Updating an AUR package

Archlinux’ documentation is good, but somehow i struggled to find simple instructions how to update a package. The kafka CLI i’m maintaining, kaf, has been available for some time in the AUR. At some point i have been passed the ownership of the AUR package, but i had no idea how to do a release.

For more complex cases there’s probably more to do, however in my simple case:

1. Clone repo:

   git clone ssh://aur@aur.archlinux.org/kaf.git
   

   This URL can be found in the AUR under Git Clone URL.

2. Update PKGBUILD

   Edit the file PKGBUILD and make necessary changes, i.e. bumping the version number.

3. Update checksums in the PKGBUILD file.

   Use the tool updpkgsums for this. It can be installed by running sudo pacman -Sy pacman-contrib. It does the build, and writes the checksum into PKGBUILD. It is also possible to do it manually, by using e.g. md5sum/sha256sum on the relevant files, and updating the checksums in PKGBUILD by hand.

4. Update .SRCINFO file.

   It is generated from PKGBUILD, and required for the AUR. Run makepkg --printsrcinfo > .SRCINFO

5. Verify before pushing.

   Run makepkg -C -f --noconfirm. If it is successful, your package is OK.

6. Push the changes:

   git add PKGBUILD .SRCINFO
   git commit -m "update to vX.Y.Z"
   git push
   

Now, the updated package is available in the AUR.