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-<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"
- "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd" [
+<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
+ "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd" [
<!ENTITY % aptent SYSTEM "apt.ent">
%aptent;
+<!ENTITY % aptverbatiment SYSTEM "apt-verbatim.ent">
+%aptverbatiment;
+
]>
<refentry>
&apt-email;
&apt-product;
<!-- The last update date -->
- <date>29 February 2004</date>
+ <date>2012-05-21T00:00:00Z</date>
</refentryinfo>
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>apt-get</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
+ <refmiscinfo class="manual">APT</refmiscinfo>
</refmeta>
<!-- Man page title -->
<refpurpose>APT package handling utility -- command-line interface</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
- <!-- Arguments -->
- <refsynopsisdiv>
- <cmdsynopsis>
- <command>apt-get</command>
- <arg><option>-hvs</option></arg>
- <arg><option>-o=<replaceable>config string</replaceable></option></arg>
- <arg><option>-c=<replaceable>file</replaceable></option></arg>
- <group choice="req">
- <arg>update</arg>
- <arg>upgrade</arg>
- <arg>dselect-upgrade</arg>
- <arg>install <arg choice="plain" rep="repeat"><replaceable>pkg</replaceable></arg></arg>
- <arg>remove <arg choice="plain" rep="repeat"><replaceable>pkg</replaceable></arg></arg>
- <arg>purge <arg choice="plain" rep="repeat"><replaceable>pkg</replaceable></arg></arg>
- <arg>source <arg choice="plain" rep="repeat"><replaceable>pkg</replaceable></arg></arg>
- <arg>build-dep <arg choice="plain" rep="repeat"><replaceable>pkg</replaceable></arg></arg>
- <arg>check</arg>
- <arg>clean</arg>
- <arg>autoclean</arg>
- <arg>autoremove</arg>
- </group>
- </cmdsynopsis>
- </refsynopsisdiv>
-
+ &synopsis-command-apt-get;
+
<refsect1><title>Description</title>
<para><command>apt-get</command> is the command-line tool for handling packages, and may be
considered the user's "back-end" to other tools using the APT
- library. Several "front-end" interfaces exist, such as dselect(8),
- aptitude, synaptic, gnome-apt and wajig.</para>
+ library. Several "front-end" interfaces exist, such as &dselect;,
+ &aptitude;, &synaptic; and &wajig;.</para>
<para>Unless the <option>-h</option>, or <option>--help</option> option is given, one of the
commands below must be present.</para>
<variablelist>
- <varlistentry><term>update</term>
+ <varlistentry><term><option>update</option></term>
<listitem><para><literal>update</literal> is used to resynchronize the package index files from
their sources. The indexes of available packages are fetched from the
location(s) specified in <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename>.
of the package files cannot be known in advance.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry><term>upgrade</term>
+ <varlistentry><term><option>upgrade</option></term>
<listitem><para><literal>upgrade</literal> is used to install the newest versions of all packages
currently installed on the system from the sources enumerated in
<filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename>. Packages currently installed with
available.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry><term>dselect-upgrade</term>
+ <varlistentry><term><option>dselect-upgrade</option></term>
<listitem><para><literal>dselect-upgrade</literal>
is used in conjunction with the traditional Debian packaging
front-end, &dselect;. <literal>dselect-upgrade</literal>
packages).</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry><term>dist-upgrade</term>
+ <varlistentry><term><option>dist-upgrade</option></term>
<listitem><para><literal>dist-upgrade</literal> in addition to performing the function of
<literal>upgrade</literal>, also intelligently handles changing dependencies
with new versions of packages; <command>apt-get</command> has a "smart" conflict
resolution system, and it will attempt to upgrade the most important
packages at the expense of less important ones if necessary.
+ So, <literal>dist-upgrade</literal> command may remove some packages.
The <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename> file contains a list of locations
from which to retrieve desired package files.
