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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>
11 &apt-docinfo;
12 <!--<date>14 December 2003</date> -->
13
14 <refmeta>
15 <refentrytitle>apt-get</refentrytitle>
16 <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
17 </refmeta>
18
19 <!-- Man page title -->
20 <refnamediv>
21 <refname>apt-get</refname>
22 <refpurpose>APT package handling utility -- command-line interface</refpurpose>
23 </refnamediv>
24
25 <!-- Arguments -->
26 <refsynopsisdiv>
27 <cmdsynopsis>
28 <command>apt-get</command>
29 <arg><option>-hvs</option></arg>
30 <arg><option>-o=<replaceable>config string</replaceable></option></arg>
31 <arg><option>-c=<replaceable>file</replaceable></option></arg>
32 <group choice="req">
33 <arg>update</arg>
34 <arg>upgrade</arg>
35 <arg>dselect-upgrade</arg>
36 <arg>install <arg choice="plain" rep="repeat"><replaceable>pkg</replaceable></arg></arg>
37 <arg>remove <arg choice="plain" rep="repeat"><replaceable>pkg</replaceable></arg></arg>
38 <arg>source <arg choice="plain" rep="repeat"><replaceable>pkg</replaceable></arg></arg>
39 <arg>build-dep <arg choice="plain" rep="repeat"><replaceable>pkg</replaceable></arg></arg>
40 <arg>check</arg>
41 <arg>clean</arg>
42 <arg>autoclean</arg>
43 </group>
44 </cmdsynopsis>
45 </refsynopsisdiv>
46
47 <refsect1><title>Description</title>
48 <para><command>apt-get</command> is the command-line tool for handling packages, and may be
49 considered the user's "back-end" to other tools using the APT
50 library. Several "front-end" interfaces exist, such as dselect(8),
51 aptitude, synaptic, gnome-apt and wajig.</para>
52
53 <para>Unless the <option>-h</option>, or <option>--help</option> option is given, one of the
54 commands below must be present.</para>
55
56 <variablelist>
57 <varlistentry><term>update</term>
58 <listitem><para><literal>update</literal> is used to resynchronize the package index files from
59 their sources. The indexes of available packages are fetched from the
60 location(s) specified in <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename>.
61 For example, when using a Debian archive, this command retrieves and
62 scans the <filename>Packages.gz</filename> files, so that information about new
63 and updated packages is available. An <literal>update</literal> should always be
64 performed before an <literal>upgrade</literal> or <literal>dist-upgrade</literal>. Please
65 be aware that the overall progress meter will be incorrect as the size
66 of the package files cannot be known in advance.</para></listitem>
67 </varlistentry>
68
69 <varlistentry><term>upgrade</term>
70 <listitem><para><literal>upgrade</literal> is used to install the newest versions of all packages
71 currently installed on the system from the sources enumerated in
72 <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename>. Packages currently installed with
73 new versions available are retrieved and upgraded; under no circumstances
74 are currently installed packages removed, or packages not already installed
75 retrieved and installed. New versions of currently installed packages that
76 cannot be upgraded without changing the install status of another package
77 will be left at their current version. An <literal>update</literal> must be
78 performed first so that <command>apt-get</command> knows that new versions of packages are
79 available.</para></listitem>
80 </varlistentry>
81
82 <varlistentry><term>dselect-upgrade</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
92 <varlistentry><term>dist-upgrade</term>
93 <listitem><para><literal>dist-upgrade</literal> in addition to performing the function of
94 <literal>upgrade</literal>, also intelligently handles changing dependencies
95 with new versions of packages; <command>apt-get</command> has a "smart" conflict
96 resolution system, and it will attempt to upgrade the most important
97 packages at the expense of less important ones if necessary.
98 The <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename> file contains a list of locations
99 from which to retrieve desired package files.
