epkg

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A lightweight, multi-source package manager for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Create isolated environments and install packages from major software distributions (RPM, DEB, Alpine, Arch, Conda, Homebrew, MSYS2) without root. Each environment is tied to a channel (e.g. Debian, Fedora, Alpine with version). Register multiple environments to combine their binaries in your PATH and mix software from different distros in one shell.

# Conceptually
host: openeuler | centos | debian | ...
  env1: openeuler   → PATH += $env_root/ebin
  env2: ubuntu      → PATH += $env_root/ebin

Use cases

• End users — Install and run software from multiple sources.
• Developers — Define project dependencies in one environment (OS packages + language runtimes); reproducible, isolated envs.
• Containers / embedded — Replace dnf/apt/apk/pacman with a smaller footprint (~100MB less for RPM, ~20MB for DEB) and optional busybox-style applets.
• Local AI / sandbox — Lightweight environment for development and tools that need an isolated filesystem view.

Features

• User-space installs — No root required for normal use.
• Multi-distro support — openEuler, Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, Alpine, Arch Linux, AUR, Conda, Homebrew, MSYS2.
• Environment isolation — Per-env channels; register multiple envs and combine their binaries in PATH.
• Efficient — File-level deduplication, parallel/chunked downloads, ~1300 global mirrors, fast list/search (e.g. 17x faster than dnf).
• Portable — Static musl binary (~14MB); package manager with busybox-style applets to support distroless RPM/DEB/APK containers.
• Reliable — SAT-based dependency resolution (resolvo), transaction history with rollback.

Quick start

Linux, macOS, Windows WSL2:

curl -fsSL https://raw.atomgit.com/openeuler/epkg/raw/master/bin/install.sh | bash

Windows (PowerShell):

irm https://raw.atomgit.com/openeuler/epkg/raw/master/bin/install.ps1 | iex

Then start a new shell so PATH is updated.

# Create an environment and install/run packages
epkg env create alpine -c alpine
epkg -e alpine install htop bash
epkg -e alpine run htop
epkg -e alpine run --isolate=env bash  # run with minimal bind mounts (the default mode)
epkg -e alpine run --isolate=fs bash   # run in chroot
epkg -e alpine run --isolate=vm bash   # run in a VM

Default environment is main. Use -e ENV to target another env, or epkg env register <ENV> to add an env to your PATH.

Supported distributions (channels)

• RPM: openEuler, Fedora, CentOS, AlmaLinux, Rocky, EPEL, etc.
• DEB: Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Deepin, etc.
• Alpine: main, community
• Arch: core, extra, multilib, AUR, arch4edu, etc.
• Conda: conda-forge, main, free, and others
• Homebrew: Bottle binary packages only ; usable in macOS and Linux
• MSYS2: Windows only

Run epkg repo list to see the full channel table.

Main commands (overview)

Area	Commands
Self	self install, self upgrade, self remove
Packages	install, update, upgrade, remove, list, info, search
Environments	env list, create, remove, register, unregister, activate, deactivate, export, path, config
VM	vm start, stop, list, status
History	history, restore <gen_id>
Execute	run, service, busybox
Other	gc, repo list, hash, unpack, convert

See Command reference for full help.

Installation layout

• User-private: ~/.epkg/envs, ~/.epkg/store, and under ~/.cache/epkg/: downloads/, channels/, aur_builds/, iploc/.
• Shared (root): /opt/epkg (cache/, store/; envs under /opt/epkg/envs/root/).

Details: Paths and layout.

How it works (brief)

• epkg run offers three isolation modes: --isolate=env (default, mount + user namespaces with bind-mounts), --isolate=fs (chroot-based isolation), and --isolate=vm (VM-based isolation).
• Install flow: Resolve (SAT solver) → Download+Unpack → Link (store → env) → Scriptlets → Triggers → Expose binaries to ebin/ for PATH.

Build from source

git clone https://atomgit.com/openeuler/epkg
cd epkg
make dev-depends
make
target/debug/epkg self install
# Then: start a new shell and try out epkg

Full dev setup and testing: Developer quick start.

Documentation

Document	Description
Documentation index	Overview and links to all docs
Developer quick start	Build from source, dev loop, testing
Getting started	Installation and first steps
Environments	Create, register, activate, path, config
Package operations	Install, remove, update, upgrade, list, search, info
Advanced usage	run, service, history/restore, gc, convert, unpack
Troubleshooting	Common issues and solutions
Command reference	All commands and options
Repositories	Channels and repo list
Paths and layout	Install directories and layout

Design notes and format specs: docs/design-notes/, docs/epkg-format.md.

Links

• Repository: atomgit.com/openeuler/epkg
• Mirrors config: assets/mirrors/mirrors.json