apt-cdrom [options] command

Commands

add

Add a CD-ROM to the source list.

ident

Print the identity of the current CD-ROM and the stored filename. Used for debugging.

Options

-a, --thorough

Do a thorough package scan. May be needed with some old Debian CD-ROMs.

-c file, --config-file=file

Specify a configuration file to be read after the default configuration file.

-d mount-point, --cdrom=mount-point

Specify the CD-ROM mount point, which must be listed in /etc/fstab. The configuration option is Acquire::cdrom::mount.

-f, --fast

Do a fast copy, assuming the files are valid and don't all need checking. Specify this only if disk has been run before without error. The configuration option is APT::CDROM:: Fast.

-h, --help

Print help message and exit.

-m, --no-mount

Don't mount or unmount the mount point. The configuration option is APT::CDROM::NoMount.

-n, --just-print, --recon, --no-act

Check everything, but don't actually make any changes. The configuration option is APT::CDROM::NoAct.

-o, --option

Set a configuration option. Syntax is -o group::tool=option.

-r, --rename

Prompt for a new label and rename the disk to the new value. The configuration option is APT::CDROM::Rename.

-v, --version

Print the version information and exit.

apt-config [options] shell args
apt-config [options] dump

An internal program for querying configuration information.

Commands

dump

Display the contents of the configuration space.

shell

Access the configuration information from a shell script. The arguments are in pairs, specifying the name of a shell variable and a configuration value to query. The value may be postfixed with /x, where x is one of the following letters:

b

Return true or false.

d

Return directories.

f

Return filenames.

i

Return an integer.

Options

-c file, --config-file=file

Specify a configuration file to be read after the default configuration file.

-h, --help

Print help message and exit.

-o, --option

Set a configuration option. Syntax is -o group::tool=option.

-v, --version

Print the version information and exit.

apt-extracttemplates [options] files

Extract configuration scripts and templates from the specified Debian package files. For each specified file, a line of output is generated with the following information:

package version template-file config-script

and the template and configuration files are written to the directory specified with -t or --temp-dir or by the configuration option APT::ExtractTemplates::TempDir. The filenames are in the form template.xxxx and config.xxxx.

Options

-c file, --config-file=file

Specify a configuration file to be read after the default configuration file.

-h, --help

Print help message and exit.

-o, --option

Set a configuration option. Syntax is -o group::tool=option.

-t dir, --tempdir=dir

Write the extracted template files and configuration scripts to the specified directory. The configuration option is APT::ExtractTemplates::TempDir.

-v, --version

Print the version information and exit.

apt-ftparchive [options] command

Generate Package and other index files used to access a distribution source. The files should be generated on the source's origin site.

Commands

clean config-file

Clean the databases used by the specified configuration file by removing obsolete records.

contents path

Search the specified directory recursively. For each .deb file found, read the file list, sort the files by package, and write the results to standard output. Use with --db to specify a binary caching database.

generate config-file sections

Build indexes according to the specified configuration file.

packages paths [override [pathprefix]]

Generate a package file from the specified directory tree. The optional override file contains information describing how the package fits into the distribution, and the optional path prefix is a string prepended to the filename fields. Equivalent to dpkg-scanpackages.

sources paths [override [pathprefix]]

Generate a source index file from the specified directory tree. The optional override file contains information used to set priorities in the index file and to modify maintainer information. The optional path prefix is a string prepended to the directory field in the generated source index. Use --source-override to specify a different source override file. Equivalent to dpkg-scansources.

Options

apt-get [options] command [package...]

Commands

autoclean

Like clean, but remove only package files that can no longer be downloaded.

build-dep

Install or remove packages to satisfy the build dependencies for a source package.

clean

Clear the local repository of retrieved package files.

check

Update the package cache and check for broken packages.

dist-upgrade

Like upgrade, but also handle dependencies intelligently. See the -f option for more information.

dselect-upgrade

Used with dselect. Track the changes made by dselect to the Status field of available packages and take actions necessary to realize that status.

install packages

Install one or more packages. Specify the package name, not the full filename. Other required packages are also retrieved and installed. With a hyphen appended to the package name, the package is removed if it is already installed.

remove packages

Remove one or more packages. Specify the package name, not the full filename. With a plus sign appended to the name, the package is installed.

source packages

Find source packages and download them into the current directory. If specified with --compile, the source packages are compiled into binary packages. With --download-only, the source packages are not unpacked.

update

Resynchronize the package overview files from their sources. Must be done before an upgrade or dist-upgrade.

upgrade

Install the latest versions of all packages currently installed. Run update first.

Options

apt-sortpkgs [options] indexfiles

Sort the records in a source or package index file by package name and write the results to standard output. apt-sortpkgs also sorts the internal fields of each record.

Options

-c file, --config-file=file

Specify a configuration file to read after the default.

-h, --help

Display a help message and exit.

