5.2 The Debian Package Manager

Debian GNU/Linux provides several package management tools, primarily intended to facilitate the building, installation, and management of binary packages. Debian package names generally end in .deb. The Debian package management tools include:

dpkg: The original Debian packaging tool. Used to install or uninstall packages or as a frontend to dpkg-deb. Getting and installing packages is usually done with apt-get, but dpkg is still commonly used to install a package that is already on your system. In fact, apt-get calls dpkg to do the installation once it's gotten the package.
dpkg-deb: Lower-level packaging tool. Used to create and manage the Debian package archives. Accepts and executes commands from dpkg or can be called directly.
dselect: An interactive frontend to dpkg.
The Advanced Package Tool (APT): APT is a modern, user-friendly package management tool that consists of a number of commands. The most frequently used of these commands is apt-get, which is used to download and install a Debian package. apt-get can be run from the command line or selected as a method from dselect. One of the features of apt-get is that you can use it to get and install packages across the Internet by specifying an FTP or HTTP URL. You can also use it to upgrade all packages currently installed on your system in a single operation. Note that this results in a large download and will take a long time on a slow Internet connection.

Each of these tools is described in detail in Section 5.2.6.

5.2.1 Files

Some important files used by the Debian package management tools are:

control: Comes with each package. Documents dependencies; contains the name and version of the package, a description, maintainer, installed size, and so on.
conffiles: Comes with each package. Contains a list of the configuration files associated with the package.
preinst, postinst, prerm, postrm: Scripts that can be included in a package to be run before installation, after installation, before removal, or after removal of the package.
/var/lib/dpkg/available: Contains information about packages available on the system.
/var/lib/dpkg/status: Contains information about the status of packages available on the system.
/etc/apt/sources.list: A list for APT of package sources, used to locate packages. The sources are listed one per line, in order of preference.
/etc/apt/apt.conf: The main APT configuration file.
/etc/apt/apt_preferences: A preferences file that controls various aspects of APT, such as letting a user select the version or release of a package to install.
/etc/dpkg/dpkg.cfg: A configuration file containing default options for dpkg.

5.2.2 Package Priorities

Every Debian package has a priority associated with it, indicating how important the package is to the system. The priorities are:

Required: The package is essential to the proper functioning of the system.
Important: The package provides important functionality that enables the system to run well.
Standard: The package is included in a standard system installation.
Optional: The package is one that you might want to install, but you can omit it if you are short on disk space, for example.
Extra: The package either conflicts with other packages that have a higher priority, has specialized requirements, or is one that you would want to install only if you need it.

5.2.3 Package and Selection States

The possible states that a package can be in are:

config-files: Only the configuration files for the package are present on the system.
half-configured: The package is unpacked and configuration was started but not completed.
half-installed: Installation was started but not completed.
installed: The package is unpacked and configured.
not-installed: The package is not installed.
unpacked: The package is unpacked but not configured.

The possible package selection states are:

deinstall: The package has been selected for deinstallation (i.e., for removal of everything but configuration files).
install: The package has been selected for installation.
purge: The package has been selected to be purged (i.e., for removal of everything including the configuration files).

5.2.4 Package Flags

Two possible package flags can be set for a package:

hold: The package should not be handled by dpkg unless forced with the --force-hold option.
reinst-required: The package is broken and needs to be reinstalled. Such a package cannot be removed unless forced with the --force-reinstreq option.

5.2.5 Scripts

In addition to the commands described in the next section, a number of shell and Perl scripts are included with the package manager for use in managing and building packages:

