely remove packages that are no longer on the system:

root #emerge --ask --depclean

Usage

Installing a set

Sets can be passed as an argument to the emerge command:

user $emerge -p @world

Listing

Available sets

The list of available sets can be found by:

user $emerge --list-sets

changed-deps
deprecated-live-rebuild
downgrade
installed
larrys-defined-set
live-rebuild
module-rebuild
preserved-rebuild
profile
rebuilt-binaries
security
selected
selected-packages
selected-sets
system
unavailable
unavailable-binaries
world
x11-module-rebuild

Packages within a set

Various tools can be used to list packages included within the system set. With the exceptions of eix and pquery, the tools below preface the set name with an @ character.

Portage

The emerge command can be used to list packages included in sets using the following options:

user $emerge -pqeO @<set>

Or using long options:

user $emerge --pretend --quiet --emptytree --nodeps @<set>

pkgcore

Using pquery (from sys-apps/pkgcore):

user $pquery --pkgset <set>

eix

To receive a compact listing which emulates the listing output from other commands via eix (from app-portage/eix), issue:

user $eix --compact --<set>

For a non-compact listing, issue:

user $eix --<set>

Where <set> is one of system (@system), world (@world), selected (@selected), etc... See man 5 eix or the eix article for more usage examples.

equery

Using equery (from app-portage/gentoolkit):

user $equery list @<set>

Packages that belong to a set

It is possible to search for specific packages that are defined within one or many custom sets with the following command, replace <package> with the package name as appropriate:

user $grep -ir <package> /etc/portage