aptitude is the text-based front-end for the APT package management system. It allows the user to view the list of packages and to perform package management tasks such as installing, upgrading, and removing packages. Actions may be performed from a visual interface or from the command-line.
Syntax
aptitude [
aptitude [
aptitude [
aptitude extract-cache-subset
aptitude [
aptitude [
aptitude [
aptitude [-S
aptitude help
Actions
The first argument which does not begin with a hyphen ("-") is considered to be an action that the program should perform. If an action is not specified on the command-line, aptitude starts up in visual mode.
- Syntax
- Actions
- Options
- Visual mode options
- Environment
- Files
- Examples
- Related commands
- Linux commands help
Options
The following options can modify the behavior of the actions described above. Note that while all options will be accepted for all commands, some options don’t apply to particular commands and is ignored by those commands.
$ aptitude versions wesnoth
p 1:1.4.5-1 100p 1:1.6.5-1 unstable 500p 1:1.7.14-1 experimental 1
$ aptitude versions ‘~nexim4-daemon-light’
Package exim4-daemon-light: i 4.71-3 100 p 4.71-4 unstable 500 Package exim4-daemon-light-dbg: p 4.71-4 unstable 500
$ aptitude versions –group-by=none ‘~nexim4-daemon-light’
i exim4-daemon-light 4.71-3 100 p exim4-daemon-light 4.71-4 unstable 500 p exim4-daemon-light-dbg 4.71-4 unstable 500
$ aptitude versions –show-package-names=never –group-by=none ‘~nexim4-daemon-light’
i 4.71-3 100 p 4.71-4 unstable 500 p 4.71-4 unstable 500
$ aptitude why kdepim
i nautilus-data Recommends nautilusi A nautilus Recommends desktop-basei A desktop-base Suggests gnome p kde Depends kdepim
$ aptitude why-not textopo
i ocaml-core Depends ocamlwebi A ocamlweb Depends tetex-extrai A texlive-latex-extra Conflicts textopo
Visual mode options
Environment
The following environment variables affect aptitude.
disksearch 1.2.1-3hp-search-mac 0.1.3libbsearch-ruby 1.5-5libbsearch-ruby1.8 1.5-5libclass-dbi-abstractsearch-perl 0.07-2libdbix-fulltextsearch-perl 0.73-10
$ aptitude -v –show-summary why foomatic-db
Packages requiring foomatic-db:cupsys-driver-gutenprintfoomatic-db-enginefoomatic-db-gutenprintfoomatic-db-hpijsfoomatic-filters-ppdsfoomatic-guikdeprintconfwine
$ aptitude -v –show-summary=first-package-and-type why foomatic-db
Packages requiring foomatic-db:[Depends] cupsys-driver-gutenprint[Depends] foomatic-db-engine[Depends] foomatic-db-gutenprint[Depends] foomatic-db-hpijs[Depends] foomatic-filters-ppds[Depends] foomatic-gui[Depends] kde[Depends] printconf[Depends] wine
$ aptitude –show-summary=all-packages why aptitude-gtk libglib2.0-data
Packages requiring libglib2.0-data:aptitude-gtk D: libglib2.0-0 R: libglib2.0-data
$ aptitude –show-why install mediawiki
…The following NEW packages will be installed:libapache2-mod-php5{a} (for mediawiki)mediawiki php5{a} (for mediawiki)php5-cli{a} (for mediawiki)php5-common{a} (for mediawiki)php5-mysql{a} (for mediawiki)
$ aptitude -v –show-why install libdb4.2-dev
The following NEW packages will be installed:libdb4.2{a} (libdb4.2-dev D: libdb4.2) libdb4.2-devThe following packages will be REMOVED:libdb4.4-dev{a} (libdb4.2-dev C: libdb-dev P<- libdb-dev)
Files
Examples
aptitude
Load aptitude in visual mode. If your terminal supports it (and it probably does), you’ll enter the program in your terminal and be presented with a menu system which responds to mouse events.
aptitude update
Update the APT package lists. This is the same as running aptitude in visual mode and pressing “u”.
aptitude safe-upgrade
Upgrade as many packages as possible without removing any.
aptitude full-upgrade
Upgrade packages, removing packages if necessary to resolve dependency issues.
aptitude search gnome kde
Search the APT repositories and display all packages containing the text gnome or kde.
aptitude show perdition
Display all available information about the package named perdition.
aptitude install ruby
Install the ruby package.
Related commands
apt — A unified APT front end for the command line. apt-cache — Get information about software packages available through APT. apt-get — Command line tool for managing APT software packages. apt-file — Search for individual files in all available APT packages. apt-mark — Change or view the settings of individual APT packages.dpkg — Install, remove, and maintain Debian software packages.
