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24f6490f 1<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?>
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2<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
3 "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd" [
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4<!ENTITY % aptent SYSTEM "apt.ent"> %aptent;
5<!ENTITY % aptverbatiment SYSTEM "apt-verbatim.ent"> %aptverbatiment;
6<!ENTITY % aptvendor SYSTEM "apt-vendor.ent"> %aptvendor;
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7]>
8
9<refentry>
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10
11 <refentryinfo>
12 &apt-author.jgunthorpe;
13 &apt-author.team;
14 &apt-email;
15 &apt-product;
16 <!-- The last update date -->
43670e2e 17 <date>2016-08-16T00:00:00Z</date>
5e80de29 18 </refentryinfo>
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19
20 <refmeta>
21 <refentrytitle>apt-get</refentrytitle>
22 <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
f0599b9c 23 <refmiscinfo class="manual">APT</refmiscinfo>
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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
6e8b4572 32 &synopsis-command-apt-get;
234675b7 33
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34 <refsect1><title>Description</title>
35 <para><command>apt-get</command> is the command-line tool for handling packages, and may be
36 considered the user's "back-end" to other tools using the APT
4bca8520 37 library. Several "front-end" interfaces exist, such as
9233ef0d 38 &aptitude;, &synaptic; and &wajig;.</para>
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39
40 <para>Unless the <option>-h</option>, or <option>--help</option> option is given, one of the
41 commands below must be present.</para>
42
43 <variablelist>
2b9b27c3 44 <varlistentry><term><option>update</option></term>
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45 <listitem><para><literal>update</literal> is used to resynchronize the package index files from
46 their sources. The indexes of available packages are fetched from the
47 location(s) specified in <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename>.
48 For example, when using a Debian archive, this command retrieves and
49 scans the <filename>Packages.gz</filename> files, so that information about new
50 and updated packages is available. An <literal>update</literal> should always be
51 performed before an <literal>upgrade</literal> or <literal>dist-upgrade</literal>. Please
52 be aware that the overall progress meter will be incorrect as the size
53 of the package files cannot be known in advance.</para></listitem>
54 </varlistentry>
55
2b9b27c3 56 <varlistentry><term><option>upgrade</option></term>
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57 <listitem><para><literal>upgrade</literal> is used to install the newest versions of all packages
58 currently installed on the system from the sources enumerated in
59 <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename>. Packages currently installed with
60 new versions available are retrieved and upgraded; under no circumstances
61 are currently installed packages removed, or packages not already installed
62 retrieved and installed. New versions of currently installed packages that
63 cannot be upgraded without changing the install status of another package
64 will be left at their current version. An <literal>update</literal> must be
65 performed first so that <command>apt-get</command> knows that new versions of packages are
66 available.</para></listitem>
67 </varlistentry>
68
2b9b27c3 69 <varlistentry><term><option>dist-upgrade</option></term>
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70 <listitem><para><literal>dist-upgrade</literal> in addition to performing the function of
71 <literal>upgrade</literal>, also intelligently handles changing dependencies
72 with new versions of packages; <command>apt-get</command> has a "smart" conflict
73 resolution system, and it will attempt to upgrade the most important
74 packages at the expense of less important ones if necessary.
6c1965bd 75 The <literal>dist-upgrade</literal> command may therefore remove some packages.
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76 The <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename> file contains a list of locations
77 from which to retrieve desired package files.
78 See also &apt-preferences; for a mechanism for
79 overriding the general settings for individual packages.</para></listitem>
80 </varlistentry>
81
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82 <varlistentry><term><option>dselect-upgrade</option></term>
83 <listitem><para><literal>dselect-upgrade</literal>
84 is used in conjunction with the traditional Debian packaging
85 front-end, &dselect;. <literal>dselect-upgrade</literal>
86 follows the changes made by &dselect; to the <literal>Status</literal>
87 field of available packages, and performs the actions necessary to realize
88 that state (for instance, the removal of old and the installation of new
89 packages).</para></listitem>
90 </varlistentry>
91
2b9b27c3 92 <varlistentry><term><option>install</option></term>
2b0de496 93 <listitem>
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94 <para><literal>install</literal> is followed by one or more
95 packages desired for installation or upgrading.
