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.\" This manpage has been automatically generated by docbook2man-spec
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.\" from a DocBook document. docbook2man-spec can be found at:
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.\" <http://shell.ipoline.com/~elmert/hacks/docbook2X/>
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.\" Please send any bug reports, improvements, comments, patches,
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.\" etc. to Steve Cheng <steve@ggi-project.org>.
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.TH "APT-CACHE" "8" "12 March 2001" "" ""
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.\"Generated by db2man.xsl. Don't modify this, modify the source.
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.de Sp \" Vertical space (when we can't use .PP)
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.TH "APT-CACHE" 8 "29 February 2004" "Linux" ""
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apt-cache \- APT package handling utility -- cache manipulator
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\fBapt-cache\fR [ \fB-hvs\fR ] [ \fB-o=\fIconfig string\fB\fR ] [ \fB-c=\fIfile\fB\fR ] \fB [ add \fIfile\fB\fI...\fB ] [ gencaches ] [ showpkg \fIpkg\fB\fI...\fB ] [ stats ] [ dump ] [ dumpavail ] [ unmet ] [ search \fIregex\fB ] [ show \fIpkg\fB\fI...\fB ] [ showpkg \fIpkg\fB\fI...\fB ] [ depends \fIpkg\fB\fI...\fB ] [ pkgnames \fIprefix\fB ] [ dotty \fIpkg\fB\fI...\fB ] [ policy \fIpkgs\fB\fI...\fB ] \fR
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\fBapt\-cache\fR [\fB\-hvsn\fR] [\fB\-o=\fIconfig\ string\fR\fR] [\fB\-c=\fIfile\fR\fR] {\fBadd\ \fIfile\fR...\fR | \fBgencaches\fR | \fBshowpkg\ \fIpkg\fR...\fR | \fBshowsrc\ \fIpkg\fR...\fR | \fBstats\fR | \fBdump\fR | \fBdumpavail\fR | \fBunmet\fR | \fBsearch\ \fIregex\fR\fR | \fBshow\ \fIpkg\fR...\fR | \fBdepends\ \fIpkg\fR...\fR | \fBrdepends\ \fIpkg\fR...\fR | \fBpkgnames\ \fIprefix\fR\fR | \fBdotty\ \fIpkg\fR...\fR | \fBpolicy\ \fIpkgs\fR...\fR | \fBmadison\ \fIpkgs\fR...\fR}
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\fBapt-cache\fR performs a variety of operations on APT's package
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cache. \fBapt-cache\fR does not manipulate the state of the system
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but does provide operations to search and generate interesting output
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from the package metadata.
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Unless the \fB-h\fR, or \fB--help\fR option is given one of the
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commands below must be present.
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add adds the names package index files to the package cache.
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gencaches performs the same opration as
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\fBapt-get check\fR. It builds the source and package caches from
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the sources in \fB\fIsources.list\fB\fR(5) and from \fI/var/lib/dpkg/status\fR.
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showpkg displays information about the packages listed on the
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command line. Remaining arguments are package names. The available
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versions and reverse dependencies of each package listed are listed, as
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well as forward dependencies for each version. Forward (normal)
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dependencies are those packages upon which the package in question
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depends; reverse dependencies are those packages that depend upon the
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package in question. Thus, forward dependencies must be satisfied for a
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package, but reverse dependencies need not be.
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For instance, \fBapt-cache showpkg libreadline2\fR would produce
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output similar to the following:
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\fBapt\-cache\fR performs a variety of operations on APT's package cache\&. \fBapt\-cache\fR does not manipulate the state of the system but does provide operations to search and generate interesting output from the package metadata\&.
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Unless the \fB\-h\fR, or \fB\-\-help\fR option is given, one of the commands below must be present\&.
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add adds the named package index files to the package cache\&. This is for debugging only\&.
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gencaches performs the same operation as \fBapt\-get check\fR\&. It builds the source and package caches from the sources in \fB\fIsources\&.list\fR\fR(5) and from \fI/var/lib/dpkg/status\fR\&.