100 See also &apt-preferences; for a mechanism for
101 overriding the general settings for individual packages.</para></listitem>
102 </varlistentry>
103
104 <varlistentry><term>install</term>
105 <listitem><para><literal>install</literal> is followed by one or more packages desired for
106 installation. Each package is a package name, not a fully qualified
107 filename (for instance, in a Debian GNU/Linux system, libc6 would be the
108 argument provided, not <literal>libc6_1.9.6-2.deb</literal>) All packages required
109 by the package(s) specified for installation will also be retrieved and
110 installed. The <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename> file is used to locate
111 the desired packages. If a hyphen is appended to the package name (with
112 no intervening space), the identified package will be removed if it is
113 installed. Similarly a plus sign can be used to designate a package to
114 install. These latter features may be used to override decisions made by
115 apt-get's conflict resolution system.</para>
116
117 <para>A specific version of a package can be selected for installation by
118 following the package name with an equals and the version of the package
119 to select. This will cause that version to be located and selected for
120 install. Alternatively a specific distribution can be selected by
121 following the package name with a slash and the version of the
122 distribution or the Archive name (stable, testing, unstable).</para>
123
124 <para>Both of the version selection mechanisms can downgrade packages and must
125 be used with care.</para>
126
127 <para>Finally, the &apt-preferences; mechanism allows you to
128 create an alternative installation policy for
129 individual packages.</para>
130
131 <para>If no package matches the given expression and the expression contains one
132 of '.', '?' or '*' then it is assumed to be a POSIX regular expression,
133 and it is applied
134 to all package names in the database. Any matches are then installed (or
135 removed). Note that matching is done by substring so 'lo.*' matches 'how-lo'
136 and 'lowest'. If this is undesired, anchor the regular expression
137 with a '^' or '$' character, or create a more specific regular expression.</para></listitem>
138 </varlistentry>
139
140 <varlistentry><term>remove</term>
141 <listitem><para><literal>remove</literal> is identical to <literal>install</literal> except that packages are
142 removed instead of installed. If a plus sign is appended to the package
143 name (with no intervening space), the identified package will be
144 installed instead of removed.</para></listitem>
145 </varlistentry>
146
147 <varlistentry><term>source</term>
148 <listitem><para><literal>source</literal> causes <command>apt-get</command> to fetch source packages. APT
149 will examine the available packages to decide which source package to
150 fetch. It will then find and download into the current directory the
151 newest available version of that source package. Source packages are
152 tracked separately from binary packages via <literal>deb-src</literal> type lines
153 in the &sources-list; file. This probably will mean that you will not
154 get the same source as the package you have installed or as you could
155 install. If the --compile options is specified then the package will be
156 compiled to a binary .deb using dpkg-buildpackage, if --download-only is
157 specified then the source package will not be unpacked.</para>
158
159 <para>A specific source version can be retrieved by postfixing the source name
160 with an equals and then the version to fetch, similar to the mechanism
161 used for the package files. This enables exact matching of the source
162 package name and version, implicitly enabling the
163 <literal>APT::Get::Only-Source</literal> option.</para>
164
165 <para>Note that source packages are not tracked like binary packages, they
166 exist only in the current directory and are similar to downloading source
167 tar balls.</para></listitem>
168 </varlistentry>
169
170 <varlistentry><term>build-dep</term>
171 <listitem><para><literal>build-dep</literal> causes apt-get to install/remove packages in an
172 attempt to satisfy the build dependencies for a source package.</para></listitem>
173 </varlistentry>
174
175 <varlistentry><term>check</term>
176 <listitem><para><literal>check</literal> is a diagnostic tool; it updates the package cache and checks
177 for broken dependencies.</para></listitem>
178 </varlistentry>
179
180 <varlistentry><term>clean</term>
181 <listitem><para><literal>clean</literal> clears out the local repository of retrieved package
182 files. It removes everything but the lock file from
183 <filename>&cachedir;/archives/</filename> and
184 <filename>&cachedir;/archives/partial/</filename>. When APT is used as a
185 &dselect; method, <literal>clean</literal> is run automatically.