96 Each package is a package name, not a fully qualified
b176de3a 97 filename (for instance, in a Debian system,
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98 <package>apt-utils</package> would be the argument provided, not
99 <filename>apt-utils_&apt-product-version;_amd64.deb</filename>). All packages required
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100 by the package(s) specified for installation will also
101 be retrieved and installed.
102 The <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename> file is
103 used to locate the desired packages. If a hyphen is
104 appended to the package name (with no intervening space),
105 the identified package will be removed if it is installed.
106 Similarly a plus sign can be used to designate a
107 package to install. These latter features may be used
108 to override decisions made by apt-get's conflict
109 resolution system.
110 </para>
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111
112 <para>A specific version of a package can be selected for installation by
113 following the package name with an equals and the version of the package
114 to select. This will cause that version to be located and selected for
115 install. Alternatively a specific distribution can be selected by
116 following the package name with a slash and the version of the
117 distribution or the Archive name (stable, testing, unstable).</para>
118
119 <para>Both of the version selection mechanisms can downgrade packages and must
120 be used with care.</para>
121
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122 <para>This is also the target to use if you want to upgrade one or
123 more already-installed packages without upgrading every package
124 you have on your system. Unlike the "upgrade" target, which
125 installs the newest version of all currently installed packages,
126 "install" will install the newest version of only the package(s)
127 specified. Simply provide the name of the package(s) you wish
128 to upgrade, and if a newer version is available, it (and its
129 dependencies, as described above) will be downloaded and
130 installed.
131 </para>
132
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133 <para>Finally, the &apt-preferences; mechanism allows you to
134 create an alternative installation policy for
135 individual packages.</para>
136
137 <para>If no package matches the given expression and the expression contains one
138 of '.', '?' or '*' then it is assumed to be a POSIX regular expression,
139 and it is applied
140 to all package names in the database. Any matches are then installed (or
141 removed). Note that matching is done by substring so 'lo.*' matches 'how-lo'
142 and 'lowest'. If this is undesired, anchor the regular expression
143 with a '^' or '$' character, or create a more specific regular expression.</para></listitem>
144 </varlistentry>
145
2b9b27c3 146 <varlistentry><term><option>remove</option></term>
24f6490f 147 <listitem><para><literal>remove</literal> is identical to <literal>install</literal> except that packages are
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148 removed instead of installed. Note that removing a package leaves its
149 configuration files on the system. If a plus sign is appended to the package
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150 name (with no intervening space), the identified package will be
151 installed instead of removed.</para></listitem>
152 </varlistentry>
153
2b9b27c3 154 <varlistentry><term><option>purge</option></term>
e47c7d16 155 <listitem><para><literal>purge</literal> is identical to <literal>remove</literal> except that packages are
861aa1bd 156 removed and purged (any configuration files are deleted too).</para></listitem>
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157 </varlistentry>
158
2b9b27c3 159 <varlistentry><term><option>source</option></term>
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160 <listitem><para><literal>source</literal> causes <command>apt-get</command> to fetch source packages. APT
161 will examine the available packages to decide which source package to
162 fetch. It will then find and download into the current directory the
2e30ddbe 163 newest available version of that source package while respecting the
90c24363 164 default release, set with the option <literal>APT::Default-Release</literal>,
7fa2e810 165 the <option>-t</option> option or per package with the
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166 <literal>pkg/release</literal> syntax, if possible.</para>
167
168 <para>Source packages are tracked separately
2ad3eaf6 169 from binary packages via <literal>deb-src</literal> lines
90c24363 170 in the &sources-list; file. This means that you will need to add such a line
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171 for each repository you want to get sources from; otherwise you will probably
172 get either the wrong (too old/too new) source versions or none at all.</para>
90c24363 173
5f4331c4 174 <para>If the <option>--compile</option> option is specified
90c24363 175 then the package will be compiled to a binary .deb using
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176 <command>dpkg-buildpackage</command> for the architecture as
177 defined by the <command>--host-architecture</command> option.
