PACSTRAP(8)

💅 PACSTRAP (8) — the pacstrap glow-up guide ✨

okay bestie, so this is the manual page for pacstrap, section 8 of the manual. like, yes, it's a real manpage, but make it make sense 🫶

---

✨ NAME ✨

pacstrap — install packages to the specified new root directory 🎀

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

pacstrap [options] root [packages...]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

pacstrap is literally designed to create a new system installation from scratch. no cap. 💖

the specified packages will be installed into a given directory after setting up some basic mountpoints. by default, the host system's pacman signing keys and mirrorlist will be used to seed the chroot — so your new baby system gets the same trust setup as your host, iconic behavior honestly 👑

if no packages are specified to be installed, the base metapackage will be installed. that's the default, that's the vibe, periodt.

💅 OPTIONS 💅

• -C <config> — use an alternate config file for pacman. like, a different config. yes you can. go off 🍓
• -c — use the package cache on the host, rather than the target. host cache stays host cache, no copying shenanigans 💀
• -D — skip pacman dependency checks. bold move, bestie, but ok 🙈
• -G — avoid copying the host's pacman keyring to the target. no keyring hand-me-downs today ✨
• -i — prompt for package confirmation when needed (run interactively). it will literally ask you. yap to it 🗣️
• -K — initialize an empty pacman keyring in the target (implies -G). fresh start, empty keyring, main character energy 🌈
• -M — avoid copying the host's mirrorlist to the target. your mirrors, your rules 🪞
• -N — run in unshare mode. this will use unshare(1) to create a new mount and user namespace, allowing regular users to create new system installations. regular users!! no root required for the whole thing, slay 💜
• -P — copy the host's pacman config to the target. config twins 👯
• -U — use pacman -U to install packages. useful for obtaining fine-grained control over the installed packages. precision queen behavior 🎯
• -h — output syntax and command line options. when in doubt, ask it for help 🫶

lowkey reminder: those are all the flags. every single one. i checked bestie, no gatekeeping here 💖

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

pacman(8) — the other half of the duo, go read it too iykyk 👑

---

🌸 that's the whole page, no crumbs left. this one's from the pacstrap source, version 8, dated 10/11/2026 — so if you're reading this way later, hi from the past, hope your chroot booted on the first try 😭💖🦋