diff -r a29623b68ca2 -r 9f4b672bd85c app-manager/app-manager.c
--- a/app-manager/app-manager.c	Mon Jun 13 12:18:42 2016 +0100
+++ b/app-manager/app-manager.c	Tue Jun 05 17:21:56 2018 +0100
@@ -215,17 +215,20 @@
 {
     GError *err=0;
     GtkWidget *w;
-    gchar *s,*contents;
-    gchar *setup_base=NULL,*update_base=NULL;
+    gchar *s,*database_uri,*contents;
+    gchar *database=NULL,*setup_base=NULL,*update_base=NULL;
     gsize len;
-    PloverPackageSet *set;
+    struct comps *comps;
+    PloverPackageSet *set=NULL;
     GSList *objects,*lnk;
     gboolean started;
     GOptionEntry options[]={
-	{"setup",0,0,G_OPTION_ARG_FILENAME,&setup_base,
-	  "Setup from installation media","path"},
-	{"update",0,0,G_OPTION_ARG_FILENAME,&update_base,
-	  "Update from upgrade media","path"},
+	{"database",0,0,G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,&database,
+	  "Operate on a distribution-local database","vendor/distribution"},
+	{"setup",0,0,G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,&setup_base,
+	  "Setup from installation media","uri"},
+	{"update",0,0,G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,&update_base,
+	  "Update from upgrade media","uri"},
 	{NULL}
     };
 #ifdef WIN32
@@ -285,30 +288,52 @@
 	g_error("%s",err->message);
 	exit(0);
     }
-    if (prefix)
-    {
-	relocations=razor_relocations_create();
-	razor_relocations_add(relocations,"/usr",prefix);
-    }
     gtk_builder_connect_signals(ui,NULL);
     gtk_link_button_set_uri_hook(show_uri,NULL,NULL);
-    installed=GTK_TREE_MODEL(plover_package_store_new());
-    set=plover_package_set_new();
-    (void)plover_package_set_open(set,"",TRUE,NULL);
-    plover_package_store_add_set(PLOVER_PACKAGE_STORE(installed),set);
-    if (plover_package_set_get_no_details(set))
-    {
-	w=GTK_WIDGET(gtk_builder_get_object(ui,"ViewFiles"));
-	gtk_check_menu_item_set_active(GTK_CHECK_MENU_ITEM(w),TRUE);
-    }
-    applications=plover_applications_model_new(installed);
-    set_package_model(applications);
     if (setup_base)
-	started=setup(set,setup_base);
+	started=setup(setup_base);
     else if (update_base)
-	started=update(set,update_base);
+	started=update(update_base);
     else
     {
+	if (database)
+	{
+	    g_free(prefix);
+	    prefix=NULL;
+	    s=strchr(database,'/');
+	    if (*s)
+		*s++='\0';
+	    comps=plover_comps_new();
+	    plover_comps_set_vendor(comps,database);
+	    if (s)
+	    {
+		plover_comps_set_distribution(comps,s);
+		*--s='/';
+	    }
+	    prefix=plover_comps_get_default_prefix(comps);
+	    plover_comps_free(comps);
+	    s=g_strconcat(prefix,"/var/lib/razor",NULL);
+	    database_uri=razor_path_to_uri(s);
+	    g_free(s);
+	    razor_set_database_uri(database_uri);
+	    g_free(database_uri);
+	}
+	if (prefix)
+	{
+	    relocations=razor_relocations_create();
+	    razor_relocations_add(relocations,"/usr",prefix);
+	}
+	installed=GTK_TREE_MODEL(plover_package_store_new());
+	set=plover_package_set_new();
+	(void)plover_package_set_open(set,"",TRUE,NULL);
+	plover_package_store_add_set(PLOVER_PACKAGE_STORE(installed),set);
+	if (plover_package_set_get_no_details(set))
+	{
+	    w=GTK_WIDGET(gtk_builder_get_object(ui,"ViewFiles"));
+	    gtk_check_menu_item_set_active(GTK_CHECK_MENU_ITEM(w),TRUE);
+	}
+	applications=plover_applications_model_new(installed);
+	set_package_model(applications);
 	w=GTK_WIDGET(gtk_builder_get_object(ui,"MainWindow"));
 	gtk_widget_show(w);
 	started=TRUE;
@@ -332,6 +357,7 @@
     g_free(prefix);
     g_free(setup_base);
     g_free(update_base);
+    g_free(database);
     exit(0);
 }