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157 lines
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<title>Installing Packages - Stow</title>
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This manual describes GNU Stow version 2.2.2
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(9 November 2015), a program for managing the installation of software
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packages.
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Software and documentation is copyrighted by the following:
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(C) 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 Bob Glickstein <bobg+stow@zanshin.com>
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(C) 2000, 2001 Guillaume Morin <gmorin@gnu.org>
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(C) 2007 Kahlil (Kal) Hodgson <kahlil@internode.on.net>
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(C) 2011 Adam Spiers <stow@adamspiers.org>
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resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
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<a name="Installing-Packages"></a>
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Next: <a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="Deleting-Packages.html#Deleting-Packages">Deleting Packages</a>,
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Previous: <a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="Ignore-Lists.html#Ignore-Lists">Ignore Lists</a>,
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Up: <a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="index.html#Top">Top</a>
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<h2 class="chapter">5 Installing Packages</h2>
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<p><a name="index-installation-17"></a>The default action of Stow is to install a package. This means creating
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symlinks in the target tree that point into the package tree. Stow
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attempts to do this with as few symlinks as possible; in other words, if
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Stow can create a single symlink that points to an entire subtree within
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the package tree, it will choose to do that rather than create a
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directory in the target tree and populate it with symlinks.
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<p><a name="tree-folding"></a>
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<h3 class="section">5.1 Tree folding</h3>
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<p><a name="index-tree-folding-18"></a><a name="index-directory-folding-19"></a><a name="index-folding-trees-20"></a>For example, suppose that no packages have yet been installed in
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<samp><span class="file">/usr/local</span></samp>; it's completely empty (except for the <samp><span class="file">stow</span></samp>
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subdirectory, of course). Now suppose the Perl package is installed.
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Recall that it includes the following directories in its installation
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image: <samp><span class="file">bin</span></samp>; <samp><span class="file">info</span></samp>; <samp><span class="file">lib/perl</span></samp>; <samp><span class="file">man/man1</span></samp>.
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Rather than creating the directory <samp><span class="file">/usr/local/bin</span></samp> and populating
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it with symlinks to <samp><span class="file">../stow/perl/bin/perl</span></samp> and
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<samp><span class="file">../stow/perl/bin/a2p</span></samp> (and so on), Stow will create a
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single symlink, <samp><span class="file">/usr/local/bin</span></samp>, which points to
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<samp><span class="file">stow/perl/bin</span></samp>. In this way, it still works to refer to
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<samp><span class="file">/usr/local/bin/perl</span></samp> and <samp><span class="file">/usr/local/bin/a2p</span></samp>, and fewer
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symlinks have been created. This is called <dfn>tree folding</dfn>, since an
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entire subtree is “folded” into a single symlink.
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<p>To complete this example, Stow will also create the symlink
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<samp><span class="file">/usr/local/info</span></samp> pointing to <samp><span class="file">stow/perl/info</span></samp>; the symlink
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<samp><span class="file">/usr/local/lib</span></samp> pointing to <samp><span class="file">stow/perl/lib</span></samp>; and the symlink
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<samp><span class="file">/usr/local/man</span></samp> pointing to <samp><span class="file">stow/perl/man</span></samp>.
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<p>Now suppose that instead of installing the Perl package into an empty
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target tree, the target tree is not empty to begin with. Instead, it
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contains several files and directories installed under a different
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system-administration philosophy. In particular, <samp><span class="file">/usr/local/bin</span></samp>
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already exists and is a directory, as are <samp><span class="file">/usr/local/lib</span></samp> and
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<samp><span class="file">/usr/local/man/man1</span></samp>. In this case, Stow will descend into
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<samp><span class="file">/usr/local/bin</span></samp> and create symlinks to
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<samp><span class="file">../stow/perl/bin/perl</span></samp> and <samp><span class="file">../stow/perl/bin/a2p</span></samp> (etc.),
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and it will descend into <samp><span class="file">/usr/local/lib</span></samp> and create the
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tree-folding symlink <samp><span class="file">perl</span></samp> pointing to
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<samp><span class="file">../stow/perl/lib/perl</span></samp>, and so on. As a rule, Stow only
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descends as far as necessary into the target tree when it can create a
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tree-folding symlink. However, this behaviour can be changed via
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the <samp><span class="option">--no-folding</span></samp> option; see <a href="Invoking-Stow.html#Invoking-Stow">Invoking Stow</a>.
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<p><a name="Tree-unfolding"></a>
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<h3 class="section">5.2 Tree unfolding</h3>
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<p><a name="index-splitting-open-folded-trees-21"></a><a name="index-unfolding-trees-22"></a><a name="index-tree-unfolding-23"></a><a name="index-tree-unsplitting-24"></a>The time often comes when a tree-folding symlink has to be undone
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because another package uses one or more of the folded subdirectories in
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its installation image. This operation is called <dfn>splitting open</dfn> or
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<dfn>unfolding</dfn> a folded tree. It involves removing the original symlink from
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the target tree, creating a true directory in its place, and then populating the
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new directory with symlinks to the newly-installed package <em>and</em> to
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the old package that used the old symlink. For example, suppose that
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after installing Perl into an empty <samp><span class="file">/usr/local</span></samp>, we wish to
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install Emacs. Emacs's installation image includes a <samp><span class="file">bin</span></samp>
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directory containing the <samp><span class="file">emacs</span></samp> and <samp><span class="file">etags</span></samp> executables,
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among others. Stow must make these files appear to be installed
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in <samp><span class="file">/usr/local/bin</span></samp>, but presently <samp><span class="file">/usr/local/bin</span></samp> is a
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symlink to <samp><span class="file">stow/perl/bin</span></samp>. Stow therefore takes the
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following steps: the symlink <samp><span class="file">/usr/local/bin</span></samp> is deleted; the
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directory <samp><span class="file">/usr/local/bin</span></samp> is created; links are made from
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<samp><span class="file">/usr/local/bin</span></samp> to <samp><span class="file">../stow/emacs/bin/emacs</span></samp> and
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<samp><span class="file">../stow/emacs/bin/etags</span></samp>; and links are made from
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<samp><span class="file">/usr/local/bin</span></samp> to <samp><span class="file">../stow/perl/bin/perl</span></samp> and
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<samp><span class="file">../stow/perl/bin/a2p</span></samp>.
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<h3 class="section">5.3 Ownership</h3>
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<p><a name="index-ownership-25"></a>When splitting open a folded tree, Stow makes sure that the
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symlink it is about to remove points inside a valid package in the
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current stow directory. <em>Stow will never delete anything
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that it doesn't own</em>. Stow “owns” everything living in the
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target tree that points into a package in the stow directory. Anything
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Stow owns, it can recompute if lost: symlinks that point into a package in
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the stow directory, or directories that only contain symlinks that stow
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“owns”. Note that by this definition, Stow doesn't “own” anything
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<em>in</em> the stow directory or in any of the packages.
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<h3 class="section">5.4 Conflicts during installation</h3>
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<p><a name="index-conflicts-26"></a><a name="index-installation-conflicts-27"></a>If Stow needs to create a directory or a symlink in the target
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tree and it cannot because that name is already in use and is not owned
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by Stow, then a <dfn>conflict</dfn> has arisen. See <a href="Conflicts.html#Conflicts">Conflicts</a>.
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