PackageKit

PackageKit
Original authorRichard Hughes
DevelopersRichard Hughes, Matthias Klumpp, multiple backend maintainers[1]
Release2007; 19 years ago (2007)
Stable release
1.3.6[2] / 16 June 2026; 2 months ago (16 June 2026)
Written inC, C++, Python
Operating systemLinux
TypePackage management system
LicenseGNU General Public License
Websitewww.freedesktop.org/software/PackageKit/
Repository

PackageKit is a free and open-source suite of software applications designed to provide a consistent and high-level abstraction layer for a number of different package management systems. PackageKit was created by Richard Hughes in 2007,[3][4] and first embedded in an operating system as a default application in May 2008, with the release of Fedora 9.[5]

The suite is cross-platform, though it is primarily targeted at Linux distributions which follow the interoperability standards set out by the freedesktop.org group. It uses the software libraries provided by the D-Bus and Polkit projects to handle inter-process communication and privilege negotiation respectively.

PackageKit seeks to introduce automatic updates without having to authenticate as root, fast-user-switching, warnings translated into the correct locale, common upstream GNOME and KDE tools and one software over multiple Linux distributions.[6]

Software architecture

PackageKit runs as a system-activated daemon, named packagekitd, which abstracts out differences between the different systems. A library called libpackagekit allows other programs to interact with PackageKit.[7]

Features include:

  • installing local files, ServicePack media and packages from remote sources
  • authorization using Polkit
  • the use of existing packaging tools
  • multi-user system awareness – it will not allow shutdown in critical parts of the transaction
  • a system-activated daemon which exits when not in use

Front-ends

gnome-packagekit 3.32 (released in 2019-03)
  • pkgcli is the official front-end of PackageKit, it operates from the command line.[8]
  • pkcon the older command-line interface of PackageKit.

GTK-based:

  • gnome-packagekit is an official GNOME front-end for PackageKit. Unlike GNOME Software, gnome-packagekit can handle all packages, not just applications, and has advanced features that are missing in GNOME Software as of June 2020.
  • GNOME Software is a utility for installing the applications and updates on Linux. It is part of the GNOME Core Applications and was introduced in GNOME 3.10.

Qt-based:

Back-ends

A number of different package management systems (known as back-ends) support different abstract methods and signals used by the front-end tools.[9] Supported back-ends include:

See also

References

  1. ^ "Backend Maintainers". Retrieved 28 January 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ "Release 1.3.6". 16 June 2026. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  3. ^ "Installing and Updating Software Blows Goats". Richard Hughes. 27 July 2007. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  4. ^ "Richard Hughes' blog posts about PackageKit". Richard Hughes. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  5. ^ "Releases/9/FeatureList". Fedora Project Wiki. Fedora Project. 28 May 2008. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  6. ^ "Introduction to PackageKit, a Package Abstraction Framework" (PDF). Richard Hughes. 2008-02-24. Retrieved 2014-04-11.
  7. ^ "PackageKit Reference Manual". packagekit.org. Archived from the original on 16 July 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2009.
  8. ^ "HowTo use pkon".
  9. ^ "Frequently asked questions". packagekit.org. Archived from the original on 19 March 2008. Retrieved 10 July 2009.
  10. ^ "libdnf on github". GitHub.
  11. ^ "librepo on github". GitHub.
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