Advanced Packaging Tool (APT)

APT

Apt, Aptitude and Dpkg Reference

http://linuxclues.blogspot.com/2007/07/apt-aptitude-dpkg-reference.html

The Debian package management tools

APT HOWTO


Apt, Aptitude and Dpkg are Debian package managing tools. Let's see a small reference about them:

apt
apt-get install <foo> Installs foo package
apt-get remove <foo> Removes foo package
apt-get remove –purge <foo> Removes foo package and its configuration files
apt-get update Updates package database
apt-get -f install Installs and removes packages in order to fix dependency problems
apt-get clean Deletes all .deb packages from local repository
apt-get upgrade Upgrades all packages to its newer versions
apt-get dist-upgrade Upgrades packages but also deals with dependency problems caused by new packages
apt-get source <foo> Downloads foo package source files
apt-get -t unstable <foo> Installs foo package searching for foo package and its dependencies at unstable version
apt-get <foo>/unstable Installs foo package from unstable version, but searchs for dependencies without overriding priorities /etc/apt/preferences file
apt-get build-dep <foo> Installs all necessary packages to satisfy the build dependencies for foo source package
apt-cache show <foo> Gives a long info description about foo package
apt-cache search <foo> Searchs for packages that match «foo» pattern
apt-file update Resynchronize the package contents from their sources (/etc/apt/sources.list)
apt-file search <foo> Lists all packages containing files that match foo pattern. Searchs also in not installed packages
aptitude
aptitude install <foo> Installs foo package
aptitude remove <foo> Removes foo package
aptitude remove –purge <foo> Removes foo package and its configuration files
aptitude search <foo> Searchs for packages that match «foo» pattern
aptitude update Updates package database
aptitude upgrade Upgrades packages to its newer versions
aptitude safe-upgrade Same as aptitude upgrade
aptitude full-upgrade Upgrades packages to its newer versions, taking care about dependencies. Sames as dist-upgrade.
aptitude hold <foo> Marks foo package so it will not be removed or upgraded when executing safe-upgrade or full-upgrade
aptitude unhold <foo> Turn off the hold on foo package
aptitude show <foo> Gives a long info description about foo package
aptitude clean Removes all previously downloaded .deb files from the package cache directory
dpkg
dpkg -i <foo> Installs foo package
dpkg -i –force-depends <foo> Converts all dependency errors into warnings and installs foo package
dpkg -r <foo> Removes foo package
dpkg –purge <foo> Removes foo package and its configuration files too
dpkg -l <foo> Lists packages containing «foo» pattern
dpkg -L <foo> Lists files pertaining to foo package
dpkg-reconfigure -plow <foo> Reconfigures previously installed «foo» package, asking all configuration questions
dpkg –configure -a Configures all packages that have been unpacked but not yet configured
dpkg –search <foo> Lists packages containing files matching foo pattern. Only searchs on installed packages
dpkg-query -S <foo> Searchs for a filename from installed packages listed in the local dpkg database