How to Install Yay Helper on ArchLinux

Master the Installation of Yay, the Leading AUR Helper for ArchLinux

ArchLinux offers two primary helpers: Aurman and Yaourt. However, these have been deprecated in favor of Yay (Yet Another Yogurt), developed in the Golang Go language. Yay is a lightweight AUR helper that requires minimal dependencies and user input, providing functionality similar to Pacman. It includes interactive features such as TAB completion and the ability to download PKGBUILDs from AUR or ABS. This guide will walk you through the installation of Yay on ArchLinux.

Prerequisites

Ensure you have an Arch Linux instance with SSH access. Consider deploying a fully managed VPS or Cloud Server.

Installation Steps

Step 1: Begin by updating your system packages:

sudo pacman -Syy

Next, install the base-devel package for compiling tools:

sudo pacman -S --needed base-devel

Step 2: Install git using the following command:

sudo pacman -S git

Step 3: Clone the Yay git repository:

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

Verify the cloned directory with:

ls

Change the directory ownership to your regular sudo user:

sudo chown -R cloudblast:users yay

Navigate into the cloned directory and compile Yay:

cd yay makepkg -si

After installation, verify the Yay version:

yay --version

Using Yay

To install a package, use:

yay -S package_name

Example:

yay -S nodejs

To remove a package:

yay -Rns package_name

For a system update:

yay -Syy

To upgrade the system:

yay -Syu

For more Yay commands, see the manual:

man yay

Installing and using Yay enhances your package management on ArchLinux significantly. We hope this guide has been helpful.