Packages(Linux): Auto detect the DBPath directory for pacman on archlinux #2154

It-is-Sean · 2026-01-16T15:03:36Z

Summary

Replace the original hardcoded pacman database path. Now it will auto detect the DBPath directory configured by /etc/pacman.conf. If DBPath is not set, it will fall back to the default /var/lib/pacman/local.

Related issue

Closes #2068

Changes

Modified src/detection/packages/packages_linux.c. Added a static function getPacmanPackages

Checklist

I have tested my changes locally.

…inux Replace the original hardcoded pacman database path. Now it will auto detect the DBPath directory configured by `/etc/pacman.conf`. If `DBPath` is not set, it will fall back to the default `/var/lib/pacman/local`.

Copilot

Pull request overview

This pull request implements automatic detection of the pacman database path from /etc/pacman.conf configuration file, replacing the hardcoded path. The change allows fastfetch to correctly detect package counts on Arch Linux systems where the DBPath has been customized from the default location.

Changes:

Added getPacmanPackages() function to parse the DBPath from /etc/pacman.conf
Modified package counting to use the new function instead of hardcoded path

Copilot · 2026-01-16T15:59:39Z

src/detection/packages/packages_linux.c

+    ffStrbufAppendS(&pacmanDir, "/etc/pacman.conf");
+
+    if (!ffParsePropFile(baseDir->chars, "DBPath =", &pacmanDir))
+        ffStrbufSetS(&pacmanDir, "/var/lib/pacman");
+
+    ffStrbufSubstrBefore(&pacmanDir, baseDirLen);


The first parameter to ffParsePropFile should be the full path to the config file, not just baseDir->chars. The function should first build the complete path to /etc/pacman.conf by appending it to baseDir, parse the config file from that path, and then restore baseDir to its original length. The correct pattern is: save baseDir->length, append /etc/pacman.conf to baseDir, call ffParsePropFile(baseDir->chars, ...), then restore using ffStrbufSubstrBefore(baseDir, baseDirLen).

Suggested change

ffStrbufAppendS(&pacmanDir, "/etc/pacman.conf");

if (!ffParsePropFile(baseDir->chars, "DBPath =", &pacmanDir))

ffStrbufSetS(&pacmanDir, "/var/lib/pacman");

ffStrbufSubstrBefore(&pacmanDir, baseDirLen);

ffStrbufAppendS(baseDir, "/etc/pacman.conf");

if (!ffParsePropFile(baseDir->chars, "DBPath =", &pacmanDir))

ffStrbufSetS(&pacmanDir, "/var/lib/pacman");

ffStrbufSubstrBefore(baseDir, baseDirLen);

Copilot · 2026-01-16T15:59:39Z

src/detection/packages/packages_linux.c

+    ffStrbufAppendS(&pacmanDir, "/etc/pacman.conf");
+
+    if (!ffParsePropFile(baseDir->chars, "DBPath =", &pacmanDir))
+        ffStrbufSetS(&pacmanDir, "/var/lib/pacman");
+
+    ffStrbufSubstrBefore(&pacmanDir, baseDirLen);


The variable pacmanDir is initially set to /etc/pacman.conf but is later used to store the database path value. This is confusing. Instead, baseDir should be used to build the config file path (which will be reset later), and a separate variable should hold the parsed DBPath value, or pacmanDir should start empty and only receive the parsed value.

Suggested change

ffStrbufAppendS(&pacmanDir, "/etc/pacman.conf");

if (!ffParsePropFile(baseDir->chars, "DBPath =", &pacmanDir))

ffStrbufSetS(&pacmanDir, "/var/lib/pacman");

ffStrbufSubstrBefore(&pacmanDir, baseDirLen);

ffStrbufAppendS(baseDir, "/etc/pacman.conf");

if (!ffParsePropFile(baseDir->chars, "DBPath =", &pacmanDir))

ffStrbufSetS(&pacmanDir, "/var/lib/pacman");

ffStrbufSubstrBefore(baseDir, baseDirLen);

CarterLi · 2026-01-17T15:15:38Z

What about RootDir and Bedrock?

It-is-Sean · 2026-01-17T16:24:17Z

Hi! First, I've checked up arch wiki and found that wiki states for DBPath:

"NOTE: if specified, this is an absolute path and the root path is not automatically prepended."

Thus, I suppose if DBPath exists, RootDir is irrelevant according to the docs.

And for the cases when DBPath doesn't exist and RootDir is specified, we can just use [RootDir]/var/lib/pacman/local as the pacmanDir.

Meanwhile, for bedrock, I think getNumElements() will prepend baseDir and would fix the problem, so the final path would be [baseDir][pacmanDir]. I'll try and make another commit.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 1 out of 1 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.

Copilot · 2026-01-18T14:27:33Z

src/detection/packages/packages_linux.c

+    ffStrbufAppendS(baseDir, "/etc/pacman.conf");
+
+    // Get DBPath for packages
+    // If DBpath is specified


Comment has a typo: "DBpath" should be "DBPath" to match the actual configuration option name used in pacman.conf and elsewhere in the code (see line 425 where "DBPath =" is used).