apt-setup: An interactive script for adding download sources to the sources.list file. (Perl script)
dpkg-architecture: Determine and set the build and host architecture for package building. (Perl script)
dpkg-checkbuilddeps: Check installed packages against the build dependencies and build conflicts listed in the control file. (Perl script)
dpkg-buildpackage: Help automate package building. (Shell script)
dpkg-distaddfile: Add an entry for a file to debian/files. (Perl script)
dpkg-divert: Create and manage the list of diversions, used to override the default location for installing files. (Perl script)
dpkg-genchanges: Generate an upload control file from the information in an unpacked built source tree and the files it has generated. (Perl script)
dpkg-gencontrol: Read information from an unpacked source tree and display a binary package control file on standard output. (Perl script)
dpkg-name: Rename Debian packages to their full package names. (Shell script)
dpkg-parsechangelog: Read and parse the changelog from an unpacked source tree and write the information to standard output in machine-readable form. (Perl script)
dpkg-preconfigure: Let packages ask questions prior to installation. (Perl script)
dpkg-reconfigure: Reconfigure a package that is already installed. (Perl script)
dpkg-scanpackages: Create a Packages file from a tree of binary packages. The Packages file is used by dselect to provide a list of packages available for installation. (Perl script)
dpkg-shlibdeps: Calculate shared library dependencies for named executables. (Perl script)
dpkg-source: Pack and unpack Debian source archives. (Perl script)
dpkg-statoverride: Manage the list of stat overrides, which let dpkg override file ownership and mode when a package is installed. (Perl script)

5.2.6 Debian Package Manager Command Summary

For the apt- commands, options can be specified on the command line or set in the configuration file. Boolean options set in the configuration file can be overridden on the command line in a number of different ways, such as --no-opt and -opt=no, where opt is the single-character or full name of the option.

apt-cache

apt-cache [options] command

Perform low-level operations on the APT binary cache, including the ability to perform searches and produce output reports from package metadata. Useful for finding out information about packages.

Commands

add files: Add the specified package index files to the source cache.
depends pkgs: For each specified package, show a list of dependencies and packages that can fulfill the dependency.
dotty pkgs: Graph the relationships between the specified packages. The default is to trace out all dependent packages; turn this behavior off by setting the APT::Cache::GivenOnly configuration option.
dump: List every package in the cache. Used for debugging.
dumpavail: Print a list of available packages to standard output, suitable for use with dpkg.
gencaches: Build source and package caches from the sources in the file sources.list and from /var/lib/dpkg/status. Equivalent to running apt-get check.
pkgnames [prefix]: Print a list of packages in the system. If prefix is specified, print only packages whose names begin with that prefix. Most useful with the --generate option.
policy [pkgs]: Print detailed information about the priority selection of each specified package. With no arguments, print the priorities of each source. Useful for debugging issues related to the preferences file.
search regex: Search package names and descriptions of all available package files for the specified regular expression and print the name and short description of each matching package. With --full, the output is identical to that from the show command. With --names-only, only the package name is searched.
show pkgs: Display the package records for each specified package. Similar to running dpkg --print-avail.
showpkg pkgs: Display information about the specified packages. For each package, the output includes the available versions, packages that depend on this package, and packages that this package depends on.
stats: Display statistics about the cache.
unmet: Display the unmet dependencies in the package cache.

Options

-a, --all-versions: Print full records for all available versions. For use with the show commands. The configuration option is APT::Cache:: AllVersions.
--all-names: Cause pkgnames to print all names, including virtual packages and missing dependencies. The configuration option is APT::Cache::AllNames.
-c file, --config-file=file: Specify a configuration file to be read after the default configuration file.
-f, --full: Print full package records when searching. The configuration option is APT::Cache::ShowFull.
-g, --generate: Automatically regenerate the package cache rather than using the current cache. The default is to regenerate; turn it off with --no-generate. The configuration option is APT::Cache:: Generate.
-h, --help: Print usage information and exit.
-i, --important: Print only important dependencies. For use with unmet. The configuration option is APT::Cache::Important.
--names-only: Search only on package names, not long descriptions. The configuration option is APT::Cache::NamesOnly.
-o, --option: Set a configuration option. Syntax is -o group::tool=option.
-p file, --pkg-cache=file: Use the specified file for the package cache, the primary cache used by all operations. The configuration option is Dir::Cache::pkgcache.
-q, --quiet: Operate quietly, producing output for logging but no progress indicators. Use -qq for even quieter operation. The configuration option is quiet.
--recurse: Run depends recursively, so all mentioned packages are printed once. The configuration option is APT::Cache:: RecurseDepends.
-s file, --src-cache=file: Specify the source cache file used by gencaches. The configuration option is Dir::Cache::srcpkgcache.
-v, --version: Print version information and exit.

apt-cdrom

apt-cdrom [options] command

Add a new CD-ROM to APT's list of available sources. The database of CD-ROM IDs that APT maintains is /var/lib/apt/cdroms.list.

