---
name: "pkgctl-build"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "devtools"
version: "1:1.5.3-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/pkgctl-build"
---

# pkgctl-build(1)

Build packages inside a clean chroot

## NAME

pkgctl-build - Build packages inside a clean chroot

## SYNOPSIS

pkgctl build \[OPTIONS\] \[PATH...\]

## DESCRIPTION

Build packages in clean chroot environment, offering various options and functionalities to customize the package building process.

By default, chroot environments are located in */var/lib/archbuild/*.

## BUILD OPTIONS

- **--arch** *ARCH*

  Specify architectures to build for (disables auto-detection)

- **--repo** *REPO*

  Specify target repository for new packages not in any official repo. Fallback to `'extra'` when building packages that are not present in any official repository yet. Using this option is disallowed if the package is already released, as it would circumvent the auto-detection safeguard.

- **-s, --staging**

  Build against the staging counterpart of the auto-detected repo

- **-t, --testing**

  Build against the testing counterpart of the auto-detected repo

- **-o, --offload**

  Build on a remote server and transfer artifacts afterwards

- **--offload-host** *HOST*

  Specify offload target machine (default: build.archlinux.org)

- **-c, --clean**

  Recreate the chroot before building

- **--inspect** *WHEN*

  Spawn an interactive shell to inspect the chroot after building. Useful to ease the debugging of a package build.\
   Possible values for *WHEN* are `'never'`, `'always'` or `'failure'`

- **-w, --worker** *SLOT*

  Name of the worker slot, useful for concurrent builds. By default the slot is automatically assigned to the current tty pts number. In case the caller is not a tty, choose a random slot between 1 and number of available processing units.

- **--nocheck**

  Do not run the check() function in the PKGBUILD

## INSTALL OPTIONS

- **-I, --install-to-chroot** *FILE*

  Install a package to the working copy of the chroot

- **-i, --install-to-host** *MODE*

  Install the built packages to the host system. Useful when one wants to verify that the package works as intended.

  • When *MODE* is *all*, this installs all built packages

  • When *MODE* is *auto*, this installs all built packages which are currently installed

## PKGBUILD OPTIONS

- **--pkgver**=*PKGVER*

  Set pkgver, reset pkgrel and update checksums

- **--pkgrel**=*PKGREL*

  Set pkgrel to a given value

- **--rebuild**

  Increment the current pkgrel variable

- **--update-checksums**

  Force computation and update of the checksums by disabling auto-detection.\
   Should only be used in special circumstances, like when adding new patch files to the source array. During regular packaging operations, checksums are either automatically updated when upgrading a package using `--pkgver` or should remain immutable during rebuilds.

- **-e, --edit**

  Edit the PKGBUILD before building

## RELEASE OPTIONS

- **-r, --release**

  Automatically commit, tag and release after building\
   Specifying this option is required when using any of the following options in this section

- **-m, --message** *MSG*

  Use the given \<msg\> as the commit message

- **-u, --db-update**

  Automatically update the pacman database as last action

## OPTIONS

- **-h, --help**

  Show a help text

## SEE ALSO

[pkgctl-release(1)](/pkgctl-release/1.md) [pkgctl-db-update(1)](/pkgctl-db-update/1.md)

## HOMEPAGE

 *\<https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/devtools\>*

*Please report bugs and feature requests in the issue tracker. Please do your best to provide a reproducible test case for bugs.*