See also &apt-preferences; for a mechanism for
overriding the general settings for individual packages.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry><term>install</term>
- <listitem><para><literal>install</literal> is followed by one or more packages desired for
- installation. Each package is a package name, not a fully qualified
- filename (for instance, in a Debian GNU/Linux system, libc6 would be the
- argument provided, not <literal>libc6_1.9.6-2.deb</literal>) All packages required
- by the package(s) specified for installation will also be retrieved and
- installed. The <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename> file is used to locate
- the desired packages. If a hyphen is appended to the package name (with
- no intervening space), the identified package will be removed if it is
- installed. Similarly a plus sign can be used to designate a package to
- install. These latter features may be used to override decisions made by
- apt-get's conflict resolution system.</para>
+ <varlistentry><term><option>install</option></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><literal>install</literal> is followed by one or more
+ packages desired for installation or upgrading.
+ Each package is a package name, not a fully qualified
+ filename (for instance, in a Debian GNU/Linux system,
+ libc6 would be the argument provided, not
+ <literal>libc6_1.9.6-2.deb</literal>). All packages required
+ by the package(s) specified for installation will also
+ be retrieved and installed.
+ The <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename> file is
+ used to locate the desired packages. If a hyphen is
+ appended to the package name (with no intervening space),
+ the identified package will be removed if it is installed.
+ Similarly a plus sign can be used to designate a
+ package to install. These latter features may be used
+ to override decisions made by apt-get's conflict
+ resolution system.
+ </para>
<para>A specific version of a package can be selected for installation by
following the package name with an equals and the version of the package
<para>Both of the version selection mechanisms can downgrade packages and must
be used with care.</para>
+ <para>This is also the target to use if you want to upgrade one or
+ more already-installed packages without upgrading every package
+ you have on your system. Unlike the "upgrade" target, which
+ installs the newest version of all currently installed packages,
+ "install" will install the newest version of only the package(s)
+ specified. Simply provide the name of the package(s) you wish
+ to upgrade, and if a newer version is available, it (and its
+ dependencies, as described above) will be downloaded and
+ installed.
+ </para>
+
<para>Finally, the &apt-preferences; mechanism allows you to
create an alternative installation policy for
individual packages.</para>
with a '^' or '$' character, or create a more specific regular expression.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry><term>remove</term>
+ <varlistentry><term><option>remove</option></term>
<listitem><para><literal>remove</literal> is identical to <literal>install</literal> except that packages are
- removed instead of installed. If a plus sign is appended to the package
+ removed instead of installed. Note the removing a package leaves its
+ configuration files in system. If a plus sign is appended to the package
name (with no intervening space), the identified package will be
installed instead of removed.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry><term>purge</term>
+ <varlistentry><term><option>purge</option></term>
<listitem><para><literal>purge</literal> is identical to <literal>remove</literal> except that packages are
- removed and purged.</para></listitem>
+ removed and purged (any configuration files are deleted too).</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry><term>source</term>
+ <varlistentry><term><option>source</option></term>
<listitem><para><literal>source</literal> causes <command>apt-get</command> to fetch source packages. APT
will examine the available packages to decide which source package to
fetch. It will then find and download into the current directory the
- newest available version of that source package. Source packages are
- tracked separately from binary packages via <literal>deb-src</literal> type lines
- in the &sources-list; file. This probably will mean that you will not
- get the same source as the package you have installed or as you could
- install. If the --compile options is specified then the package will be
- compiled to a binary .deb using dpkg-buildpackage, if --download-only is
- specified then the source package will not be unpacked.</para>
+ newest available version of that source package while respecting the
+ default release, set with the option <literal>APT::Default-Release</literal>,
+ the <option>-t</option> option or per package with the
+ <literal>pkg/release</literal> syntax, if possible.</para>
+
+ <para>Source packages are tracked separately
+ from binary packages via <literal>deb-src</literal> type lines
+ in the &sources-list; file. This means that you will need to add such a line
+ for each repository you want to get sources from. If you don't do this
+ you will properly get another (newer, older or none) source version than
+ the one you have installed or could install.</para>
+
+ <para>If the <option>--compile</option> option is specified
+ then the package will be compiled to a binary .deb using
+ <command>dpkg-buildpackage</command> for the architecture as
+ defined by the <command>--host-architecture</command> option.
