aurman

Synchronize and update all packages

$ aurman [[-S|--sync]] [[-y|--refresh]] [[-u|--sysupgrade]]

$ aurman [[-S|--sync]] [[-y|--refresh]] [[-u|--sysupgrade]] --noedit

$ aurman [[-S|--sync]] [package]

$ aurman [[-S|--sync]] --noedit [package]

$ aurman [[-S|--sync]] --noedit --noconfirm [package]

$ aurman [[-S|--sync]] [[-s|--search]] [keyword]

$ aurman --remove --recursive --nosave [package]

$ aurman [[-S|--sync]] [[-c|--clean]]

aurman [global-options] [operation] [targets...] | aurman {-h | --help}

-S
    Install or download packages from AUR/repos

-Syu
    Sync system and AUR, upgrade all outdated packages

-Rns
    Remove packages, including unneeded dependencies

-Qs
    Query installed packages matching string

-Qdt
    List orphaned packages

--needed
    Skip build if package is up-to-date

--rebuild
    Force rebuild even if exists

--noedit
    Skip PKGBUILD edit prompt

--chroot
    Use clean chroot for builds (default)

--devel
    Include development packages in updates

--repo
    Limit to official repos only

--aur
    Limit to AUR only

--pgp-fetch
    Automatically fetch missing PGP keys

-Tc
    Update chroot cache

--mflags
    Pass makepkg flags (e.g., --mflags '--skippgpcheck'

-h, --help
    Show help

Aurman was a popular AUR (Arch User Repository) helper designed to simplify the installation, updating, and management of user-submitted packages on Arch Linux and derivatives. It provided a familiar pacman-like interface, supporting operations such as syncing (-Syu), querying (-Qs), removing (-Rns), and more. Key features included automatic dependency resolution, split package handling, interactive PKGBUILD reviews, chroot-based builds for security, PGP key fetching, and support for development packages (--devel).

Aurman emphasized safety with options like --rebuild for forcing recompiles and --needed to skip installed packages. It cached builds in chroots to prevent host contamination and offered fine-grained control over repositories (--repo, --aur). However, it gained notoriety for performance optimizations and was widely used before its deprecation.

Despite its innovations, aurman is now deprecated and unmaintained, with known vulnerabilities exposed in 2019 due to maintainer issues and supply-chain risks in AUR helpers. Users are advised to migrate to modern alternatives.

Deprecated since 2019: Unmaintained, potential security risks from AUR supply-chain attacks. Do not use on production systems. Migrate to yay, paru, or aurutils.
Requires manual chroot setup initially. Bash-only, no longer receives updates.

First run requires aurman -Tc to initialize clean chroot environments for secure builds.
Needs devtools and sudo access.

Recommended: yay (Go-based, goaikei), paru (Rust, fast), helaur (minimal), or manual makepkg + git clone.

Developed in 2017 by sudoscience as a faster, safer AUR helper. Gained popularity for chroot builds and split-package support. Deprecated in November 2019 amid maintainer burnout, PGP scandals, and exploit reports. Repo archived on GitLab; last release v2.0.3.

pacman(8), makepkg(8), yay(1), paru(1), aurutils(7)