How do I use PackageKit?

Using the command line

The pkcon text-mode program allows you to interact with PackageKit on the command. e.g. pkcon get updates or pkcon search description power. The pkmon program allows you to monitor what PackageKit is doing on the command line and is mainly used for debugging.

Using graphical tools:

gnome-packagekit provides a rich set of GTK tools for automatically updating your computer and installing software. See the screenshots page for more details.

Using libpackagekit:

The libpackagekit gobject library wraps the DBUS interface in a nice glib-style API. This makes designing programs that use libpackagekit can concentrate on core functionality rather that the DBUS and PackageKit internals. PkClient in libpackagekit can be used as easily as:

PkClient *client;
client = pk_client_new ();
pk_client_install_package (client, "openoffice-clipart");
g_object_unref (client);

Using the raw DBUS API:

Using the DBUS methods and signals directly means that no glib or gobject dependency is needed, although this means you will have to manage the transaction_id multiplexing in any client program. This is not difficult, although does require more code than just using libpackagekit. The latest interface is available in the source tree or online.

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