+ If <option>--download-only</option> is specified then the source package
+ will not be unpacked.</para>
<para>A specific source version can be retrieved by postfixing the source name
with an equals and then the version to fetch, similar to the mechanism
tar balls.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry><term>build-dep</term>
+ <varlistentry><term><option>build-dep</option></term>
<listitem><para><literal>build-dep</literal> causes apt-get to install/remove packages in an
- attempt to satisfy the build dependencies for a source package.</para></listitem>
+ attempt to satisfy the build dependencies for a source package. By default the dependencies are
+ satisfied to build the package natively. If desired a host-architecture can be specified
+ with the <option>--host-architecture</option> option instead.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry><term>check</term>
+ <varlistentry><term><option>check</option></term>
<listitem><para><literal>check</literal> is a diagnostic tool; it updates the package cache and checks
for broken dependencies.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry><term>clean</term>
+ <varlistentry><term><option>download</option></term>
+ <listitem><para><literal>download</literal> will download the given
+ binary package into the current directory.
+ </para></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry><term><option>clean</option></term>
<listitem><para><literal>clean</literal> clears out the local repository of retrieved package
files. It removes everything but the lock file from
<filename>&cachedir;/archives/</filename> and
from time to time to free up disk space.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry><term>autoclean</term>
+ <varlistentry><term><option>autoclean</option></term>
<listitem><para>Like <literal>clean</literal>, <literal>autoclean</literal> clears out the local
repository of retrieved package files. The difference is that it only
removes package files that can no longer be downloaded, and are largely
erased if it is set to off.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry><term>autoremove</term>
+ <varlistentry><term><option>autoremove</option></term>
<listitem><para><literal>autoremove</literal> is used to remove packages that were automatically
- installed to satisfy dependencies for some package and that are no more needed.</para></listitem>
+ installed to satisfy dependencies for other packages and are now no longer needed.</para></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry><term><option>changelog</option></term>
+ <listitem><para><literal>changelog</literal> downloads a package changelog and displays
+ it through <command>sensible-pager</command>. The server name and base
+ directory is defined in the <literal>APT::Changelogs::Server</literal>
+ variable (e. g. <ulink url="http://packages.debian.org/changelogs">packages.debian.org/changelogs</ulink> for
+ Debian or <ulink url="http://changelogs.ubuntu.com/changelogs">changelogs.ubuntu.com/changelogs</ulink> for
+ Ubuntu).
+ By default it displays the changelog for the version that is
+ installed. However, you can specify the same options as for
+ the <option>install</option> command.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
+
+
</variablelist>
</refsect1>
&apt-cmdblurb;
<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry><term><option>--no-install-recommends</option></term>
+ <listitem><para>Do not consider recommended packages as a dependency for installing.
+ Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Install-Recommends</literal>.</para></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry><term><option>--install-suggests</option></term>
+ <listitem><para>Consider suggested packages as a dependency for installing.
+ Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Install-Suggests</literal>.</para></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry><term><option>-d</option></term><term><option>--download-only</option></term>
<listitem><para>Download only; package files are only retrieved, not unpacked or installed.
Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Download-Only</literal>.</para></listitem>
<varlistentry><term><option>-f</option></term><term><option>--fix-broken</option></term>
<listitem><para>Fix; attempt to correct a system with broken dependencies in
place. This option, when used with install/remove, can omit any packages
- to permit APT to deduce a likely solution. Any Package that are specified
- must completely correct the problem. The option is sometimes necessary when
+ to permit APT to deduce a likely solution. If packages are specified,
+ these have to completely correct the problem. The option is sometimes necessary when
running APT for the first time; APT itself does not allow broken package
dependencies to exist on a system. It is possible that a system's
dependency structure can be so corrupt as to require manual intervention
actually change the system.
Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Simulate</literal>.</para>
+ <para>Simulation run as user will deactivate locking (<literal>Debug::NoLocking</literal>)
+ automatic. Also a notice will be displayed indicating that this is only a simulation,
+ if the option <literal>APT::Get::Show-User-Simulation-Note</literal> is set (Default: true).