178 If <option>--download-only</option> is specified then the source package
179 will not be unpacked.</para>
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180
181 <para>A specific source version can be retrieved by postfixing the source name
182 with an equals and then the version to fetch, similar to the mechanism
183 used for the package files. This enables exact matching of the source
184 package name and version, implicitly enabling the
185 <literal>APT::Get::Only-Source</literal> option.</para>
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186
187 <para>Note that source packages are not installed and tracked in the
188 <command>dpkg</command> database like binary packages; they are simply downloaded
189 to the current directory, like source tarballs.</para></listitem>
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190 </varlistentry>
191
2b9b27c3 192 <varlistentry><term><option>build-dep</option></term>
24f6490f 193 <listitem><para><literal>build-dep</literal> causes apt-get to install/remove packages in an
234675b7 194 attempt to satisfy the build dependencies for a source package. By default the dependencies are
2130caa8 195 satisfied to build the package natively. If desired a host-architecture can be specified
234675b7 196 with the <option>--host-architecture</option> option instead.</para></listitem>
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197 </varlistentry>
198
2b9b27c3 199 <varlistentry><term><option>check</option></term>
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200 <listitem><para><literal>check</literal> is a diagnostic tool; it updates the package cache and checks
201 for broken dependencies.</para></listitem>
202 </varlistentry>
203
2b9b27c3 204 <varlistentry><term><option>download</option></term>
6f976e5d 205 <listitem><para><literal>download</literal> will download the given
1fc8c922 206 binary package into the current directory.
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207 </para></listitem>
208 </varlistentry>
209
2b9b27c3 210 <varlistentry><term><option>clean</option></term>
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211 <listitem><para><literal>clean</literal> clears out the local repository of retrieved package
212 files. It removes everything but the lock file from
213 <filename>&cachedir;/archives/</filename> and
4bca8520 214 <filename>&cachedir;/archives/partial/</filename>.</para></listitem>
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215 </varlistentry>
216
f66738d7 217 <varlistentry><term><option>autoclean</option> (and the <option>auto-clean</option> alias since 1.1)</term>
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218 <listitem><para>Like <literal>clean</literal>, <literal>autoclean</literal> clears out the local
219 repository of retrieved package files. The difference is that it only
220 removes package files that can no longer be downloaded, and are largely
221 useless. This allows a cache to be maintained over a long period without
222 it growing out of control. The configuration option
223 <literal>APT::Clean-Installed</literal> will prevent installed packages from being
224 erased if it is set to off.</para></listitem>
225 </varlistentry>
0e4fe941 226
f66738d7 227 <varlistentry><term><option>autoremove</option> (and the <option>auto-remove</option> alias since 1.1)</term>
0e4fe941 228 <listitem><para><literal>autoremove</literal> is used to remove packages that were automatically
c96ebe51 229 installed to satisfy dependencies for other packages and are now no longer needed.</para></listitem>
0e4fe941 230 </varlistentry>
b05b220b 231
2b9b27c3 232 <varlistentry><term><option>changelog</option></term>
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233 <listitem><para><literal>changelog</literal> tries to download the
234 changelog of a package and displays it through
235 <command>sensible-pager</command>. By default it
236 displays the changelog for the version that is installed.
237 However, you can specify the same options as for the
238 <option>install</option> command.</para>
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239 </listitem>
240 </varlistentry>
241
c2a4a8dd 242 <varlistentry><term><option>indextargets</option></term>
8881b11e 243 <listitem><para>Displays by default a deb822 formatted listing of
c2a4a8dd 244 information about all data files (aka index targets) <command>apt-get
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245 update</command> would download. Supports a
246 <option>--format</option> option to modify the output format as
247 well as accepts lines of the default output to filter the records
248 by. The command is mainly used as an interface for external tools
249 working with APT to get information as well as filenames for
250 downloaded files so they can use them as well instead of
251 downloading them again on their own. Detailed documentation is
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252 omitted here and can instead be found in the file
253 &apt-acquire-additional-files; shipped by the <package>apt-doc</package> package.
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254 </para>
255 </listitem>
256 </varlistentry>
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257
258
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259 </variablelist>
260 </refsect1>
261
262 <refsect1><title>options</title>
263 &apt-cmdblurb;
264
265 <variablelist>
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266 <varlistentry><term><option>--no-install-recommends</option></term>
267 <listitem><para>Do not consider recommended packages as a dependency for installing.
268 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Install-Recommends</literal>.</para></listitem>
269 </varlistentry>
270
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271 <varlistentry><term><option>--install-suggests</option></term>
272 <listitem><para>Consider suggested packages as a dependency for installing.
