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 that are usually maintained by man.
       The caches contain information 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 manual page
       hierarchy search path, determined from information found within the man-db configuration file.

DATABASE CACHES

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

       Name          Type                   Async   Filename
       ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
       Berkeley db   Binary tree            Yes     index.bt
       GNU gdbm      Hashed                 Yes     index.db
       UNIX ndbm     Hashed                 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 databases.

       -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 databases 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 usually 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 information.

       <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@ee.surrey.ac.uk).
       Fabrizio Polacco (fpolacco@debian.org).
       Colin Watson (cjwatson@debian.org).

2.8.3                                              2018-04-05                                           MANDB(8)