Commands

add: Add a CD-ROM to the source list.
ident: Print the identity of the current CD-ROM and the stored filename. Used for debugging.

Options

-a, --thorough: Do a thorough package scan. May be needed with some old Debian CD-ROMs.
-c file, --config-file=file: Specify a configuration file to be read after the default configuration file.
-d mount-point, --cdrom=mount-point: Specify the CD-ROM mount point, which must be listed in /etc/fstab. The configuration option is Acquire::cdrom::mount.
-f, --fast: Do a fast copy, assuming the files are valid and don't all need checking. Specify this only if disk has been run before without error. The configuration option is APT::CDROM:: Fast.
-h, --help: Print help message and exit.
-m, --no-mount: Don't mount or unmount the mount point. The configuration option is APT::CDROM::NoMount.
-n, --just-print, --recon, --no-act: Check everything, but don't actually make any changes. The configuration option is APT::CDROM::NoAct.
-o, --option: Set a configuration option. Syntax is -o group::tool=option.
-r, --rename: Prompt for a new label and rename the disk to the new value. The configuration option is APT::CDROM::Rename.
-v, --version: Print the version information and exit.

apt-config

apt-config [options] shell args
apt-config [options] dump

An internal program for querying configuration information.

Commands

dump

Display the contents of the configuration space.

shell

Access the configuration information from a shell script. The arguments are in pairs, specifying the name of a shell variable and a configuration value to query. The value may be postfixed with /x, where x is one of the following letters:

b: Return true or false.
d: Return directories.
f: Return filenames.
i: Return an integer.

Options

-c file, --config-file=file: Specify a configuration file to be read after the default configuration file.
-h, --help: Print help message and exit.
-o, --option: Set a configuration option. Syntax is -o group::tool=option.
-v, --version: Print the version information and exit.

apt-extract-templates

apt-extracttemplates [options] files

Extract configuration scripts and templates from the specified Debian package files. For each specified file, a line of output is generated with the following information:

package version template-file config-script

and the template and configuration files are written to the directory specified with -t or --temp-dir or by the configuration option APT::ExtractTemplates::TempDir. The filenames are in the form template.xxxx and config.xxxx.

Options

-c file, --config-file=file: Specify a configuration file to be read after the default configuration file.
-h, --help: Print help message and exit.
-o, --option: Set a configuration option. Syntax is -o group::tool=option.
-t dir, --tempdir=dir: Write the extracted template files and configuration scripts to the specified directory. The configuration option is APT::ExtractTemplates::TempDir.
-v, --version: Print the version information and exit.

apt-ftparchive

apt-ftparchive [options] command

Generate Package and other index files used to access a distribution source. The files should be generated on the source's origin site.

Commands

clean config-file: Clean the databases used by the specified configuration file by removing obsolete records.
contents path: Search the specified directory recursively. For each .deb file found, read the file list, sort the files by package, and write the results to standard output. Use with --db to specify a binary caching database.
generate config-file sections: Build indexes according to the specified configuration file.
packages paths [override [pathprefix]]: Generate a package file from the specified directory tree. The optional override file contains information describing how the package fits into the distribution, and the optional path prefix is a string prepended to the filename fields. Equivalent to dpkg-scanpackages.
sources paths [override [pathprefix]]: Generate a source index file from the specified directory tree. The optional override file contains information used to set priorities in the index file and to modify maintainer information. The optional path prefix is a string prepended to the directory field in the generated source index. Use --source-override to specify a different source override file. Equivalent to dpkg-scansources.

