Essential Tools For Keeping Your Latex Distribution Current
The Importance of Staying Current
Keeping your LaTeX distribution up-to-date is crucial for ensuring you have access to the latest features, bug fixes, and compatibility with new document classes and packages. An outdated LaTeX installation can cause frustrating errors or compatibility issues that prevent your documents from compiling properly.
LaTeX developers frequently release updated packages with enhanced functionality, performance improvements, or solutions to previously discovered problems. By updating regularly, you can take advantage of these continuous improvements.
In addition, some new LaTeX packages rely on core packages being at a certain minimum version to work properly. An outdated distro can create dependency issues or fatal errors when trying to use these new add-on packages in your documents.
Staying current also helps avoid problems when collaborating with others. If your co-authors have newer package versions, you may experience issues compiling or editing the same documents.
In this article, we’ll explore the key tools and best practices to help you keep your LaTeX distribution updated with the latest releases and avoid the frustrations of an outdated TeX setup.
Checking Your LaTeX Version
The first step in managing your LaTeX installation is to understand which release you currently have installed and pinpoint any outdated components.
Most LaTeX editors provide commands to display version information for your entire distribution. In addition, you can use latex commands to check versions of specific core packages or document classes.
For example, \listfiles placed in the preamble of a LaTeX document will output details on all packages utilized, including timestamps indicating the version. Individual packages can also be queried using commands like \usepackage{graphicx}\graphicspath{{images/}} which will reveal release details for the graphicx package in the log.
Online LaTeX version checking tools are also available. By inputting your packages and their current versions, these tools will highlight any releases that have updates available or known compatibility issues with other components.
Identifying outdated elements helps target which parts of your distribution need updating. Keeping detailed records of your current LaTeX versions makes it simple to assess if updates are needed when new releases occur.
Using LaTeX Package Managers
LaTeX package managers are automated tools which can keep your entire TeX distribution up to date by streamlining updates of core packages plus installed document classes and additional libraries.
The two most popular package managers are tlmgr and miktex-update. We'll cover the key features and usage of each below.
tlmgr
tlmgr is theTeX Live package manager, designed specifically to keep a TeX Live distribution current with the CTAN archive of LaTeX components.
After initially installing TeX Live, tlmgr can connect to CTAN to download, install, and update any packaged elements of your distribution. It resolves dependencies, untars releases, triggers regeneration of file caches, and integrates new documentation.
tlmgr is managed via command line arguments. Some common examples include:
tlmgr update --all- Updates entire TeX Live installtlmgr install [package]- Adds a new packagetlmgr remove [package]- Removes an installed packagetlmgr info [package]- Displays version/revision info
TeX Live administrations can configure central package repositories with authenticated access for managing updates across an organization's users and server infrastructure.
miktex-update
miktex-update serves a similar role to tlmgr but for keeping a MiKTeX Windows distribution stay updated.
After setting up MiKTeX, miktex-update can connect to online repositories to download the latest releases and binaries of any installed LaTeX components. It handles package dependencies and rebuilding file name database indexes.
miktex-update runs as a background Windows service. The main interface is a control panel menu that allows checking for updates, viewing past activity, and configuring settings like:
- Update intervals (daily, weekly, etc)
- Update repositories and package selections
- Notification and logging preferences
Integrations are also available for triggering self-update checks before compiling LaTeX documents within popular editors like TeXworks.
For larger MiKTeX installations, enterprise package repositories can be utilized similar to TeX Live, with IT administrators pushing out centralized updates across an organization.
Manually Updating Packages
In addition to leveraging LaTeX package manager tools, you may sometimes need to manually download and install TeX package updates independently.
This allows more fine-grained control in targeting specific outdated packages vs automatically pulling in all distribution updates.
Downloading Package Updates
The primary central repository for LaTeX packages is CTAN - the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (ctan.org). The site maintains over 8,000 packages across three key archives:
- TeX - Core TeX distribution packages (eg: macros, fonts, documentation)
- BibTeX - Bibliography management and formatting tools
- Nonfree - Packages with special licensing requirements
Each CTAN package has a detailed page with release notes, archives of source/binary distributions, documentation files, and update revision history.
Official CTAN sites may mirror content to regional servers for improved local download speeds. Major TeX distributions like TeX Live and MiKTeX may also host package mirrors containing the latest CTAN releases.
When researching package updates, be sure to note any dependency requirements if applicable. Some updates require updated versions of other packages to function properly.
Installing Updates
Once you have downloaded updated TeX package distribution files, the installation process depends on your operating system and LaTeX environment.
In Linux/Unix environments, TeX packages containing loose files can typically be unzipped/untarred directly into local or global TeX directories to overwrite older versions.
For TeX Live in Linux/Mac, the tlmgr tool can also install CTAN package archives via:
tlmgr install <package>.tar.gz
In Windows, MiKTeX includes integrated utilities to add either loose files or zipped packages. The exact steps vary by MiKTeX edition but generally involve:
- Using the MiKTeX Settings utility to specify local package repositories
- Using the MiKTeX Package Manager tool to download and install updates
The key requirements after updating any TeX components are to refresh the file name database so your system recognizes the changes, and then recompile any documents to utilize the new package versions.
Setting up Automatic Updates
Manually checking, downloading, and installing LaTeX package updates can be tedious. Configuring an automated background process vastly simplifies keeping your distribution current.
As covered previously, builtin package manager tools like tlmgr and miktex-update can automatically fetch and apply updates on a recurring schedule. This may meet update requirements for individual users.
In enterprise LaTeX installations, administrators can centralize updates by configuring a master TeX Live or MiKTeX repository with access controls and automated distribution downstream to client machines.
Scripting custom update checks via continuous integration pipelines is another option. For example, a Python script could compare the current LaTeX package versions against CTAN to identify outdated components in need of updating.
No matter the approach, automated updates applied during periods of low TeX usage ensure developers always begin projects with the latest distribution improvements.
Refreshing System File Name Databases
A critical final step when updating LaTeX packages is refreshing the filename database indexes your operating system maintains about the underlying file structure.
Without rebuilding these indexes to encompass new packages, added files will be "invisible" to the OS and cause TeX compilers to fail finding required components.
In *nix environments, running commands like mktexlsr or texhash updates filename lookups.
Within MiKTeX on Windows, the Settings tool provides a menu to refresh the file name database. TeXworks also includes an integrated command to trigger an index update.
Consult your LaTeX distribution’s documentation for specifics on the proper filename refresh procedure. But this key task should occur anytime substantial package changes occur, including after bulk updates.
Testing an Updated LaTeX System
Before relying on an updated LaTeX environment for critical documents, be sure to fully validate the stability and performance of key packages.
Compile a set of test documents verifying the output still meets expectations across areas like:
- Typesetting quality on reference documents
- Table/figure/list numbering and references
- Bibliography and citation handling
- Image and multimedia embedding
Different use cases and packages may require additional verification. But comprehensive testing guards against subtle changes or regressions within specific TeX components.
Monitoring compiler logs for warnings or error messages related to packages helps diagnose issues introduced amid upgrading. Performance benchmarks for compilation speeds, memory, and storage can also indicate problems optimizing certain documents.
Investing time validating your full LaTeX workflow remains unaffected after updating packages pays dividends by preventing headaches amid publishing deadlines.
