tag: ubuntu linux linux-admin alternatives
title: update-alternatives examples

See [thomasventurini article](https://thomasventurini.com/articles/how-to-use-update-alternatives/)

```bash
sudo update-alternatives --install $(which vim) vim $(which nvim) 10
```
or
```bash
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/vi vi /usr/local/bin/nvim 10
sudo update-alternatives --set vi /usr/local/bin/nvim
```
so
```bash
sudo update-alternatives --install TARGET NAME PATH PRIORITY
sudo update-alternatives --set NAME PATH
```
the TARGET is e.g. /usr/bin/vi -- where you want your alternative to appear in the filesystem
the NAME is what you pass to `update-alternatives --set`, the PATH is the path to the executable you want TARGET to be a symlink to, and PRIORITY is used when e.g. a package is removed and a
new alternative is needed (e.g. if you remove neovim, then `/usr/bin/vi` will then point to e.g. `/usr/bin/vim.basic` or something).