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1<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?>
2<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"
3 "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd" [
4
5<!ENTITY % aptent SYSTEM "apt.ent">
6%aptent;
7
8]>
9
10<refentry>
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11
12 <refentryinfo>
13 &apt-author.jgunthorpe;
14 &apt-author.team;
15 &apt-email;
16 &apt-product;
17 <!-- The last update date -->
18 <date>29 February 2004</date>
19 </refentryinfo>
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20
21 <refmeta>
22 <refentrytitle>apt-get</refentrytitle>
23 <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
24 </refmeta>
25
26 <!-- Man page title -->
27 <refnamediv>
28 <refname>apt-get</refname>
29 <refpurpose>APT package handling utility -- command-line interface</refpurpose>
30 </refnamediv>
31
32 <!-- Arguments -->
33 <refsynopsisdiv>
34 <cmdsynopsis>
35 <command>apt-get</command>
36 <arg><option>-hvs</option></arg>
37 <arg><option>-o=<replaceable>config string</replaceable></option></arg>
38 <arg><option>-c=<replaceable>file</replaceable></option></arg>
39 <group choice="req">
40 <arg>update</arg>
41 <arg>upgrade</arg>
42 <arg>dselect-upgrade</arg>
43 <arg>install <arg choice="plain" rep="repeat"><replaceable>pkg</replaceable></arg></arg>
44 <arg>remove <arg choice="plain" rep="repeat"><replaceable>pkg</replaceable></arg></arg>
e47c7d16 45 <arg>purge <arg choice="plain" rep="repeat"><replaceable>pkg</replaceable></arg></arg>
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46 <arg>source <arg choice="plain" rep="repeat"><replaceable>pkg</replaceable></arg></arg>
47 <arg>build-dep <arg choice="plain" rep="repeat"><replaceable>pkg</replaceable></arg></arg>
48 <arg>check</arg>
49 <arg>clean</arg>
50 <arg>autoclean</arg>
0e4fe941 51 <arg>autoremove</arg>
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52 </group>
53 </cmdsynopsis>
54 </refsynopsisdiv>
55
56 <refsect1><title>Description</title>
57 <para><command>apt-get</command> is the command-line tool for handling packages, and may be
58 considered the user's "back-end" to other tools using the APT
59 library. Several "front-end" interfaces exist, such as dselect(8),
60 aptitude, synaptic, gnome-apt and wajig.</para>
61
62 <para>Unless the <option>-h</option>, or <option>--help</option> option is given, one of the
63 commands below must be present.</para>
64
65 <variablelist>
66 <varlistentry><term>update</term>
67 <listitem><para><literal>update</literal> is used to resynchronize the package index files from
68 their sources. The indexes of available packages are fetched from the
69 location(s) specified in <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename>.
70 For example, when using a Debian archive, this command retrieves and
71 scans the <filename>Packages.gz</filename> files, so that information about new
72 and updated packages is available. An <literal>update</literal> should always be
73 performed before an <literal>upgrade</literal> or <literal>dist-upgrade</literal>. Please
74 be aware that the overall progress meter will be incorrect as the size
75 of the package files cannot be known in advance.</para></listitem>
76 </varlistentry>
77
78 <varlistentry><term>upgrade</term>
79 <listitem><para><literal>upgrade</literal> is used to install the newest versions of all packages
80 currently installed on the system from the sources enumerated in
81 <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename>. Packages currently installed with
82 new versions available are retrieved and upgraded; under no circumstances
83 are currently installed packages removed, or packages not already installed
84 retrieved and installed. New versions of currently installed packages that
85 cannot be upgraded without changing the install status of another package
86 will be left at their current version. An <literal>update</literal> must be
87 performed first so that <command>apt-get</command> knows that new versions of packages are
88 available.</para></listitem>
89 </varlistentry>
90
91 <varlistentry><term>dselect-upgrade</term>
92 <listitem><para><literal>dselect-upgrade</literal>
93 is used in conjunction with the traditional Debian packaging
94 front-end, &dselect;. <literal>dselect-upgrade</literal>
95 follows the changes made by &dselect; to the <literal>Status</literal>
96 field of available packages, and performs the actions necessary to realize
97 that state (for instance, the removal of old and the installation of new
98 packages).</para></listitem>
99 </varlistentry>
100
101 <varlistentry><term>dist-upgrade</term>
102 <listitem><para><literal>dist-upgrade</literal> in addition to performing the function of
103 <literal>upgrade</literal>, also intelligently handles changing dependencies
104 with new versions of packages; <command>apt-get</command> has a "smart" conflict
105 resolution system, and it will attempt to upgrade the most important
106 packages at the expense of less important ones if necessary.
