Package management
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Some instructions here may cause serious problems. When unsure, see General precautions Backing up your data is recommended. In case of trouble you might need to re-flash your device. |
It is good to know how to manage packages, because uninstalled ones can leave configuration files behind and there are also many pre-installed packages which you might not need.
dpkg
Install package from a local .deb file:
dpkg -i
List all installed packages:
dpkg -l
List all packages that are not in "normal" (ii ) state:
dpkg -l | awk '$1 != "ii" {print $0}'
This also lists previously uninstalled packages which left config files behind (those will have "rc" state in the first column). You can purge (completely uninstall) them with:
dpkg -P package
If you are unsure, you can check which files were left by a certain package with the command:
dpkg -L package
Purging can give you the following errors (read the output!):
1. dpkg - warning: while removing package, directory `/path/dir' not empty so not removed.
It is ok if you manually delete those dirs/files if you know that they belong to the purged package (for example: don't delete /etc).
2. dpkg: error processing package (--purge):
An error occured while removing/purging the package, again resolve it manually.
apt-get
Install package from a repository:
apt-get install package
Remove a package:
apt-get remove
Purge a package:
apt-get purge
Update package lists (checks for updates, downloads new list of packages which are in the repository...):
apt-get update
Update packages:
apt-get upgrade
It will display which ones are to be updated and it asks you if you want to proceed so this is also the command to show available updates.
This will empty local cache containing downloaded installation packages:
apt-get clean
Remove unneeded dependencies (packages):
apt-get autoremove
Perform package maintenance
Do not just blindly follow these instructions if you do not know what you are doing. They are more like guidance...
- Refresh the repositories (apt-get update in command line).
- Update applications (apt-get upgrade in command line).
- Empty local cache with apt-get clean.
- Remove unneeded dependencies with apt-get autoremove.
- List all packages that are not in "normal" (ii ) state with dpkg (script is above).
- Purge them (dpkg -P package).
- Check if they were any errors from purging and resolve them.