186 Those who do not use dselect will likely want to run <literal>apt-get clean</literal>
187 from time to time to free up disk space.</para></listitem>
188 </varlistentry>
189
190 <varlistentry><term>autoclean</term>
191 <listitem><para>Like <literal>clean</literal>, <literal>autoclean</literal> clears out the local
192 repository of retrieved package files. The difference is that it only
193 removes package files that can no longer be downloaded, and are largely
194 useless. This allows a cache to be maintained over a long period without
195 it growing out of control. The configuration option
196 <literal>APT::Clean-Installed</literal> will prevent installed packages from being
197 erased if it is set to off.</para></listitem>
198 </varlistentry>
199 </variablelist>
200 </refsect1>
201
202 <refsect1><title>options</title>
203 &apt-cmdblurb;
204
205 <variablelist>
206 <varlistentry><term><option>-d</option></term><term><option>--download-only</option></term>
207 <listitem><para>Download only; package files are only retrieved, not unpacked or installed.
208 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Download-Only</literal>.</para></listitem>
209 </varlistentry>
210
211 <varlistentry><term><option>-f</option></term><term><option>--fix-broken</option></term>
212 <listitem><para>Fix; attempt to correct a system with broken dependencies in
213 place. This option, when used with install/remove, can omit any packages
214 to permit APT to deduce a likely solution. Any Package that are specified
215 must completely correct the problem. The option is sometimes necessary when
216 running APT for the first time; APT itself does not allow broken package
217 dependencies to exist on a system. It is possible that a system's
218 dependency structure can be so corrupt as to require manual intervention
219 (which usually means using &dselect; or <command>dpkg --remove</command> to eliminate some of
220 the offending packages). Use of this option together with <option>-m</option> may produce an
221 error in some situations.
222 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Fix-Broken</literal>.</para></listitem>
223 </varlistentry>
224
225 <varlistentry><term><option>-m</option></term><term><option>--ignore-missing</option></term>
226 <term><option>--fix-missing</option></term>
227 <listitem><para>Ignore missing packages; If packages cannot be retrieved or fail the
228 integrity check after retrieval (corrupted package files), hold back
229 those packages and handle the result. Use of this option together with
230 <option>-f</option> may produce an error in some situations. If a package is
231 selected for installation (particularly if it is mentioned on the
232 command line) and it could not be downloaded then it will be silently
233 held back.
234 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Fix-Missing</literal>.</para></listitem>
235 </varlistentry>
236
237 <varlistentry><term><option>--no-download</option></term>
238 <listitem><para>Disables downloading of packages. This is best used with
239 <option>--ignore-missing</option> to force APT to use only the .debs it has
240 already downloaded.
241 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Download</literal>.</para></listitem>
242 </varlistentry>
243
244 <varlistentry><term><option>-q</option></term><term><option>--quiet</option></term>
245 <listitem><para>Quiet; produces output suitable for logging, omitting progress indicators.
246 More q's will produce more quiet up to a maximum of 2. You can also use
247 <option>-q=#</option> to set the quiet level, overriding the configuration file.
248 Note that quiet level 2 implies <option>-y</option>, you should never use -qq
249 without a no-action modifier such as -d, --print-uris or -s as APT may
250 decided to do something you did not expect.
251 Configuration Item: <literal>quiet</literal>.</para></listitem>
252 </varlistentry>
253
254 <varlistentry><term><option>-s</option></term>
255 <term><option>--simulate</option></term>
256 <term><option>--just-print</option></term>
257 <term><option>--dry-run</option></term>
258 <term><option>--recon</option></term>
259 <term><option>--no-act</option></term>
260 <listitem><para>No action; perform a simulation of events that would occur but do not
261 actually change the system.
262 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Simulate</literal>.</para>
263
264 <para>Simulate prints out
265 a series of lines each one representing a dpkg operation, Configure (Conf),
266 Remove (Remv), Unpack (Inst). Square brackets indicate broken packages with
267 and empty set of square brackets meaning breaks that are of no consequence
268 (rare).</para></listitem>
269 </varlistentry>
270
271 <varlistentry><term><option>-y</option></term><term><option>--yes</option></term>
272 <term><option>--assume-yes</option></term>
273 <listitem><para>Automatic yes to prompts; assume "yes" as answer to all prompts and run
274 non-interactively. If an undesirable situation, such as changing a held
275 package or removing an essential package occurs then <literal>apt-get</literal>
276 will abort.
