APT

Summary

Advanced Packaging Tool (APT): Debian's high-level package management system, also used by other Linux distributions

Configuration

apt configuration folders and files:

/etc/apt

apt sources:

/etc/pat/sources.list

APT uses /var/lib/apt/lists/* for tracking available packages while dpkg uses /var/lib/dpkg/available. [1]

Standard Debian:

#deb file:///cdrom/ sarge main

deb http://mirrors.kernel.org/debian/ stable main
deb-src http://mirrors.kernel.org/debian/ stable main

deb http://security.debian.org/ stable/updates main

Commands

Installing and Removing Packages

Install package:

apt-get install <package>

Reinstall package:

# If you somehow damage an installed package, or simply want the files of a package to be reinstalled with the newest version that is
# available, you can use the --reinstall option like so:
apt-get --reinstall install <package>

Remove package:

apt-get remove <package>

Remove package and purge configuration files: (do before a reinstall if you want default config files back)

apt-get --purge remove [package]
apt-get purge [package]
dpkg --purge [package]    # remove config files from a removed package that wasn't purged

Clear out the local repository of retrieved package files (will likely want to run from time to time to free up disk space):

apt-get clean

See Package Versions

See what versions are available of a package to you: ^[1]

apt policy PACKAGE

Install Package by Version

Install Package by Version: ^[2]

sudo apt install PACAKGE=VERSION

Install Package Less Than Version with Satisfy

Install Package Version with Satisfy ^[3] ^[4] ^[5]

sudo apt-get satisfy "foo (>= 1.0), bar (>= 2.0)"

sudo apt satisfy "python3 (>= 3.9), python3-dev (>= 3.9)"

Package Updates

Retrieve new lists of packages:

apt-get update

Upgrade packages:

# It's important to always run 'apt-get update' before you try this
# -u show upgraded packages (otherwise silent)
apt-get -u upgrade

Simulate upgrade (to see what will change):

apt-get -s upgrade

Upgrading to a new release:

apt-get -u dist-upgrade

Download upgrade files, but don't install:

apt-get -d upgrade
apt-get -d dist-upgrade

Upgrade

apt-get clean            # clean cached
apt-get update           # update lists

apt-get -s upgrade       # simulate upgrade

apt-get -u update        # upgrade packages (when ready)

apt-get -u dist-upgrade  # Install any missing dependencies (for those kept back)

aptitude:

aptitude clean
aptitude update
aptitude dist-upgrade

aptitude 0.4.11.11:

aptitude clean
aptitude update
aptitude safe upgrade
aptitude full-upgrade

Searching

Search for a package:

apt-cache search [regex]

Determine with package a file came from:

dpkg -S [filename_and_path]

Searching with aptitude:

apt-cache search ^kernel-image

List installed packages and versions (similar to rpm -qa):

dpkg -l | grep [regex]

List files within installed package:

dpkg -L [package]

List files within packages (installed and not installed):

# Install with 'apt-get install apt-file'
# Run 'apt-file update' to update the apt-file database first
apt-file update
apt-file list [package pattern]

Search for file within all packages (It works similar to dpkg -S, but including not installed packages):

apt-file search [filename]

Show all downloaded packages (including not installed): [2]

dpkg -l *
dpkg -l \*
dpkg -l '*'

Note: Without the star glob, dpkg only lists installed packages.

To search the listing of packages yourself:

less /var/lib/dpkg/available

Note: dpkg keeps its record of available packages in /var/lib/dpkg/available. A simpler one-shot command to retrieve and update the available file is dselect update.

Find packages to be updated:

# apt-get install apt-show-versions
apt-show-versions -u
apt-show-versions | grep upgradeable

Find Package that Provides File

-S, --search filename-search-pattern...
                  Search for a filename from installed packages.