273 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Install-Suggests</literal>.</para></listitem>
274 </varlistentry>
275
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276 <varlistentry><term><option>-d</option></term><term><option>--download-only</option></term>
277 <listitem><para>Download only; package files are only retrieved, not unpacked or installed.
278 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Download-Only</literal>.</para></listitem>
279 </varlistentry>
280
281 <varlistentry><term><option>-f</option></term><term><option>--fix-broken</option></term>
282 <listitem><para>Fix; attempt to correct a system with broken dependencies in
283 place. This option, when used with install/remove, can omit any packages
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284 to permit APT to deduce a likely solution. If packages are specified,
285 these have to completely correct the problem. The option is sometimes necessary when
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286 running APT for the first time; APT itself does not allow broken package
287 dependencies to exist on a system. It is possible that a system's
288 dependency structure can be so corrupt as to require manual intervention
4bca8520 289 (which usually means using <command>dpkg --remove</command> to eliminate some of
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290 the offending packages). Use of this option together with <option>-m</option> may produce an
291 error in some situations.
292 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Fix-Broken</literal>.</para></listitem>
293 </varlistentry>
294
295 <varlistentry><term><option>-m</option></term><term><option>--ignore-missing</option></term>
296 <term><option>--fix-missing</option></term>
2ad3eaf6 297 <listitem><para>Ignore missing packages; if packages cannot be retrieved or fail the
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298 integrity check after retrieval (corrupted package files), hold back
299 those packages and handle the result. Use of this option together with
300 <option>-f</option> may produce an error in some situations. If a package is
301 selected for installation (particularly if it is mentioned on the
302 command line) and it could not be downloaded then it will be silently
303 held back.
304 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Fix-Missing</literal>.</para></listitem>
305 </varlistentry>
306
307 <varlistentry><term><option>--no-download</option></term>
308 <listitem><para>Disables downloading of packages. This is best used with
309 <option>--ignore-missing</option> to force APT to use only the .debs it has
310 already downloaded.
311 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Download</literal>.</para></listitem>
312 </varlistentry>
313
314 <varlistentry><term><option>-q</option></term><term><option>--quiet</option></term>
315 <listitem><para>Quiet; produces output suitable for logging, omitting progress indicators.
316 More q's will produce more quiet up to a maximum of 2. You can also use
317 <option>-q=#</option> to set the quiet level, overriding the configuration file.
2ad3eaf6 318 Note that quiet level 2 implies <option>-y</option>; you should never use -qq
24f6490f 319 without a no-action modifier such as -d, --print-uris or -s as APT may
2ad3eaf6 320 decide to do something you did not expect.
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321 Configuration Item: <literal>quiet</literal>.</para></listitem>
322 </varlistentry>
323
324 <varlistentry><term><option>-s</option></term>
325 <term><option>--simulate</option></term>
326 <term><option>--just-print</option></term>
327 <term><option>--dry-run</option></term>
328 <term><option>--recon</option></term>
329 <term><option>--no-act</option></term>
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330 <listitem><para>No action; perform a simulation of events that would occur
331 based on the current system state but do not actually change the
332 system. Locking will be disabled (<option>Debug::NoLocking</option>)
333 so the system state could change while <command>apt-get</command> is
334 running. Simulations can also be executed by non-root users which might
335 not have read access to all apt configuration distorting the simulation.
336 A notice expressing this warning is also shown by default for non-root
337 users (<option>APT::Get::Show-User-Simulation-Note</option>).
338 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Simulate</literal>.</para>
55a5a46c 339
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340 <para>Simulated runs print out a series of lines, each representing a <command>dpkg</command>
341 operation: configure (<literal>Conf</literal>), remove (<literal>Remv</literal>)
342 or unpack (<literal>Inst</literal>). Square brackets indicate broken packages, and
343 empty square brackets indicate breaks that are of no consequence (rare).</para></listitem>
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344 </varlistentry>
345
346 <varlistentry><term><option>-y</option></term><term><option>--yes</option></term>
347 <term><option>--assume-yes</option></term>
348 <listitem><para>Automatic yes to prompts; assume "yes" as answer to all prompts and run
349 non-interactively. If an undesirable situation, such as changing a held
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350 package, trying to install a unauthenticated package or removing an essential package
351 occurs then <literal>apt-get</literal> will abort.
