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vdb Repository Format

The vdb repository format is used on Gentoo and derived distributions to track packages installed from an ebuild. It is not used on Exherbo; exndbam serves the equivalent purpose there.

As well as the general keys supported for all repositories, the following keys have meaning for vdb format repositories:

location
The location of the repository. Mandatory. On Gentoo systems, this must be ${root}/var/db/pkg to avoid problems with broken ebuilds that illegally access the VDB.
provides_cache
The directory to use for reading and writing a cache of providers of old-style virtuals. See Getting Started for notes. Optional, set to /var/empty to disable.
names_cache
The directory in which to look for a names cache, and in which to generate a names cache. A names cache will significantly speed up converting a pkg into a cat/pkg. See Getting Started for notes. Optional, set to /var/empty to disable.
builddir
The directory to use when 'building' a package for an uninstall (a temporary directory is needed for various operations). Optional.