Add a new tutorial to APT's list of available sources. Currently, the only command is add, which is required (except with the --help option). The database of tutorial IDs that APT maintains is /var/state/apt/cdroms.list.

Options

Options can be specified on the command line or they may be set in the configuration file. Boolean options set in the configuration file can be overridden on the command line in a number of different ways, a couple of which are --no-opt and -opt=no, where opt is the single-character or full name of the option.

• -a, --thorough
• Do a thorough package scan. May be needed with some old Debian tutorials.
• -c, --config-file
• Specify a configuration file to be read after the default configuration file.
• -d, --cdrom
• Specify the tutorial mount point, which must be listed in /etc/fstab. The configuration option is Acquire::cdrom::mount.
• -f, --fast
• Do a fast copy, assuming the files are valid and don't all need checking. Specify this only if this disk has been run before without error. The configuration option is APT::CDROM::Fast.
• -h, --help
• Print help message and exit.
• -m, --no-mount
• Don't mount or unmount the mount point. The configuration option is APT::CDROM::NoMount.
• -n, --just-print, --recon, --no-act
• Check everything, but don't actually make any changes. The configuration option is APT::CDROM::NoAct.
• -o, --option
• Set a configuration option. Syntax is -o group::tool=option (e.g., APT::CDROM=Fast).
• -r, --rename
• Prompt for a new label and rename the disk to the new value. The configuration option is APT::CDROM::Rename.
• -v, --version
• Print the version information and exit.

A command-line tool for handling packages. Will eventually be a backend to APT.

Commands

• autoclean
• Like clean, but remove only package files that can no longer be downloaded.
• clean
• Clear the local repository of retrieved package files.
• check
• Update the package cache and check for broken packages.
• dist-upgrade
• Like upgrade but also handle dependencies intelligently.
• dselect-upgrade
• Used together with dselect. Track the changes made by dselect to the Status field of available packages and take actions necessary to realize that status.
• install package...
• Install one or more packages. Specify the package name, not the full filename. Other required packages also are retrieved and installed. With a hyphen appended to the package name, the package is removed if it is already installed.
• remove package...
• Remove one or more packages. Specify the package name, not the full filename. With a plus sign appended to the name, the package is installed.
• source package...
• Find source packages and download them into the current directory. If specified with --compile, the source packages are compiled into binary packages. With --download-only, the source packages are not unpacked.
• update
• Resynchronize the package overview files from their sources. Must be done before an upgrade or dist-upgrade.
• upgrade
• Install the latest versions of all packages currently installed. Run update first.

Options

Options can be specified on the command line or they may be set in the configuration file. Boolean options set in the configuration file can be overridden on the command line in one of several ways, a couple of which are --no-opt and -opt=no, where opt is the single-character or full name of the option.

• -b, --compile, --build
• Compile source packages after download.
• -c, --config-file
• Specify a configuration file to read after the default.
• -d, --download-only
• Retrieve package files, but don't unpack or install them. The configuration option is APT::Get::Download-only.
• -f, --fix-broken
• Try to fix a system with broken dependencies. Can be used alone or with a command. The configuration option is APT::Get::Fix-Broken.
• --force-yes
• Force yes. Causes APT to continue without prompting if it is doing something that could damage your system. Use with great caution and only if absolutely necessary. The configuration option is APT::Get::force-yes.
• -h, --help
• Display a help message and exit.
• --ignore-hold
• Ignore a hold placed on a package. Use with dist-upgrade to override many undesired holds. The configuration option is APT::Get::Ignore-Hold.
• -m, --ignore-missing, --fix-missing
• Ignore missing or corrupted packages or packages that cannot be retrieved. Can cause problems when used with -f.
• --no-download
• Disable package downloading; use with --ignore-missing to force APT to use only the packages that have already been downloaded.
• --no-upgrade
• Do not upgrade packages. Use with install to prevent upgrade of packages that are already installed. The configuration option is APT::Get::no-upgrade.
• -o, --option
• Set a configuration option. Syntax is -o group::tool=option (e.g., APT::Get=force-yes).
• --print-uris
• Print URIs of files instead of fetching them. Print path, destination filename, size, and expected MD5 hash. The configuration option is APT::Get::Print-URIs.
• -q, --quiet
• Quiet. Omit progress indicators, produce only logging output. Add a q to make even quieter.
• -s, --simulate, --just-print, --dry-run, --recon, --no-act
• Go through the motions, but don't actually make any changes to the system. The configuration option is APT::Get::Simulate.
• -u, --show-upgraded
• Print a list of all packages to be upgraded. The configuration option is APT::Get::Show-Upgraded.
• -v, --version
• Display the version and exit.
• -y, --yes, --assume-yes
• Automatically reply "yes" to prompts and run noninteractively. Abort if there is an error. The configuration option is APT::Get::Assume-Yes.

