SISSA Computing FAQ: about LATEX

It sometimes happens that you need a new version of some macro package or font; the correct approach is to create a private installation of (La)TeX which includes the new stuff you need.

Before using tlmgr in user mode, you have to set up the user tree with the init-usertree action: tlmgr init-usertree This command creates a directory named texmf in your home directory. Then, you have to use the “install” action: it checks if the package and all dependencies are already installed in the system installation. If this is not the case, it installs package and dependencies into the user tree (~/texmf). ==== Example ==== If you need to install the package memorygraphs, you have to use the command tlmgr –user-mode install memorygraphs <code> $ tlmgr –user-mode install memorygraphs … tlmgr: package repository http://ctan.mirror.garr.it/mirrors/CTAN/systems/texlive/tlnet (verified) [1/1, ??:??/??:??] install: memorygraphs [189k] running mktexlsr … done running mktexlsr. tlmgr: package log updated: /u/j/janedoe/texmf/web2c/tlmgr.log </code> ===== Manual mode ===== Create in your home directory a subdirectory named texmf, using the following command: mkdir ~/texmf Install your new package (or whatever) in a directory structure like this: ^File extension^Directory^Description^ |.sty, .cls or .fd|~/texmf/tex/latex/<package_name>/|Style file, Document class file or Font Definition files| |.mf|~/texmf/fonts/source/public/<font_name>/|METAFONT outline| |.tfm|~/texmf/fonts/tfm/public/<font_name>/|TeX Font Metrics for METAFONT and Type 1 fonts| |.vf|~/texmf/fonts/vf/public/<font_name>/|TeX virtual fonts| |.afm|~/texmf/fonts/afm/public/<font_name>/|Adobe Font Metrics for Type 1 fonts| |.pfb|~/texmf/fonts/type1/public/<font_name>/|PostScript Type 1 outline| |.ttf|~/texmf/fonts/truetype/public/<font_name>/|TrueType font| |.otf|~/texmf/fonts/opentype/public/<font_name>/|OpenType font| |.bst|~/texmf/bibtex/bst/<package_name>/|BibTeX style| where: * <package_name> refers to the name of macro package you are installing. (p.e. beamer) * <font_name> refers to the name of font you are installing (p.e gothic) and generate an index of that tree mktexlsr ~/texmf You can use this approach for updates to packages installed in the SISSA workstations, as well as for installing new versions of things. ==== Reference ==== http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=privinst http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=install-where http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/tds/tds.html http://www.tug.org/texinfohtml/kpathsea.html#Supported-file-formats