Suggested change

// If DBpath is specified

// If DBPath is specified

Copilot · 2026-01-18T14:27:33Z

src/detection/packages/packages_linux.c

+    // If DBpath is specified
+    if (!ffParsePropFile(baseDir->chars, "DBPath =", &pacmanDir)){
+        // If DBpath is not specified and RootDir is specified


Comment has a typo: "DBpath" should be "DBPath" to match the actual configuration option name used in pacman.conf and elsewhere in the code (see line 425 where "DBPath =" is used).

Suggested change

// If DBpath is specified

if (!ffParsePropFile(baseDir->chars, "DBPath =", &pacmanDir)){

// If DBpath is not specified and RootDir is specified

// If DBPath is specified

if (!ffParsePropFile(baseDir->chars, "DBPath =", &pacmanDir)){

// If DBPath is not specified and RootDir is specified

Copilot · 2026-01-18T14:27:33Z

src/detection/packages/packages_linux.c

+    // If DBpath is specified
+    if (!ffParsePropFile(baseDir->chars, "DBPath =", &pacmanDir)){
+        // If DBpath is not specified and RootDir is specified


Comment has a typo: "DBpath" should be "DBPath" to match the actual configuration option name used in pacman.conf and elsewhere in the code (see line 425 where "DBPath =" is used).

Suggested change

// If DBpath is specified

if (!ffParsePropFile(baseDir->chars, "DBPath =", &pacmanDir)){

// If DBpath is not specified and RootDir is specified

// If DBPath is specified

if (!ffParsePropFile(baseDir->chars, "DBPath =", &pacmanDir)){

// If DBPath is not specified and RootDir is specified

Copilot · 2026-01-18T14:27:33Z

src/detection/packages/packages_linux.c

+    if (!ffParsePropFile(baseDir->chars, "DBPath =", &pacmanDir)){
+        // If DBpath is not specified and RootDir is specified
+        if (!ffParsePropFile(baseDir->chars, "RootDir =", &pacmanDir))
+        // If both are not specified
+            ffStrbufClear(&pacmanDir);
+
+        ffStrbufTrimRight(&pacmanDir, '/');
+        ffStrbufAppendS(&pacmanDir, "/var/lib/pacman");
+    }


The logic for handling the pacman.conf parsing is incorrect. The function ffParsePropFile returns true if the file exists (regardless of whether the property was found), and false only if the file doesn't exist.

The current implementation has the following issues:

When the file doesn't exist, line 425 enters the if block, then line 427 tries to parse the same non-existent file again for "RootDir", which will always fail.

When the file exists but DBPath is not specified, line 425 won't enter the if block, skipping the RootDir fallback logic entirely.

The correct logic should be:

First check if the file exists

If it exists, try to parse DBPath

If DBPath is not found (buffer is empty), try RootDir and append "/var/lib/pacman"

If RootDir is also not found (buffer is empty), use the default "/var/lib/pacman"

If the file doesn't exist, use the default "/var/lib/pacman"

CarterLi · 2026-01-18T14:56:42Z

Needs testing on Bedrock

It-is-Sean · 2026-01-18T16:22:34Z

I'm setting up a VM to test this out and will share you the results later. Any help from Bedrock Linux users are welcome.

It-is-Sean · 2026-01-18T17:21:52Z

I did a test with a bedrock linux in a VM with Archlinux Strat and Ubuntu Strat. It seems that everything works when using bedrock linux and run fast fetch under the both stratas

CarterLi · 2026-01-19T08:08:15Z

What if you set DBPath or RootDir in Archlinux Strat?

CarterLi · 2026-01-19T08:10:03Z

Can you help to test #2155?

It-is-Sean · 2026-01-19T12:08:58Z

ok, working on it

It-is-Sean mentioned this pull request Jan 16, 2026

Packages(Linux): Auto detect the DBPath directory for pacman on archlinux #2153

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CarterLi requested a review from Copilot January 16, 2026 15:56

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of CarterLi January 16, 2026 15:56 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Jan 16, 2026

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It-is-Sean marked this pull request as draft January 16, 2026 16:03

fix(packages): auto-detect pacman DBPath from /etc/pacman.conf

1dbaad5

It-is-Sean marked this pull request as ready for review January 16, 2026 16:15

fix(packages): Add detection for RootDir specified in pacman.conf

28e798a

fastfetch-cli deleted a comment from Copilot AI Jan 17, 2026

CarterLi requested a review from Copilot January 18, 2026 14:24

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of CarterLi January 18, 2026 14:24 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Jan 18, 2026

View reviewed changes

fix(packages): updated logic to detect DBPath and RootPath

46efa93

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It-is-Sean commented Jan 16, 2026

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It-is-Sean commented Jan 17, 2026 •

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