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showpkg displays information about the packages listed on the command line\&. Remaining arguments are package names\&. The available versions and reverse dependencies of each package listed are listed, as well as forward dependencies for each version\&. Forward (normal) dependencies are those packages upon which the package in question depends; reverse dependencies are those packages that depend upon the package in question\&. Thus, forward dependencies must be satisfied for a package, but reverse dependencies need not be\&. For instance, \fBapt\-cache showpkg libreadline2\fR would produce output similar to the following:
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Package: libreadline2
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Versions: 2.1-12(/var/state/apt/lists/foo_Packages),
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Versions: 2\&.1\-12(/var/state/apt/lists/foo_Packages),
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libreadlineg2,libreadline2
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libreadline2-altdev,libreadline2
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libreadline2\-altdev,libreadline2
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2.1-12 - libc5 (2 5.4.0-0) ncurses3.0 (0 (null))
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2\&.1\-12 \- libc5 (2 5\&.4\&.0\-0) ncurses3\&.0 (0 (null))
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Thus it may be seen that libreadline2, version 2\&.1\-12, depends on libc5 and ncurses3\&.0 which must be installed for libreadline2 to work\&. In turn, libreadlineg2 and libreadline2\-altdev depend on libreadline2\&. If libreadline2 is installed, libc5 and ncurses3\&.0 (and ldso) must also be installed; libreadlineg2 and libreadline2\-altdev do not have to be installed\&. For the specific meaning of the remainder of the output it is best to consult the apt source code\&.
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Thus it may be seen that libreadline2, version 2.1-12, depends on libc5 and
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ncurses3.0 which must be installed for libreadline2 to work.
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In turn, libreadlineg2 and libreadline2-altdev depend on libreadline2. If
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libreadline2 is installed, libc5, ncurses3.0, and ldso must also be
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installed; libreadlineg2 and libreadline2-altdev do not have to be
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installed. For the specific meaning of the remainder of the output it
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is best to consult the apt source code.
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stats displays some statistics about the cache.
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No further arguments are expected. Statistics reported are:
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stats displays some statistics about the cache\&. No further arguments are expected\&. Statistics reported are:
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Total package names is the number of package names found
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Normal packages is the number of regular, ordinary package
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names; these are packages that bear a one-to-one correspondence between
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their names and the names used by other packages for them in
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dependencies. The majority of packages fall into this category.
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Pure virtual packages is the number of packages that exist
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only as a virtual package name; that is, packages only "provide" the
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virtual package name, and no package actually uses the name. For
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instance, "mail-transport-agent" in the Debian GNU/Linux system is a
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pure virtual package; several packages provide "mail-transport-agent",
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but there is no package named "mail-transport-agent".
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Single virtual packages is the number of packages with only
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one package providing a particular virtual package. For example, in the
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Debian GNU/Linux system, "X11-text-viewer" is a virtual package, but
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only one package, xless, provides "X11-text-viewer".
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Mixed virtual packages is the number of packages that either
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provide a particular virtual package or have the virtual package name
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as the package name. For instance, in the Debian GNU/Linux system,
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debconf is both an actual package, and provided by the debconf-tiny
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Missing is the number of package names that were referenced in
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a dependency but were not provided by any package. Missing packages may
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be in evidence if a full distribution is not accesssed, or if a package
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(real or virtual) has been dropped from the distribution. Usually they
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are referenced from Conflicts statements.
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Total distinct versions is the number of package versions
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found in the cache; this value is therefore at least equal to the
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number of total package names. If more than one distribution (both
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"stable" and "unstable", for instance), is being accessed, this value
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can be considerably larger than the number of total package names.
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Total dependencies is the number of dependency relationships
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claimed by all of the packages in the cache.
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Total package names is the number of package names found in the cache\&.
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Normal packages is the number of regular, ordinary package names; these are packages that bear a one\-to\-one correspondence between their names and the names used by other packages for them in dependencies\&. The majority of packages fall into this category\&.
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Pure virtual packages is the number of packages that exist only as a virtual package name; that is, packages only "provide" the virtual package name, and no package actually uses the name\&. For instance, "mail\-transport\-agent" in the Debian GNU/Linux system is a pure virtual package; several packages provide "mail\-transport\-agent", but there is no package named "mail\-transport\-agent"\&.
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Single virtual packages is the number of packages with only one package providing a particular virtual package\&. For example, in the Debian GNU/Linux system, "X11\-text\-viewer" is a virtual package, but only one package, xless, provides "X11\-text\-viewer"\&.
