eMerger

One command, up, refreshes, upgrades and cleans every package manager on your Linux, macOS or Windows machine.

up finds the managers you have (apt, dnf, pacman, brew, winget, flatpak, snap and more), asks for sudo or a UAC prompt once if one of them needs it, runs each in turn and prints one summary. It runs on bash on Linux and macOS and on PowerShell on Windows. Nothing else is installed.

Every configuration and environment variable, the JSON fields and the plugin API are in the documentation and the man page man/up.1, which install.sh installs (man up).

Quick start

1. Clone the repository: git clone https://github.com/MasterCruelty/eMerger && cd eMerger.
2. Run ./install.sh (Linux, macOS) or .\install.ps1 (Windows PowerShell).
3. Open a new terminal.
4. Run up -n to see what would run. Nothing changes.
5. Run up to update.

$ up
  ◆ Debian GNU/Linux 13 · x86_64 · 2026-10-16 10:12 · eMerger v3.0.0

  🌀 apt  ~40s ──────────────────────────────────────── ▰▱ 1/2
    ✔ update ····················   6.8s
    ⠉ full-upgrade  .:::.   0:14  Unpacking libssl3 ...

  📦 flatpak ────────────────────────────────────────── ▰▰ 2/2
    ✔ update ····················  12.4s  5 refreshed

  ╭─ eMerger summary ──────────────────────────╮
  │ managers  ✔ apt  ✔ flatpak                 │
  │ time      0m42s                            │
  │ freed     812.0MB                          │
  │ status    ✔ all good                       │
  ╰────────────────────────────────────────────╯

Do not run sudo up: under sudo, user-level packages (pip --user, Homebrew, npm -g) land in root's home. up asks for sudo itself.

What you need

platform	required	optional
Linux	bash 4.4 or later, coreutils, git, sudo	curl (-w, --doctor), flock, timeout, pkill (stops --parallel managers on Ctrl-C), notify-send, fwupdmgr, snapper or timeshift or btrfs-progs, reflector or netselect-apt
macOS	bash 4.4 or later first in PATH (/bin/bash 3.2 is too old: brew install bash), Xcode Command Line Tools	Homebrew, mas
Windows	PowerShell 5.1 or 7, Git for Windows	winget, scoop, choco, the PSWindowsUpdate and BurntToast modules

up installs none of these. It uses what it finds.

Install

./install.sh:

• adds alias up='bash "/path/to/eMerger/src/emerger.sh"' to your bash, zsh and fish startup files (~/.zshrc first on macOS);
• installs completions for bash, zsh and fish, and the man page in ~/.local/share/man/man1/ (man up);
• creates ~/.config/emerger/ with config.sh, ignore.list, hooks/ and profiles.d/.

A checkout path containing ', ", $, a backquote, %, \ or a newline is refused: move the checkout first.

.\install.ps1 needs no administrator rights:

• if the CurrentUser execution policy is Restricted or Undefined, it asks before setting RemoteSigned;
• it adds an up function to $PROFILE.CurrentUserAllHosts;
• it creates %APPDATA%\emerger\ with config.ps1, hooks\ and profiles.d\.

Without the install script, point an alias at the entry point: alias up='bash /path/to/eMerger/src/emerger.sh', or in PowerShell function up { & 'C:\path\to\eMerger\src\emerger.ps1' @args }.

Use

up                         # update everything
up -n -v                   # preview, with each manager's output
up --security -y           # unattended, security updates only
up --dev --firmware        # also dev toolchains and firmware (Linux)
up --only apt,flatpak      # these managers only
up --except snap           # every manager but snap
up --download-only -y      # download now, install on a later run
up --changed               # what the last run added, removed, upgraded
up --history               # the last runs
up --doctor                # check the environment
up -au                     # install a weekly unattended run

up -au runs up -y -q -nl -ni every Sunday at 10:00: a systemd user timer or cron on Linux, cron on macOS, Task Scheduler on Windows (a manager that needs admin raises a UAC prompt at that time). On Linux, a user timer needs a login session: run loginctl enable-linger $USER once to let it fire without one.

