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() source package1 [package2] [...]
  22   it() check
  23   it() clean
  24   it() autoclean
  25 )
  26
  27 Unless the -h, or --help option is given one of the above commands
  28 must be present.
  29
  30 startdit()
  31 dit(bf(update))
  32 bf(update) is used to resynchronize the package overview files from their
  33 sources. The overviews of available packages are fetched from the
  34 location(s) specified in bf(/etc/apt/sources.list).
  35 For example, when using a Debian archive, this command retrieves and
  36 scans the bf(Packages.gz) files, so that information about new and updated
  37 packages is available. An bf(update) should always be performed before an
  38 bf(upgrade) bf(dist-upgrade). Please be aware that the overall progress
  39 meter will be incorrect as the size of the package files cannot be known in
  40 advance.
  41
  42 dit(bf(upgrade))
  43 bf(upgrade) is used to install the newest versions of all packages currently
  44 installed on the system from the sources enumerated in
  45 bf(/etc/apt/sources.list). Packages currently installed with new versions
  46 available are retrieved and upgraded; under no circumstances are currently
  47 installed packages removed, or packages not already installed retrieved and
  48 installed. New versions of currently installed packages that cannot be
  49 upgraded without changing the install status of another package will be left
  50 at their current version. An bf(update) must be performed first so that
  51 bf(apt-get) knows that new versions of packages are available.
  52
  53 dit(bf(dselect-upgrade))
  54 bf(dselect-upgrade)
  55 is used in conjunction with the traditional Debian GNU/Linux packaging
  56 front-end, bf(dselect (8)). bf(dselect-upgrade)
  57 follows the changes made by bf(dselect) to the em(Status)
  58 field of available packages, and performs the actions necessary to realize
  59 that state (for instance, the removal of old and the installation of new
  60 packages).
  61
  62 dit(bf(dist-upgrade))
  63 bf(dist-upgrade),in addition to performing the function of bf(upgrade),
  64 also intelligently handles changing dependencies with new versions of
  65 packages; bf(apt-get) has a "smart" conflict resolution system, and it will
  66 attempt to upgrade the most important packages at the expense of less
  67 important ones if necessary. The bf(/etc/apt/sources.list) file contains a
  68 list of locations from which to retrieve desired package files.
  69
  70 dit(bf(install))
  71 bf(install) is followed by one or more em(packages) desired for installation.
  72 Each em(package) is a package name, not a fully qualified filename
  73 (for instance, in a Debian GNU/Linux system, em(ldso) would be the argument
  74 provided, not em(ldso_1.9.6-2.deb)). All packages required by the package(s)
  75 specified for installation will also be retrieved and installed. The
  76 bf(/etc/apt/sources.list) file is used to locate the desired packages. If a
  77 hyphen is appended to the package name (with no intervening space), the
  78 identified package will be removed if it is installed. This latter feature
  79 may be used to override decisions made by apt-get's conflict resolution system.
  80
  81 If no package matches the given expression and the expression contains one
  82 of '.', '?' or '*' then it is assumed to be a POSIX regex and it is applied
  83 to all package names in the database. Any matches are then installed (or
  84 removed).
  85
  86 dit(bf(remove))
  87 bf(remove) is identical to bf(install) except that packages are removed
  88 instead of installed. If a plus sign is appended to the package name (with no
  89 intervening space), the identified package will be installed.
  90
  91 dit(bf(source))
  92 bf(source) causes apt-get to fetch source packages. APT will examine the
  93 available packages to decide which source package to fetch. It will then
  94 find and download into the current directory the newest available version of
  95 that source package. Source packages are tracked separately from binary
  96 packages via bf(deb-src) type lines in the bf(/etc/apt/sources.list) file.
  97 This probably will mean that you will not get the same source as the package
  98 you have installed or as you could install. If the --compile options is
  99 specified then the package will be compiled to a binary .deb using
 100 dpkg-buildpackage, if --download-only is specified then the source package
 101 will not be unpacked.