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Mixed virtual packages is the number of packages that either provide a particular virtual package or have the virtual package name as the package name\&. For instance, in the Debian GNU/Linux system, "debconf" is both an actual package, and provided by the debconf\-tiny package\&.
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Missing is the number of package names that were referenced in a dependency but were not provided by any package\&. Missing packages may be in evidence if a full distribution is not accessed, or if a package (real or virtual) has been dropped from the distribution\&. Usually they are referenced from Conflicts statements\&.
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Total distinct versions is the number of package versions found in the cache; this value is therefore at least equal to the number of total package names\&. If more than one distribution (both "stable" and "unstable", for instance), is being accessed, this value can be considerably larger than the number of total package names\&.
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Total dependencies is the number of dependency relationships claimed by all of the packages in the cache\&.
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dump shows a short listing of every package in the cache. It is
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primarily for debugging.
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dumpavail prints out an available list to stdout. This is
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suitable for use with \fBdpkg\fR(8) and is used by the \fBdselect\fR(8) method.
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unmet displays a summary of all unmet dependencies in the
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show performs a function similar to
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\fBdpkg --print-avail\fR, it displays the package records for the
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search performs a full text search on all available package
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files for the regex pattern given. It searchs the package names and the
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descriptions for an occurance of the string and prints out the package
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name and the short description. If \fB--full\fR is given then output
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identical to show is produced for each matched package and
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if \fB--names-only\fR is given then the long description is not
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searched, only the package name is.
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Seperate arguments can be used to specified multiple search patterns that
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depends shows a listing of each dependency a package has
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and all the possible other packages that can fullfill that dependency.
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This command prints the name of each package in the system. The optional
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argument is a prefix match to filter the name list. The output is suitable
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for use in a shell tab complete function and the output is generated
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extremly quickly. This command is best used with the
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\fB--generate\fR option.
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dotty takes a list of packages on the command line and
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gernerates output suitable for use by dotty from the
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GraphVis <URL:http://www.research.att.com/sw/tools/graphviz/>
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package. The result will be a set of nodes and edges representing the
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relationships between the packages. By default the given packages will
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trace out all dependent packages which can produce a very large graph.
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This can be turned off by setting the
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APT::Cache::GivenOnly option.
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The resulting nodes will have several shapse, normal packages are boxes,
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pure provides are triangles, mixed provides are diamonds,
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hexagons are missing packages. Orange boxes mean recursion was stopped
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[leaf packages], blue lines are prre-depends, green lines are conflicts.
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Caution, dotty cannot graph larger sets of packages.
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policy is ment to help debug issues relating to the
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preferences file. With no arguments it will print out the
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priorities of each source. Otherwise it prints out detailed information
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about the priority selection of the named package.
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showsrc displays all the source package records that match the given package names\&. All versions are shown, as well as all records that declare the name to be a Binary\&.
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dump shows a short listing of every package in the cache\&. It is primarily for debugging\&.
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dumpavail prints out an available list to stdout\&. This is suitable for use with \fB\fBdpkg\fR\fR(8) and is used by the \fB\fBdselect\fR\fR(8) method\&.
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unmet displays a summary of all unmet dependencies in the package cache\&.
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show performs a function similar to \fBdpkg \-\-print\-avail\fRi; it displays the package records for the named packages\&.
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search \fIregex [ regex \&.\&.\&. ]\fR
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search performs a full text search on all available package lists for the regex pattern given\&. It searches the package names and the descriptions for an occurrence of the regular expression and prints out the package name and the short description\&. If \fB\-\-full\fR is given then output identical to show is produced for each matched package, and if \fB\-\-names\-only\fR is given then the long description is not searched, only the package name is\&.
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Separate arguments can be used to specify multiple search patterns that are and'ed together\&.
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depends shows a listing of each dependency a package has and all the possible other packages that can fulfill that dependency\&.
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rdepends \fIpkg(s)\fR
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rdependsshows a listing of each reverse dependency a package has\&.
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pkgnames \fI[ prefix ]\fR
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This command prints the name of each package in the system\&. The optional argument is a prefix match to filter the name list\&. The output is suitable for use in a shell tab complete function and the output is generated extremely quickly\&. This command is best used with the \fB\-\-generate\fR option\&.
