dpkg commands in Linux with Examples
dpkg commands for Debian Based Distros
In this article we will discuss about “ dpkg commands” for Debian Based Distros. We will describe each of these briefly, before focusing on ' dpkg' command.
APT Command
Advanced Package Tool(APT) works directly without using ' deb' packages. It works with ‘ deb‘ archive from the location specified in the “ /etc/apt/sources.list” file.
Aptitude
It' s a text based package manager for Debian. It enables user to manage packages easily.
Synaptic
It is a graphical package manager, even a newbies can install, upgrade and uninstall packages easily.
Tasksel
It enables user to install all the required packages for a specific task.
Deselect
A menu-driven package management tool. It is initially used during the first time of installation and now is replaced with aptitude.
Dpkg-deb
It Interacts with the Debian archive.
Dpkg-split
splitting and merging larger file into small files to store on a smaller size storage medium like floppy-disk.
Dpkg Command
dpkg is the main package management program to install, build, remove, and manage packages in Debian and Debian based System.
To Install a Package
To install a " deb" package, use the dpkg command with “ -i” option.
root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg -i teamviewer_11.0.57095_i386.deb
Selecting previously unselected package teamviewer:i386.
(Reading database ... 204404 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack teamviewer_11.0.57095_i386.deb ...
Unpacking teamviewer:i386 (11.0.57095) ...
Setting up teamviewer:i386 (11.0.57095) ...
List the installed Packages
To view and list the packages use the “ -l” option along with the command.
root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg -l
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
|/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name Version Architecture Description
+++-=============================-===================-===================-===============================================================
ii a11y-profile-manager-indicato 0.1.10-0ubuntu3 amd64 Accessibility Profile Manager - Unity desktop indicator
ii account-plugin-facebook 0.12+16.04.20160126 all GNOME Control Center account plugin for single signon - faceboo
ii account-plugin-flickr 0.12+16.04.20160126 all GNOME Control Center account plugin for single signon - flickr
ii account-plugin-google 0.12+16.04.20160126 all GNOME Control Center account plugin for single signon
ii accountsservice 0.6.40-2ubuntu11.1 amd64 query and manipulate user account information
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.
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ii zenity 3.18.1.1-1ubuntu2 amd64 Display graphical dialog boxes from shell scripts
ii zenity-common 3.18.1.1-1ubuntu2 all Display graphical dialog boxes from shell scripts (common files
ii zip 3.0-11 amd64 Archiver for .zip files
ii zlib1g:amd64 1:1.2.8.dfsg-2ubunt amd64 compression library - runtime
ii zlib1g:i386 1:1.2.8.dfsg-2ubunt i386 compression library - runtime
You can also use the “ -l” option along with package-name.
root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg -l teamviewer
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
|/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name Version Architecture Description
+++-=============================-===================-===================-===============================================================
rc teamviewer:i386 11.0.57095 i386 TeamViewer (Remote Control Application)
To remove a Package
“ -r” option is used to remove/uninstall a package.
root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg -r teamviewer
(Reading database ... 204689 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing teamviewer:i386 (11.0.57095) ...
Removed symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/teamviewerd.service.
Clearing assignments ...
done
Use ‘ p‘ option instead of ‘ r’ to remove the package along with configuration file.
dpkg -P teamviewer (Reading database ... 230988 files and directories currently installed.) Removing teamviewer:i386 (11.0.57095) ... Removed symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/teamviewerd.service. Clearing assignments ... done
To View the Content of a Package
Use the “ -c” option to display the contents of “ .deb” package in a long-list format.
root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg -c teamviewer_11.0.57095_i386.deb
drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2016-03-22 14:12 ./
drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2016-03-22 14:12 ./opt/
drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2016-03-22 14:12 ./opt/teamviewer/
drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2016-03-22 14:12 ./opt/teamviewer/doc/
-rw-r--r-- root/root 25805 2016-03-22 14:12 ./opt/teamviewer/doc/CopyRights_EN.txt
-rw-r--r-- root/root 1003 2016-03-22 14:12 ./opt/teamviewer/doc/Lizenz.txt
-rw-r--r-- root/root 812 2016-03-22 14:12 ./opt/teamviewer/doc/License.txt
.
.