$ dpkg -S /bin/ls
coreutils: /bin/ls

ref: [3]

Find Package that Provides File with apt-file

sudo apt-get install apt-file
apt-file update

$ apt-file find kwallet.h
kdelibs5-dev: /usr/include/kwallet.h
libkf5wallet-dev: /usr/include/KF5/KWallet/kwallet.h

Ref: [4]

List Files in Package with dpkg-query

For packages installed:

dpkg-query -L <package>

# dpkg-query -L wget
/.
/etc
/usr/bin/wget
...

Ref: [5]

List Files in Package with apt-file

For packages installed or not installed:

apt-file list <package>

# apt-file list wget
wget: /etc/wgetrc
wget: /usr/bin/wget
...

Ref: [6]

List Package Dependencies

What packages will this package also install:

apt-cache depends <package>

# apt-cache depends wget
wget
  Depends: libc6
  Depends: libidn2-0
...

Also listed in details of `showpkg`:

apt-cache showpkg <package>

List Package Reverse Dependencies

What packages will install this package as a dependency:

apt-cache rdepends <package>

# apt-cache rdepends wget
wget
Reverse Depends:
 |usbutils
  ubuntu-standard
  virtualbox-ext-pack
...

Also listed in details of `showpkg`:

apt-cache showpkg <package>

Package Details

Show package details:

apt-cache show <package>

Show package dependencies:

apt-cache depends <package>

Show package information:

apt-cache showpkg <package>

APT maintenance

Clean apt cache:

apt-get clean

If an installation breaks in the middle of the process and you find that it's no longer possible to install or remove packages, try running these two commands:

apt-get -f install
dpkg --configure -a

configures all partially installed packages:

dpkg --configure -a
dpkg-reconfigure --all

Reconfigure a particular package:

dpkg --configure [package]
dpkg-reconfigure [package]

Reinstall Config Files

apt-get -o DPkg::options::=--force-confmiss --reinstall install <package>

note: didn't seem to work...

ref: [7]

yum to apt

List available packages:

# yum list
apt-cache search .

Clean cache:

# yum clean all
apt-cache clean

Install package:

# yum install [PACAKGE]
apt-get install [PACKAGE]

Remove package:

# yum remove [PACKAGE]
apt-get remove [PACKAGE]

List package files:

# rpm -qvl [PACKAGE]
dpkg -L [PACKAGE]

List installed packages:

# rpm -qa
dpkg -l

Update Packages:

# yum update
apt-get -u update
apt-get -u upgrade
apt-get -u dist-upgrade  # to include kernel updates

Update package cache:

# yum makecache
apt-get update

Provides:

# yum provides "*/ifconfig"
apt-get install apt-file
apt-file update
apt-file search "/ifconfig"

front ends

dselect

dselect:

"dselect is a program that helps users select Debian packages for installation." [8]

TUI:

dselect

Update list of available packages (found in /var/lib/dpkg/available):

dselect update

aptitude

aptitude:

"aptitude is a featureful package manager for Debian GNU/Linux systems, based on the renowned apt package management infrastructure. aptitude provides the functionality of dselect and apt-get, as well as many additional features not found in either program." [9]

Local deb repository

Create a folder somewhere:

mkdir /data/debs

May want 'override' file (If you do not want to write an override file, just use /dev/null when calling dpkg-scanpackages):

[package] [priority] [section]

Build deb package file:

cd /data
dpkg-scanpackages debs [override file] | gzip > debs/Packages.gz

Add

deb file:/root debs/

Repository Structure

See apt/repository

Alien - convert .rpm to .deb

To convert an .rpm to .deb...

Summary: install non-native packages with dpkg

Description:

Alien allows you to convert LSB, Red Hat, Stampede and Slackware Packages
into Debian packages, which can be installed with dpkg.

It can also generate packages of any of the other formats.

This is a tool only suitable for binary packages.

Install alien:

sudo apt-get install alien

Convert to .deb file:

sudo alien [package].rpm

# Note: use the --scripts parameter to include the scripts.
sudo alien --scripts [package].rpm

# Note: alien will increment the version number. If you want to keep the original version number, you must use the -k switch:
sudo alien --scripts -k [package].rpm

Install .deb file:

sudo dpkg -i [package].deb

To skip the dpkg step, convert and install all in one with '-i':

 sudo alien --scripts -i [package].rpm

More alien info:

man alien

References:

apt-mirror

See apt-mirror

Summary:

https://apt-mirror.github.io/

$ sudo apt-get install apt-mirror
$ nano /etc/apt/mirror.list
$ sudo apt-mirror

Source:

https://github.com/apt-mirror/apt-mirror

/etc/apt/mirror.list - Ubuntu 16 and 18:

