* **--prefer-source:** There are two ways of downloading a package: `source` and `dist`. For stable versions composer will use the `dist` by default. The `source` is a version control repository. If `--prefer-source` is enabled, composer will install from `source` if there is one. This is useful if you want to make a bugfix to a project and get a local git clone of the dependency directly.
* **--dry-run:** If you want to run through an installation without actually installing a package, you can use `--dry-run`. This will simulate the installation and show you what would happen.
* **--no-install-recommends:** By default composer will install all packages that are referenced by `recommend`. By passing this option you can disable that.
* **--install-suggests:** The packages referenced by `suggest` will not be installed by default. By passing this option, you can install them.
* **--prefer-source:** There are two ways of downloading a package: `source`
and `dist`. For stable versions composer will use the `dist` by default.
The `source` is a version control repository. If `--prefer-source` is
enabled, composer will install from `source` if there is one. This is
useful if you want to make a bugfix to a project and get a local git
clone of the dependency directly.
* **--dry-run:** If you want to run through an installation without actually
installing a package, you can use `--dry-run`. This will simulate the
installation and show you what would happen.
* **--no-install-recommends:** By default composer will install all packages
that are referenced by `recommend`. By passing this option you can disable
that.
* **--install-suggests:** The packages referenced by `suggest` will not be
installed by default. By passing this option, you can install them.
## update
@ -115,7 +125,7 @@ should be included in the listing.
### Options
* **--link-type:** The link types to match on, can be specified multiple
times.
times.
## validate
@ -137,3 +147,34 @@ command. It will replace your `composer.phar` with the latest version.
To get more information about a certain command, just use `help`.
$ php composer.phar help install
## Environment variables
You can set a number of environment variables that override certain settings.
Whenever possible it is recommended to specify these settings in the `config`
section of `composer.json` instead. It is worth noting that that the env vars
will always take precedence over the values specified in `composer.json`.
### COMPOSER
By setting the `COMPOSER` env variable is is possible to set the filename of