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How To Downgrade A Package In Arch Linux Custom Search

BY SK · PUBLISHED MAY 26, 2016 · UPDATED MAY 13, 2019

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As you might know, Arch Linux is a rolling release and DIY (do-it-yourself) distribution. So you have to be bit
careful while updating it often, especially installing or updating packages from the third party repositories like
AUR. You might be end up with broken system if you don’t know what you are doing. It is your responsibility to
make Arch Linux more stable. However, we all do mistakes. It is difficult to be careful all time. Sometimes, you
want to update to most bleeding edge, and you might be stuck with broken packages. Don’t panic! In such cases,
you can simply rollback to the old stable packages. This short tutorial describes how to downgrade a package in
Arch Linux and its variants like Antergos, Manjaro Linux.

Update:

Since a lot of negative feedback and security concerns for installing packages from AUR using yaourt and
unofficial repository (archlinuxfr), I suggest everyone to follow the officially recommended way to downgrade a
package. Here is the officially recommended way suggested by most readers in the comment section and Arch
Linux sub-reddit discussion forum. Thanks everyone.

Downgrading packages 

The officially recommended method might help only if the pacman cache was not cleaned. If you already
cleared the cache, you can still downgrade using the following method.

In Arch Linux, there is an utility called “downgrade” that helps you to downgrade an installed package to any
available older version. This utility will check your local cache and the remote servers (Arch Linux repositories)
for the old versions of a required package. You can pick any one of the old stable package from that list and
install it.

Installing downgrade utility

This package is not available in the official repositories. You can either install it from AUR or from the
unofficial archlinuxfr repository. First we will see how to install it from AUR.

Install downgrade from AUR

The downgrade package is available in AUR , so you can install it using any AUR helper programs like below.

Using Yay:

$ yay -S downgrade

Install downgrade from archlinuxfr repository

A word of caution: The official Arch Linux Developers and the Trusted Users do not perform tests of any sort
to verify the contents of unofficial repositories. You must decide whether to trust their maintainers and you take
full responsibility for any consequences of using any unofficial repository.

To add archlinuxfr repository, edit /etc/pacman.conf file:

$ sudo nano /etc/pacman.conf

Add the following lines:

[archlinuxfr]
Server = http://repo.archlinux.fr/$arch

Save and close the file.

Update the repositories with command:

 $ sudo pacman -Syu

Then install “Downgrade” utility using the following command from your Terminal:

$ sudo pacman -S downgrade

Downgrade a package in Arch Linux

The typical usage of “downgrade” command is:

$ sudo downgrade [PACKAGE, ...] [-- [PACMAN OPTIONS]]

Let us say you want to downgrade opera web browser to any available old version.

To do so, run:

$ sudo downgrade opera

This command will list all available versions of opera package (both new and old) from your local cache and
remote mirror.

Sample output:

Available packages:

1) opera-37.0.2178.43-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (local)
2) opera-37.0.2178.43-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
3) opera-37.0.2178.32-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
4) opera-36.0.2130.65-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
5) opera-36.0.2130.65-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
6) opera-36.0.2130.46-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
7) opera-36.0.2130.46-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
8) opera-36.0.2130.32-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
9) opera-36.0.2130.32-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
10) opera-35.0.2066.92-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
11) opera-35.0.2066.82-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
12) opera-35.0.2066.68-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
13) opera-35.0.2066.37-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
14) opera-34.0.2036.50-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
15) opera-34.0.2036.47-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
16) opera-34.0.2036.25-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
17) opera-33.0.1990.115-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
18) opera-33.0.1990.115-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
19) opera-33.0.1990.58-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
20) opera-32.0.1948.69-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
21) opera-32.0.1948.25-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
22) opera-31.0.1889.174-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
23) opera-31.0.1889.99-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
24) opera-30.0.1835.125-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
25) opera-30.0.1835.88-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
26) opera-30.0.1835.59-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
27) opera-30.0.1835.52-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
28) opera-29.0.1795.60-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
29) opera-29.0.1795.47-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
30) opera-28.0.1750.51-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
31) opera-28.0.1750.48-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
32) opera-28.0.1750.40-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
33) opera-27.0.1689.76-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
34) opera-27.0.1689.69-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
35) opera-27.0.1689.66-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
36) opera-27.0.1689.54-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
37) opera-27.0.1689.54-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
38) opera-26.0.1656.60-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
39) opera-26.0.1656.32-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
40) opera-12.16.1860-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)
41) opera-12.16.1860-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz (remote)

select a package by number:

Just type the package number of your choice, and hit enter to install it.

That’s it. The current installed package will be downgraded to the old version.

Suggested Read:

How To Downgrade All Packages To A Specific Date In Arch Linux

So, how can avoid broken packages and make Arch Linux more stable?
Check Arch Linux news  and forums  before updating Arch Linux to find out if there have been any
reported problem. I have been using Arch Linux as my main OS for the past few years. Here are some simple tips
that I have learned over a period of time to avoid installing unstable packages in Arch Linux.