############# config ##################
#
# set base_path    /var/spool/apt-mirror
set base_path    /repo/apt-mirror
#
# set mirror_path  $base_path/mirror
# set skel_path    $base_path/skel
# set var_path     $base_path/var
# set cleanscript $var_path/clean.sh
# set defaultarch  <running host architecture>
# set postmirror_script $var_path/postmirror.sh
# set run_postmirror 0
set nthreads     20
set _tilde 0
#
############# end config ##############

## Ubuntu 16 ##

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates main restricted universe multiverse
#deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-proposed main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports main restricted universe multiverse

#deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial main restricted universe multiverse
#deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security main restricted universe multiverse
#deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates main restricted universe multiverse
##deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-proposed main restricted universe multiverse
#deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports main restricted universe multiverse

## Ubuntu 18 ##

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates main restricted universe multiverse
#deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-proposed main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-backports main restricted universe multiverse

#deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic main restricted universe multiverse
#deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security main restricted universe multiverse
#deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates main restricted universe multiverse
##deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-proposed main restricted universe multiverse
#deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-backports main restricted universe multiverse

clean http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu

Uncomment the dev-src sections if you want the source files (takes a ton of space!)

/repo/apt-mirror/var/postmirror.sh:

#!/bin/bash

echo
echo
echo
echo
echo "postmirror: Running clean.sh!"

/repo/apt-mirror/var/clean.sh

apt-file

sudo apt update
sudo apt-get install apt-file
apt-file update

apt-file find [file]
apt-file list [packagename]

apt-file find kwallet.h

apt-file search /usr/lib/tracker/tracker-store
apt-file search --regex /tracker-extract$
apt-file search --regex /tracker-miner-fs$

ref: [10]

Mark and Hold Package

Don't allow kernel to be updated

Hold a package:

sudo apt-mark hold <package-name>

Remove the hold:

sudo apt-mark unhold <package-name>

Show all packages on hold:

sudo apt-mark showhold

ref: [11]

Show Available Package Versions With Madison

To show available versions of a package:

apt-cache madison [package]

Sample:

# apt-cache madison git
       git | 1:2.25.1-1ubuntu3.5 | http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates/main amd64 Packages
       git | 1:2.25.1-1ubuntu3.5 | http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security/main amd64 Packages
       git | 1:2.25.1-1ubuntu3 | http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/main amd64 Packages

ref: https://askubuntu.com/questions/447/how-can-i-see-all-versions-of-a-package-that-are-available-in-the-archive

Show Available Package Version with Apt List

Nearly equivalent to madison:

apt list -a <package name>

ref: [12]

Issues

Could not get lock

Error:

E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (11 Resource temporarily unavailable)
E: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/), is another process using it?

This happens when apt is interrupted during an installation

Solution: (remove lock and resume installation)

killall aptitude
killall apt-get
rm /var/lib/dpkg/lock
dpkg --configure -a

The following packages have been kept back

Running 'apt-get upgrade' may show this:

The following packages have been kept back:
...

There we can see four packages haven't been upgraded, even though newer packages are available. This is because two new packages were introduced, and these upgrades depend upon it.

To fix this you must run :

apt-get dist-upgrade

This will upgrade the packages that have newer versions available, and install any new dependencies which are required to do that.

Source: Some upgrades show packages being kept back

package reportbug upgrade issue

When trying to dist-upgrade Debian to the latest:

Problem:

Preparing to replace reportbug 3.8 (using .../reportbug_3.48_all.deb) ...
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/pycentral", line 1891, in ?
    main()
  File "/usr/bin/pycentral", line 1885, in main
    rv = action.run(global_options)
  File "/usr/bin/pycentral", line 1296, in run
    runtimes = get_installed_runtimes()
  File "/usr/bin/pycentral", line 210, in get_installed_runtimes
    default_version = pyversions.default_version(version_only=True)
  File "/usr/share/pycentral-data/pyversions.py", line 163, in default_version
    raise ValueError, "/usr/bin/python does not match the python default version. It must be reset to point to %s" % debian_default
ValueError: /usr/bin/python does not match the python default version. It must be reset to point to python2.4
dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/reportbug_3.48_all.deb (--unpack):
 subprocess pre-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
 /var/cache/apt/archives/reportbug_3.48_all.deb
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Solution:

dpkg -r --force all python-newt python-central
apt-get -f install
apt-get dist-upgrade