Options

-c file, --config-file=file: Specify a configuration file to be read after the default configuration file.
--contents: Perform contents generation. If set, and package indexes are being generated with a cache database, the file listing is extracted and stored in the database. Used with generate, allows the creation of any contents files. The default is on. The configuration option is APT::FTPArchive::Contents.
-d, --db: Use a binary caching database. This option has no effect on generate. The configuration option is APT::FTPArchive::DB.
--delink: Enable delinking of files when used with the External-Links setting. The default is on; turn off with --no-delink. The configuration option is APT::FTPArchive::DeLinkAct.
-h, --help: Print help message and exit.
--md5: Generate MD5 sums for the index files. The default is on. The configuration option is APT::FTPArchive::MD5.
-o, --option: Set a configuration option. Syntax is -o group::tool=option.
-q, --quiet: Run quietly, producing logging information but no progress indicators. Use -qq for quieter operation. The configuration option is quiet.
--read-only: Make the caching databases read-only. The configuration option is APT::FTPArchive::ReadOnlyDB.
-s file, --source-override=file: Specify a source override file. For use with the sources command. The configuration option is APT::FTPArchive:: SourceOverride.
-v, --version: Print the version information and exit.

apt-get

apt-get [options] command [package...]

A command-line tool for handling packages. Will eventually be a backend to APT.

Commands

autoclean: Like clean, but remove only package files that can no longer be downloaded.
build-dep: Install or remove packages to satisfy the build dependencies for a source package.
clean: Clear the local repository of retrieved package files.
check: Update the package cache and check for broken packages.
dist-upgrade: Like upgrade, but also handle dependencies intelligently. See the -f option for more information.
dselect-upgrade: Used with dselect. Track the changes made by dselect to the Status field of available packages and take actions necessary to realize that status.
install packages: Install one or more packages. Specify the package name, not the full filename. Other required packages are also retrieved and installed. With a hyphen appended to the package name, the package is removed if it is already installed.
remove packages: Remove one or more packages. Specify the package name, not the full filename. With a plus sign appended to the name, the package is installed.
source packages: Find source packages and download them into the current directory. If specified with --compile, the source packages are compiled into binary packages. With --download-only, the source packages are not unpacked.
update: Resynchronize the package overview files from their sources. Must be done before an upgrade or dist-upgrade.
upgrade: Install the latest versions of all packages currently installed. Run update first.

Options

-b, --compile, --build

Compile source packages after download. The configuration option is APT::Get::Compile.

-c file, --config-file=file

Specify a configuration file to read after the default.

-d, --download-only

Retrieve package files, but don't unpack or install them. The configuration option is APT::Get::Download-only.

--diff-only

Download only the diff file from a source archive. The configuration option is APT::Get::Diff-Only.

-f, --fix-broken

Try to fix a system with broken dependencies. Can be used alone or with a command. Run with the install command if you have problems installing packages. You can run the sequence:

apt-get -f install
apt-get dist-upgrade

several times to clean up interlocking dependency problems. The configuration option is APT::Get::Fix-Broken.

--force-yes

Force yes. Causes APT to continue without prompting if it is doing something that could damage your system. Use with great caution and only if absolutely necessary. The configuration option is APT::Get::force-yes.

-h, --help

Display a help message and exit.

--ignore-hold

Ignore a hold placed on a package. Use with dist-upgrade to override many undesired holds. The configuration option is APT::Get::Ignore-Hold.

--list-cleanup

Erase obsolete files from /var/lib/apt/lists. The default is on; use --no-list-cleanup to turn it off, which you would normally do only if you frequently modify your list of sources. The configuration option is APT::Get::List-Cleanup.

-m, --ignore-missing, --fix-missing

Ignore missing or corrupted packages or packages that cannot be retrieved. Can cause problems when used with -f. The configuration option is APT::Get::Fix-Missing.

--no-download

Disable package downloading; use with --ignore-missing to force APT to use only the packages that have already been downloaded. The configuration option is APT::Get:: Download.

--no-remove

Do not remove any packages; instead, abort without prompting. The configuration option is APT::Get::Remove.

--no-upgrade

Do not upgrade packages. Use with install to prevent upgrade of packages that are already installed. The configuration option is APT::Get::Upgrade.

-o, --option

Set a configuration option. Syntax is -o group::tool=option.

--only-source

Do not map the names specified with the source command through the binary table. The configuration option is APT::Get::Only-Source.

--print-uris

Print URIs of files instead of fetching them. Print path, destination filename, size, and expected MD5 hash. The configuration option is APT::Get::Print-URIs.

