Installing Binary Packages

As of release 3.1.8, pkgin is the binary package manager for Minix 3. This page describes how to use pkgin.

Note, additional packages can built from source. See Installing Source Packages for details.

<!> First, you will need to fetch the package list and populate the package database:

# pkgin update

This step can be re-run to update the package list.

If you would like to install a package, you can run:

# pkgin install scmgit-base
# pkgin install subversion-base
# pkgin install gcc44

More than one at a time:

# pkgin in zip rsync

Also, there is a way to install everything:

# pkgin in $(pkgin av | awk '{ print $1 }') 

The pkgin_cd works the same for installing from the CD, even the ISO loaded in a VM. It can seem unclear but yes, all the packages are available directly from the CD even though the “setup” does not install them by default. You must be sure you have a gigabyte or two of free space if you install all the packages, otherwise it will run out of space half way through the install.

# pkgin_cd in $(pkgin_cd av | awk '{ print $1 }') 

If you would like to search for a specific package, you can run:

# pkgin search subversion

To see a list of all available packages, you can run:

# pkgin available

You can also use the “| more ” options, i.e. <# pkgin available | more> to pause between pages

If you would like to see all the available pkgin actions, you can run:

# pkgin

Additionally, you can study the man page:

# man 1 pkgin

To install binary packages without network/internet connection (this is the usual case when your network card is not supported by minix) you can use the the script

# pkgin_cd

This command pre-selects the CD-ROM as package-repository. It is a wrapper for pkgin and therefore supports the same commands. If you just installed into a VM and then rebooted after unmounting the CD, it will give you an error message saying you must edit a file in /etc/rc or some directory like that. You do not have to do this. Simply reboot by first typing shutdown, then change the boot sequence of your VM to boot from the disk first, but do leave the ISO file mounted or loaded in the VM CD or DVD drive. Then boot up the VM and it will boot from disk. The pkgin_cd command will then work fine and you can install the X11 and GCC and many other packages from the CD. The pkgin_cd command can be used as a replacement for the pkgin command in all the examples above and it will get the packages from the CD.

See InstallingBinaryPackagesOnOlderReleases.

Go To Installation Guide

Go To Post Installation Guide

You will need to configure X11 so also see the X11 introduction.