pkgfile

Search Arch repositories for file ownership

TLDR

Refresh the file database, which is required before the first search

$ sudo pkgfile --update

Find which package provides a file

$ pkgfile [/usr/bin/ss]

Search only the executables in `bin` and `sbin`

$ pkgfile --binaries [ss]

Match with a glob pattern

$ pkgfile --glob [*/libssl.so*]

Match with a regular expression

$ pkgfile --regex [libc.*\.so]

Ignore case while searching

$ pkgfile --ignorecase [readme]

List everything a package installs

$ pkgfile --list [openssh]

List only the executables a package installs

$ pkgfile --list --binaries [openssh]

Restrict the search to one repository

$ pkgfile --repo [extra] [filename]

Show the package version alongside each match

$ pkgfile --verbose [/usr/bin/ss]

Print unformatted output for scripts

$ pkgfile --raw [/usr/bin/ss]

SYNOPSIS

pkgfile [--update] [--list] [--binaries] [--verbose] [--repo repo] target

pkgfile searches for packages in the official Arch Linux repositories that contain a specific file. It maintains its own database of file-to-package mappings for fast lookups.The tool is commonly used to find which package provides a missing command or file. It can also list all files a package contains, useful for understanding package contents before installation.

PARAMETERS

-u, --update

Synchronize pkgfile database

-l, --list

List files in package

-b, --binaries

Only search/list executables

-i, --ignorecase

Case-insensitive matching

-v, --verbose

Show package version

-R, --repo repo

Search specific repository

-g, --glob

Enable shell-style glob pattern matching

-r, --regex

Enable regular expression matching

-d, --directories

Include directories in search results

-q, --quiet

Suppress error messages

-0, --null

Delimit output with null bytes

INSTALL

sudo pacman -S pkgfile

CAVEATS

Database must be synchronized before use. Only searches official repositories, not AUR. Database updates require root privileges. Large database may take time to download initially.

HISTORY

pkgfile was created for Arch Linux to provide fast file-to-package lookups. It offers similar functionality to `pacman -F` but with a dedicated database optimized for this purpose.