--purge

Tell dpkg to do a purge instead of a remove for items that would be removed. Purging removes packages completely, including any configuration files. The configuration option is APT::Get::Purge.

-q, --quiet

Quiet mode. Omit progress indicators and produce only logging output. Use -qq to make even quieter. The configuration option is quiet.

--reinstall

Reinstall packages that are already installed, upgrading them to the latest version. The configuration option is APT::Get::ReInstall.

-s, --simulate, --just-print, --dry-run, --recon, --no-act

Go through the motions, but don't actually make any changes to the system. The configuration option is APT::Get:: Simulate.

-t rel, --target-release=rel, --default-release=rel

Retrieve packages only from the specified release. The value of rel can be a release number or a value such as "unstable". The configuration option is APT::Default-Release.

--tar-only

Download only the TAR file from a source archive. The configuration option is APT::Get::Tar-Only.

--trivial-only

Perform only operations that are considered trivial. The configuration option is APT::Get::Trivial-Only.

-u, --show-upgraded

Print a list of all packages to be upgraded. The configuration option is APT::Get::Show-Upgraded.

-v, --version

Display the version and exit.

-y, --yes, --assume-yes

Automatically reply "yes" to prompts and run noninteractively. Abort if there is an error. The configuration option is APT::Get::Assume-Yes.

apt-sortpkgs

apt-sortpkgs [options] indexfiles

Sort the records in a source or package index file by package name and write the results to standard output. apt-sortpkgs also sorts the internal fields of each record.

Options

-c file, --config-file=file: Specify a configuration file to read after the default.
-h, --help: Display a help message and exit.
-o, --option: Set a configuration option. Syntax is -o group::tool=option.
-s, --source: Order by source index field. The configuration option is APT::SortPkgs::Source.
-v, --version: Display the version and exit.

dpkg

dpkg [options] action

A tool for installing, managing, and building packages. Serves as a frontend to dpkg-deb.

dpkg actions

These actions are carried out by dpkg itself:

-A pkgfile, --record-avail pkgfile: Update the record of available files kept in /var/lib/dpkg/available with information from pkgfile. This information is used by dpkg and dselect to determine what packages are available. With -R or --recursive, pkgfile must be a directory.
-C, --audit: Search for partially installed packages and suggest how to get them working.
--clear-avail: Remove existing information about what packages are available.
--command-fd n: Accept commands passed on the file descriptor given by n. Note that any additional options set through this file descriptor or on the command line are not reset, but remain for other commands issued during the same session.
--compare-versions ver1 op ver2: Perform a binary comparison of two version numbers. The operators lt le eq ne ge gt treat a missing version as earlier. The operators lt-nl le-nl ge-nl gt-nl treat a missing version as later (where nl is "not later"). A third set of operators (< << <= = >= >> >) is provided for compatibility with control-file syntax. dpkg returns zero for success (i.e., the condition is satisfied) and nonzero otherwise.
--configure [packages|-a|--pending]: Reconfigure one or more unpacked packages. If -a or --pending is given instead of packages, configure all packages that are unpacked but not configured.
-Dh, --debug=help: Print debugging help message and exit.
--force-help: Print help message about the --force-list options and exit. See the --force-list option description for the possible values of list.
--forget-old-unavail: Forget about uninstalled, unavailable packages.
--get-selections [pattern]: Get list of package selections and write to standard output. With pattern specified, write selections that match the pattern.
--help: Print help message and exit.
-i pkgfile, --install pkgfile: Install the package specified as pkgfile. With -R or --recursive, pkgfile must be a directory.
-l, --list [pkg-name-pattern]: List all packages whose names match the specified pattern. With no pattern, list all packages in /var/lib/dpkg/available. The pattern can include standard shell wildcard characters and may have to be quoted to prevent the shell from doing filename expansion.
-L packages, --listfiles packages: List installed files that came from the specified package or packages.
--license, --licence: Print dpkg license information and exit.
-p, --print-avail package: Print the details about package from /var/lib/dpkg/available.
--print-architecture: Print the target architecture.
--print-gnu-build-architecture: Print the GNU version of the target architecture.
--print-installation-architecture: Print the host architecture for installation.
-r, --remove [packages|-a|--pending]
--purge [packages|-a|--pending]: Remove or purge one or more installed packages. Removal gets rid of everything except the configuration files listed in debian/conffiles; purging also removes the configuration files. If -a or --pending is given instead of packages, dpkg removes or purges all packages that are unpacked and marked (in /var/lib/dpkg/status) for removing or purging.
-s packages, --status packages: Report the status of one or more packages by displaying the entry in the status database /var/lib/dpkg/status.
-S filename-pattern, --search filename-pattern: Search installed packages for a filename. The pattern can include standard shell wildcard characters and may have to be quoted to prevent the shell from doing filename expansion.
--set-selections: Set package selections based on input file read from standard input.
--unpack pkgfile: Unpack the package, but don't configure it. With -R or --recursive, pkgfile must be a directory.
--update-avail pkgs-file
--merge-avail pkgs-file: Update the record of available files kept in /var/lib/dpkg/available. This information is used by dpkg and dselect to determine what packages are available. Update replaces the information with the contents of the pkgs-file, distributed as Packages. Merge combines the information from Packages with the existing information.
--version: Print dpkg version information and exit.
--yet-to-unpack: Search for uninstalled packages that have been selected for installation.

