# Am I really lost if I've just deleted /var/db/pkg/* by mistake?



## toomadd (Mar 8, 2009)

I know it's my fault, but now everything works, I can start programs etc, only thing that is not ok is updating.
Do I have to download and install everything again eventhough it works? 
I'm a newbie and dont know exactly what i have done, but for example in /var/db/ports there are similar directories as there were in /var/db/pkg ... or cant this directory be restored/rebuilt with some program/script? Please help me, it took so much time to build all those programs..

(..and im sorry for my english of course..)


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## pamdirac (Mar 8, 2009)

No, you are not lost but you cannot upgrade or delete software.



			
				toomadd said:
			
		

> ... Do I have to download and install everything again eventhough it works? ...



Yes if you want to "regenerate" the content of /var/db/pkg



			
				toomadd said:
			
		

> ... (..and im sorry for my english of course..)



I'm sorry too for my english


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## jb_fvwm2 (Mar 9, 2009)

depending upon the method used to install, there may be
/work/ folders which can aid in a scripted reinstall. 
...........
btw I always, every few weeks, " cp -vRp /var/db "  somewhere
..........
If you look at the accidental deletion as a "customization"
then while some ports upgrades may need workarounds, it
will gradually go away (This is conjecture on my part).  The
only problem is you want a list of the ports you have installed
somewhere probably ?


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## fronclynne (Mar 9, 2009)

*Backup lots of stuff, lots of the time*

I've done this and it's a major pain.  You can suck a bunch of it back in by rebuilding some of your high-level ports (firefox, mplayer, openoffice) but some ports seem(ed?) to check for the actual libraries/executables rather than an entry in /var/db/pkg, so plenty may get skipped.

Another problem is missed things not being properly deinstalled and stale libraries/executables hanging around messing up dependancies.

Probably the simplest (albeit the least satisfying) is to just chuck your /usr/local and start over.

And archive /var/db/pkg frequently.


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