107 The <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename> file contains a list of locations
108 from which to retrieve desired package files.
109 See also &apt-preferences; for a mechanism for
110 overriding the general settings for individual packages.</para></listitem>
111 </varlistentry>
112
113 <varlistentry><term>install</term>
114 <listitem><para><literal>install</literal> is followed by one or more packages desired for
115 installation. Each package is a package name, not a fully qualified
116 filename (for instance, in a Debian GNU/Linux system, libc6 would be the
117 argument provided, not <literal>libc6_1.9.6-2.deb</literal>) All packages required
118 by the package(s) specified for installation will also be retrieved and
119 installed. The <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename> file is used to locate
120 the desired packages. If a hyphen is appended to the package name (with
121 no intervening space), the identified package will be removed if it is
122 installed. Similarly a plus sign can be used to designate a package to
123 install. These latter features may be used to override decisions made by
124 apt-get's conflict resolution system.</para>
125
126 <para>A specific version of a package can be selected for installation by
127 following the package name with an equals and the version of the package
128 to select. This will cause that version to be located and selected for
129 install. Alternatively a specific distribution can be selected by
130 following the package name with a slash and the version of the
131 distribution or the Archive name (stable, testing, unstable).</para>
132
133 <para>Both of the version selection mechanisms can downgrade packages and must
134 be used with care.</para>
135
136 <para>Finally, the &apt-preferences; mechanism allows you to
137 create an alternative installation policy for
138 individual packages.</para>
139
140 <para>If no package matches the given expression and the expression contains one
141 of '.', '?' or '*' then it is assumed to be a POSIX regular expression,
142 and it is applied
143 to all package names in the database. Any matches are then installed (or
144 removed). Note that matching is done by substring so 'lo.*' matches 'how-lo'
145 and 'lowest'. If this is undesired, anchor the regular expression
146 with a '^' or '$' character, or create a more specific regular expression.</para></listitem>
147 </varlistentry>
148
149 <varlistentry><term>remove</term>
150 <listitem><para><literal>remove</literal> is identical to <literal>install</literal> except that packages are
151 removed instead of installed. If a plus sign is appended to the package
152 name (with no intervening space), the identified package will be
153 installed instead of removed.</para></listitem>
154 </varlistentry>
155
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156 <varlistentry><term>purge</term>
157 <listitem><para><literal>purge</literal> is identical to <literal>remove</literal> except that packages are
158 removed and purged.</para></listitem>
159 </varlistentry>
160
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161 <varlistentry><term>source</term>
162 <listitem><para><literal>source</literal> causes <command>apt-get</command> to fetch source packages. APT
163 will examine the available packages to decide which source package to
164 fetch. It will then find and download into the current directory the
165 newest available version of that source package. Source packages are
166 tracked separately from binary packages via <literal>deb-src</literal> type lines
167 in the &sources-list; file. This probably will mean that you will not
168 get the same source as the package you have installed or as you could
169 install. If the --compile options is specified then the package will be
170 compiled to a binary .deb using dpkg-buildpackage, if --download-only is
171 specified then the source package will not be unpacked.</para>
172
173 <para>A specific source version can be retrieved by postfixing the source name
174 with an equals and then the version to fetch, similar to the mechanism
175 used for the package files. This enables exact matching of the source
176 package name and version, implicitly enabling the