dpkg-deb actions

The following actions can be specified for dpkg and are passed to dpkg-deb for execution. Also see dpkg-deb.

-b dir [archive], --build dir [archive]: Build a package.
-c archive, --contents archive: List the contents of a package.
-e archive [dir], --control archive [dir]: Extract control information from a package.
-f archive [control-fields], --field archive [control-fields]: Display the control field or fields of a package.
-I archive [control-files], --info archive [control-files]: Show information about a package.
--fsys-tarfile archive: Display the filesystem TAR file contained in a package.
-x archive dir, --extract archive dir: Extract the files from a package.
-X archive dir, --vextract archive dir: Extract and display the filenames from a package.

Options

dpkg options can be specified on the command line or set in the configuration file. Each line in the configuration file contains a single option, specified without the leading dash (-).

--abort-after=num

Abort processing after num errors. Default is 50.

-B, --auto-deconfigure

When a package is removed, automatically deconfigure any other package that depended on it.

-Doctal, --debug=octal

Turn on debugging, with the octal value specifying the desired level of debugging information. Use -Dh or --debug=help to display the possible values. You can OR the values to get the desired output.

-E, --skip-same-version

Don't install the package if this version is already installed.

--force-list, --no-force-list, --refuse-list

Force or refuse to force an operation. list is specified as a comma-separated list of options. With --force, a warning is printed, but processing continues. --refuse and --no-force cause processing to stop with an error. The force/refuse options are:

all: Turn all force options on or off.
architecture: Process even if intended for a different architecture.
auto-select: Select or deselect packages to install or remove them. Forced by default.
bad-path: Some programs are missing from the path.
confdef: Always choose the default action for modified configuration files. If there is no default and confnew or confold is also specified, use that to decide; otherwise, ask the user.
configure-any: Configure any unconfigured package that the package depends on.
conflicts: Permit installation of conflicting packages. Can result in problems from files being overwritten.
confmiss: Always install a missing configuration file. Be careful using this option, since it means overriding the removal of the file.
confnew: Always install the new version of a modified configuration file unless confdef is also specified. In that case, use the default action if there is one.
confold: Keep the old version of a modified configuration file unless confdef is also specified. In that case, use the default action if there is one.
depends: Turn dependency problems into warnings.
depends-version: Warn of version problems when checking dependencies, but otherwise ignore.
downgrade: Install even if a newer version is already installed. Forced by default.
hold: Process packages even if they are marked to be held.
not-root: Try to install or remove even when not logged on as root.
overwrite: Overwrite a file from one package with the same file from another package. Forced by default.
overwrite-dir: Overwrite one package's directory with a file from another package.
overwrite-diverted: Overwrite a diverted file with an undiverted version.
remove-essential: Remove a package even if it is essential. Note that this can cause your system to stop working.
remove-reinstreq: Remove packages that are broken and are marked to require reinstallation.

-G

Don't install a package if a newer version is already installed. Same as --refuse-downgrade.

