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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?>
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<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"
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"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd" [
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<!ENTITY % aptent SYSTEM "apt.ent">
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&apt-author.jgunthorpe;
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<!-- The last update date -->
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<date>29 February 2004</date>
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<refentrytitle>apt-get</refentrytitle>
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<manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
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<!-- Man page title -->
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<refname>apt-get</refname>
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<refpurpose>APT package handling utility -- command-line interface</refpurpose>
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<command>apt-get</command>
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<arg><option>-hvs</option></arg>
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<arg><option>-o=<replaceable>config string</replaceable></option></arg>
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<arg><option>-c=<replaceable>file</replaceable></option></arg>
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<arg>dselect-upgrade</arg>
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<arg>install <arg choice="plain" rep="repeat"><replaceable>pkg</replaceable></arg></arg>
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<arg>remove <arg choice="plain" rep="repeat"><replaceable>pkg</replaceable></arg></arg>
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<arg>source <arg choice="plain" rep="repeat"><replaceable>pkg</replaceable></arg></arg>
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<arg>build-dep <arg choice="plain" rep="repeat"><replaceable>pkg</replaceable></arg></arg>
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<refsect1><title>Description</title>
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<para><command>apt-get</command> is the command-line tool for handling packages, and may be
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considered the user's "back-end" to other tools using the APT
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library. Several "front-end" interfaces exist, such as dselect(8),
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aptitude, synaptic, gnome-apt and wajig.</para>
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<para>Unless the <option>-h</option>, or <option>--help</option> option is given, one of the
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commands below must be present.</para>
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<varlistentry><term>update</term>
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<listitem><para><literal>update</literal> is used to resynchronize the package index files from
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their sources. The indexes of available packages are fetched from the
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location(s) specified in <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename>.
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For example, when using a Debian archive, this command retrieves and
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scans the <filename>Packages.gz</filename> files, so that information about new
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and updated packages is available. An <literal>update</literal> should always be
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performed before an <literal>upgrade</literal> or <literal>dist-upgrade</literal>. Please
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be aware that the overall progress meter will be incorrect as the size
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of the package files cannot be known in advance.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term>upgrade</term>
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<listitem><para><literal>upgrade</literal> is used to install the newest versions of all packages
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currently installed on the system from the sources enumerated in
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<filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename>. Packages currently installed with
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new versions available are retrieved and upgraded; under no circumstances
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are currently installed packages removed, or packages not already installed
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retrieved and installed. New versions of currently installed packages that
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cannot be upgraded without changing the install status of another package
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will be left at their current version. An <literal>update</literal> must be
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performed first so that <command>apt-get</command> knows that new versions of packages are
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available.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term>dselect-upgrade</term>
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<listitem><para><literal>dselect-upgrade</literal>
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is used in conjunction with the traditional Debian packaging
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front-end, &dselect;. <literal>dselect-upgrade</literal>
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follows the changes made by &dselect; to the <literal>Status</literal>
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field of available packages, and performs the actions necessary to realize
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that state (for instance, the removal of old and the installation of new
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packages).</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term>dist-upgrade</term>
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<listitem><para><literal>dist-upgrade</literal> in addition to performing the function of
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<literal>upgrade</literal>, also intelligently handles changing dependencies
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with new versions of packages; <command>apt-get</command> has a "smart" conflict
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resolution system, and it will attempt to upgrade the most important
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packages at the expense of less important ones if necessary.
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The <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename> file contains a list of locations
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from which to retrieve desired package files.