 102
 103 dit(bf(check))
 104 bf(check) is a diagnostic tool; it updates the package cache and checks for
 105 broken packages.
 106
 107 dit(bf(clean))
 108 bf(clean) clears out the local repository of retrieved package files. It
 109 removes everything but the lock file from bf(/var/cache/apt/archives/)
 110 and bf(/var/cache/apt/archives/partial/).
 111 When APT is used as a bf(dselect(8)) method, bf(clean) is run automatically.
 112 Those who do not use dselect will likely want to run code(apt-get clean)
 113 from time to time to free up disk space.
 114
 115 dit(bf(autoclean))
 116 Like bf(clean), bf(autoclean) clears out the local repository of retrieved
 117 package files. The difference is that it only removes package files that
 118 can no longer be downloaded, and are largely useless. This allows a
 119 cache to be maintained over a long period without it growing out of
 120 control.
 121
 122 enddit()
 123
 124 manpageoptions()
 125 All command line options may be set using the configuration file, the
 126 descriptions indicate the configuration option to set. For boolean
 127 options you can override the config file by using something like bf(-f-),
 128 bf(--no-f), bf(-f=no) or several other variations.
 129
 130 startdit()
 131 dit(bf(-d, --download-only))
 132 Download only; package files are only retrieved, not unpacked or installed.
 133 See bf(APT::Get::Download-Only).
 134
 135 dit(bf(-f, --fix-broken))
 136 Fix; attempt to correct a system with broken dependencies in
 137 place. This option may be used alone or in conjunction with any of the
 138 command actions, and is sometimes necessary when running APT for the
 139 first time; APT itself does not allow broken package dependencies to
 140 exist on a system. It is possible that a system's dependency structure
 141 can be so corrupt as to require manual intervention (which usually
 142 means using dselect or dpkg --remove to eliminate some of the offending
 143 packages). Use of this option together with -m may produce an error in
 144 some situations. See bf(APT::Get::Fix-Broken).
 145
 146 dit(bf(-h, --help))
 147 Help; display a helpful usage message and exits.
 148
 149 dit(bf(-v, --version))
 150 Show the program version.
 151
 152 dit(bf(-m, --ignore-missing, --fix-missing))
 153 Ignore missing packages; If packages cannot be retrieved or fail the
 154 integrity check after retrieval (corrupted package files), hold back
 155 those packages and handle the result. Use of this option together with
 156 -f may produce an error in some situations. See bf(ignore-missing).
 157
 158 dit(bf(--no-download))
 159 Disables downloading of packages. This is best used with --ignore-missing to
 160 force APT to use only the .debs it has already downloaded.
 161
 162 dit(bf(-q, --quiet))
 163 Quiet; produces output suitable for logging, omitting progress indicators.
 164 More q's will produce more quiet up to a maximum of 2. You can also use
 165 bf(-q=#) to set the quiet level, overriding the configuration file. Note that
 166 quiet level 2 implies -y, you should never use -qq without a no-action
 167 modifier such as -d, --print-uris or -s as APT may decided to do something
 168 you did not expect.
 169 See bf(quiet)
 170
 171 dit(bf(-s, --simulate, --just-print, --dry-run, --recon, --no-act))
 172 No action; perform a simulation of events that would occur but do not
 173 actually change the system. See bf(APT::Get::Simulate). Simulate prints out
 174 a series of lines each one representing a dpkg operation, Configure (Conf),
 175 Remove (Remv), Unpack (Inst). Square brackets indicate broken packages with
 176 and empty set of square brackets meaning breaks that are of no consequence
 177 (rare).
 178
 179 dit(bf(-y, --yes, --assume-yes))
 180 Automatic yes to prompts; assume "yes" as answer to all prompts and run
 181 non-interactively. If an undesirable situation, such as changing a held
 182 package or removing an essential package occurs then bf(apt-get) will
 183 abort. See bf(APT::Get::Assume-Yes).
