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.TH "apk\-add" "8" "2026\-10\-27"
.PP
.SH NAME
.PP
apk add \- add or update constraints to \fIworld\fR and commit changes
.PP
.SH SYNOPSIS
.PP
\fBapk add\fR [<\fIoptions\fR>.\&.\&.\&] \fIconstraints\fR.\&.\&.\&
.PP
.SH DESCRIPTION
.PP
\fBapk add\fR adds or updates given constraints to \fIworld\fR (see \fBapk\-world\fR(5))
and commit changes to disk.\& This usually involves installing new packages,
but may also cause other changes to the installed packages.\&
.PP
To upgrade individual packages without modifying \fIworld\fR use \fBapk\-fix\fR(8).\&
.PP
By default \fBapk\fR tries to select a set of packages so that all constraints
are satisfied.\& This means that some packages can be held back in an older
version if there is direct or implicit dependencies to the older version.\&
.PP
.SH OPTIONS
.PP
\fBapk add\fR supports the commit options described in \fBapk\fR(8), as well as the
following options:
.PP
\fB\-\-initdb\fR
.RS 4
Initialize a new package database.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB\-l, \-\-latest\fR
.RS 4
Always choose the latest package by version.\& However, the versions
considered are based on the package pinning.\& Primarily this overrides
the default heuristic and will cause an error to displayed if all
dependencies cannot be satisfied.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB\-u, \-\-upgrade\fR
.RS 4
Upgrade \fIpackages\fR and it'\&s dependencies.\& Normally \fBapk add\fR will
avoid changing installed package unless it is required by the newly
added \fIpackages\fR or their dependencies.\& This changes the default
preference to upgrading the package to the latest installable version.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB\-t, \-\-virtual\fR \fINAME\fR
.RS 4
Create virtual package \fINAME\fR with given dependencies.\& This new package
will get the \fIpackages\fR as dependencies instead of \fIworld\fR.\& Finally the
\fINAME\fR is added to \fIworld\fR.\& An optional version specifier for the virtual
package can be given via syntax \fINAME\fR=\fIVERSION\fR.\& The version defaults
to synthesized version based on time.\&
.PP
One can use this to ensure that selected set of packages are installed,
and later the temporary modification be undone with \fBapk\-del\fR(8) \fINAME\fR
without removing packages that were installed earlier.\&
.PP
.RE
\fB\-\-no\-chown\fR
.RS 4
Do not change file owner or group.\& By default apk will manage the file
ownership when running as root.\& However, this option is turned on when
running as non\-root user, as changing file ownership is not permitted
by the system then.\&
.RE