A tool for installing, managing, and building packages. Serves as a frontend to dpkg-deb.

dpkg actions

These actions are carried out by dpkg itself:

• -i pkgfile, --install pkgfile
• Install the package specified as pkgfile. With -R or --recursive, pkgfile must be a directory.
• --unpack pkgfile
• Unpack the package, but don't configure it. With -R or --recursive, pkgfile must be a directory.
• --configure [packages|-a|--pending]
• Reconfigure one or more unpacked packages. If -a or --pending is given instead of packages, configure all packages that are unpacked but not configured.
• -r, --remove [packages|-a|--pending]
• --purge [packages|-a|--pending]
• Remove or purge one or more installed packages. Removal gets rid of everything except the configuration files listed in debian/conffiles; purging also removes the configuration files. If -a or --pending is given instead of packages, dpkg removes or purges all packages that are unpacked and marked (in /var/lib/dpkg/status) for removing or purging.
• --print-avail package
• Print the details about package from /var/lib/dpkg/available.
• --update-avail pkgs-file
• --merge-avail pkgs-file
• Update the record of available files kept in /var/lib/dpkg/available. This information is used by dpkg and dselect to determine what packages are available. Update will replace the information with the contents of the pkgs-file, distributed as Packages. Merge combines the information from Packages with the existing information.
• -A pkgfile, --record-avail pkgfile
• Update the record of available files kept in /var/lib/dpkg/available with information from pkgfile. This information is used by dpkg and dselect to determine what packages are available. With -R or --recursive, pkgfile must be a directory.
• --forget-old-unavail
• Forget about uninstalled unavailable packages.
• --clear-avail
• Remove existing information about what packages are available.
• -l, --list [pkg-name-pattern]
• List all packages whose names match the specified pattern. With no pattern, list all packages in /var/lib/dpkg/available. The pattern can include standard shell wildcard characters and may have to be quoted to prevent the shell from doing filename expansion.
• -s packages, --status packages
• Report the status of one or more packages by displaying the entry in the status database /var/lib/dpkg/status.
• -C, --audit
• Search for partially installed packages and suggest how to get them working.
• --get-selections [pattern]
• Get list of package selections and write to standard output. With pattern specified, write selections that match the pattern.
• --set-selections
• Set package selections based on input file read from standard input.
• --yet-to-unpack
• Search for uninstalled packages that have been selected for installation.
• -L packages, --listfiles packages
• List installed files that came from the specified package or packages.
• -S filename-pattern, --search filename-pattern
• Search installed packages for a filename. The pattern can include standard shell wildcard characters and may have to be quoted to prevent the shell from doing filename expansion.
• --print-architecture
• Print target architecture.
• --print-gnu-build-architecture
• Print the GNU version of the target architecture.
• --print-installation-architecture
• Print host architecture for installation.
• --compare-versions ver1 op ver2
• Perform a binary comparison of two version numbers. The operators lt le eq ne ge gt treat a missing version as earlier. The operators lt-nl le-nl ge-nl gt-nl treat a missing version as later (where nl is "not later"). There is a third set of operators (< << <= = >= >> >) that is provided for compatibility with control-file syntax. dpkg returns zero for success (i.e., the condition is satisfied) and nonzero otherwise.
• --help
• Print help message and exit.
• --force-help
• Print help message about the --force-list options and exit.
• -Dh, --debug=help
• Print debugging help message and exit.
• --license
• Print dpkg license information and exit. Accepts the spelling --licence in addition to --license.
• --version
• Print dpkg version information and exit.

dpkg-deb actions

The following actions can be specified for dpkg and are passed to dpkg-deb for execution. Also see dpkg-deb.