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352 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Assume-Yes</literal>.</para></listitem>
353 </varlistentry>
354
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355 <varlistentry><term><option>--assume-no</option></term>
356 <listitem><para>Automatic "no" to all prompts.
357 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Assume-No</literal>.</para></listitem>
358 </varlistentry>
359
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360 <varlistentry><term><option>--no-show-upgraded</option></term>
361 <listitem><para>Do not show a list of all packages that are to be upgraded.
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362 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Show-Upgraded</literal>.</para></listitem>
363 </varlistentry>
364
365 <varlistentry><term><option>-V</option></term><term><option>--verbose-versions</option></term>
366 <listitem><para>Show full versions for upgraded and installed packages.
367 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Show-Versions</literal>.</para></listitem>
368 </varlistentry>
369
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370 <varlistentry><term><option>-a</option></term>
371 <term><option>--host-architecture</option></term>
372 <listitem><para>This option controls the architecture packages are built for
373 by <command>apt-get source --compile</command> and how cross-builddependencies
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374 are satisfied. By default is it not set which means that the host architecture
375 is the same as the build architecture (which is defined by <literal>APT::Architecture</literal>).
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376 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Host-Architecture</literal>.
377 </para></listitem>
378 </varlistentry>
379
380 <varlistentry><term><option>-P</option></term>
381 <term><option>--build-profiles</option></term>
382 <listitem><para>This option controls the activated build profiles for which
383 a source package is built by <command>apt-get source --compile</command> and
384 how build dependencies are satisfied. By default no build profile is active.
385 More than one build profile can be activated at a time by concatenating them
386 with a comma.
387 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Build-Profiles</literal>.
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388 </para></listitem>
389 </varlistentry>
390
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391 <varlistentry><term><option>-b</option></term><term><option>--compile</option></term>
392 <term><option>--build</option></term>
393 <listitem><para>Compile source packages after downloading them.
394 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Compile</literal>.</para></listitem>
395 </varlistentry>
06d79436 396
24f6490f 397 <varlistentry><term><option>--ignore-hold</option></term>
2ad3eaf6 398 <listitem><para>Ignore package holds; this causes <command>apt-get</command> to ignore a hold
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399 placed on a package. This may be useful in conjunction with
400 <literal>dist-upgrade</literal> to override a large number of undesired holds.
401 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Ignore-Hold</literal>.</para></listitem>
402 </varlistentry>
403
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404 <varlistentry><term><option>--with-new-pkgs</option></term>
405 <listitem><para>Allow installing new packages when used in
406 conjunction with <literal>upgrade</literal>. This is useful if
407 the update of a installed package requires new dependencies to be
408 installed. Instead of holding the package back <literal>upgrade</literal>
409 will upgrade the package and install the new dependencies. Note that
410 <literal>upgrade</literal> with this option will never remove packages,
411 only allow adding new ones.
412 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Upgrade-Allow-New</literal>.
413 </para></listitem>
414 </varlistentry>
415
24f6490f 416 <varlistentry><term><option>--no-upgrade</option></term>
2ad3eaf6 417 <listitem><para>Do not upgrade packages; when used in conjunction with <literal>install</literal>,
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418 <literal>no-upgrade</literal> will prevent packages on the command line
419 from being upgraded if they are already installed.
420 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Upgrade</literal>.</para></listitem>
421 </varlistentry>
422
6cd9fbd7 423 <varlistentry><term><option>--only-upgrade</option></term>
2ad3eaf6 424 <listitem><para>Do not install new packages; when used in conjunction
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425 with <literal>install</literal>, <literal>only-upgrade</literal> will
426 install upgrades for already installed packages only and ignore requests
427 to install new packages.
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428 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Only-Upgrade</literal>.</para></listitem>
429 </varlistentry>
430
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431 <varlistentry><term><option>--allow-downgrades</option></term>
432 <listitem><para>This is a dangerous option that will cause apt to continue
433 without prompting if it is doing downgrades. It
434 should not be used except in very special situations. Using
435 it can potentially destroy your system!
436 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::allow-downgrades</literal>. Introduced in APT 1.1.</para></listitem>
437 </varlistentry>
438
439 <varlistentry><term><option>--allow-remove-essential</option></term>
440 <listitem><para>Force yes; this is a dangerous option that will cause apt to continue
441 without prompting if it is removing essentials. It
442 should not be used except in very special situations. Using
443 it can potentially destroy your system!
