doc/apt-get.8.yo

   1 mailto(apt@packages.debian.org)
   2 manpage(apt-get)(8)(4 Dec 1998)(apt)()
   3 manpagename(apt-get)(APT package handling utility -- command-line interface)
   4
   5 manpagesynopsis()
   6   apt-get [options] [command] [package ...]
   7
   8 manpagedescription()
   9
  10 apt-get is the command-line tool for handling packages, and may be considered
  11 the user's "back-end" to apt(8).
  12
  13 em(command) is one of:
  14 itemize(
  15   it() update
  16   it() upgrade
  17   it() dselect-upgrade
  18   it() dist-upgrade
  19   it() install package1 [package2] [...]
  20   it() remove package1 [package2] [...]
  21   it() check
  22   it() clean
  23   it() autoclean
  24 )
  25
  26 Unless the -h, or --help option is given one of the above commands
  27 must be present.
  28
  29 startdit()
  30 dit(bf(update))
  31 bf(update) is used to resynchronize the package overview files from their
  32 sources. The overviews of available packages are fetched from the
  33 location(s) specified in bf(/etc/apt/sources.list).
  34 For example, when using a Debian archive, this command retrieves and
  35 scans the bf(Packages.gz) files, so that information about new and updated
  36 packages is available. An bf(update) should always be performed before an
  37 bf(upgrade) bf(dist-upgrade).
  38
  39 dit(bf(upgrade))
  40 bf(upgrade) is used to install the newest versions of all packages currently
  41 installed on the system from the sources enumerated in
  42 bf(/etc/apt/sources.list). Packages currently installed with new versions
  43 available are retrieved and upgraded; under no circumstances are currently
  44 installed packages removed, or packages not already installed retrieved and
  45 installed. New versions of currently installed packages that cannot be
  46 upgraded without changing the install status of another package will be left
  47 at their current version. An bf(update) must be performed first so that
  48 bf(apt-get) knows that new versions of packages are available.
  49
  50 dit(bf(dselect-upgrade))
  51 bf(dselect-upgrade)
  52 is used in conjunction with the traditional Debian GNU/Linux packaging
  53 front-end, bf(dselect (8)). bf(dselect-upgrade)
  54 follows the changes made by bf(dselect) to the em(Status)
  55 field of available packages, and performs the actions necessary to realize
  56 that state (for instance, the removal of old and the installation of new
  57
  58 dit(bf(dist-upgrade))
  59 bf(dist-upgrade),in addition to performing the function of bf(upgrade),
  60 also intelligently handles changing dependencies with new versions of
  61 packages; bf(apt-get) has a "smart" conflict resolution system, and it will
  62 attempt to upgrade the most important packages at the expense of less
  63 important ones if necessary. The bf(/etc/apt/sources.list) file contains a
  64 list of locations from which to retrieve desired package files.
  65
  66 dit(bf(install))
  67 bf(install) is followed by one or more em(packages) desired for installation.
  68 Each em(package) is a package name, not a fully qualified filename
  69 (for instance, in a Debian GNU/Linux system, em(ldso) would be the argument
  70 provided, not em(ldso_1.9.6-2.deb)). All packages required by the package(s)
  71 specified for installation will also be retrieved and installed. The
  72 bf(/etc/apt/sources.list) file is used to locate the desired packages. If a
  73 hyphen is appended to the package name (with no intervening space), the
  74 identified package will be removed if it is installed. This latter feature
  75 may be used to override decisions made by apt-get's conflict resolution system.
  76
  77 dit(bf(remove))
  78 bf(remove) is identical to bf(install) except that packages are removed
  79 instead of installed. If a plus sign is appended to the package name (with no
  80 intervening space), the identified package will be installed.
  81
  82 dit(bf(check))
  83 bf(check) is a diagnostic tool; it updates the package cache and checks for
  84 brokenpackages.
  85
  86 dit(bf(clean))
  87 bf(clean) clears out the local repository of retrieved package files. It
  88 removes everything but the lock file from bf(/var/cache/apt/archives/)
  89 and bf(/var/cache/apt/archives/partial/).
  90 When APT is used as a bf(dselect(8)) method, bf(clean) is run automatically.
  91 Those who do not use dselect will likely want to run code(apt-get clean)
  92 from time to time to free up disk space.
  93
  94 dit(bf(autoclean))
  95 Like bf(clean), bf(autoclean) clears out the local repository of retrieved
  96 package files. The difference is that it only removes package files that
  97 can no longer be downloaded, and are largely useless. This allows a
  98 cache to be maintained over a long period without it growing out of
  99 control.
 100
 101 enddit()
 102
 103 manpageoptions()
 104 All command line options may be set using the configuration file, the
 105 descriptions indicate the configuration option to set. For boolean
 106 options you can override the config file by using something like bf(-f-),
 107 bf(--no-f), bf(-f=no) or several other variations.