-o, --option

Set a configuration option. Syntax is -o group::tool=option.

-s, --source

Order by source index field. The configuration option is APT::SortPkgs::Source.

-v, --version

Display the version and exit.

dpkg [options] action

dpkg actions

These actions are carried out by dpkg itself:

-A pkgfile, --record-avail pkgfile

Update the record of available files kept in /var/lib/dpkg/available with information from pkgfile. This information is used by dpkg and dselect to determine what packages are available. With -R or --recursive, pkgfile must be a directory.

-C, --audit

Search for partially installed packages and suggest how to get them working.

--clear-avail

Remove existing information about what packages are available.

--command-fd n

Accept commands passed on the file descriptor given by n. Note that any additional options set through this file descriptor or on the command line are not reset, but remain for other commands issued during the same session.

--compare-versions ver1 op ver2

Perform a binary comparison of two version numbers. The operators lt le eq ne ge gt treat a missing version as earlier. The operators lt-nl le-nl ge-nl gt-nl treat a missing version as later (where nl is "not later"). A third set of operators (< << <= = >= >> >) is provided for compatibility with control-file syntax. dpkg returns zero for success (i.e., the condition is satisfied) and nonzero otherwise.

--configure [packages|-a|--pending]

Reconfigure one or more unpacked packages. If -a or --pending is given instead of packages, configure all packages that are unpacked but not configured.

-Dh, --debug=help

Print debugging help message and exit.

--force-help

Print help message about the --force-list options and exit. See the --force-list option description for the possible values of list.

--forget-old-unavail

Forget about uninstalled, unavailable packages.

--get-selections [pattern]

Get list of package selections and write to standard output. With pattern specified, write selections that match the pattern.

--help

Print help message and exit.

-i pkgfile, --install pkgfile

Install the package specified as pkgfile. With -R or --recursive, pkgfile must be a directory.

-l, --list [pkg-name-pattern]

List all packages whose names match the specified pattern. With no pattern, list all packages in /var/lib/dpkg/available. The pattern can include standard shell wildcard characters and may have to be quoted to prevent the shell from doing filename expansion.

-L packages, --listfiles packages

List installed files that came from the specified package or packages.

--license, --licence

Print dpkg license information and exit.

-p, --print-avail package

Print the details about package from /var/lib/dpkg/available.

--print-architecture

Print the target architecture.

--print-gnu-build-architecture

Print the GNU version of the target architecture.

--print-installation-architecture

Print the host architecture for installation.

-r, --remove [packages|-a|--pending]

--purge [packages|-a|--pending]

Remove or purge one or more installed packages. Removal gets rid of everything except the configuration files listed in debian/conffiles; purging also removes the configuration files. If -a or --pending is given instead of packages, dpkg removes or purges all packages that are unpacked and marked (in /var/lib/dpkg/status) for removing or purging.

-s packages, --status packages

Report the status of one or more packages by displaying the entry in the status database /var/lib/dpkg/status.

-S filename-pattern, --search filename-pattern

Search installed packages for a filename. The pattern can include standard shell wildcard characters and may have to be quoted to prevent the shell from doing filename expansion.

--set-selections

Set package selections based on input file read from standard input.

--unpack pkgfile

Unpack the package, but don't configure it. With -R or --recursive, pkgfile must be a directory.

--update-avail pkgs-file

--merge-avail pkgs-file

Update the record of available files kept in /var/lib/dpkg/available. This information is used by dpkg and dselect to determine what packages are available. Update replaces the information with the contents of the pkgs-file, distributed as Packages. Merge combines the information from Packages with the existing information.

--version

Print dpkg version information and exit.

--yet-to-unpack

Search for uninstalled packages that have been selected for installation.

dpkg-deb actions

The following actions can be specified for dpkg and are passed to dpkg-deb for execution. Also see dpkg-deb.

-b dir [archive], --build dir [archive]

Build a package.

-c archive, --contents archive

List the contents of a package.

-e archive [dir], --control archive [dir]

Extract control information from a package.

-f archive [control-fields], --field archive [control-fields]

Display the control field or fields of a package.

-I archive [control-files], --info archive [control-files]

Show information about a package.

--fsys-tarfile archive

Display the filesystem TAR file contained in a package.

-x archive dir, --extract archive dir

Extract the files from a package.

-X archive dir, --vextract archive dir

Extract and display the filenames from a package.

Options

dpkg options can be specified on the command line or set in the configuration file. Each line in the configuration file contains a single option, specified without the leading dash (-).

dpkg-deb action [options]

Actions

-b dir [archive], --build dir [archive]

Create an archive from the filesystem tree starting with directory dir. The directory must have a DEBIAN subdirectory containing the control file and any other control information. If archive is specified and is a filename, the package is written to that file; if no archive is specified, the package is written to dir.deb. If the archive already exists, it is replaced. If archive is the name of a directory, dpkg-deb looks in the control file for the information it needs to generate the package name. (Note that for this reason, you cannot use --nocheck with a directory name.)