444 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::allow-remove-essential</literal>. Introduced in APT 1.1.</para></listitem>
445 </varlistentry>
446
447 <varlistentry><term><option>--allow-change-held-packages</option></term>
448 <listitem><para>Force yes; this is a dangerous option that will cause apt to continue
449 without prompting if it is changing held packages. It
450 should not be used except in very special situations. Using
451 it can potentially destroy your system!
452 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::allow-change-held-packages</literal>. Introduced in APT 1.1.</para></listitem>
453 </varlistentry>
454
24f6490f 455 <varlistentry><term><option>--force-yes</option></term>
2ad3eaf6 456 <listitem><para>Force yes; this is a dangerous option that will cause apt to continue
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457 without prompting if it is doing something potentially harmful. It
458 should not be used except in very special situations. Using
459 <literal>force-yes</literal> can potentially destroy your system!
b381a482 460 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::force-yes</literal>. This is deprecated and replaced by <option>--allow-downgrades</option>, <option>--allow-remove-essential</option>, <option>--allow-change-held-packages</option> in 1.1. </para></listitem>
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461 </varlistentry>
462
463 <varlistentry><term><option>--print-uris</option></term>
464 <listitem><para>Instead of fetching the files to install their URIs are printed. Each
465 URI will have the path, the destination file name, the size and the expected
2ad3eaf6 466 MD5 hash. Note that the file name to write to will not always match
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467 the file name on the remote site! This also works with the
468 <literal>source</literal> and <literal>update</literal> commands. When used with the
469 <literal>update</literal> command the MD5 and size are not included, and it is
470 up to the user to decompress any compressed files.
471 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Print-URIs</literal>.</para></listitem>
472 </varlistentry>
473
474 <varlistentry><term><option>--purge</option></term>
475 <listitem><para>Use purge instead of remove for anything that would be removed.
476 An asterisk ("*") will be displayed next to packages which are
5d70f74c 477 scheduled to be purged. <option>remove --purge</option> is equivalent to the
861aa1bd 478 <option>purge</option> command.
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479 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Purge</literal>.</para></listitem>
480 </varlistentry>
481
482 <varlistentry><term><option>--reinstall</option></term>
2ad3eaf6 483 <listitem><para>Re-install packages that are already installed and at the newest version.
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484 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::ReInstall</literal>.</para></listitem>
485 </varlistentry>
486
487 <varlistentry><term><option>--list-cleanup</option></term>
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488 <listitem><para>This option is on by default; use <literal>--no-list-cleanup</literal> to turn
489 it off. When it is on, <command>apt-get</command> will automatically manage the contents
490 of <filename>&statedir;/lists</filename> to ensure that obsolete files are erased.
491 The only reason to turn it off is if you frequently change your sources list.
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492 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::List-Cleanup</literal>.</para></listitem>
493 </varlistentry>
494
495 <varlistentry><term><option>-t</option></term>
496 <term><option>--target-release</option></term>
497 <term><option>--default-release</option></term>
2ad3eaf6 498 <listitem><para>This option controls the default input to the policy engine; it creates
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499 a default pin at priority 990 using the specified release string.
500 This overrides the general settings in <filename>/etc/apt/preferences</filename>.
501 Specifically pinned packages are not affected by the value
502 of this option. In short, this option
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503 lets you have simple control over which distribution packages will be
504 retrieved from. Some common examples might be
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505 <option>-t '2.1*'</option>, <option>-t unstable</option>
506 or <option>-t sid</option>.
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507 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Default-Release</literal>;
508 see also the &apt-preferences; manual page.</para></listitem>
509 </varlistentry>
510
511 <varlistentry><term><option>--trivial-only</option></term>
512 <listitem><para>
513 Only perform operations that are 'trivial'. Logically this can be considered
2ad3eaf6 514 related to <option>--assume-yes</option>; where <option>--assume-yes</option> will answer
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515 yes to any prompt, <option>--trivial-only</option> will answer no.
516 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Trivial-Only</literal>.</para></listitem>
517 </varlistentry>
518
519 <varlistentry><term><option>--no-remove</option></term>
520 <listitem><para>If any packages are to be removed apt-get immediately aborts without
521 prompting.