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See also &apt-preferences; for a mechanism for
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overriding the general settings for individual packages.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term>install</term>
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<listitem><para><literal>install</literal> is followed by one or more packages desired for
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installation. Each package is a package name, not a fully qualified
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filename (for instance, in a Debian GNU/Linux system, libc6 would be the
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argument provided, not <literal>libc6_1.9.6-2.deb</literal>) All packages required
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by the package(s) specified for installation will also be retrieved and
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installed. The <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename> file is used to locate
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the desired packages. If a hyphen is appended to the package name (with
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no intervening space), the identified package will be removed if it is
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installed. Similarly a plus sign can be used to designate a package to
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install. These latter features may be used to override decisions made by
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apt-get's conflict resolution system.</para>
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<para>A specific version of a package can be selected for installation by
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following the package name with an equals and the version of the package
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to select. This will cause that version to be located and selected for
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install. Alternatively a specific distribution can be selected by
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following the package name with a slash and the version of the
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distribution or the Archive name (stable, testing, unstable).</para>
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<para>Both of the version selection mechanisms can downgrade packages and must
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be used with care.</para>
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<para>Finally, the &apt-preferences; mechanism allows you to
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create an alternative installation policy for
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individual packages.</para>
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<para>If no package matches the given expression and the expression contains one
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of '.', '?' or '*' then it is assumed to be a POSIX regular expression,
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to all package names in the database. Any matches are then installed (or
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removed). Note that matching is done by substring so 'lo.*' matches 'how-lo'
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and 'lowest'. If this is undesired, anchor the regular expression
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with a '^' or '$' character, or create a more specific regular expression.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term>remove</term>
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<listitem><para><literal>remove</literal> is identical to <literal>install</literal> except that packages are
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removed instead of installed. If a plus sign is appended to the package
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name (with no intervening space), the identified package will be
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installed instead of removed.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term>source</term>
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<listitem><para><literal>source</literal> causes <command>apt-get</command> to fetch source packages. APT
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will examine the available packages to decide which source package to
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fetch. It will then find and download into the current directory the
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newest available version of that source package. Source packages are
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tracked separately from binary packages via <literal>deb-src</literal> type lines
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in the &sources-list; file. This probably will mean that you will not
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get the same source as the package you have installed or as you could
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install. If the --compile options is specified then the package will be
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compiled to a binary .deb using dpkg-buildpackage, if --download-only is
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specified then the source package will not be unpacked.</para>
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<para>A specific source version can be retrieved by postfixing the source name
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with an equals and then the version to fetch, similar to the mechanism
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used for the package files. This enables exact matching of the source
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package name and version, implicitly enabling the
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<literal>APT::Get::Only-Source</literal> option.</para>
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<para>Note that source packages are not tracked like binary packages, they
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exist only in the current directory and are similar to downloading source
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tar balls.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term>build-dep</term>
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<listitem><para><literal>build-dep</literal> causes apt-get to install/remove packages in an
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attempt to satisfy the build dependencies for a source package.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term>check</term>
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<listitem><para><literal>check</literal> is a diagnostic tool; it updates the package cache and checks
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for broken dependencies.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term>clean</term>
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<listitem><para><literal>clean</literal> clears out the local repository of retrieved package
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files. It removes everything but the lock file from
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<filename>&cachedir;/archives/</filename> and
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<filename>&cachedir;/archives/partial/</filename>. When APT is used as a
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&dselect; method, <literal>clean</literal> is run automatically.
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Those who do not use dselect will likely want to run <literal>apt-get clean</literal>
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from time to time to free up disk space.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term>autoclean</term>
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<listitem><para>Like <literal>clean</literal>, <literal>autoclean</literal> clears out the local
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repository of retrieved package files. The difference is that it only
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removes package files that can no longer be downloaded, and are largely
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useless. This allows a cache to be maintained over a long period without
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it growing out of control. The configuration option
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<literal>APT::Clean-Installed</literal> will prevent installed packages from being
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erased if it is set to off.</para></listitem>
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<refsect1><title>options</title>
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<varlistentry><term><option>-d</option></term><term><option>--download-only</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Download only; package files are only retrieved, not unpacked or installed.
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Download-Only</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>-f</option></term><term><option>--fix-broken</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Fix; attempt to correct a system with broken dependencies in
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place. This option, when used with install/remove, can omit any packages
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to permit APT to deduce a likely solution. Any Package that are specified
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must completely correct the problem. The option is sometimes necessary when
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running APT for the first time; APT itself does not allow broken package
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dependencies to exist on a system. It is possible that a system's
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dependency structure can be so corrupt as to require manual intervention
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(which usually means using &dselect; or <command>dpkg --remove</command> to eliminate some of
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the offending packages). Use of this option together with <option>-m</option> may produce an
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error in some situations.
