Dear readers, It may not be very obvious that 'dry run' mode of pkg_add actually downloads packages. It is a good feature and maybe the pkg_add man could use an EXAMPLES section.
Index: pkg_add.1 =================================================================== RCS file: /cvs/src/usr.sbin/pkg_add/pkg_add.1,v retrieving revision 1.163 diff -u -p -r1.163 pkg_add.1 --- pkg_add.1 24 Jan 2020 21:10:46 -0000 1.163 +++ pkg_add.1 23 Jun 2020 23:25:12 -0000 @@ -836,6 +836,18 @@ information about individual packages database of installed .Xr packages 7 .El +.Sh EXAMPLES +It is possible to download packages before installing them to separate download and installation process. +.Pp +.Dl PKG_CACHE=/tmp/pkgs pkg_add -I -u -n +.Pp +will download the package(s) to be updated into .Dq /tmp/pkgs +directory +and they can be installed later +.Pp +pkg_add -I /tmp/pkgs/* +.Pp +.El .Sh SEE ALSO .Xr ftp 1 , .Xr pkg_create 1 , Best,