Flags

up --help prints the same list. A flag that takes a value accepts --flag VALUE or --flag=VALUE. -- ends the options. Short flags from the set h V n v q y w bundle: -nv is -n -v.

On Windows, a flag marked "Unix" prints a warning. The run goes on without it, except --changed, --changelog and --rollback, which exit 0 without updating.

flag	effect	platforms
-h, --help	Show the help	all
-V, --version	Show the version	all
--doctor	Check the environment; exit non-zero on a warning	all
-n, --dry-run	Print the commands, change nothing	all
-v, --verbose	Stream each manager's output	all
-q, --quiet	One quieter level per use	all
-qq	Summary line only	all
-qqq	Nothing, exit code only	all
-y, --yes	Answer yes to every prompt	all
--json	One JSON summary on stdout	all
--security	Security updates only; managers without them are skipped	all
--accept-licenses	Let softwareupdate, winget, choco and Windows Update accept licence agreements; without it they only list updates	macOS, Windows
--firmware	Include fwupdmgr and the Raspberry Pi bootloader	Unix
--no-firmware	Skip firmware, even when the config sets --firmware	Unix
--dev	Include rustup, cargo, npm, pnpm, pip, gem	all
--parallel	Run user-space managers at the same time	Unix
--profile NAME	Load a profile before the flags	all
--list-profiles	List the profiles	all
--only LIST	Run only these managers (comma-separated)	all
--except LIST	Skip these managers; adds to the config's list	all
--snapshot	Take a snapper, timeshift or btrfs snapshot first, or exit 1	Unix
--rollback	Revert to the latest eMerger snapshot	Unix
--refresh-mirrors	Re-rank the mirrors first	Unix
--resume	Skip the managers the last run finished	Unix
--reboot	Reboot now if the system needs it	all
--reboot-exit	Exit 4 instead of 0 when a reboot is pending	all
--download-only	Download without installing (apt, dnf, pacman, zypper, softwareupdate); skip every other manager	Unix
-nl, --no-logo	Hide the logo	all
-ni, --no-info	Hide the system line	all
-w, --weather	Show a weather line from wttr.in	all
--ascii	ASCII glyphs only	all
-nc, --keep-cache	Skip user cache cleaning (Windows: %TEMP%)	all
-nt, --keep-trash	Skip trash cleaning (Windows: Recycle Bin)	all
--deep-clean	Also clean the journal, old kernels, leftover configs, snap revisions, container images, crash dumps, npm and Go caches, asking for each	Unix
--changed	Show the last run's package changes	Unix
--changelog PKG	Show the upstream changelog of PKG	Unix
--history	Show the last runs	all
--metrics FILE	Export the last run as a Prometheus textfile	all
-err, --errors	Show logged errors	all
-up, --self-update	Update eMerger with git pull --ff-only	all
-au, --auto-update	Install the weekly run	all
-rc, --rebuild-cache	Clear the manager detection cache (Windows keeps none)	all

Configure

~/.config/emerger/config.sh (Windows: %APPDATA%\emerger\config.ps1) runs before the flags, so it sets your defaults. The flags win.

# ~/.config/emerger/config.sh
ARG_DEV=1                   # as --dev on every run
ARG_EXCEPT="snap"           # as --except snap
DISK_MIN_FREE_MB=2048       # ask before updating with less free space
QUIET_HOURS="23:00-07:00"   # a run with -y inside this window does nothing

# %APPDATA%\emerger\config.ps1
$script:ArgsGlobal.Dev = $true
$script:MANAGER_TIMEOUT = 3600

Everything you can customize lives in ~/.config/emerger/ (Windows: %APPDATA%\emerger\, with .ps1 files):

put this	in	and you get
your fixed settings	config.sh	defaults for every run, such as "always skip snap"
a named set of settings	profiles.d/NAME.sh	up --profile NAME applies it; work, home, server and safe ship ready to use
your own scripts	hooks/pre.d/, hooks/post.d/	they run before or after the update, in name order (a backup first, a notification after)
a package manager up does not know	managers.d/NAME.sh (Unix)	up updates it like the others; share/plugins/example.sh is a template
packages to leave alone	ignore.list (Linux)	pacman never upgrades them

up loads a config file, profile, hook or plugin only when you own it and no other user can write to it.