177 <literal>APT::Get::Only-Source</literal> option.</para>
178
179 <para>Note that source packages are not tracked like binary packages, they
180 exist only in the current directory and are similar to downloading source
181 tar balls.</para></listitem>
182 </varlistentry>
183
184 <varlistentry><term>build-dep</term>
185 <listitem><para><literal>build-dep</literal> causes apt-get to install/remove packages in an
186 attempt to satisfy the build dependencies for a source package.</para></listitem>
187 </varlistentry>
188
189 <varlistentry><term>check</term>
190 <listitem><para><literal>check</literal> is a diagnostic tool; it updates the package cache and checks
191 for broken dependencies.</para></listitem>
192 </varlistentry>
193
194 <varlistentry><term>clean</term>
195 <listitem><para><literal>clean</literal> clears out the local repository of retrieved package
196 files. It removes everything but the lock file from
197 <filename>&cachedir;/archives/</filename> and
198 <filename>&cachedir;/archives/partial/</filename>. When APT is used as a
199 &dselect; method, <literal>clean</literal> is run automatically.
200 Those who do not use dselect will likely want to run <literal>apt-get clean</literal>
201 from time to time to free up disk space.</para></listitem>
202 </varlistentry>
203
204 <varlistentry><term>autoclean</term>
205 <listitem><para>Like <literal>clean</literal>, <literal>autoclean</literal> clears out the local
206 repository of retrieved package files. The difference is that it only
207 removes package files that can no longer be downloaded, and are largely
208 useless. This allows a cache to be maintained over a long period without
209 it growing out of control. The configuration option
210 <literal>APT::Clean-Installed</literal> will prevent installed packages from being
211 erased if it is set to off.</para></listitem>
212 </varlistentry>
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213
214 <varlistentry><term>autoremove</term>
215 <listitem><para><literal>autoremove</literal> is used to remove packages that were automatically
216 installed to satisfy dependencies for some package and that are no more needed.</para></listitem>
217 </varlistentry>
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218 </variablelist>
219 </refsect1>
220
221 <refsect1><title>options</title>
222 &apt-cmdblurb;
223
224 <variablelist>
225 <varlistentry><term><option>-d</option></term><term><option>--download-only</option></term>
226 <listitem><para>Download only; package files are only retrieved, not unpacked or installed.
227 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Download-Only</literal>.</para></listitem>
228 </varlistentry>
229
230 <varlistentry><term><option>-f</option></term><term><option>--fix-broken</option></term>
231 <listitem><para>Fix; attempt to correct a system with broken dependencies in
232 place. This option, when used with install/remove, can omit any packages
233 to permit APT to deduce a likely solution. Any Package that are specified
234 must completely correct the problem. The option is sometimes necessary when
235 running APT for the first time; APT itself does not allow broken package
236 dependencies to exist on a system. It is possible that a system's
237 dependency structure can be so corrupt as to require manual intervention
238 (which usually means using &dselect; or <command>dpkg --remove</command> to eliminate some of
239 the offending packages). Use of this option together with <option>-m</option> may produce an
240 error in some situations.
241 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Fix-Broken</literal>.</para></listitem>
242 </varlistentry>
243
244 <varlistentry><term><option>-m</option></term><term><option>--ignore-missing</option></term>
245 <term><option>--fix-missing</option></term>
246 <listitem><para>Ignore missing packages; If packages cannot be retrieved or fail the
247 integrity check after retrieval (corrupted package files), hold back
248 those packages and handle the result. Use of this option together with
249 <option>-f</option> may produce an error in some situations. If a package is
250 selected for installation (particularly if it is mentioned on the
251 command line) and it could not be downloaded then it will be silently
252 held back.