522 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Remove</literal>.</para></listitem>
523 </varlistentry>
524
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525 <varlistentry><term><option>--auto-remove</option></term>
526 <listitem><para>If the command is either <literal>install</literal> or <literal>remove</literal>,
2ad3eaf6 527 then this option acts like running the <literal>autoremove</literal> command, removing unused
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528 dependency packages. Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::AutomaticRemove</literal>.
529 </para></listitem>
530 </varlistentry>
531
24f6490f 532 <varlistentry><term><option>--only-source</option></term>
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533 <listitem><para>Only has meaning for the
534 <literal>source</literal> and <literal>build-dep</literal>
535 commands. Indicates that the given source names are not to be
536 mapped through the binary table. This means that if this option
537 is specified, these commands will only accept source package
538 names as arguments, rather than accepting binary package names
539 and looking up the corresponding source package. Configuration
540 Item: <literal>APT::Get::Only-Source</literal>.</para></listitem>
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541 </varlistentry>
542
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543 <varlistentry><term><option>--diff-only</option></term><term><option>--dsc-only</option></term><term><option>--tar-only</option></term>
544 <listitem><para>Download only the diff, dsc, or tar file of a source archive.
545 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Diff-Only</literal>, <literal>APT::Get::Dsc-Only</literal>, and
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546 <literal>APT::Get::Tar-Only</literal>.</para></listitem>
547 </varlistentry>
548
549 <varlistentry><term><option>--arch-only</option></term>
550 <listitem><para>Only process architecture-dependent build-dependencies.
551 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Arch-Only</literal>.</para></listitem>
552 </varlistentry>
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553
554 <varlistentry><term><option>--allow-unauthenticated</option></term>
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555 <listitem><para>Ignore if packages can't be authenticated and don't prompt
556 about it. This can be useful while working with local repositories,
557 but is a huge security risk if data authenticity isn't ensured in
558 another way by the user itself. The usage of the
559 <option>Trusted</option> option for &sources-list; entries should
560 usually be preferred over this global override. Configuration Item:
561 <literal>APT::Get::AllowUnauthenticated</literal>.</para></listitem>
b3d44315 562 </varlistentry>
4fb66d87 563
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564 <varlistentry><term><option>--no-allow-insecure-repositories</option></term>
565 <listitem><para>Forbid the update command to acquire unverifiable
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566 data from configured sources. APT will fail at the update command
567 for repositories without valid cryptographically signatures. See
568 also &apt-secure; for details on the concept and the implications.
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569
570 Configuration Item: <literal>Acquire::AllowInsecureRepositories</literal>.</para></listitem>
571 </varlistentry>
572
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573 <varlistentry><term><option>--show-progress</option></term>
574 <listitem><para>Show user friendly progress information in the
575 terminal window when packages are installed, upgraded or
576 removed. For a machine parsable version of this data see
577 README.progress-reporting in the apt doc directory.
a268c986 578 Configuration Item: <literal>Dpkg::Progress</literal> and <literal>Dpkg::Progress-Fancy</literal>.</para></listitem>
4fb66d87 579 </varlistentry>
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580
581 <varlistentry><term><option>--with-source</option> <option>&synopsis-param-filename;</option></term>
582 <listitem><para>
583 Adds the given file as a source for metadata. Can be repeated to add multiple files.
584 See <option>--with-source</option> description in &apt-cache; for further details.
585 </para></listitem>
586 </varlistentry>
b3d44315 587
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588 &apt-commonoptions;
589
590 </variablelist>
591 </refsect1>
592
593 <refsect1><title>Files</title>
594 <variablelist>
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595 &file-sourceslist;
596 &file-aptconf;
597 &file-preferences;
598 &file-cachearchives;
599 &file-statelists;
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600 </variablelist>
601 </refsect1>
602
603 <refsect1><title>See Also</title>
4bca8520 604 <para>&apt-cache;, &apt-cdrom;, &dpkg;, &sources-list;,
65d71b38 605 &apt-conf;, &apt-config;, &apt-secure;,
4d9fb6b0 606 The APT User's guide in &guidesdir;, &apt-preferences;, the APT Howto.</para>
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607 </refsect1>
608
609 <refsect1><title>Diagnostics</title>
610 <para><command>apt-get</command> returns zero on normal operation, decimal 100 on error.</para>
611 </refsect1>
24f6490f 612 &manbugs;
24f6490f 613</refentry>