How to Install yay AUR Helper on Manjaro 21 Linux

Yet Another Yaourt, short of yay, is a modern AUR helper written in the GO language for managing your Manjaro Linux distribution packages. It makes it easier to install, update, or remove with just one command, which will free up time spent on their system for most users.

In the following tutorial, you will learn how to install Yay, which will make things much more accessible than using Pacman commands. Things like updating AUR packages are not supported, for example, so installing Yay can be pretty essential on how you interact with your Manjaro system.

In the following tutorial, you will learn how to install git and yay AUR helper on Manjaro Linux 21.

Update/Upgrade Manjaro

Update your system to make sure all existing packages are up to date.

sudo pacman -Syu

Install yay Helper

To begin the installation, you must have GIT installed to import the yay repository to install/build. From your command terminal, use the following code to begin the installation.

sudo pacman -S --needed --noconfirm base-devel git

Now clone the yay archive using the following terminal command.

git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay-git.git

Next, move the archive to the /OPT/ directory. This is a good location for any other archive installs, keep everything located, and traditionally the location is a commonly used area for different applications.

sudo mv yay-git /opt/

Now navigate to the yay-git directory location.

cd /opt/yay-git

Build the package using the makepkg command.

makepkg -si

Next, you will be asked to confirm the installation. However, this can be avoided by adding –noconfirm. Once done, check the version yay installed using the following terminal command.

yay --version

Example output:

How to Use yay AUR Helper

Now that you have yay installed, there are some basic commands that you should learn that you may use pretty often. This is not a complete list but should cover most of your needs.

Additionally, with these commands, you can add --noconfirm to speed up the process, similar to -y on other Linux systems such as Debian.

Print command help list

yay --help

Check and upgrade standard packages

yay -Syu

Check and upgrade development and standard packages

yay -Syu --devel --timeupdate

Install Package with yay AUR Helper

yay -S example_package

Example:

Remove Package with yay AUR Helper

yay -Rns example_package

Clean up left-over/unwanted dependecies

yay -Yc

Print yay system stats

yay -Ps

Example:

Comments and Conclusion

In the tutorial, you have learned how to install the Arch User Repository (AUR), a community-driven repository for Arch/Manjaro users on Manjaro 21 Linux.

With yay helper, you can easily save time updating and installing from the arch user repository with its automation package management and other bonuses such as searching, installing dependencies, and much more. Do remember, there are other wrappers available if yay does not meet your expectations.