--ignore-depends=pkglist

Dependency problems result only in a warning for the packages in pkglist.

--new

New binary package format. This is a dpkg-deb option.

--no-act

Go through the motions, but don't actually write any changes. Used for testing. Be sure to specify before the action; otherwise, changes might be written.

--nocheck

Ignore the contents of the control file when building a package. This is a dpkg-deb option.

-O, --selected-only

Process only packages that are marked as selected for installation.

--old

Old binary package format. This is a dpkg-deb option.

-R, --recursive

Recursively handle .deb files found in the directories and their subdirectories specified with -A, --install, --unpack, and --avail.

--root=dir, --admindir=dir, --instdir=dir

Change default directories. admindir contains administrative files with status and other information about packages; it defaults to /var/lib/dpkg. instdir is the directory in which packages are installed; it defaults to /. Changing the root directory to dir automatically changes instdir to dir and admindir to /dir/var/lib/dpkg.

--status-fd n

Send the package status information to the specified file descriptor. Can be given more than once.

dpkg-deb

dpkg-deb action [options]

Backend command for building and managing Debian package archives. Also see dpkg; you'll often want to use dpkg to pass commands through to dpkg-deb, rather than call dpkg-deb directly.

Actions

-b dir [archive], --build dir [archive]: Create an archive from the filesystem tree starting with directory dir. The directory must have a DEBIAN subdirectory containing the control file and any other control information. If archive is specified and is a filename, the package is written to that file; if no archive is specified, the package is written to dir.deb. If the archive already exists, it is replaced. If archive is the name of a directory, dpkg-deb looks in the control file for the information it needs to generate the package name. (Note that for this reason, you cannot use --nocheck with a directory name.)
-c archive, --contents archive: List the filesystem-tree portion of archive.
-e archive [dir], --control archive [dir]: Extract control information from archive into the directory dir, which is created if it doesn't exist.
-f archive [control-fields], --field archive [control-fields]: Extract information about one or more fields in the control file for archive. If no fields are provided, print the entire control file.
-h, --help: Print help information and exit.
-I archive [control-files], --info archive [control-files]: Provide information about binary package archive. If no control files are provided, print a summary of the package contents; otherwise, print the control files in the order they were specified. An error message is printed to standard error for any missing components.
--fsys-tarfile archive: Extract the filesystem tree from archive, and send it to standard output in tar format. Can be used with tar to extract individual files from an archive.
--license, --licence: Print the license information and exit.
--version: Print the version number and exit.
-x archive dir, --extract archive dir
-X archive dir, --vextract archive dir: Extract the filesystem tree from archive into the specified directory, creating dir if it doesn't already exist. -x (--extract) works silently, while -X (--vextract) lists the files as it extracts them. Do not use this action to install packages; use dpkg instead.

Options

-D, --debug: Turn on debugging.
--new: Build a new-style archive format (this is the default).
--nocheck: Don't check the control file before building an archive. This lets you build a broken archive.
--old: Build an old-style archive format.

dpkg-query

dpkg-query [option] command

Display information about packages listed in the dpkg database.

Commands

--help: Print help information and exit.
-l [patterns], --list [patterns]: List packages whose names match any of the specified patterns. With no pattern specified, list all packages in /var/lib/dpkg/available. The pattern may need to be in quotes to avoid expansion by the shell.
-L packages, --list packages: List files installed on your system from each of the specified packages. This command does not list files created by package-specific installation scripts.
--license, --licence: Print the license information and exit.
-p package, --print-avail package: Display details for the specified package, as found in /var/lib/dpkg/available.
-S patterns: Search the installed packages for filenames matching one of the specified patterns. At least one pattern must be specified.
-W [patterns], --show [patterns]: Like -l, but the output can be customized with the --showformat option.
--version: Print version information and exit.

Options

--admindir=dir: Use dir as the location of the dpkg database. The default is /var/lib/dpkg.
--showformat=format: Specify the output format for -W/--show. The format can include the standard escape sequences \n (newline), \r (carriage return), or \\ (backslash). Specify package fields with the syntax ${var[;width]}. Fields are right-aligned by default, or left-aligned if width is negative.

dpkg-split

dpkg-split [action] [options]

Split a binary package into smaller pieces and reassemble the pieces, either manually or in automatic mode. The automatic mode maintains a queue of parts for reassembling. Useful for transferring to and from floppy disks.