• -b dir [archive], --build dir [archive]
• Build a package.
• -c archive, --contents archive
• List the contents of a package.
• -e, --control archive dir
• Extract control information from a package.
• -f archive [control-fields], --field archive [control-fields]
• Display the control field or fields of a package.
• -I archive [control-files], --info archive [control-files]
• Show information about a package.
• --fsys-tarfile archive
• Display the filesystem tar- file contained by a package.
• -x archive dir, --extract archive dir
• Extract the files from a package.
• -X archive dir, --vextract archive dir
• Extract and display the filenames from a package.

Options

• --abort-after=num
• Abort processing after num errors. Default is 50.
• -B, --auto-deconfigure
• When a package is removed, automatically deconfigure any other package that depended on it.
• -Doctal, --debug=octal
• Turn on debugging, with the octal value specifying the desired level of debugging information. Use -Dh or --debug=help to display the possible values. You can OR the values to get the desired output.
• -E, --skip-same-version
• Don't install the package if this version is already installed.
• --force-list, --no-force-list, --refuse-list
• Force or refuse to force an operation. list is specified as a comma-separated item of options. With --force, a warning is printed, but processing continues. --refuse and --no-force cause processing to stop with an error. The force/refuse options are:
  • architecture
  • Process even if intended for a different architecture.
  • auto-select
  • Select or deselect packages to install or remove them. Forced by default.
  • bad-path
  • Some programs are missing from the path.
  • configure-any
  • Configure any unconfigured package that the package depends on.
  • conflicts
  • Permit installation of conflicting packages. Can result in problems from files being overwritten.
  • depends
  • Turn dependency problems into warnings.
  • depends-version
  • Warn of version problems when checking dependencies, but otherwise ignore.
  • downgrade
  • Install even if a newer version is already installed. Forced by default.
  • hold
  • Process packages even if they are marked to be held.
  • not-root
  • Try to install or remove even when not logged on as root.
  • overwrite
  • Overwrite a file from one package with the same file from another package. Forced by default.
  • overwrite-dir
  • Overwrite one package's directory with a file from another package.
  • overwrite-diverted
  • Overwrite a diverted file with an undiverted version.
  • remove-essential
  • Remove an essential package. Note that this can cause your system to stop working.
  • remove-reinstreq
  • Remove packages that are broken and are marked to require reinstallation.
• -G
• Don't install a package if a newer version is already installed. The same as --refuse-downgrade.
• --ignore-depends=pkglist
• Dependency problems result only in a warning for the packages in pkglist.
• --largemem
• Specify that dpkg can use as much memory as it needs.
• --new
• New binary package format. This is a dpkg-deb option.
• --no-act
• Go through the motions, but don't actually write any changes. Used for testing. Be sure to specify before the action; otherwise changes might be written.
• --nocheck
• Ignore the contents of the control file when building a package. This is a dpkg-deb option.
• -O, --selected-only
• Process only packages that are marked as selected for installation.
• --old
• Old binary package format. This is a dpkg-deb option.
• -R, --recursive
• Recursively handle deb files found in the directories specified with -A, --install, --unpack, and --avail and their subdirectories.
• -R, --root=dir, --admindir=dir, --instdir=dir
• Change default directories. admindir contains administrative files with status and other information about packages; it defaults to /var/lib/dpkg. instdir is the directory in which packages are installed and defaults to /. Changing the root directory to dir automatically changes instdir to dir and admindir to /dir/var/lib/dpkg.
• --smallmem
• Specify that dpkg should try to preserve memory.

Backend command for building and managing Debian package archives. Also see dpkg; you'll often want to use dpkg to pass commands through to dpkg-deb, rather than call dpkg-deb directly.

