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 )
  24
  25 Unless the -h, or --help option is given one of the above commands
  26 must be present.
  27
  28 startdit()
  29 dit(bf(update))
  30 bf(update) is used to resynchronize the package overview files from their
  31 sources. The overviews of available packages are fetched from the
  32 location(s) specified in bf(/etc/apt/sources.list).
  33 For example, when using a Debian archive, this command retrieves and
  34 scans the bf(Packages.gz) files, so that information about new and updated
  35 packages is available. An bf(update) should always be performed before an
  36 bf(upgrade) bf(dist-upgrade).
  37
  38 dit(bf(upgrade))
  39 bf(upgrade) is used to install the newest versions of all packages currently
  40 installed on the system from the sources enumerated in
  41 bf(/etc/apt/sources.list). Packages currently installed with new versions
  42 available are retrieved and upgraded; under no circumstances are currently
  43 installed packages removed, or packages not already installed retrieved and
  44 installed. New versions of currently installed packages that cannot be
  45 upgraded without changing the install status of another package will be left
  46 at their current version. An bf(update) must be performed first so that
  47 bf(apt-get) knows that new versions of packages are available.
  48
  49 dit(bf(dselect-upgrade))
  50 bf(dselect-upgrade)
  51 is used in conjunction with the traditional Debian GNU/Linux packaging
  52 front-end, bf(dselect (8)). bf(dselect-upgrade)
  53 follows the changes made by bf(dselect) to the em(Status)
  54 field of available packages, and performs the actions necessary to realize
  55 that state (for instance, the removal of old and the installation of new
  56
  57 dit(bf(dist-upgrade))
  58 bf(dist-upgrade),in addition to performing the function of bf(upgrade),
  59 also intelligently handles changing dependencies with new versions of
  60 packages; bf(apt-get) has a "smart" conflict resolution system, and it will
  61 attempt to upgrade the most important packages at the expense of less
  62 important ones if necessary. The bf(/etc/apt/sources.list) file contains a
  63 list of locations from which to retrieve desired package files.
  64
  65 dit(bf(install))
  66 bf(install) is followed by one or more em(packages) desired for installation.
  67 Each em(package) is a package name, not a fully qualified filename
  68 (for instance, in a Debian GNU/Linux system, em(lsdo) would be the argument
  69 provided, not em(ldso_1.9.6-2.deb)). All packages required by the package(s)
  70 specified for installation will also be retrieved and installed. The
  71 bf(/etc/apt/sources.list) file is used to locate the desired packages. If a
  72 hyphen is appended to the package name (with no intervening space), the
  73 identified package will be removed if it is installed. This latter feature
  74 may be used to override decisions made by apt-get's conflict resolution system.
  75
  76 dit(bf(remove))
  77 bf(remove) is identical to bf(install) except that packages are removed
  78 instead of installed. If a plus sign is appended to the package name (with no
  79 intervening space), the identified package will be installed.
  80
  81 dit(bf(check))
  82 bf(check) is a diagnostic tool; it updates the package cache and checks for
  83 brokenpackages.
  84
  85 dit(bf(clean))
  86 df(clean) clears out the local repository of retrieved package files. It
  87 removes everything but the lock file from bf(/var/cache/apt/archives/)
  88 and bf(/var/cache/apt/archives/partial/).
  89 When APT is used as a bf(dselect(8)) method, bf(clean) is run automatically.
  90 Those who do not use dselect will likely want to run code(apt-get clean)
  91 from time to time to free up disk space.
  92 enddit()
  93
  94 manpageoptions()
  95 All command line options may be set using the configuration file, the
  96 descriptions indicate the configuration option to set. For boolean
  97 options you can override the config file by using something like bf(-f-),
  98 bf(--no-f), bf(-f=no) or several other variations.
  99
 100 startdit()
 101 dit(bf(-d, --download-only))
 102 Download only; package files are only retrieved, not unpacked or installed.
 103 See bf(APT::Get::Download-Only).
 104
 105 dit(bf(-f, --fix-broken))
 106 Fix; attempt to correct a system with broken dependencies in
 107 place. This option may be used alone or in conjunction with any of the
 108 command actions, and is sometimes necessary when running APT for the
 109 first time; APT itself does not allow broken package dependencies to
 110 exist on a system. It is possible that a system's dependency structure
 111 can be so corrupt as to require manual intervention (which usually
 112 means using dselect or dpkg --remove to eliminate some of the offending
 113 packages). Use of this option together with -m may produce an error in
 114 some situations. See bf(APT::Get::Fix-Broken).