Work Arounds

apt-get -f install

trying to overwrite [file] which is also in package [package]

Preparing to replace debianutils 2.8.4 (using …/debianutils_2.23.1_i386.deb) …
Unpacking replacement debianutils …
dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/debianutils_2.23.1_i386.deb (--unpack):
  trying to overwrite `/usr/sbin/add-shell’, which is also in package passwd
Errors were encountered while processing:
  /var/cache/apt/archives/debianutils_2.23.1_i386.deb
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Solution:

dpkg -r --force all passwd
apt-get -f install

Generic Solution:

dpkg -r --force all [package]
apt-get -f install

Source: [13]

Install these packages without verification?

try...

Solution:

apt-get clean ; apt-get update

# or

apt-get install debian-keyring debian-archive-keyring

See: SecureApt - Debian Wiki

This installation run will require temporarily removing the essential package

Problem on 'apt-get -u dist-upgrade':

E: This installation run will require temporarily removing the essential package
   sysvinit due to a Conflicts/Pre-Depends loop. This is often bad, but if you
   really want to do it, activate the APT::Force-LoopBreak option.
E: Internal Error, Could not early remove sysvinit

Cause:

Solution:

Option #1:

Remove the problem package and run upgrade again.

apt-get remove [package]

WARNING: This will break things that need to be manually repaired

Source: How to solve apt-get upgrade problem - Linux / UNIX Forum

Option #2:

Enable the Force-LoopBreak option:

 apt-get -o APT::Force-LoopBreak=yes dist-upgrade

WARNING: This will break things that need to be manually repaired

Source: DEBIAN APT : Force Loop Break - NickNack's personal blog

Could not open lock file

Error:

E: Could not open lock file /var/cache/apt/archives/lock - open (2 No such file or directory)
E: Unable to lock the download directory

You deleted the /var/cache/apt/archives folder, didn't you? Recreate the folder, and the 'partial' folder as well.

Solution:

mkdir -p /var/cache/apt/archives/partial

readlink: invalid option

Error:

Preparing to replace libc6 2.3.2.ds1-11 (using .../libc6_2.7-18lenny4_i386.deb) ...
Checking for services that may need to be restarted...
Checking init scripts...
readlink: invalid option -- e
usage: readlink [-n] [-f] symlink [...]
readlink: invalid option -- e
usage: readlink [-n] [-f] symlink [...]
readlink: invalid option -- e
usage: readlink [-n] [-f] symlink [...]
readlink: invalid option -- e
usage: readlink [-n] [-f] symlink [...]
readlink: invalid option -- e
usage: readlink [-n] [-f] symlink [...]
readlink: invalid option -- e
usage: readlink [-n] [-f] symlink [...]
readlink: invalid option -- e
usage: readlink [-n] [-f] symlink [...]
readlink: invalid option -- e
usage: readlink [-n] [-f] symlink [...]
readlink: invalid option -- e
usage: readlink [-n] [-f] symlink [...]
WARNING: POSIX threads library NPTL requires kernel version
2.6.8 or later. If you use a kernel 2.4, please upgrade it
before installing glibc.

The installation of a 2.6 kernel _could_ ask you to install a new libc
first, this is NOT a bug, and should *NOT* be reported. In that case,
please add etch sources to your /etc/apt/sources.list and run:
  apt-get install -t etch linux-image-2.6
Then reboot into this new kernel, and proceed with your upgrade
dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/libc6_2.7-18lenny4_i386.deb (--unpack):
 subprocess pre-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
 /var/cache/apt/archives/libc6_2.7-18lenny4_i386.deb
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Solution:

I had this problem too and it is because Debian have moved the packages for sarge to another site (Archive).