 108
 109 startdit()
 110 dit(bf(-d, --download-only))
 111 Download only; package files are only retrieved, not unpacked or installed.
 112 See bf(APT::Get::Download-Only).
 113
 114 dit(bf(-f, --fix-broken))
 115 Fix; attempt to correct a system with broken dependencies in
 116 place. This option may be used alone or in conjunction with any of the
 117 command actions, and is sometimes necessary when running APT for the
 118 first time; APT itself does not allow broken package dependencies to
 119 exist on a system. It is possible that a system's dependency structure
 120 can be so corrupt as to require manual intervention (which usually
 121 means using dselect or dpkg --remove to eliminate some of the offending
 122 packages). Use of this option together with -m may produce an error in
 123 some situations. See bf(APT::Get::Fix-Broken).
 124
 125 dit(bf(-h, --help))
 126 Help; display a helpful usage message and exits.
 127
 128 dit(bf(-v, --version))
 129 Show the program verison.
 130
 131 dit(bf(-m, --ignore-missing))
 132 Ignore missing packages; If packages cannot be retrieved or fail the
 133 integrity check after retrieval (corrupted package files), hold back
 134 those packages and handle the result. Use of this option together with
 135 -f may produce an error in some situations. See bf(ignore-missing).
 136
 137 dit(bf(-q, --quiet))
 138 Quiet; produces output suitable for logging, omitting progress indicators.
 139 More qs will produce more quiet up to a maximum of 2. You can also use
 140 bf(-q=#) to set the quiet level, overriding the configuration file. Note that
 141 quiet level 2 implies -y, you should never use -qq without a no-action
 142 modifier such as -d, --print-uris or -s as APT may decided to do something
 143 you did not expect.
 144 See bf(quiet)
 145
 146 dit(bf(-s, --simulate, --just-print, --dry-run, --recon, --no-act))
 147 No action; perform a simulation of events that would occur but do not
 148 actually change the system. See bf(APT::Get::Simulate). Simulate prints out
 149 a series of lines each one representing a dpkg operation, Configure (Conf),
 150 Remove (Remv), Unpack (Inst). Square brackets indicate broken packages with
 151 and empty set of square brackets meaning breaks that are of no consequence
 152 (rare).
 153
 154 dit(bf(-y, --yes, --assume-yes))
 155 Automatic yes to prompts; assume "yes" as answer to all prompts and run
 156 non-interactively. If an undesireable situation, such as changing a held
 157 package or removing an essential package occures then bf(apt-get) will
 158 abort. See bf(APT::Get::Assume-Yes).
 159
 160 dit(bf(-u, --show-upgraded))
 161 Show upgraded packages; Print out a list of all packages that are to be
 162 upgraded. See bf(APT::Get::Show-Upgraded).
 163
 164 dit(bf(--ignore-hold))
 165 Ignore package Holds; This causes bf(apt-get) to ignore a hold placed on
 166 a package. This may be usefull in conjunction with bf(dist-upgrade) to
 167 override a large number of undesired holds. See bf(APT::Ingore-Hold).
 168
 169 dit(bf(--no-upgrade))
 170 Do not upgrade packages; When used in conjunction with bf(install)
 171 bf(no-upgrade) will prevent packages listed from being upgraded if they
 172 are already installed. See bf(APT::Get::no-upgrade).
 173
 174 dit(bf(--force-yes))
 175 Force yes; This is a dangerous option that will cause apt to continue without
 176 prompting if it is doing something potentially harmfull. It should not be used
 177 except in very special situations. Using bf(force-yes) can potentially destroy
 178 your system! See bf(APT::Get::force-yes).
 179
 180 dit(bf(--print-uris))
 181 Instead of fetching the files to install their URIs are printed. Each
 182 URI will have the path, the destination file name, the size and the expected
 183 md5 hash. Note that the file name to write to will not always match
 184 the file name on the remote site! See bf(APT::Get::Print-URIs).
 185
 186 dit(bf(-c, --config-file))
 187 Configuration File; Specify a configuration file to use. bf(apt-get) will
 188 read the default configuration file and then this configuration file. See
 189 bf(apt.conf(5)) for syntax information.
 190
 191 dit(bf(-o, --option))
 192 Set a Configuration Option; This will set an arbitary configuration option.
 193 The syntax is
 194 verb(-o Foo::Bar=bar)
 195 enddit()
 196
 197 manpagefiles()
 198 itemize(
 199   it() /etc/apt/sources.list
 200   locations to fetch packages from
 201
 202   it() /var/cache/apt/archives/
 203   storage area for retrieved package files
 204
 205   it() /var/cache/apt/archives/partial/
 206   storage area for package files in transit
 207
 208   it() /var/state/apt/lists/
 209   storage area for state information for each package resource specified in
 210
 211   it() /var/state/apt/lists/partial/
 212   storage area for state information in transit
 213 )
 214
 215 manpageseealso()
 216 apt-cache(8),
 217 dpkg(8),
 218 dselect(8),
 219 sources.list(5),
 220 apt.conf(5),
 221 The APT Users Guide in /usr/doc/apt/
 222
 223 manpagediagnostics()
 224 apt-get returns zero on normal operation, decimal 100 on error.
 225
 226 manpagebugs()
 227 See http://bugs.debian.org/apt.  If you wish to report a
 228 bug in bf(apt-get), please see bf(/usr/doc/debian/bug-reporting.txt)
 229 or the bf(bug(1)) command.
 230
 231 manpageauthor()
 232 apt-get was written by the APT team <apt@packages.debian.org>.