+ Neither NoLocking nor the notice will be triggered if run as root (root should know what
+ he is doing without further warnings by <literal>apt-get</literal>).</para>
+
<para>Simulate prints out
a series of lines each one representing a dpkg operation, Configure (Conf),
- Remove (Remv), Unpack (Inst). Square brackets indicate broken packages with
+ Remove (Remv), Unpack (Inst). Square brackets indicate broken packages
and empty set of square brackets meaning breaks that are of no consequence
(rare).</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Assume-Yes</literal>.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry><term><option>--assume-no</option></term>
+ <listitem><para>Automatic "no" to all prompts.
+ Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Assume-No</literal>.</para></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry><term><option>-u</option></term><term><option>--show-upgraded</option></term>
<listitem><para>Show upgraded packages; Print out a list of all packages that are to be
upgraded.
Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Show-Versions</literal>.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry><term><option>-a</option></term>
+ <term><option>--host-architecture</option></term>
+ <listitem><para>This option controls the architecture packages are built for
+ by <command>apt-get source --compile</command> and how cross-builddependencies
+ are satisfied. By default is it not set which means that the host architecture
+ is the same as the build architecture (which is defined by <literal>APT::Architecture</literal>).
+ Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Host-Architecture</literal>
+ </para></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry><term><option>-b</option></term><term><option>--compile</option></term>
<term><option>--build</option></term>
<listitem><para>Compile source packages after downloading them.
Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Upgrade</literal>.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry><term><option>--only-upgrade</option></term>
+ <listitem><para>Do not install new packages; When used in conjunction
+ with <literal>install</literal>, <literal>only-upgrade</literal> will
+ install upgrades for already installed packages only and ignore requests
+ to install new packages.
+ Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Only-Upgrade</literal>.</para></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry><term><option>--force-yes</option></term>
<listitem><para>Force yes; This is a dangerous option that will cause apt to continue
without prompting if it is doing something potentially harmful. It
<varlistentry><term><option>--purge</option></term>
<listitem><para>Use purge instead of remove for anything that would be removed.
An asterisk ("*") will be displayed next to packages which are
- scheduled to be purged.
+ scheduled to be purged. <option>remove --purge</option> is equivalent to the
+ <option>purge</option> command.
Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Purge</literal>.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
of this option. In short, this option
lets you have simple control over which distribution packages will be
retrieved from. Some common examples might be
- <option>-t '2.1*'</option> or <option>-t unstable</option>.
+ <option>-t '2.1*'</option>, <option>-t unstable</option>
+ or <option>-t sid</option>.
Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Default-Release</literal>;
see also the &apt-preferences; manual page.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<refsect1><title>Files</title>
<variablelist>
- <varlistentry><term><filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename></term>
- <listitem><para>Locations to fetch packages from.
- Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Etc::SourceList</literal>.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry><term><filename>/etc/apt/apt.conf</filename></term>
- <listitem><para>APT configuration file.
- Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Etc::Main</literal>.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry><term><filename>/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/</filename></term>
- <listitem><para>APT configuration file fragments
- Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Etc::Parts</literal>.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry><term><filename>/etc/apt/preferences</filename></term>
- <listitem><para>Version preferences file.
- This is where you would specify "pinning",
- i.e. a preference to get certain packages
- from a separate source
- or from a different version of a distribution.
- Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Etc::Preferences</literal>.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry><term><filename>&cachedir;/archives/</filename></term>
- <listitem><para>Storage area for retrieved package files.
- Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Cache::Archives</literal>.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry><term><filename>&cachedir;/archives/partial/</filename></term>
- <listitem><para>Storage area for package files in transit.
- Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Cache::Archives</literal> (implicit partial). </para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry><term><filename>&statedir;/lists/</filename></term>
- <listitem><para>Storage area for state information for each package resource specified in
- &sources-list;
- Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::State::Lists</literal>.</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry><term><filename>&statedir;/lists/partial/</filename></term>
- <listitem><para> Storage area for state information in transit.
- Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::State::Lists</literal> (implicit partial).</para></listitem>
- </varlistentry>
+ &file-sourceslist;
+ &file-aptconf;
+ &file-preferences;
+ &file-cachearchives;
+ &file-statelists;
</variablelist>
</refsect1>
<refsect1><title>Diagnostics</title>
<para><command>apt-get</command> returns zero on normal operation, decimal 100 on error.</para>
</refsect1>
-
&manbugs;
-
</refentry>