253 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Fix-Missing</literal>.</para></listitem>
254 </varlistentry>
255
256 <varlistentry><term><option>--no-download</option></term>
257 <listitem><para>Disables downloading of packages. This is best used with
258 <option>--ignore-missing</option> to force APT to use only the .debs it has
259 already downloaded.
260 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Download</literal>.</para></listitem>
261 </varlistentry>
262
263 <varlistentry><term><option>-q</option></term><term><option>--quiet</option></term>
264 <listitem><para>Quiet; produces output suitable for logging, omitting progress indicators.
265 More q's will produce more quiet up to a maximum of 2. You can also use
266 <option>-q=#</option> to set the quiet level, overriding the configuration file.
267 Note that quiet level 2 implies <option>-y</option>, you should never use -qq
268 without a no-action modifier such as -d, --print-uris or -s as APT may
269 decided to do something you did not expect.
270 Configuration Item: <literal>quiet</literal>.</para></listitem>
271 </varlistentry>
272
273 <varlistentry><term><option>-s</option></term>
274 <term><option>--simulate</option></term>
275 <term><option>--just-print</option></term>
276 <term><option>--dry-run</option></term>
277 <term><option>--recon</option></term>
278 <term><option>--no-act</option></term>
279 <listitem><para>No action; perform a simulation of events that would occur but do not
280 actually change the system.
281 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Simulate</literal>.</para>
282
283 <para>Simulate prints out
284 a series of lines each one representing a dpkg operation, Configure (Conf),
285 Remove (Remv), Unpack (Inst). Square brackets indicate broken packages with
286 and empty set of square brackets meaning breaks that are of no consequence
287 (rare).</para></listitem>
288 </varlistentry>
289
290 <varlistentry><term><option>-y</option></term><term><option>--yes</option></term>
291 <term><option>--assume-yes</option></term>
292 <listitem><para>Automatic yes to prompts; assume "yes" as answer to all prompts and run
293 non-interactively. If an undesirable situation, such as changing a held
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294 package, trying to install a unauthenticated package or removing an essential package
295 occurs then <literal>apt-get</literal> will abort.
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296 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Assume-Yes</literal>.</para></listitem>
297 </varlistentry>
298
299 <varlistentry><term><option>-u</option></term><term><option>--show-upgraded</option></term>
300 <listitem><para>Show upgraded packages; Print out a list of all packages that are to be
301 upgraded.
302 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Show-Upgraded</literal>.</para></listitem>
303 </varlistentry>
304
305 <varlistentry><term><option>-V</option></term><term><option>--verbose-versions</option></term>
306 <listitem><para>Show full versions for upgraded and installed packages.
307 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Show-Versions</literal>.</para></listitem>
308 </varlistentry>
309
310 <varlistentry><term><option>-b</option></term><term><option>--compile</option></term>
311 <term><option>--build</option></term>
312 <listitem><para>Compile source packages after downloading them.
313 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Compile</literal>.</para></listitem>
314 </varlistentry>
315
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316 <varlistentry><term><option>--install-recommends</option></term>
317 <listitem><para>Also install recommended packages.</para></listitem>
318 </varlistentry>
319
320 <varlistentry><term><option>--no-install-recommends</option></term>
321 <listitem><para>Do not install recommended packages.</para></listitem>
322 </varlistentry>
323
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324 <varlistentry><term><option>--ignore-hold</option></term>
325 <listitem><para>Ignore package Holds; This causes <command>apt-get</command> to ignore a hold
326 placed on a package. This may be useful in conjunction with
327 <literal>dist-upgrade</literal> to override a large number of undesired holds.
328 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Ignore-Hold</literal>.</para></listitem>
329 </varlistentry>
330
331 <varlistentry><term><option>--no-upgrade</option></term>
332 <listitem><para>Do not upgrade packages; When used in conjunction with <literal>install</literal>,
333 <literal>no-upgrade</literal> will prevent packages on the command line
334 from being upgraded if they are already installed.