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dotty takes a list of packages on the command line and generates output suitable for use by dotty from the GraphViz: \fIhttp://www.research.att.com/sw/tools/graphviz/\fR package\&. The result will be a set of nodes and edges representing the relationships between the packages\&. By default the given packages will trace out all dependent packages; this can produce a very large graph\&. To limit the output to only the packages listed on the command line, set the APT::Cache::GivenOnly option\&.
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The resulting nodes will have several shapes; normal packages are boxes, pure provides are triangles, mixed provides are diamonds, missing packages are hexagons\&. Orange boxes mean recursion was stopped [leaf packages], blue lines are pre\-depends, green lines are conflicts\&.
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Caution, dotty cannot graph larger sets of packages\&.
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policy \fI[ pkg(s) ]\fR
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policy is meant to help debug issues relating to the preferences file\&. With no arguments it will print out the priorities of each source\&. Otherwise it prints out detailed information about the priority selection of the named package\&.
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madison \fI/[ pkg(s) ]\fR
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apt\-cache's madison command attempts to mimic the output format and a subset of the functionality of the Debian archive management tool, madison\&. It displays available versions of a package in a tabular format\&. Unlike the original madison, it can only display information for the architecture for which APT has retrieved package lists (APT::Architecture)\&.
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All command line options may be set using the configuration file, the
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descriptions indicate the configuration option to set. For boolean
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options you can override the config file by using something like
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\fB-f-\fR,\fB--no-f\fR, \fB-f=no\fR or several other variations.
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Select the file to store the package cache. The package cache is the
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primary cache used by all operations.
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Configuration Item: Dir::Cache::pkgcache.
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Select the file to store the source cache. The source is used only by
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gencaches and it stores a parsed version of the package
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information from remote sources. When building the package cache the
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source cache is used to advoid reparsing all of the package files.
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Configuration Item: Dir::Cache::srcpkgcache.
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Quiet; produces output suitable for logging, omitting progress indicators.
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More qs will produce more quite up to a maximum of 2. You can also use
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\fB-q=#\fR to set the quiet level, overriding the configuration file.
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Configuration Item: quiet.
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Print only important deps; for use with unmet causes only Depends and
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Pre-Depends relations to be printed.
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Configuration Item: APT::Cache::Important.
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Print full package records when searching.
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Configuration Item: APT::Cache::ShowFull.
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Print full records for all available versions, this is only applicable to
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Configuration Item: APT::Cache::AllVersions.
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Perform automatic package cache regeneration, rather than use the cache
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as it is. This is the default, to turn it off use \fB--no-generate\fR.
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Configuration Item: APT::Cache::Generate.
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Only search on the package names, not the long description.
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Configuration Item: APT::Cache::NamesOnly.
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Make pkgnames print all names, including virtual packages
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and missing dependencies.
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Configuration Item: APT::Cache::AllNames.
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Make depends recursive so that all packages mentioned are
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Configuration Item: APT::Cache::RecurseDepends.
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Show a short usage summary.
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Show the program verison.
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Configuration File; Specify a configuration file to use.
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The program will read the default configuration file and then this
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configuration file. See \fB\fIapt.conf\fB\fR(5) for syntax information.
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Set a Configuration Option; This will set an arbitary configuration
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option. The syntax is \fB-o Foo::Bar=bar\fR.
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All command line options may be set using the configuration file, the descriptions indicate the configuration option to set\&. For boolean options you can override the config file by using something like \fB\-f\-\fR,\fB\-\-no\-f\fR, \fB\-f=no\fR or several other variations\&.
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\fB\-p\fR, \fB\-\-pkg\-cache\fR,
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Select the file to store the package cache\&. The package cache is the primary cache used by all operations\&. Configuration Item: Dir::Cache::pkgcache\&.
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\fB\-s\fR, \fB\-\-src\-cache\fR,
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Select the file to store the source cache\&. The source is used only by gencaches and it stores a parsed version of the package information from remote sources\&. When building the package cache the source cache is used to advoid reparsing all of the package files\&. Configuration Item: Dir::Cache::srcpkgcache\&.
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\fB\-q\fR, \fB\-\-quiet\fR,
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Quiet; produces output suitable for logging, omitting progress indicators\&. More q's will produce more quietness up to a maximum of 2\&. You can also use \fB\-q=#\fR to set the quietness level, overriding the configuration file\&. Configuration Item: quiet\&.
