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
  20   it() remove
  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. Only the install command requires any further arguments.
  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(check))
  77 bf(check) is a diagnostic tool; it updates the package cache and checks for
  78 brokenpackages.
  79
  80 dit(bf(clean))
  81 df(clean) clears out the local repository of retrieved package files. It
  82 removes everything but the lock file from bf(/var/cache/apt/archives/)
  83 and bf(/var/cache/apt/archives/partial/).
  84 When APT is used as a bf(dselect(8)) method, bf(clean) is run automatically.
  85 Those who do not use dselect will likely want to run code(apt-get clean)
  86 from time to time to free up disk space.
  87 enddit()
  88
  89 manpageoptions()
  90
  91 startdit()
  92 dit(bf(-d, --download-only))
  93 Download only; package files are only retrieved, not unpacked or installed.
  94
  95 dit(bf(-f, --fix-broken))
  96 Fix; attempt to correct a system with broken dependencies in
  97 place. This option may be used alone or in conjunction with any of the
  98 command actions, and is sometimes necessary when running APT for the
  99 first time; APT itself does not allow broken package dependencies to
 100 exist on a system. It is possible that a system's dependency structure
 101 can be so corrupt as to require manual intervention (which usually
 102 means using dselect or dpkg --remove to eliminate some of the offending
 103 packages). Use of this option together with -m may produce an error in
 104 some situations.
 105
 106 dit(bf(-h, --help))
 107 Help; display a helpful usage message and exits.
 108
 109 dit(bf(-m, --ignore-missing))
 110 Ignore missing packages; If packages cannot be retrieved or fail the
 111 integrity check after retrieval (corrupted package files), hold back
 112 those packages and handle the result. Use of this option together with
 113 -f is discouraged.
 114
 115 dit(bf(-q, --silent))
 116 Quiet; produces output suitable for logging, omitting progress indicators.
 117 More qs will produce more quite up to a maximum of 2. You can also use
 118 bf(-q=#) to set the quiet level, overriding the configuration file.
 119
 120 dit(bf(-s, --simulate, --just-print, --dry-run, --recon, --no-act))
 121 No action; perform a simulation of events that would occur but do not
 122 actually change the system.
 123
 124 dit(bf(-y, --yes, --assume-yes))
 125 Automatic yes to prompts; assume "yes" as answer to all prompts and run
 126 non-interactively. If an undesireable situation, such as changing a held
 127 package or removing an essential package occures then bf(apt-get) will
 128 abort.
 129
 130 dit(bf(-u, --show-upgraded))
 131 Show upgraded packages; Print out a list of all packages that are to be
 132 upgraded.
 133
 134 dit(bf(--ignore-hold))
 135 Ignore package Holds; This causes bf(apt-get) to ignore a hold placed on
 136 a package. This may be usefull in conjunction with bf(dist-upgrade) to
 137 override a large number of undesired holds.
 138
 139 dit(bf(--no-upgrade))
 140 Do not upgrade packages; When used in conjunction with bf(install)
 141 bf(no-upgrade) will prevent packages listed from being upgraded if they
 142 are already installed.
 143
 144 dit(bf(--force-yes))
 145 Force yes; This is a dangerous option that will cause apt to continue without
 146 prompting if it is doing something potentially harmfull. It should not be used
 147 except in very special situations. Using bf(force-yes) can potentially destroy
 148 your system!
 149
 150 dit(bf(-c, --config-file))
 151 Configuration File; Specify a configuration file to use. bf(apt-get) will
 152 read the default configuration file and then this configuration file. See
 153 bf(apt.conf(5)) for syntax information.
 154
 155 dit(bf(-o, --option))
 156 Set a Configuration Option; This will set an arbitary configuration option.
 157 The syntax is
 158 verb(-o Foo::Bar=bar)
 159
 160 manpagefiles()
 161 itemize(
 162   it() /etc/apt/sources.list
 163   locations to fetch packages from
 164
 165   it() /var/cache/apt/archives/
 166   storage area for retrieved package files
 167
 168   it() /var/cache/apt/archives/partial/
 169   storage area for package files in transit
 170
 171   it() /var/state/apt/lists/
 172   storage area for state information for each package resource specified in
 173
 174   it() /var/state/apt/lists/partial/
 175   storage area for state information in transit
 176 )
 177
 178 manpageseealso()
 179 apt-cache (8),
 180 dpkg (8),
 181 dselect (8),
 182 sources.list (5)
 183
 184 manpagediagnostics()
 185 apt-get returns zero on normal operation, decimal 100 on error.
 186
 187 manpagebugs()
 188 See http://www.debian.org/Bugs/db/pa/lapt.html.  If you wish to report a
 189 bug in bf(apt-get), please see bf(/usr/doc/debian/bug-reporting.txt)
 190 or the bf(bug(1)) command.
 191
 192 manpageauthor()
 193 apt-get was written by the APT team <apt@packages.debian.org>.