mailto(apt@packages.debian.org) manpage(apt-get)(8)(4 Dec 1998)(apt)() manpagename(apt-get)(APT package handling utility -- command-line interface) manpagesynopsis() apt-get [options] [command] [package ...] manpagedescription() apt-get is the command-line tool for handling packages, and may be considered the user's "back-end" to apt(8). em(command) is one of: itemize( it() update it() upgrade it() dselect-upgrade it() dist-upgrade it() install package1 [package2] [...] it() remove package1 [package2] [...] it() check it() clean ) Unless the -h, or --help option is given one of the above commands must be present. startdit() dit(bf(update)) bf(update) is used to resynchronize the package overview files from their sources. The overviews of available packages are fetched from the location(s) specified in bf(/etc/apt/sources.list). For example, when using a Debian archive, this command retrieves and scans the bf(Packages.gz) files, so that information about new and updated packages is available. An bf(update) should always be performed before an bf(upgrade) bf(dist-upgrade). dit(bf(upgrade)) bf(upgrade) is used to install the newest versions of all packages currently installed on the system from the sources enumerated in bf(/etc/apt/sources.list). Packages currently installed with new versions available are retrieved and upgraded; under no circumstances are currently installed packages removed, or packages not already installed retrieved and installed. New versions of currently installed packages that cannot be upgraded without changing the install status of another package will be left at their current version. An bf(update) must be performed first so that bf(apt-get) knows that new versions of packages are available. dit(bf(dselect-upgrade)) bf(dselect-upgrade) is used in conjunction with the traditional Debian GNU/Linux packaging front-end, bf(dselect (8)). bf(dselect-upgrade) follows the changes made by bf(dselect) to the em(Status) field of available packages, and performs the actions necessary to realize that state (for instance, the removal of old and the installation of new dit(bf(dist-upgrade)) bf(dist-upgrade),in addition to performing the function of bf(upgrade), also intelligently handles changing dependencies with new versions of packages; bf(apt-get) 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. The bf(/etc/apt/sources.list) file contains a list of locations from which to retrieve desired package files. dit(bf(install)) bf(install) is followed by one or more em(packages) desired for installation. Each em(package) is a package name, not a fully qualified filename (for instance, in a Debian GNU/Linux system, em(lsdo) would be the argument provided, not em(ldso_1.9.6-2.deb)). All packages required by the package(s) specified for installation will also be retrieved and installed. The bf(/etc/apt/sources.list) 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. This latter feature may be used to override decisions made by apt-get's conflict resolution system. dit(bf(remove)) bf(remove) is identical to bf(install) except that packages are removed instead of installed. If a plus sign is appended to the package name (with no intervening space), the identified package will be installed. dit(bf(check)) bf(check) is a diagnostic tool; it updates the package cache and checks for brokenpackages. dit(bf(clean)) df(clean) clears out the local repository of retrieved package files. It removes everything but the lock file from bf(/var/cache/apt/archives/) and bf(/var/cache/apt/archives/partial/). When APT is used as a bf(dselect(8)) method, bf(clean) is run automatically. Those who do not use dselect will likely want to run code(apt-get clean) from time to time to free up disk space. enddit() manpageoptions() startdit() dit(bf(-d, --download-only)) Download only; package files are only retrieved, not unpacked or installed. dit(bf(-f, --fix-broken)) Fix; attempt to correct a system with broken dependencies in place. This option may be used alone or in conjunction with any of the command actions, and 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 (which usually means using dselect or dpkg --remove to eliminate some of the offending packages). Use of this option together with -m may produce an error in some situations. dit(bf(-h, --help)) Help; display a helpful usage message and exits. dit(bf(-m, --ignore-missing)) Ignore missing packages; If packages cannot be retrieved or fail the integrity check after retrieval (corrupted package files), hold back those packages and handle the result. Use of this option together with -f is discouraged. dit(bf(-q, --quiet)) Quiet; produces output suitable for logging, omitting progress indicators. More qs will produce more quite up to a maximum of 2. You can also use bf(-q=#) to set the quiet level, overriding the configuration file. dit(bf(-s, --simulate, --just-print, --dry-run, --recon, --no-act)) No action; perform a simulation of events that would occur but do not actually change the system. dit(bf(-y, --yes, --assume-yes)) Automatic yes to prompts; assume "yes" as answer to all prompts and run non-interactively. If an undesireable situation, such as changing a held package or removing an essential package occures then bf(apt-get) will abort. dit(bf(-u, --show-upgraded)) Show upgraded packages; Print out a list of all packages that are to be upgraded. dit(bf(--ignore-hold)) Ignore package Holds; This causes bf(apt-get) to ignore a hold placed on a package. This may be usefull in conjunction with bf(dist-upgrade) to override a large number of undesired holds. dit(bf(--no-upgrade)) Do not upgrade packages; When used in conjunction with bf(install) bf(no-upgrade) will prevent packages listed from being upgraded if they are already installed. dit(bf(--force-yes)) Force yes; This is a dangerous option that will cause apt to continue without prompting if it is doing something potentially harmfull. It should not be used except in very special situations. Using bf(force-yes) can potentially destroy your system! dit(bf(-c, --config-file)) Configuration File; Specify a configuration file to use. bf(apt-get) will read the default configuration file and then this configuration file. See bf(apt.conf(5)) for syntax information. dit(bf(-o, --option)) Set a Configuration Option; This will set an arbitary configuration option. The syntax is verb(-o Foo::Bar=bar) enddit() manpagefiles() itemize( it() /etc/apt/sources.list locations to fetch packages from it() /var/cache/apt/archives/ storage area for retrieved package files it() /var/cache/apt/archives/partial/ storage area for package files in transit it() /var/state/apt/lists/ storage area for state information for each package resource specified in it() /var/state/apt/lists/partial/ storage area for state information in transit ) manpageseealso() apt-cache(8), dpkg(8), dselect(8), sources.list(5), The APT Users Guide in /usr/doc/apt/ manpagediagnostics() apt-get returns zero on normal operation, decimal 100 on error. manpagebugs() See http://www.debian.org/Bugs/db/pa/lapt.html. If you wish to report a bug in bf(apt-get), please see bf(/usr/doc/debian/bug-reporting.txt) or the bf(bug(1)) command. manpageauthor() apt-get was written by the APT team .