.
lrwxrwxrwx root/root 0 2016-03-22 14:12 ./opt/teamviewer/logfiles -> /var/log/teamviewer11
lrwxrwxrwx root/root 0 2016-03-22 14:12 ./opt/teamviewer/tv_bin/TeamViewer -> script/teamviewer
lrwxrwxrwx root/root 0 2016-03-22 14:12 ./opt/teamviewer/tv_bin/wine/lib/libwine.so.1 -> libwine.so.1.0
lrwxrwxrwx root/root 0 2016-03-22 14:12 ./opt/teamviewer/tv_bin/wine/lib/libwine.so -> libwine.so.1.0
lrwxrwxrwx root/root 0 2016-03-22 14:12 ./usr/bin/teamviewer -> /opt/teamviewer/tv_bin/script/teamviewer
To check a Package is installed or not
Use “ -s” option with package name to check whether a deb package installed or not.
root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg -s teamviewer
Package: teamviewer
Status: install ok installed
Priority: optional
Section: non-free/internet
Installed-Size: 189688
Maintainer: Teamviewer GmbH < service@teamviewer.com>
Architecture: i386
Version: 11.0.57095
Replaces: teamviewer5, teamviewer6, teamviewer7, teamviewer8, teamviewer9
Depends: libc6 (> = 2.4), libgcc1, libasound2, libdbus-1-3, libexpat1, libfontconfig1, libfreetype6, libjpeg62, libpng12-0, libsm6, libxdamage1, libxext6, libxfixes3, libxinerama1, libxrandr2, libxrender1, libxtst6, zlib1g
Recommends: ttf-liberation | fonts-liberation
Conflicts: teamviewer5, teamviewer6, teamviewer7, teamviewer8, teamviewer9
Description: TeamViewer (Remote Control Application)
TeamViewer is a remote control application. TeamViewer provides easy, fast and secure remote access to Linux, Windows PCs, and Macs.
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TeamViewer is free for personal use. You can use TeamViewer completely free of charge to access your private computers or to help your friends with their computer problems.
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To buy a license for commercial use, please visit http://www.teamviewer.com
To check the location of Packages installed
Run dpkg command along with ' L' option to know the location of the installed packages.
root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg -L apacheds
/.
/etc
/etc/init.d
/etc/init.d/apacheds-2.0.0-M21-default
/opt
/opt/apacheds-2.0.0-M21
/opt/apacheds-2.0.0-M21/bin
/opt/apacheds-2.0.0-M21/bin/apacheds
/opt/apacheds-2.0.0-M21/bin/wrapper
/opt/apacheds-2.0.0-M21/conf
To Install all Packages from a Directory
Use dpkg command along with the “ -R” and “ &ndash install” options, to install all packages from a directory.
root@linuxhelp:~# ls /deb apacheds-2.0.0-M21-amd64.deb webmin_1.801_all.deb root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg -R --install /deb Selecting previously unselected package webmin. (Reading database ... 204690 files and directories currently installed.) Preparing to unpack /deb/webmin_1.801_all.deb ... Unpacking webmin (1.801) ... Selecting previously unselected package apacheds. Preparing to unpack .../apacheds-2.0.0-M21-amd64.deb ... Unpacking apacheds (2.0.0-M21) ... Setting up webmin (1.801) ... Webmin install complete. You can now login to https://linuxhelp:10000/ as root with your root password, or as any user who can use sudo to run commands as root. Setting up apacheds (2.0.0-M21) ... Processing triggers for systemd (229-4ubuntu6) ... Processing triggers for ureadahead (0.100.0-19) ...
To Unpack a Package
Using “ &ndash unpack” will simply unpack the package and it will not install or configure.
root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg --unpack teamviewer_11.0.57095_i386.deb
(Reading database ... 230989 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack teamviewer_11.0.57095_i386.deb ...
Removed symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/teamviewerd.service.
Unpacking teamviewer:i386 (11.0.57095) over (11.0.57095) ...
To Reconfigure a Unpacked Package
Option “ --configure” will reconfigure the already unpacked package.
root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg --configure teamviewer
Setting up teamviewer:i386 (11.0.57095) ...
To print the Architecture, run the below command.
root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg --print-architecture
amd64
To Forget Uninstalled and Unavailable Packages
The dpkg command with option “ --forget-old-unavail” option will automatically forget the uninstalled and unavailable packages
root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg --forget-old-unavail dpkg: warning: obsolete ' --forget-old-unavail' option unavailable packages are automatically cleaned up root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg --version Debian ' dpkg' package management program version 1.18.4 (amd64). This is free software see the GNU General Public License version 2 or later for copying conditions. There is NO warranty. Use “ --help” option to get a list of available options in dpkg command.
root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg --help
Usage: dpkg [...]
Commands:
-i|--install ... | -R|--recursive ...
--unpack ... | -R|--recursive ...
-A|--record-avail ... | -R|--recursive ...
--configure ... | -a|--pending
--triggers-only ... | -a|--pending
-r|--remove ... | -a|--pending
-P|--purge ... | -a|--pending
-V|--verify ... Verify the integrity of package(s).
--get-selections [ ...] Get list of selections to stdout.
--set-selections Set package selections from stdin.