Arch Linux How to Install AUR Packages

TL; DR

• Create a directory where you want to store your AUR packages and cd into it

mkdir aur-packages
cd aur-packages

• clone the repository you need and cd into it

git clone insert_git_clone_url
cd the_cloned_repo

• build the package and install the programm locally (documentation)

makepgk -i -s -r -c

What is the AUR?

AUR is short for “Arch User Repository”. A repository is a storage location for software packages. You can retrieve the packages from it to install software. As you can derive from the name, this repository harbors package building instructions (PKGBUILDs) created by the community. The PKGBUILDs must follow the rules of submission.

What is the difference to core/extra packages?

As you can read in the official wiki

• core contains everything needed to build a minimum functional Arch Linux OS
• extra holds useful, officially maintained software, such as window managers, web browsers etc.
• the AUR holds PKGBUILDs provided by anybody. The only requirement to do so is to be a registered user. If a package receives enough community interest and support by a package maintainer, it can be moved to be officially maintained in the extra repository.

Security notice

While the English wiki page warns you that everything you install from the AUR is “at your own risk”, you might wonder what you can do to assert if a PKGBUILD is trustworthy. The German wiki provides a neat checklist and examples to look out for.