Actions

-a -o output part, --auto -o output part: Add part to the queue for automatic reassembly, and if all the parts are available, reassemble the package as output. Requires the use of the -o (or --output) option, as shown.
-d [packages], --discard [packages]: Discard parts from the automatic-assembly queue. If any packages are specified, discard only parts from those packages. Otherwise, empty the queue.
-I parts, --info parts: Print information about the part file or files specified.
-j parts, --join parts: Join the parts of a package file together from the parts specified. The default output file is package-version.deb.
-l, --listq: List the contents of the queue of parts waiting for reassembly, giving the package name, the parts that are on the queue, and the number of bytes.
-s full-package [prefix], --split full-package [prefix]: Split the package full-package into parts, named prefixNofM.deb. The prefix defaults to the full-package name without the .deb extension.
-h, --help: Print help message and exit.
--license, --licence: Print license information and exit.
--version: Print version information and exit.

Options

--depotdir dir: Specify an alternate directory dir for the queue of parts waiting for reassembly. Default is /var/lib/dpkg.
--msdos: Force --split output filenames to be MS-DOS-compatible.
-Q, --npquiet: Do not print an error message for a part that doesn't belong to a binary package when doing automatic queuing or reassembly.
-O output, --output output: Use output as the filename for a reassembled package.
-S num, --partsize num: When splitting, specify the maximum part size (num) in kilobytes. Default is 450 KB.

dselect

dselect [options] [action]

A screen-oriented user frontend to dpkg. The primary user interface for installing and managing packages. See dpkg and dpkg-deb for information on building packages.

Actions

If dselect is run with no action specified on the command line, it displays the following menu:

 * 0. [A]ccess     Choose the access method to use.                           
  1. [U]pdate   Update list of available packages, if   
                possible.
  2. [S]elect   Request which packages you want on your 
                system.
  3. [I]nstall  Install and upgrade wanted packages.
  4. [C]onfig   Configure any packages that are 
                unconfigured.
  5. [R]emove   Remove unwanted software.
  6. [Q]uit     Quit dselect.

The asterisk (on the first line) shows the currently selected option. Any of the menu items can be specified directly on the command line as an action (access, update, select, install, config, remove, quit) to go directly to the desired activity. For example:

% dselect access

If you enter quit on the command line, dselect exits immediately without doing anything. An additional command-line action is menu, which displays the menu and is equivalent to running dselect with no action.

Options

Options can be specified both on the command line and in the dselect configuration file, /etc/dpkg/dselect.cfg.

--admindir dir

Change the directory that holds internal data files to dir. Default is /var/lib/dpkg.

--color colorspec, --colour colorspec

Set colors for different parts of the screen, as specified by colorspec as follows:

screenpart:[fgcolor],[bgcolor][:attr[+attr+...]]

This option can be specified multiple times, to override the default colors for different screen parts. Rather than having to specify the colors on the command line each time you run dselect, you might prefer to set them in the configuration file. The possible screen parts (going from the top of the screen to the bottom) are:

title: The screen title.
listhead: The header line above the package list.
list: The scrolling list of packages and some help text.
listsel: The selected item in the list.
pkgstate: The text showing the current state of each package.
pkgstatesel: The text showing the current state of the selected package.
infohead: The header line showing the state of the selected package.
infodesc: The short description of the package.
info: The text that displays information such as the package description.
infofoot: The last line of the screen when selecting packages.
query: Query lines.
helpscreen: The color of help screens.

Either the foreground color, the background color, or both can be specified for each screen part. The colors are given as the standard curses colors. After the color specification, you can specify a list of attributes separated by plus signs (+). The possible attributes are normal, standout, underline, reverse, blink, bright, dim, and bold. Not all attributes work on all terminals.

--expert

Run in expert mode; don't print help messages.

-D [file], --debug [file]

Turn on debugging. Send output to file if specified.

--help

Print help message and exit.

--license, licence

Print license information and exit.

--version

Print version information and exit.