# \[FAQ\] Package installation says FILENAME exists in filesystem; “Failed to commit transaction (conflicting files)”

**URL:** <https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/faq-package-installation-says-filename-exists-in-filesystem-failed-to-commit-transaction-conflicting-files/6753>\
**Category:** Newbie\
**Created:** [August 10, 2020, 11:16pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/faq-package-installation-says-filename-exists-in-filesystem-failed-to-commit-transaction-conflicting-files/6753 "2020-08-10T23:16:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jonathon](https://forum.endeavouros.com/user_avatar/forum.endeavouros.com/jonathon/32/18722_2.png) [@jonathon](https://forum.endeavouros.com/u/jonathon)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2020, 11:16pm UTC](https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/faq-package-installation-says-filename-exists-in-filesystem-failed-to-commit-transaction-conflicting-files/6753/1 "2020-08-10T23:16:28Z")

</div>

## I can’t install or update a package because I get (something like) this:

> error: could not prepare transaction  
> error: failed to commit transaction (conflicting files)  
> libname: /insert/file/name/here exists in filesystem  
> Errors occurred, no packages were upgraded.

## Why is this happening?

The package manager, `pacman` , has detected an unexpected file already exists on disk. By design it will **not** overwrite files that already exist. This is a design feature, not a flaw - package managers are designed to keep track of installed files.

This issue normally happens because you’ve manually added, copied, or created a file. It can also happen when you install software using a downloaded executable, run a `make install` , or use a third-party package system such as `conda` . It also occurs when you install an AUR package which installs files that conflict with a repo package.

When using a third-party installer you should **always** specify an alternative installation location, such as under your home directory, or under `/opt` or `/usr/local/` . **Never** install directly under `/` or `/usr` .

## How can I fix this?

### The better way

The first step is to identify which, if any, package owns the file. This can be easily done with:

```auto
pacman -Qo /path/to/file

```

If this identifies a conflicting package you can decide to remove it with `pacman -R` . If no package is identified you can delete the file, e.g. `rm /path/to/file` (or move it to a backup location, e.g. `mv /path/to/file /path/to/file.backup` ).

### The faster way

`pacman` has an `--overwrite` option which will allow it to overwrite files. If you are sure you want to, you can tell it to

```auto
sudo pacman -S $PACKAGE --overwrite path/to/*

```

This will (re)install the `$PACKAGE` and overwrite any files under the directory `path/to/`

This can be _very_ useful if your local database has “lost” a package you’ve already installed (and so every file in the package “conflicts”).

### The “I don’t care” way

```auto
sudo pacman -S $PACKAGE --overwrite '*'

```

## Example

Here’s an example of how to decide what to write:

 ![image](https://forum.endeavouros.com/uploads/default/original/2X/5/5ec2f5268ca1a9e83884794cce03ce5050db6c0c.png)

So the command could be:

```auto
sudo pacman -S languagetool --overwrite usr/bin/languagetool,usr/share/java/languagetool/*

```

## Where can I read more?

This post was inspired by (and adapted from):

[https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=56373](https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=56373)

The above post also has links to further reading.