335 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Upgrade</literal>.</para></listitem>
336 </varlistentry>
337
338 <varlistentry><term><option>--force-yes</option></term>
339 <listitem><para>Force yes; This is a dangerous option that will cause apt to continue
340 without prompting if it is doing something potentially harmful. It
341 should not be used except in very special situations. Using
342 <literal>force-yes</literal> can potentially destroy your system!
343 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::force-yes</literal>.</para></listitem>
344 </varlistentry>
345
346 <varlistentry><term><option>--print-uris</option></term>
347 <listitem><para>Instead of fetching the files to install their URIs are printed. Each
348 URI will have the path, the destination file name, the size and the expected
349 md5 hash. Note that the file name to write to will not always match
350 the file name on the remote site! This also works with the
351 <literal>source</literal> and <literal>update</literal> commands. When used with the
352 <literal>update</literal> command the MD5 and size are not included, and it is
353 up to the user to decompress any compressed files.
354 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Print-URIs</literal>.</para></listitem>
355 </varlistentry>
356
357 <varlistentry><term><option>--purge</option></term>
358 <listitem><para>Use purge instead of remove for anything that would be removed.
359 An asterisk ("*") will be displayed next to packages which are
360 scheduled to be purged.
361 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Purge</literal>.</para></listitem>
362 </varlistentry>
363
364 <varlistentry><term><option>--reinstall</option></term>
365 <listitem><para>Re-Install packages that are already installed and at the newest version.
366 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::ReInstall</literal>.</para></listitem>
367 </varlistentry>
368
369 <varlistentry><term><option>--list-cleanup</option></term>
370 <listitem><para>This option defaults to on, use <literal>--no-list-cleanup</literal> to turn it
371 off. When on <command>apt-get</command> will automatically manage the contents of
372 <filename>&statedir;/lists</filename> to ensure that obsolete files are erased.
373 The only reason to turn it off is if you frequently change your source
374 list.
375 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::List-Cleanup</literal>.</para></listitem>
376 </varlistentry>
377
378 <varlistentry><term><option>-t</option></term>
379 <term><option>--target-release</option></term>
380 <term><option>--default-release</option></term>
381 <listitem><para>This option controls the default input to the policy engine, it creates
382 a default pin at priority 990 using the specified release string. The
383 preferences file may further override this setting. In short, this option
384 lets you have simple control over which distribution packages will be
385 retrieved from. Some common examples might be
386 <option>-t '2.1*'</option> or <option>-t unstable</option>.
387 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Default-Release</literal>;
388 see also the &apt-preferences; manual page.</para></listitem>
389 </varlistentry>
390
391 <varlistentry><term><option>--trivial-only</option></term>
392 <listitem><para>
393 Only perform operations that are 'trivial'. Logically this can be considered
394 related to <option>--assume-yes</option>, where <option>--assume-yes</option> will answer
395 yes to any prompt, <option>--trivial-only</option> will answer no.
396 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Trivial-Only</literal>.</para></listitem>
397 </varlistentry>
398
399 <varlistentry><term><option>--no-remove</option></term>
400 <listitem><para>If any packages are to be removed apt-get immediately aborts without
401 prompting.
402 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Remove</literal>.</para></listitem>
403 </varlistentry>
404
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405 <varlistentry><term><option>--auto-remove</option></term>
406 <listitem><para>If the command is either <literal>install</literal> or <literal>remove</literal>,
407 then this option acts like running <literal>autoremove</literal> command, removing the unused
408 dependency packages. Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::AutomaticRemove</literal>.
