phpMan > man > mandb(8)

MANDB(8)                                 Manual pager utils                                 MANDB(8)



NAME
       mandb - create or update the manual page index caches

SYNOPSIS
       mandb [-dqsucpt?V] [-C file] [manpath]
       mandb [-dqsut] [-C file] -f filename ...

DESCRIPTION
       mandb is used to initialise or manually update index database caches.  The caches contain in‐
       formation relevant to the current state of the manual page system and the information  stored
       within them is used by the man-db utilities to enhance their speed and functionality.

       When  creating  or  updating an index, mandb will warn of bad ROFF .so requests, bogus manual
       page filenames and manual pages from which the whatis cannot be parsed.

       Supplying mandb with an optional colon-delimited path will override the internal system  man‐
       ual  page hierarchy search path, determined from information found within the man-db configu‐
       ration file.

DATABASE CACHES
       mandb can be compiled with support for any one of the following database types.


       Name          Async   Filename
       ──────────────────────────────────────
       Berkeley db   Yes     index.bt
       GNU gdbm      Yes     index.db
       UNIX ndbm     No      index.(dir|pag)

       Those database types that support asynchronous updates provide enhanced speed at the cost  of
       possible  corruption  in the event of unusual termination.  In an unusual case where this has
       occurred, it may be necessary to rerun mandb with the -c option to  re-create  the  databases
       from scratch.

OPTIONS
       -d, --debug
              Print debugging information.

       -q, --quiet
              Produce no warnings.

       -s, --no-straycats
              Do  not  spend time looking for or adding information to the databases regarding stray
              cats.

       -p, --no-purge
              Do not spend time checking for deleted manual pages and purging them  from  the  data‐
              bases.

       -c, --create
              By  default, mandb will try to update any previously created databases.  If a database
              does not exist, it will create it.  This option forces mandb to delete previous  data‐
              bases  and re-create them from scratch, and implies --no-purge.  This may be necessary
              if a database becomes corrupt or if a new database storage scheme is introduced in the
              future.

       -u, --user-db
              Create  user  databases  only,  even with write permissions necessary to create system
              databases.

       -t, --test
              Perform correctness checks on manual pages in the hierarchy search  path.   With  this
              option, mandb will not alter existing databases.

       -f, --filename
              Update  only  the entries for the given filename.  This option is not for general use;
              it is used internally by man when it has been compiled with the MAN_DB_UPDATES  option
              and finds that a page is out of date.  It implies -p and disables -c and -s.

       -C file, --config-file=file
              Use this user configuration file rather than the default of ~/.manpath.

       -?, --help
              Show the usage message, then exit.

       --usage
              Print a short usage message and exit.

       -V, --version
              Show the version, then exit.

EXIT STATUS
       0      Successful program execution.

       1      Usage, syntax, or configuration file error.

       2      Operational error.

       3      A child process failed.

DIAGNOSTICS
       The following warning messages can be emitted during database building.

       <filename>: whatis parse for page(sec) failed
              An  attempt  to extract whatis line(s) from the given <filename> failed.  This is usu‐
              ally due to a poorly written manual page, but if many such messages are emitted it  is
              likely  that the system contains non-standard manual pages which are incompatible with
              the man-db whatis parser.  See the WHATIS PARSING section in lexgrog(1) for  more  in‐
              formation.

       <filename>: is a dangling symlink
              <filename>  does  not exist but is referenced by a symbolic link.  Further diagnostics
              are usually emitted to identify the <filename> of the offending link.

       <filename>: bad symlink or ROFF `.so' request
              <filename> is either a symbolic link to, or contains a ROFF include request to, a  non
              existent file.

       <filename>: ignoring bogus filename
              The <filename> may or may not be a valid manual page but its name is invalid.  This is
              usually due to a manual page with sectional extension <x> being  put  in  manual  page
              section <y>.

       <filename_mask>: competing extensions
              The  wildcard  <filename_mask> is not unique.  This is usually caused by the existence
              of both a compressed and uncompressed version of the same manual page.   All  but  the
              most recent are ignored.

FILES
       /etc/manpath.config
              man-db configuration file.

       /var/cache/man/index.(bt|db|dir|pag)
              An FHS compliant global index database cache.

       Older locations for the database cache included:

       /usr/man/index.(bt|db|dir|pag)
              A traditional global index database cache.

       /var/catman/index.(bt|db|dir|pag)
              An alternate or FSSTND compliant global index database cache.

SEE ALSO
       lexgrog(1), man(1), manpath(5), catman(8)

       The WHATIS PARSING section formerly in this manual page is now part of lexgrog(1).

AUTHOR
       Wilf. (G.Wilford AT ee.uk).
       Fabrizio Polacco (fpolacco AT debian.org).
       Colin Watson (cjwatson AT debian.org).

BUGS
       https://gitlab.com/cjwatson/man-db/-/issues
       https://savannah.nongnu.org/bugs/?group=man-db



2.10.2                                       2022-03-17                                     MANDB(8)