277 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Assume-Yes</literal>.</para></listitem>
278 </varlistentry>
279
280 <varlistentry><term><option>-u</option></term><term><option>--show-upgraded</option></term>
281 <listitem><para>Show upgraded packages; Print out a list of all packages that are to be
282 upgraded.
283 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Show-Upgraded</literal>.</para></listitem>
284 </varlistentry>
285
286 <varlistentry><term><option>-V</option></term><term><option>--verbose-versions</option></term>
287 <listitem><para>Show full versions for upgraded and installed packages.
288 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Show-Versions</literal>.</para></listitem>
289 </varlistentry>
290
291 <varlistentry><term><option>-b</option></term><term><option>--compile</option></term>
292 <term><option>--build</option></term>
293 <listitem><para>Compile source packages after downloading them.
294 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Compile</literal>.</para></listitem>
295 </varlistentry>
296
297 <varlistentry><term><option>--ignore-hold</option></term>
298 <listitem><para>Ignore package Holds; This causes <command>apt-get</command> to ignore a hold
299 placed on a package. This may be useful in conjunction with
300 <literal>dist-upgrade</literal> to override a large number of undesired holds.
301 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Ignore-Hold</literal>.</para></listitem>
302 </varlistentry>
303
304 <varlistentry><term><option>--no-upgrade</option></term>
305 <listitem><para>Do not upgrade packages; When used in conjunction with <literal>install</literal>,
306 <literal>no-upgrade</literal> will prevent packages on the command line
307 from being upgraded if they are already installed.
308 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Upgrade</literal>.</para></listitem>
309 </varlistentry>
310
311 <varlistentry><term><option>--force-yes</option></term>
312 <listitem><para>Force yes; This is a dangerous option that will cause apt to continue
313 without prompting if it is doing something potentially harmful. It
314 should not be used except in very special situations. Using
315 <literal>force-yes</literal> can potentially destroy your system!
316 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::force-yes</literal>.</para></listitem>
317 </varlistentry>
318
319 <varlistentry><term><option>--print-uris</option></term>
320 <listitem><para>Instead of fetching the files to install their URIs are printed. Each
321 URI will have the path, the destination file name, the size and the expected
322 md5 hash. Note that the file name to write to will not always match
323 the file name on the remote site! This also works with the
324 <literal>source</literal> and <literal>update</literal> commands. When used with the
325 <literal>update</literal> command the MD5 and size are not included, and it is
326 up to the user to decompress any compressed files.
327 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Print-URIs</literal>.</para></listitem>
328 </varlistentry>
329
330 <varlistentry><term><option>--purge</option></term>
331 <listitem><para>Use purge instead of remove for anything that would be removed.
332 An asterisk ("*") will be displayed next to packages which are
333 scheduled to be purged.
334 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Purge</literal>.</para></listitem>
335 </varlistentry>
336
337 <varlistentry><term><option>--reinstall</option></term>
338 <listitem><para>Re-Install packages that are already installed and at the newest version.
339 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::ReInstall</literal>.</para></listitem>
340 </varlistentry>
341
342 <varlistentry><term><option>--list-cleanup</option></term>
343 <listitem><para>This option defaults to on, use <literal>--no-list-cleanup</literal> to turn it
344 off. When on <command>apt-get</command> will automatically manage the contents of
345 <filename>&statedir;/lists</filename> to ensure that obsolete files are erased.
346 The only reason to turn it off is if you frequently change your source
347 list.
348 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::List-Cleanup</literal>.</para></listitem>
349 </varlistentry>
350
351 <varlistentry><term><option>-t</option></term>
352 <term><option>--target-release</option></term>
353 <term><option>--default-release</option></term>
354 <listitem><para>This option controls the default input to the policy engine, it creates
355 a default pin at priority 990 using the specified release string. The
356 preferences file may further override this setting. In short, this option
357 lets you have simple control over which distribution packages will be
358 retrieved from. Some common examples might be
359 <option>-t '2.1*'</option> or <option>-t unstable</option>.
360 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Default-Release</literal>;
361 see also the &apt-preferences; manual page.</para></listitem>
362 </varlistentry>
363
364 <varlistentry><term><option>--trivial-only</option></term>
365 <listitem><para>
366 Only perform operations that are 'trivial'. Logically this can be considered
367 related to <option>--assume-yes</option>, where <option>--assume-yes</option> will answer
368 yes to any prompt, <option>--trivial-only</option> will answer no.