 184
 185 dit(bf(-u, --show-upgraded))
 186 Show upgraded packages; Print out a list of all packages that are to be
 187 upgraded. See bf(APT::Get::Show-Upgraded).
 188
 189 dit(bf(-b, --compile, --build))
 190 Compile source packages after downloading them.
 191
 192 dit(bf(--ignore-hold))
 193 Ignore package Holds; This causes bf(apt-get) to ignore a hold placed on
 194 a package. This may be useful in conjunction with bf(dist-upgrade) to
 195 override a large number of undesired holds. See bf(APT::Ignore-Hold).
 196
 197 dit(bf(--no-upgrade))
 198 Do not upgrade packages; When used in conjunction with bf(install)
 199 bf(no-upgrade) will prevent packages listed from being upgraded if they
 200 are already installed. See bf(APT::Get::no-upgrade).
 201
 202 dit(bf(--force-yes))
 203 Force yes; This is a dangerous option that will cause apt to continue without
 204 prompting if it is doing something potentially harmful. It should not be used
 205 except in very special situations. Using bf(force-yes) can potentially destroy
 206 your system! See bf(APT::Get::force-yes).
 207
 208 dit(bf(--print-uris))
 209 Instead of fetching the files to install their URIs are printed. Each
 210 URI will have the path, the destination file name, the size and the expected
 211 md5 hash. Note that the file name to write to will not always match
 212 the file name on the remote site! This also works with the bf(source)
 213 command See bf(APT::Get::Print-URIs).
 214
 215 dit(bf(--purge))
 216 Use purge instead of remove for anything that would be removed.
 217
 218 dit(bf(--list-cleanup))
 219 This option defaults to on, use bf(--no-list-cleanup) to turn it off.
 220 When on apt-get will automatically manage the contents of
 221 /var/state/apt/lists to ensure that obsolete files are erased. The only
 222 reason to turn it off is if you frequently change your source list. See
 223 bf(APT::Get::List-Cleanup)
 224
 225 dit(bf(--diff-only), bd(--tar-only))
 226 Download only the diff or tar file of a source archive.
 227
 228 dit(bf(-c, --config-file))
 229 Configuration File; Specify a configuration file to use. bf(apt-get) will
 230 read the default configuration file and then this configuration file. See
 231 bf(apt.conf(5)) for syntax information.
 232
 233 dit(bf(-o, --option))
 234 Set a Configuration Option; This will set an arbitrary configuration option.
 235 The syntax is
 236 verb(-o Foo::Bar=bar)
 237 enddit()
 238
 239 manpagefiles()
 240 itemize(
 241   it() /etc/apt/sources.list
 242   locations to fetch packages from
 243
 244   it() /var/cache/apt/archives/
 245   storage area for retrieved package files
 246
 247   it() /var/cache/apt/archives/partial/
 248   storage area for package files in transit
 249
 250   it() /var/state/apt/lists/
 251   storage area for state information for each package resource specified in
 252   the source list
 253
 254   it() /var/state/apt/lists/partial/
 255   storage area for state information in transit
 256 )
 257
 258 manpageseealso()
 259 apt-cache(8),
 260 dpkg(8),
 261 dselect(8),
 262 sources.list(5),
 263 apt.conf(5),
 264 The APT Users Guide in /usr/doc/apt/
 265
 266 manpagediagnostics()
 267 apt-get returns zero on normal operation, decimal 100 on error.
 268
 269 manpagebugs()
 270 See http://bugs.debian.org/apt.  If you wish to report a
 271 bug in bf(apt-get), please see bf(/usr/doc/debian/bug-reporting.txt)
 272 or the bf(bug(1)) command.
 273
 274 manpageauthor()
 275 apt-get was written by the APT team <apt@packages.debian.org>.