1. Avoid partial upgrades. It means that never run “pacman -Sy <package-name>” or “pacman -Sy”. This
command will partially upgrade your system while installing a package. Instead, first use “pacman -Syu” to
update the system and then use “package -S <package-name>” to a install package.
2. Avoid using “pacman -Syu –force” command. The –force flag will ignore the package and file conflicts and you
might end-up with broken packages or broken system.
3. Do not skip dependency check. It means that do not use “pacman -Rdd <package-name>”. This command will
avoid dependency check while removing a package. If you run this command, a critical dependency which is
needed by another important package could be removed too. Eventually, it will break your Arch Linux.
4. It is always a good practice to make regular backup of important data and configuration files to avoid any
data loss.
 5. Be careful while installing packages from third party and unofficial repositories like AUR or archlinuxfr. And
do not install packages that are in heavy development.

For more details, check the Arch Linux maintenance guide .

I am not an Arch Linux expert, and I am still learning to make it more stable. Please feel free to let me know If
you have any tips to make Arch Linux stable and safe in the comment section below. I am all ears.

Hope this helps. That’s all for now. I will be here again with another interesting article soon. Until then, stay
tuned with OSTechNix.

Cheers!

Resource:

Downgrade GitHub Repository 

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Tags: Arch Linux AUR Downgrade Downgrade a package in Arch Linux Package management Pacman

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12 RESPONSES

 Comments 12  Pingbacks 0

Not an actual troll  May 27, 2016 at 7:18 pm

Great utility. How did you install it with pacman? I could not find it in the package repository only in the AUR. A search in the package
repository: https://www.archlinux.org/packages/?sort=&q=downgrade&maintainer=&flagged=
Reply

SK  May 30, 2016 at 4:50 pm

You’re right. This package is not available in the official repositories. You need to add the unofficial archlinuxfr repository.

To do so, edit /etc/pacman.conf file:

sudo nano /etc/pacman.conf

Add the following lines:

[archlinuxfr]
SigLevel = Never
Server = http://repo.archlinux.fr/$arch

I forgot to mention this in guide. Now, I updated the guide. Thanks.

Reply

Henrique Maia  November 28, 2016 at 12:34 am

Thank you for this post. It helped me when I was stuck with a package with a bug. Great help.
Reply

Andreas Hallof  May 29, 2018 at 3:25 pm

Thanks for the article and this program. It helped me to roll back my broken xorg-server installation and saved me a lot of time and
headache.
Reply

bashM0nk3y  June 14, 2018 at 7:28 am

Good article!

As a side note, the more arch-centric way of doing this would be to for go adding the third party repo (archlinux.fr) to
/etc/pacman.conf, and instead do the following:

From your home directory, enter the following commands:

wget https://aur.archlinux.org/cgit/aur.git/snapshot/package-query.tar.gz
tar xzvf package-query.tar.gz
cd package-query
makepkg -si
cd ..
wget https://aur.archlinux.org/cgit/aur.git/snapshot/yaourt.tar.gz
tar xzvf yaourt.tar.gz
cd yaourt
makepkg -si
cd ..
wget https://aur.archlinux.org/cgit/aur.git/snapshot/downgrade.tar.gz
tar xzvf downgrade.tar.gz
cd downgrade
makepkg -si

… and then install downgrade with yaourt (never append `sudo` to yaourt!):

yaourt -S downgrade

All due respect to the author of this article, but it is NOT recommended to perfom `partial upgrades` as described in this tutorial.
For example:

sudo pacman -Sy

sudo pacman -S downgrade

 This can, and probably eventually will, create an unstable system. The correct way to do this would be to:

sudo pacman -Syu

sudo pacman -S downgrade

Again, no disrespect at all to the author, I just wanted to help improve this article =)
Reply

sk  June 14, 2018 at 1:39 pm


Thanks for letting me know. I will update the guide ASAP.
Reply

Anonymous  June 14, 2018 at 4:25 pm

That’s not the more arch-centric way, that’s retarded. See the discussions here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comments/8r0kxg/how_to_downgrade_a_package_in_arch_linux/
Reply

Afab  June 14, 2018 at 4:28 pm

You should update the guide to just link to the article in the Arch.-Wiki:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/downgrading_packages
Most of the ways you explained in the guide are either stupid, insecure or both.
Reply

sk  June 14, 2018 at 5:58 pm


I am terribly sorry for being so stupid. I removed the method suggested in this comment and added the Arch wiki
link.
Reply

High Spade  June 14, 2018 at 3:46 pm

Don’t use yaourt. Also, don’t use an unofficial repo. Why don’t you just use the method described in the wiki? That’s the supported
way to downgrade a package and the only way to do it that you will be able to get support for.
Reply

sk  June 14, 2018 at 6:04 pm


Yeah, sorry for being ignorant. I added the official arch wiki link as everyone suggested.
Reply

elswerky  January 1, 2019 at 7:10 pm

in your output of using downgrade to search for opere,,, there are 40 results ,,, when i tested it with say opera ,,chromium and others
,,, it gives me maximum 30 result,,,,, so is there any way to control number of results it gives ???
Reply

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