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Command Reference

This page provides a concise list of commonly used commands for Overleaf Toolkit Essential.
Use this as a quick reference when maintaining or debugging your Overleaf environment.

1. System Overview

Purpose Command
List running containers docker ps
Enter Overleaf container docker exec -it sharelatex bash
Check TeX Live version docker exec sharelatex tlmgr --version
Verify TeX Live path docker exec sharelatex which tlmgr
Display Overleaf logs docker logs sharelatex --tail 50

Note

Replace sharelatex with your actual container name if you use a different identifier.

2. Toolkit Initialization

Purpose Command
Clone repository git clone https://github.com/FahimFBA/overleaf-toolkit-essential.git
Navigate to directory cd overleaf-toolkit-essential
Copy environment template cp .env.example .env
Edit configuration nano .env or code .env
Make scripts executable chmod +x scripts/*.sh

3. LaTeX Package Management

Purpose Command
Install essential packages ./scripts/install-latex-packages.sh
Update all LaTeX packages ./scripts/update-all-packages.sh
Check for missing packages docker exec sharelatex kpsewhich algorithm.sty
Search package by file docker exec sharelatex tlmgr search --file algorithm.sty
Reinstall specific package docker exec sharelatex tlmgr install algorithms

Tip

Both install-latex-packages.sh and update-all-packages.sh automatically source .env
and operate safely even if rerun multiple times.

4. Cron Job Automation

Purpose Command
Create weekly cron job ./scripts/setup-weekly-cron.sh
View existing jobs crontab -l
Remove all cron jobs crontab -r
Edit cron jobs manually crontab -e
Check cron service status sudo systemctl status cron

Default cron schedule (in setup-weekly-cron.sh):

0 4 * * 1 /path/to/install-latex-packages.sh >> /path/to/latex-update.log 2>&1
````

!!! note
This schedule runs every **Monday at 4:00 AM** by default.

---

## 5. Log Management

| Purpose                 | Command                    |             |
| ----------------------- | -------------------------- | ----------- |
| View last 50 log lines  | `tail -n 50 $LOG_FILE`     |             |
| Monitor live log output | `tail -f $LOG_FILE`        |             |
| Clear log file safely   | `> $LOG_FILE`              |             |
| Check cron log (Linux)  | `grep CRON /var/log/syslog | tail -n 10` |

!!! tip
The default log file path is defined in `.env`:

````
```bash
LOG_FILE=/home/fahim/tmp-overleaf/overleaf-toolkit-essential/latex-update.log
````

6. Debugging and Diagnostics

Purpose Command
Run installer in debug mode bash -x ./scripts/install-latex-packages.sh
Run update in debug mode bash -x ./scripts/update-all-packages.sh
Check TeX Live repository docker exec sharelatex tlmgr option repository
Test internet inside container docker exec sharelatex ping -c 3 mirror.ctan.org
Verify LaTeX compilation docker exec sharelatex pdflatex test.tex

Warning

Debug mode prints every shell command and environment variable. Use it only when troubleshooting — not for automated cron execution.

7. Environment Variables

Variable Description Example
CONTAINER_NAME Overleaf Docker container name sharelatex
PROJECT_DIR Toolkit base directory /home/fahim/tmp-overleaf/overleaf-toolkit-essential
LOG_FILE Log output file path $PROJECT_DIR/latex-update.log
INSTALL_SCRIPT Path to installer script $PROJECT_DIR/scripts/install-latex-packages.sh

To apply changes, reload environment:

bash source scripts/load-env.sh

8. Maintenance and Updates

Purpose Command
Update TeX Live infrastructure docker exec sharelatex tlmgr update --self
Update all packages docker exec sharelatex tlmgr update --all
Verify installed packages docker exec sharelatex tlmgr list --only-installed
Clean obsolete packages docker exec sharelatex tlmgr clean --all
Force reinstall missing dependencies docker exec sharelatex tlmgr update --reinstall-forcibly-removed

9. Backup and Recovery

Purpose Command
Backup .env file cp .env .env.bak
Restore defaults cp .env.example .env
Reset scripts to default git restore scripts/
Rebuild TeX Live database docker exec sharelatex mktexlsr
Force TeX Live reinitialization docker exec --user root sharelatex tlmgr init-usertree

10. Validation Checklist

Check Command Expected Result
Container running docker ps Overleaf listed
tlmgr exists docker exec sharelatex which tlmgr Valid path
Package installed docker exec sharelatex kpsewhich amsmath.sty File path returned
Cron job active crontab -l Job listed
Log file updating ls -lh latex-update.log Recent timestamp

11. Common Recovery Commands

If the system becomes unstable or packages fail repeatedly:

bash docker exec -it --user root sharelatex rm -rf /usr/local/texlive/* docker exec -it --user root sharelatex tlmgr init-usertree ./scripts/install-latex-packages.sh

Warning

This resets the TeX Live installation inside your container. Use only as a last resort when tlmgr becomes corrupted.

13. Summary

This page summarizes all essential commands for maintaining, updating, and debugging your Overleaf Toolkit installation.

For detailed explanations, refer to:

  • quick-start.md — full setup guide
  • maintenance.md — operational maintenance
  • troubleshooting.md — debugging and recovery