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Fix-Broken</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>-m</option></term><term><option>--ignore-missing</option></term>
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<term><option>--fix-missing</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Ignore missing packages; If packages cannot be retrieved or fail the
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integrity check after retrieval (corrupted package files), hold back
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those packages and handle the result. Use of this option together with
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<option>-f</option> may produce an error in some situations. If a package is
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selected for installation (particularly if it is mentioned on the
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command line) and it could not be downloaded then it will be silently
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Fix-Missing</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>--no-download</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Disables downloading of packages. This is best used with
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<option>--ignore-missing</option> to force APT to use only the .debs it has
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Download</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>-q</option></term><term><option>--quiet</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Quiet; produces output suitable for logging, omitting progress indicators.
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More q's will produce more quiet up to a maximum of 2. You can also use
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<option>-q=#</option> to set the quiet level, overriding the configuration file.
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Note that quiet level 2 implies <option>-y</option>, you should never use -qq
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without a no-action modifier such as -d, --print-uris or -s as APT may
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decided to do something you did not expect.
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Configuration Item: <literal>quiet</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>-s</option></term>
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<term><option>--simulate</option></term>
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<term><option>--just-print</option></term>
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<term><option>--dry-run</option></term>
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<term><option>--recon</option></term>
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<term><option>--no-act</option></term>
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<listitem><para>No action; perform a simulation of events that would occur but do not
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actually change the system.
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Simulate</literal>.</para>
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<para>Simulate prints out
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a series of lines each one representing a dpkg operation, Configure (Conf),
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Remove (Remv), Unpack (Inst). Square brackets indicate broken packages with
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and empty set of square brackets meaning breaks that are of no consequence
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(rare).</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>-y</option></term><term><option>--yes</option></term>
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<term><option>--assume-yes</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Automatic yes to prompts; assume "yes" as answer to all prompts and run
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non-interactively. If an undesirable situation, such as changing a held
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package, trying to install a unauthenticated package or removing an essential package
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occurs then <literal>apt-get</literal> will abort.
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Assume-Yes</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>-u</option></term><term><option>--show-upgraded</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Show upgraded packages; Print out a list of all packages that are to be
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Show-Upgraded</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>-V</option></term><term><option>--verbose-versions</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Show full versions for upgraded and installed packages.
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Show-Versions</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>-b</option></term><term><option>--compile</option></term>
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<term><option>--build</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Compile source packages after downloading them.
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Compile</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>--ignore-hold</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Ignore package Holds; This causes <command>apt-get</command> to ignore a hold
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placed on a package. This may be useful in conjunction with
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<literal>dist-upgrade</literal> to override a large number of undesired holds.
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Ignore-Hold</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>--no-upgrade</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Do not upgrade packages; When used in conjunction with <literal>install</literal>,
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<literal>no-upgrade</literal> will prevent packages on the command line
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from being upgraded if they are already installed.
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Upgrade</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>--force-yes</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Force yes; This is a dangerous option that will cause apt to continue
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without prompting if it is doing something potentially harmful. It
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should not be used except in very special situations. Using
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<literal>force-yes</literal> can potentially destroy your system!
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::force-yes</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>--print-uris</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Instead of fetching the files to install their URIs are printed. Each
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URI will have the path, the destination file name, the size and the expected
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md5 hash. Note that the file name to write to will not always match
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the file name on the remote site! This also works with the
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<literal>source</literal> and <literal>update</literal> commands. When used with the
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<literal>update</literal> command the MD5 and size are not included, and it is
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up to the user to decompress any compressed files.
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Print-URIs</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>--purge</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Use purge instead of remove for anything that would be removed.
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An asterisk ("*") will be displayed next to packages which are
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scheduled to be purged.
