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System maintenance > Update mirrors

This guide overviews the definitions of mirrors, mirrorlists, possible errors, and how to maintain up-to-date mirrors.

Overview

Mirrors are servers located around the world that store copies of software packages. When upgrading packages, your EndeavourOS system utilizes multiple mirrors, which are noted in a mirrorlist.

A well-maintained mirrorlist ensures that the pacman package manager can access the most up-to-date package files when performing system updates. Outdated mirrors can prevent pacman from updating applications, including the system's core packages.

To update a mirrorlist configuration, users should run commands to re-rank mirrors.

Important

It is highly recommended to re-rank mirrors at least every 1-2 months.

Re-rank mirrors

Arch packages are updated on a frequent and unscheduled rolling-release basis. Your Arch mirrorlist configuration should be updated regularly so your system can access up-to-date package databases.

Re-rank Arch mirrors

  1. Update the Arch mirrorlist by running the command:

     $ reflector-simple

  2. By default, reflector-simple selects the 20 fastest mirrors based on your set location. You can adjust these preferences in the GUI tool.

    A GUI Preference menu that displays after running reflector-simple, displaying settings such as region, filter by options, and amount.

    • The reflector-simple GUI tool allows easy customization of mirror locations, the number of mirrors stored, and ranking priority (latest, fastest, etc.)

  3. Hit OK to confirm the selection and run the process. It is normal to see warnings as reflector tests various mirrors for connectivity speed and age.

  4. The system will notify you once the new Arch mirrorlist has been generated. Save to apply the configuration changes.

    New mirrorlist output from reflector-simple listing 20 U.S. mirrors ranked by speed.

  5. Refresh the system to sync the newly obtained mirrors with the Arch package databases:

     $ yay -Syyu

Caution

Do not run yay with root permissions (sudo), or it may cause accidental (and potentially fatal) system changes. The AUR helper does not require root permissions to manage packages.

Re-rank EndeavourOS mirrors

Endeavour OS has its own distro-unique packages, which are modified/additional versions distinct from Arch packages.

  1. Update the Endeavour OS mirrorlist with:

     $ eos-rankmirrors

  2. The eos-rankmirrors process only shows terminal output (no GUI tool).

  3. The terminal may display errors/warnings as the system tests various mirrors for connectivity and speed. It may take a few minutes to find the requisite amount of mirrors.

    eos-rankmirrors terminal output listing timed-out mirrors and the new mirrorlist.

  4. By default, the new mirrorlist contains the 20 fastest mirrors, which are listed with the original list for comparison.

  5. To confirm and save the changes, enter your system's root password.

    Bottom of eos-rankmirrors terminal output waiting for root password confirmation to save the mirrorlist.

  6. If you do NOT wish to make the mirrorlist changes, stop the terminal process. By default, this shortcut is bound to Ctrl+C in the terminal.

  7. After confirming any mirrorlist changes, refresh the system with:

     $ yay -Syyu

Caution

Do not run yay with root permissions (sudo), or it may cause accidental (and potentially fatal) system changes. This AUR helper does not require root permissions to manage packages.

Common issues: outdated mirrors

When pacman receives a command to update packages and refresh the system, it attempts to connect to the package databases stored in mirrors. Outdated mirrors can prevent pacman from updating your system to the newest packages.

Common error or warning messages include:

Terminal message Issue
GPGME error: No data Files from the package database are outdated or corrupt
failed to synchronize all databases (invalid or corrupted database (PGP signature)) Outdated mirrors - not in sync with package databases
failed retrieving file 'package-version.pkg' from arch.mirror.mx : The requested URL returned error: 404 Mirror cannot be reached, or package files are not available
failed to commit transaction (failed to retrieve some files) Mirror cannot be reached, or package files are not available
warning: too many errors from arch.mirror.mx, skipping for the remainder of this transaction Slow/unstable mirror connection (timed out) or network issues

If pacman runs into these errors during a system update, be sure to re-rank mirrors before another update attempt.

Warning

If these errors/warnings persist despite re-reranking mirrors, this may indicate outdated AUR packages and require updating with yay.

See: System updates with pacman and yay

FAQs

Useful links:

How does running pacman -Syu use mirrors?

When the user enters sudo pacman -Syu into a terminal, the pacman package manager begins the process to sync (-S), refresh (-y), and update (-u) the system.

  1. pacman attempts to connect and sync to Arch and EOS package databases.

  2. If successful, pacman searches for and detects new versions of packages/dependencies that are installed on your system.

  3. The terminal outputs a list of the updateable packages with a comparison of the old and new versions.

  4. pacman waits for user permission to proceed with the update. If proceeding, user is required to enter the system's root password.

  5. After initiating the package(s) update, pacman retrieves new package files from the mirror.

  6. If pacman successfully retrieves package files, it installs them then deletes old versions.

What is GPGME?

GnuPG and GPGME are two tools are used to safely encrypt/decrypt the package files that pacman retrieves from package databases. If mirrors cannot access package databases (or are out of sync), you may see GPGME or PGP related errors.

  • The GPGME (or GnuPG Made Easy) library provides applications easier access to GnuPG functions.

  • GnuPG is a command-line interface (CLI) tool and universal crypto engine. It is often used as the crypto backend for applications.

How do I use reflector instead of reflector-simple?

Endeavour OS uses reflector-simple, which provides a GUI tool for reflector options. The same effect can be achieved with just a terminal command.

To update to and save the latest 20 mirrors sorted by speed, enter:

 $ reflector --latest 20 --sort rate --save /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

This process will:

  1. Retrieve the latest mirrorlist from the Arch mirror status page.

  2. Filter/rank the mirrors by speed (until it has found 20, or a user-specified amount).

  3. Saves and overwrites the current /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist config file.

Note

Refer to the reflector manpage documentation for usage details.

Are there mirror management alternatives?

Popular alternatives to mirror management are listed on the Arch mirrors wiki. Some programs can automate mirror management when configured properly.

One such example is ghostmirror, which:

  1. Checks that mirrors are synchronized.

  2. Performs download speed tests on top of the usual ping test.

  3. Automates the process via systemd.

Note

See: ghostmirrorAUR, ghostmirror wiki

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