Actions

• -b dir [archive], --build dir [archive]
• Create an archive from the filesystem tree starting with directory dir. The directory must have a DEBIAN subdirectory containing the control file and any other control information. If archive is specified and is a filename, the package is written to that file; if no archive is specified, the package is written to dir.deb. If the archive already exists, it is replaced. If archive is the name of a directory, the dpkg-deb looks in the control file for the information it needs to generate the package name. (Note that for this reason, you cannot use --no-check with a directory name.)
• -c archive, --contents archive
• List the filesystem-tree portion of archive.
• -e, --control archive dir
• Extract control information from archive into the directory dir, which is created if it doesn't exist.
• -f archive [control-fields], --field archive [control-fields]
• Extract information about one or more fields in the control file for archive. If no fields are provided, print the entire control file.
• -h, --help
• Print help information and exit.
• -I archive [control-files], --info archive [control-files]
• Provide information about binary package archive. If no control files are provided, print a summary of the package contents; otherwise, print the control files in the order they were specified. An error message is printed to standard error for any missing components.
• --fsys-tarfile archive
• Extract the filesystem tree from archive, and send it to standard output in tar format. Can be used with tar to extract individual files from an archive.
• --license
• Print the license information and exit. Accepts the spelling --licence in addition to --license.
• --version
• Print the version number and exit.
• -x archive dir, --extract archive dir
• -X archive dir, --vextract archive dir
• Extract the filesystem tree from archive into the specified directory, creating dir if it doesn't already exist. -x (--extract) works silently, while -X (--vextract) lists the files as it extracts them. Do not use this option to install packages; use dpkg instead.

Options

• -D
• Turn on debugging.
• --new
• Build a new-style archive format (this is the default).
• --no-check
• Don't check the control file before building an archive. This lets you build a broken archive.
• --old
• Build an old-style archive format.

Split a binary package into smaller pieces and reassemble the pieces, manually or in automatic mode. The automatic mode maintains a queue of parts for reassembling. Useful for transferring to and from floppy disks.

Actions

• -a -o output part, --auto -o output part
• Add part to the queue for automatic reassembly and if all the parts are available, reassemble the package as output.
• -d [packages], --discard [packages]
• Discard parts from the automatic-assembly queue. If any packages are specified, discard only parts from those packages. Otherwise, empty the queue.
• -I parts, --info parts
• Print information about the part file or files specified.
• -j parts, --join parts
• Join the parts of a package file together from the parts specified. The default output file is package-version.deb.
• -l, --listq
• List the contents of the queue of parts waiting for reassembly, giving the package name, the parts that are on the queue, and the number of bytes.
• -s full-package [prefix], --full-package [prefix]
• Split the package full-package into parts, named prefixNofM.deb. The prefix defaults to the full-package name without the deb extension.
• -h, --help
• Print help message and exit.
• --license
• Print the license information and exit. Accepts the spelling --licence in addition to --license.
• --version
• Print the version information and exit.

Options

• --depotdir
• Specify an alternate directory depotdir for the queue of parts waiting for reassembly. Default is /var/lib/dpkg.
• --msdos
• Force --split output filenames to be MS-DOS-compatible.
• -Q, --npquiet
• Do not print an error message for a part that doesn't belong to a binary package when doing automatic queuing or reassembly.
• -o output, --output output
• Use output as the filename for a reassembled package.
• -S num, --partsize num
• When splitting, specify the maximum part size (num) in kilobytes. Default is 450 KB.

A screen-oriented user frontend to dpkg. The primary user interface for installing and managing packages. See dpkg and dpkg-deb for information on building packages.

Actions

If dselect is run with no action specified on the command line, it displays the following menu:

* 0. [A]ccess Choose the access method to use. 1. [U]pdate Update list of available packages, if possible. 2. [S]elect Request which packages you want on your system. 3. [I]nstall Install and upgrade wanted packages. 4. [C]onfig Configure any packages that are unconfigured. 5. [R]emove Remove unwanted software. 6. [Q]uit Quit dselect.

% dselect access

If you enter quit on the command line, dselect exits immediately without doing anything. An additional command-line action is menu, which displays the menu and is equivalent to omitting the action.

Options

• --admindir dir
• Change the directory that holds internal data files to dir. Default is /var/lib/dpkg.
• -D [file], --debug [file]
• Turn on debugging. Send output to file if specified.
• --help
• Print help message and exit.
• --license
• Print the license information and exit. Accepts the spelling --licence in addition to --license.
• --version
• Print version information and exit.