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\fB\-i\fR, \fB\-\-important\fR,
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Print only important dependencies; for use with unmet\&. Causes only Depends and Pre\-Depends relations to be printed\&. Configuration Item: APT::Cache::Important\&.
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\fB\-f\fR, \fB\-\-full\fR,
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Print full package records when searching\&. Configuration Item: APT::Cache::ShowFull\&.
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\fB\-a\fR, \fB\-\-all\-versions\fR,
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Print full records for all available versions\&. This is the default; to turn it off, use \fB\-\-no\-all\-versions\fR\&. If \fB\-\-no\-all\-versions\fR is specified, only the candidate version will displayed (the one which would be selected for installation)\&. This option is only applicable to the show command\&. Configuration Item: APT::Cache::AllVersions\&.
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\fB\-g\fR, \fB\-\-generate\fR,
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Perform automatic package cache regeneration, rather than use the cache as it is\&. This is the default; to turn it off, use \fB\-\-no\-generate\fR\&. Configuration Item: APT::Cache::Generate\&.
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\fB\-\-names\-only\fR, \fB\-n\fR,
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Only search on the package names, not the long descriptions\&. Configuration Item: APT::Cache::NamesOnly\&.
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Make pkgnames print all names, including virtual packages and missing dependencies\&. Configuration Item: APT::Cache::AllNames\&.
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Make depends and rdepends recursive so that all packages mentioned are printed once\&. Configuration Item: APT::Cache::RecurseDepends\&.
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Limit the output of depends and rdepends to packages which are currently installed\&. Configuration Item: APT::Cache::Installed\&.
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\fB\-h\fR, \fB\-\-help\fR,
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Show a short usage summary\&.
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\fB\-v\fR, \fB\-\-version\fR,
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Show the program version\&.
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\fB\-c\fR, \fB\-\-config\-file\fR,
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Configuration File; Specify a configuration file to use\&. The program will read the default configuration file and then this configuration file\&. See \fB\fIapt\&.conf\fR\fR(5) for syntax information\&.
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\fB\-o\fR, \fB\-\-option\fR,
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Set a Configuration Option; This will set an arbitary configuration option\&. The syntax is \fB\-o Foo::Bar=bar\fR\&.
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\fB\fI/etc/apt/sources.list\fB\fR
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locations to fetch packages from.
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Configuration Item: Dir::Etc::SourceList.
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\fB\fI/var/lib/apt/lists/\fB\fR
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storage area for state information for each package resource specified in
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\fB\fIsources.list\fB\fR(5)
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Configuration Item: Dir::State::Lists.
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\fB\fI/var/lib/apt/lists/partial/\fB\fR
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storage area for state information in transit.
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Configuration Item: Dir::State::Lists (implicit partial).
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\fI/etc/apt/sources\&.list\fR
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Locations to fetch packages from\&. Configuration Item: Dir::Etc::SourceList\&.
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\fI/var/lib/apt/lists/\fR
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Storage area for state information for each package resource specified in \fB\fIsources\&.list\fR\fR(5) Configuration Item: Dir::State::Lists\&.
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\fI/var/lib/apt/lists/partial/\fR
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Storage area for state information in transit\&. Configuration Item: Dir::State::Lists (implicit partial)\&.
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\fB\fIapt.conf\fB\fR(5), \fB\fIsources.list\fB\fR(5), \fBapt-get\fR(8)
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\fB\fIapt\&.conf\fR\fR(5), \fB\fIsources\&.list\fR\fR(5), \fB\fBapt\-get\fR\fR(8)
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.SH "DIAGNOSTICS"
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\fBapt-cache\fR returns zero on normal operation, decimal 100 on error.
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\fBapt\-cache\fR returns zero on normal operation, decimal 100 on error\&.
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See the APT bug page <URL:http://bugs.debian.org/apt>.
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If you wish to report a bug in APT, please see
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\fI/usr/share/doc/debian/bug-reporting.txt\fR or the \fBbug\fR(1) command.
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APT was written by the APT team <apt@packages.debian.org>.
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APT bug page: \fIhttp://bugs.debian.org/src:apt\fR\&. If you wish to report a bug in APT, please see \fI/usr/share/doc/debian/bug\-reporting\&.txt\fR or the \fB\fBreportbug\fR\fR(1) command\&.
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Jason Gunthorpe, APT team.
added
removed
doc/apt-cache.8