369 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Trivial-Only</literal>.</para></listitem>
370 </varlistentry>
371
372 <varlistentry><term><option>--no-remove</option></term>
373 <listitem><para>If any packages are to be removed apt-get immediately aborts without
374 prompting.
375 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Remove</literal>.</para></listitem>
376 </varlistentry>
377
378 <varlistentry><term><option>--only-source</option></term>
379 <listitem><para>Only has meaning for the <literal>source</literal> command. Indicates that the
380 given source names are not to be mapped through the binary
381 table. This means that if this option is specified, the
382 <literal>source</literal> command will only accept source package names as
383 arguments, rather than accepting binary package names and looking
384 up the corresponding source package.
385 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Only-Source</literal>.</para></listitem>
386 </varlistentry>
387
388 <varlistentry><term><option>--diff-only</option></term><term><option>--tar-only</option></term>
389 <listitem><para>Download only the diff or tar file of a source archive.
390 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Diff-Only</literal> and
391 <literal>APT::Get::Tar-Only</literal>.</para></listitem>
392 </varlistentry>
393
394 <varlistentry><term><option>--arch-only</option></term>
395 <listitem><para>Only process architecture-dependent build-dependencies.
396 Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Arch-Only</literal>.</para></listitem>
397 </varlistentry>
398
399 &apt-commonoptions;
400
401 </variablelist>
402 </refsect1>
403
404 <refsect1><title>Files</title>
405 <variablelist>
406 <varlistentry><term><filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename></term>
407 <listitem><para>Locations to fetch packages from.
408 Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Etc::SourceList</literal>.</para></listitem>
409 </varlistentry>
410
411 <varlistentry><term><filename>/etc/apt/apt.conf</filename></term>
412 <listitem><para>APT configuration file.
413 Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Etc::Main</literal>.</para></listitem>
414 </varlistentry>
415
416 <varlistentry><term><filename>/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/</filename></term>
417 <listitem><para>APT configuration file fragments
418 Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Etc::Parts</literal>.</para></listitem>
419 </varlistentry>
420
421 <varlistentry><term><filename>/etc/apt/preferences</filename></term>
422 <listitem><para>Version preferences file.
423 This is where you would specify "pinning",
424 i.e. a preference to get certain packages
425 from a separate source
426 or from a different version of a distribution.
427 Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Etc::Preferences</literal>.</para></listitem>
428 </varlistentry>
429
430 <varlistentry><term><filename>&cachedir;/archives/</filename></term>
431 <listitem><para>Storage area for retrieved package files.
432 Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Cache::Archives</literal>.</para></listitem>
433 </varlistentry>
434
435 <varlistentry><term><filename>&cachedir;/archives/partial/</filename></term>
436 <listitem><para>Storage area for package files in transit.
437 Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Cache::Archives</literal> (implicit partial). </para></listitem>
438 </varlistentry>
439
440 <varlistentry><term><filename>&statedir;/lists/</filename></term>
441 <listitem><para>Storage area for state information for each package resource specified in
442 &sources-list;
443 Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::State::Lists</literal>.</para></listitem>
444 </varlistentry>
445
446 <varlistentry><term><filename>&statedir;/lists/partial/</filename></term>
447 <listitem><para> Storage area for state information in transit.
448 Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::State::Lists</literal> (implicit partial).</para></listitem>
449 </varlistentry>
450 </variablelist>
451 </refsect1>
452
453 <refsect1><title>See Also</title>
454 <para>&apt-cache;, &apt-cdrom;, &dpkg;, &dselect;, &sources-list;,
455 &apt-conf;, &apt-config;,
456 The APT User's guide in &docdir;, &apt-preferences;, the APT Howto.</para>
457 </refsect1>
458
459 <refsect1><title>Diagnostics</title>
460 <para><command>apt-get</command> returns zero on normal operation, decimal 100 on error.</para>
461 </refsect1>
462
463 &manbugs;
464 &manauthor;
465
466</refentry>