-c archive, --contents archive

List the filesystem-tree portion of archive.

-e archive [dir], --control archive [dir]

Extract control information from archive into the directory dir, which is created if it doesn't exist.

-f archive [control-fields], --field archive [control-fields]

Extract information about one or more fields in the control file for archive. If no fields are provided, print the entire control file.

-h, --help

Print help information and exit.

-I archive [control-files], --info archive [control-files]

Provide information about binary package archive. If no control files are provided, print a summary of the package contents; otherwise, print the control files in the order they were specified. An error message is printed to standard error for any missing components.

--fsys-tarfile archive

Extract the filesystem tree from archive, and send it to standard output in tar format. Can be used with tar to extract individual files from an archive.

--license, --licence

Print the license information and exit.

--version

Print the version number and exit.

-x archive dir, --extract archive dir

-X archive dir, --vextract archive dir

Extract the filesystem tree from archive into the specified directory, creating dir if it doesn't already exist. -x (--extract) works silently, while -X (--vextract) lists the files as it extracts them. Do not use this action to install packages; use dpkg instead.

Options

-D, --debug

Turn on debugging.

--new

Build a new-style archive format (this is the default).

--nocheck

Don't check the control file before building an archive. This lets you build a broken archive.

--old

Build an old-style archive format.

dpkg-query [option] command

Display information about packages listed in the dpkg database.

Commands

--help

Print help information and exit.

-l [patterns], --list [patterns]

List packages whose names match any of the specified patterns. With no pattern specified, list all packages in /var/lib/dpkg/available. The pattern may need to be in quotes to avoid expansion by the shell.

-L packages, --list packages

List files installed on your system from each of the specified packages. This command does not list files created by package-specific installation scripts.

--license, --licence

Print the license information and exit.

-p package, --print-avail package

Display details for the specified package, as found in /var/lib/dpkg/available.

-S patterns

Search the installed packages for filenames matching one of the specified patterns. At least one pattern must be specified.

-W [patterns], --show [patterns]

Like -l, but the output can be customized with the --showformat option.

--version

Print version information and exit.

Options

--admindir=dir

Use dir as the location of the dpkg database. The default is /var/lib/dpkg.

--showformat=format

Specify the output format for -W/--show. The format can include the standard escape sequences \n (newline), \r (carriage return), or \\ (backslash). Specify package fields with the syntax ${var[;width]}. Fields are right-aligned by default, or left-aligned if width is negative.

dpkg-split [action] [options]

Actions

-a -o output part, --auto -o output part

Add part to the queue for automatic reassembly, and if all the parts are available, reassemble the package as output. Requires the use of the -o (or --output) option, as shown.

-d [packages], --discard [packages]

Discard parts from the automatic-assembly queue. If any packages are specified, discard only parts from those packages. Otherwise, empty the queue.

-I parts, --info parts

Print information about the part file or files specified.

-j parts, --join parts

Join the parts of a package file together from the parts specified. The default output file is package-version.deb.

-l, --listq

List the contents of the queue of parts waiting for reassembly, giving the package name, the parts that are on the queue, and the number of bytes.

-s full-package [prefix], --split full-package [prefix]

Split the package full-package into parts, named prefixNofM.deb. The prefix defaults to the full-package name without the .deb extension.

-h, --help

Print help message and exit.

--license, --licence

Print license information and exit.

--version

Print version information and exit.

Options

--depotdir dir

Specify an alternate directory dir for the queue of parts waiting for reassembly. Default is /var/lib/dpkg.

--msdos

Force --split output filenames to be MS-DOS-compatible.

-Q, --npquiet

Do not print an error message for a part that doesn't belong to a binary package when doing automatic queuing or reassembly.

-O output, --output output

Use output as the filename for a reassembled package.

-S num, --partsize num

When splitting, specify the maximum part size (num) in kilobytes. Default is 450 KB.

dselect [options] [action]

Actions

If dselect is run with no action specified on the command line, it displays the following menu:

 * 0. [A]ccess     Choose the access method to use.                           
  1. [U]pdate   Update list of available packages, if   
                possible.
  2. [S]elect   Request which packages you want on your 
                system.
  3. [I]nstall  Install and upgrade wanted packages.
  4. [C]onfig   Configure any packages that are 
                unconfigured.
  5. [R]emove   Remove unwanted software.
  6. [Q]uit     Quit dselect.

The asterisk (on the first line) shows the currently selected option. Any of the menu items can be specified directly on the command line as an action (access, update, select, install, config, remove, quit) to go directly to the desired activity. For example:

% dselect access

If you enter quit on the command line, dselect exits immediately without doing anything. An additional command-line action is menu, which displays the menu and is equivalent to running dselect with no action.

Options

Options can be specified both on the command line and in the dselect configuration file, /etc/dpkg/dselect.cfg.