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Using dpkg in Ubuntu and Debian

By admin | July 29, 2008

For those of you who are stuck in an command line (bash) environment with no access to Synaptic, here are 9 useful and clear tips to help you to get the hang of package management with dpkg in the Ubuntu Linux and Debian Linux distributions.

  1. dpkg –install (or dpkg -i) – Installs the specified package. Example:
    sudo dpkg --install package.deb
  2. dpkg –remove (or dpkg -r) – Removes the specified package. Example:
    sudo dpkg --remove package
  3. dpkg –remove –purge (or dpkg -r -P) – Removes the specified package and purges all configuration data. Example:
    sudo dpkg --remove --purge package
  4. dpkg –unpack directory/ – Unpacks the package’s contents into directory/. Example:
    dpkg --unpack package.deb directory/
  5. dpkg –listfiles (or dpkg -L) – Lists the files that the specified package contains. Example:
    dpkg --listfiles package
  6. dpkg –list (or dpkg -l) – List the package details in great detail. Example:
    dpkg --list package
  7. dpkg –status (or dpkg -s) – Lists the package status in detail, along with version, description and architecture information. Example:
    dpkg --status package
  8. dpkg –root=/directory –install (or dpkg –root=/directory -i) – Install the package into /directory other than root. Example:
    sudo dpkg --root=/directory --install package
  9. dpkg –simulate command (or dpkg –dry-run) – Simulates what would happen if you did run the command command for real. Example:
    sudo dpkg --simulate command

So there you have it, 9 simple yet very effective tips to package management with dpkg on Ubuntu and Debian. If this article helped you, please help us spread the word!

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