Every variable, its default and the plugin API: the documentation, section Configuration.

Files

file	Linux and macOS	Windows
config	~/.config/emerger/config.sh	%APPDATA%\emerger\config.ps1
profiles	~/.config/emerger/profiles.d/, shipped share/profiles/	%APPDATA%\emerger\profiles.d\, shipped share\profiles\
hooks	~/.config/emerger/hooks/pre.d/, hooks/post.d/	%APPDATA%\emerger\hooks\pre.d\, hooks\post.d\
plugins	~/.config/emerger/managers.d/	none
ignore list	~/.config/emerger/ignore.list	none
detection cache	~/.cache/emerger/detected	none
log	~/.local/state/emerger/emerger.log	%LOCALAPPDATA%\emerger\state\emerger.log
run history	~/.local/state/emerger/history.jsonl	%LOCALAPPDATA%\emerger\state\history.jsonl
package lists	~/.local/state/emerger/pkgs.before, pkgs.after, pkgs.diff	none
resume cursor	~/.local/state/emerger/resume	none
run lock	~/.local/state/emerger/emerger.lock	%LOCALAPPDATA%\emerger\state\run.lock, elevated.lock
parallel output	~/.local/state/emerger/parallel-*.log	none

XDG_CONFIG_HOME, XDG_CACHE_HOME and XDG_STATE_HOME move the Unix directories.

Exit codes

code	meaning
0	success
1	runtime failure (sudo, lock, disk, interrupted), or aborted (a declined safety prompt, no snapshot taken with --snapshot)
2	bad argument
3	one or more managers failed
4	reboot pending, only with --reboot-exit

Security

• up changes only what you ask for. Cleaning the cache, the Trash and --deep-clean ask before deleting anything.
• On its own, up goes online only for --weather, --self-update, --firmware, --refresh-mirrors and one connectivity check in --doctor. All other traffic comes from your package managers.
• up runs with sudo, so keep the eMerger folder writable by you alone. If other users can write to it, up refuses to start.
• Your config, profiles, plugins and hooks follow the same rule: up skips any that another user could change.

Update and remove

• Update: run up --self-update. It never overwrites your own changes.
• Remove: run ./uninstall.sh (Windows: .\uninstall.ps1). It removes everything the install script added, then asks whether to delete your settings, history and cache too (no by default). Then delete the eMerger folder.

Problems

"Another eMerger run is in progress": another up is still running. Wait for it to finish. Do not delete the lock file.

A manager failed (exit code 3): run up --errors to see why, and up --doctor to check your system. Usually the manager needs a repair first (for apt: sudo dpkg --configure -a), then run up again.

It stops at "User cache" or "Trash": it is asking yes or no. After 60 seconds it answers no. Use -y to answer yes.

Emoji show up as boxes: install a color-emoji font, or run up --ascii.

macOS says "cannot read the Trash": give your terminal Full Disk Access in System Settings, Privacy & Security.

Windows does not recognize up: open a new PowerShell window.

Windows says "running scripts is disabled": run Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser RemoteSigned.

More answers are in the documentation, section Troubleshooting.

Development

• Tests: bats tests/. Some tests need pwsh, zsh, fish or shellcheck, and are skipped when the tool is missing.
• Lint: shopt -s globstar; shellcheck -S error install.sh uninstall.sh src/emerger.sh src/lib/**/*.sh share/plugins/*.sh share/profiles/*.sh completions/up.bash (the same check CI runs).
• Documentation: edit doc/documentation.tex, then run pdflatex documentation.tex twice inside doc/ (the second run fills in the table of contents and the section references).
• Code: src/emerger.sh and src/lib/ for Linux and macOS, src/emerger.ps1 and src/pslib/ for Windows. Both halves must behave the same.
• Adding a package manager: see the documentation, section Development.
• Third-party material: reference/third-party.md.
• Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT, see LICENSE.