409 </para></listitem>
410 </varlistentry>
411
24f6490f 412 <varlistentry><term><option>--only-source</option></term>
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413 <listitem><para>Only has meaning for the
414 <literal>source</literal> and <literal>build-dep</literal>
415 commands. Indicates that the given source names are not to be
416 mapped through the binary table. This means that if this option
417 is specified, these commands will only accept source package
418 names as arguments, rather than accepting binary package names
419 and looking up the corresponding source package. Configuration
420 Item: <literal>APT::Get::Only-Source</literal>.</para></listitem>
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421 </varlistentry>
422
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423 <varlistentry><term><option>--diff-only</option></term><term><option>--dsc-only</option></term><term><option>--tar-only</option></term>
424 <listitem><para>Download only the diff, dsc, or tar file of a source archive.
425 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Diff-Only</literal>, <literal>APT::Get::Dsc-Only</literal>, and
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426 <literal>APT::Get::Tar-Only</literal>.</para></listitem>
427 </varlistentry>
428
429 <varlistentry><term><option>--arch-only</option></term>
430 <listitem><para>Only process architecture-dependent build-dependencies.
431 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Arch-Only</literal>.</para></listitem>
432 </varlistentry>
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433
434 <varlistentry><term><option>--allow-unauthenticated</option></term>
435 <listitem><para>Ignore if packages can't be authenticated and don't prompt about it.
e3a1f08d 436 This is useful for tools like pbuilder.
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437 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::AllowUnauthenticated</literal>.</para></listitem>
438 </varlistentry>
24f6490f 439
b3d44315 440
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441 &apt-commonoptions;
442
443 </variablelist>
444 </refsect1>
445
446 <refsect1><title>Files</title>
447 <variablelist>
448 <varlistentry><term><filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename></term>
449 <listitem><para>Locations to fetch packages from.
450 Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Etc::SourceList</literal>.</para></listitem>
451 </varlistentry>
452
453 <varlistentry><term><filename>/etc/apt/apt.conf</filename></term>
454 <listitem><para>APT configuration file.
455 Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Etc::Main</literal>.</para></listitem>
456 </varlistentry>
457
458 <varlistentry><term><filename>/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/</filename></term>
459 <listitem><para>APT configuration file fragments
460 Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Etc::Parts</literal>.</para></listitem>
461 </varlistentry>
462
463 <varlistentry><term><filename>/etc/apt/preferences</filename></term>
464 <listitem><para>Version preferences file.
465 This is where you would specify "pinning",
466 i.e. a preference to get certain packages
467 from a separate source
468 or from a different version of a distribution.
469 Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Etc::Preferences</literal>.</para></listitem>
470 </varlistentry>
471
472 <varlistentry><term><filename>&cachedir;/archives/</filename></term>
473 <listitem><para>Storage area for retrieved package files.
474 Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Cache::Archives</literal>.</para></listitem>
475 </varlistentry>
476
477 <varlistentry><term><filename>&cachedir;/archives/partial/</filename></term>
478 <listitem><para>Storage area for package files in transit.
479 Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Cache::Archives</literal> (implicit partial). </para></listitem>
480 </varlistentry>
481
482 <varlistentry><term><filename>&statedir;/lists/</filename></term>
483 <listitem><para>Storage area for state information for each package resource specified in
484 &sources-list;
485 Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::State::Lists</literal>.</para></listitem>
486 </varlistentry>
487
488 <varlistentry><term><filename>&statedir;/lists/partial/</filename></term>
489 <listitem><para> Storage area for state information in transit.
490 Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::State::Lists</literal> (implicit partial).</para></listitem>
491 </varlistentry>
492 </variablelist>
493 </refsect1>
494
495 <refsect1><title>See Also</title>
496 <para>&apt-cache;, &apt-cdrom;, &dpkg;, &dselect;, &sources-list;,
65d71b38 497 &apt-conf;, &apt-config;, &apt-secure;,
4d9fb6b0 498 The APT User's guide in &guidesdir;, &apt-preferences;, the APT Howto.</para>
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499 </refsect1>
500
501 <refsect1><title>Diagnostics</title>
502 <para><command>apt-get</command> returns zero on normal operation, decimal 100 on error.</para>
503 </refsect1>
504
505 &manbugs;
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506
507</refentry>