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Purge</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>--reinstall</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Re-Install packages that are already installed and at the newest version.
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::ReInstall</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>--list-cleanup</option></term>
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<listitem><para>This option defaults to on, use <literal>--no-list-cleanup</literal> to turn it
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off. When on <command>apt-get</command> will automatically manage the contents of
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<filename>&statedir;/lists</filename> to ensure that obsolete files are erased.
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The only reason to turn it off is if you frequently change your source
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::List-Cleanup</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>-t</option></term>
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<term><option>--target-release</option></term>
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<term><option>--default-release</option></term>
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<listitem><para>This option controls the default input to the policy engine, it creates
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a default pin at priority 990 using the specified release string. The
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preferences file may further override this setting. In short, this option
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lets you have simple control over which distribution packages will be
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retrieved from. Some common examples might be
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<option>-t '2.1*'</option> or <option>-t unstable</option>.
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Default-Release</literal>;
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see also the &apt-preferences; manual page.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>--trivial-only</option></term>
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Only perform operations that are 'trivial'. Logically this can be considered
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related to <option>--assume-yes</option>, where <option>--assume-yes</option> will answer
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yes to any prompt, <option>--trivial-only</option> will answer no.
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Trivial-Only</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>--no-remove</option></term>
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<listitem><para>If any packages are to be removed apt-get immediately aborts without
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Remove</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>--only-source</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Only has meaning for the
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<literal>source</literal> and <literal>build-dep</literal>
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commands. Indicates that the given source names are not to be
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mapped through the binary table. This means that if this option
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is specified, these commands will only accept source package
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names as arguments, rather than accepting binary package names
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and looking up the corresponding source package. Configuration
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Item: <literal>APT::Get::Only-Source</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>--diff-only</option></term><term><option>--tar-only</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Download only the diff or tar file of a source archive.
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Diff-Only</literal> and
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<literal>APT::Get::Tar-Only</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>--arch-only</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Only process architecture-dependent build-dependencies.
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::Arch-Only</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><option>--allow-unauthenticated</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Ignore if packages can't be authenticated and don't prompt about it.
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This is usefull for tools like pbuilder.
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Configuration Item: <literal>APT::Get::AllowUnauthenticated</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<refsect1><title>Files</title>
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<varlistentry><term><filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename></term>
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<listitem><para>Locations to fetch packages from.
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Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Etc::SourceList</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><filename>/etc/apt/apt.conf</filename></term>
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<listitem><para>APT configuration file.
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Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Etc::Main</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><filename>/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/</filename></term>
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<listitem><para>APT configuration file fragments
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Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Etc::Parts</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><filename>/etc/apt/preferences</filename></term>
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<listitem><para>Version preferences file.
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This is where you would specify "pinning",
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i.e. a preference to get certain packages
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from a separate source
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or from a different version of a distribution.
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Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Etc::Preferences</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><filename>&cachedir;/archives/</filename></term>
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<listitem><para>Storage area for retrieved package files.
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Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Cache::Archives</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><filename>&cachedir;/archives/partial/</filename></term>
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<listitem><para>Storage area for package files in transit.
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Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::Cache::Archives</literal> (implicit partial). </para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><filename>&statedir;/lists/</filename></term>
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<listitem><para>Storage area for state information for each package resource specified in
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Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::State::Lists</literal>.</para></listitem>
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<varlistentry><term><filename>&statedir;/lists/partial/</filename></term>
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<listitem><para> Storage area for state information in transit.
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Configuration Item: <literal>Dir::State::Lists</literal> (implicit partial).</para></listitem>
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<refsect1><title>See Also</title>
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<para>&apt-cache;, &apt-cdrom;, &dpkg;, &dselect;, &sources-list;,
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&apt-conf;, &apt-config;,
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The APT User's guide in &docdir;, &apt-preferences;, the APT Howto.</para>
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<refsect1><title>Diagnostics</title>
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<para><command>apt-get</command> returns zero on normal operation, decimal 100 on error.</para>
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