 115
 116 dit(bf(-h, --help))
 117 Help; display a helpful usage message and exits.
 118
 119 dit(bf(-m, --ignore-missing))
 120 Ignore missing packages; If packages cannot be retrieved or fail the
 121 integrity check after retrieval (corrupted package files), hold back
 122 those packages and handle the result. Use of this option together with
 123 -f is discouraged. See bf(ignore-missing).
 124
 125 dit(bf(-q, --quiet))
 126 Quiet; produces output suitable for logging, omitting progress indicators.
 127 More qs will produce more quite up to a maximum of 2. You can also use
 128 bf(-q=#) to set the quiet level, overriding the configuration file.
 129 See bf(quiet)
 130
 131 dit(bf(-s, --simulate, --just-print, --dry-run, --recon, --no-act))
 132 No action; perform a simulation of events that would occur but do not
 133 actually change the system. See bf(APT::Get::Simulate). Simulate prints out
 134 a series of lines each one representing a dpkg operation, Configure (Conf),
 135 Remove (Remv), Unpack (Inst). Square brackets indicate broken packages with
 136 and empty set of square brackets meaning breaks that are of no consequence
 137 (rare).
 138
 139 dit(bf(-y, --yes, --assume-yes))
 140 Automatic yes to prompts; assume "yes" as answer to all prompts and run
 141 non-interactively. If an undesireable situation, such as changing a held
 142 package or removing an essential package occures then bf(apt-get) will
 143 abort. See bf(APT::Get::Assume-Yes).
 144
 145 dit(bf(-u, --show-upgraded))
 146 Show upgraded packages; Print out a list of all packages that are to be
 147 upgraded. See bf(APT::Get::Show-Upgraded).
 148
 149 dit(bf(--ignore-hold))
 150 Ignore package Holds; This causes bf(apt-get) to ignore a hold placed on
 151 a package. This may be usefull in conjunction with bf(dist-upgrade) to
 152 override a large number of undesired holds. See bf(APT::Ingore-Hold).
 153
 154 dit(bf(--no-upgrade))
 155 Do not upgrade packages; When used in conjunction with bf(install)
 156 bf(no-upgrade) will prevent packages listed from being upgraded if they
 157 are already installed. See bf(APT::Get::no-upgrade).
 158
 159 dit(bf(--force-yes))
 160 Force yes; This is a dangerous option that will cause apt to continue without
 161 prompting if it is doing something potentially harmfull. It should not be used
 162 except in very special situations. Using bf(force-yes) can potentially destroy
 163 your system! See bf(APT::Get::force-yes).
 164
 165 dit(bf(-c, --config-file))
 166 Configuration File; Specify a configuration file to use. bf(apt-get) will
 167 read the default configuration file and then this configuration file. See
 168 bf(apt.conf(5)) for syntax information.
 169
 170 dit(bf(-o, --option))
 171 Set a Configuration Option; This will set an arbitary configuration option.
 172 The syntax is
 173 verb(-o Foo::Bar=bar)
 174 enddit()
 175
 176 manpagefiles()
 177 itemize(
 178   it() /etc/apt/sources.list
 179   locations to fetch packages from
 180
 181   it() /var/cache/apt/archives/
 182   storage area for retrieved package files
 183
 184   it() /var/cache/apt/archives/partial/
 185   storage area for package files in transit
 186
 187   it() /var/state/apt/lists/
 188   storage area for state information for each package resource specified in
 189
 190   it() /var/state/apt/lists/partial/
 191   storage area for state information in transit
 192 )
 193
 194 manpageseealso()
 195 apt-cache(8),
 196 dpkg(8),
 197 dselect(8),
 198 sources.list(5),
 199 apt.conf(5),
 200 The APT Users Guide in /usr/doc/apt/
 201
 202 manpagediagnostics()
 203 apt-get returns zero on normal operation, decimal 100 on error.
 204
 205 manpagebugs()
 206 See http://www.debian.org/Bugs/db/pa/lapt.html.  If you wish to report a
 207 bug in bf(apt-get), please see bf(/usr/doc/debian/bug-reporting.txt)
 208 or the bf(bug(1)) command.
 209
 210 manpageauthor()
 211 apt-get was written by the APT team <apt@packages.debian.org>.