I have written a new /etc/apt/sources.list that fixes this. Simply remove the current entries from /etc/apt/sources.list and replace them with this...

deb http://archive.debian.org/debian sarge main contrib non-free

deb http://archive.debian.org/debian-non-US oldstable/non-US main contrib non-free
deb-src http://archive.debian.org/debian-non-US oldstable/non-US main contrib non-free

deb http://archive.debian.org/debian-security sarge/updates main contrib non-free
deb-src http://archive.debian.org/debian-security sarge/updates main contrib non-free

Source: Installed Xebian 1.1.4, Now I Can't Upgrade Anything? - Scenyx Entertainment Community

no public key available

Error:

$ apt-get update
...
Reading package lists... Done
W: There is no public key available for the following key IDs:
B5D0C804ADB11277
W: You may want to run apt-get update to correct these problems

Solution:

apt-key update

If that doesn't work:

# gpg --keyserver wwwkeys.eu.pgp.net --recv-keys [MISSING_KEY_ID]
# apt-key add /root/.gnupg/pubring.gpg
# apt-get update

Source: Small Tip: How to fix “There are no public key available for the following key IDs” Error in Debian « Alexey Kovyrin's Blog

W: Failed to fetch Packages.gz - Not Found

Error:

Err http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main Packages
  404  Not Found [IP: 91.189.91.14 80]
W: Failed to fetch Packages.gz - Not Found
E: Some index files failed to download, they have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

"If you want to continue using an outdated release then edit /etc/apt/sources.list and change archive.ubuntu.com to old-releases.ubuntu.com"

sudo sed -i -e 's/archive.ubuntu.com\|security.ubuntu.com/old-releases.ubuntu.com/g' /etc/apt/sources.list

I had to change "us.archive" to "old-releases".

References:

How to install software or upgrade from old unsupported release? - Ask Ubuntu - http://askubuntu.com/questions/91815/how-to-install-software-or-upgrade-from-old-unsupported-release
EOLUpgrades - Community Ubuntu Documentation - https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EOLUpgrades/

Old Release - Failed to fetch

Once support is up for the version of Ubuntu you are using the repository is moved to another server and will no longer be available on the standard http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dist/ location.

The easiest solution is to upgrade:

apt-get dist-upgrade

An alternative solution is to point to the moved servers. Run this command below on your server and it will replace all of the archive.ubuntu.com and security.ubuntu.com package repository URLs with old-releases.ubuntu.com

sudo sed -i -e 's/archive.ubuntu.com\|security.ubuntu.com/old-releases.ubuntu.com/g' /etc/apt/sources.list
apt-get update

https://smyl.es/how-to-fix-ubuntudebian-apt-get-404-not-found-package-repository-errors-saucy-raring-quantal-oneiric-natty/

keywords

[1] ttps://askubuntu.com/questions/916598/how-to-install-a-package-greater-than-or-equal-to-a-particular-version

[2] ttps://askubuntu.com/questions/916598/how-to-install-a-package-greater-than-or-equal-to-a-particular-version

[3] ttps://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/578460/specify-apt-get-a-minimum-version-to-be-installed

[4] ttps://askubuntu.com/questions/916598/how-to-install-a-package-greater-than-or-equal-to-a-particular-version

[5] ttps://askubuntu.com/questions/916598/how-to-install-a-package-greater-than-or-equal-to-a-particular-version

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

APT

Summary

Configuration

Commands

Installing and Removing Packages

See Package Versions

Install Package by Version

Install Package Less Than Version with Satisfy

Package Updates

Upgrade

Searching

Find Package that Provides File

Find Package that Provides File with apt-file

List Files in Package with dpkg-query

List Files in Package with apt-file

List Package Dependencies

List Package Reverse Dependencies

Package Details

APT maintenance

Reinstall Config Files

yum to apt

front ends

dselect

aptitude

Local deb repository

Repository Structure

Alien - convert .rpm to .deb

apt-mirror

apt-file

Mark and Hold Package

Show Available Package Versions With Madison

Show Available Package Version with Apt List

Issues

Could not get lock

The following packages have been kept back

package reportbug upgrade issue

Work Arounds

trying to overwrite [file] which is also in package [package]

Install these packages without verification?

This installation run will require temporarily removing the essential package

Could not open lock file

readlink: invalid option

no public key available

W: Failed to fetch Packages.gz - Not Found

Old Release - Failed to fetch

keywords

Navigation menu

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