Repository based package management operations on the Debian system can be performed by many APT-based package management tools available on the Debian system.

Basic package management tools:

  • apt-get / apt-cache
  • aptitude

apt-get / apt-cache

The apt-get and apt-cache commands are the most basic APT-based package management tools.

  • offer only the command line user interface;
  • is most suitable for the major system upgrade between releases, etc;
  • offers a robust package dependency resolver;
  • is less demanding on hardware resources (it consumes less memory and runs faster);
  • offers a standard regex based search on the package name and description;
  • can manage multiple versions of packages using /etc/apt/preferences but it is quite cumbersome.

aptitude

The aptitude command is the most versatile APT-based package management tool.

  • offers the full screen interactive text user interface;
  • offers the command line user interface, too;
  • is most suitable for the daily interactive package management such as inspecting installed packages and searching available packages;
  • is more demanding on hardware resources (it consumes more memory and runs slower);
  • offers an enhanced regex based search on all of the package metadata;
  • can manage multiple versions of packages without using /etc/apt/preferences and it is quite intuitive.

Notable command options for aptitude

  • -s simulate the result of the command
  • -d download only but no install/upgrade
  • -D show brief explanations before the automatic installations and removals

Operations with the command line using apt-get / apt-cache and aptitude

update package archive metadata

  • apt-get update
  • aptitude update

install candidate version of “foo” package with its dependencies

  • apt-get install foo
  • aptitude install foo

install candidate version of installed packages without removing any other packages

  • apt-get upgrade
  • aptitude safe-upgrade

install candidate version of installed packages while removing other packages if needed

  • apt-get dist-upgrade
  • aptitude full-upgrade

remove “foo” package while leaving its configuration files

  • apt-get remove foo
  • aptitude remove foo

remove auto-installed packages which are no longer required

  • apt-get autoremove

purge “foo” package with its configuration files

  • apt-get purge foo
  • aptitude purge foo

clear out the local repository of retrieved package files completely

  • apt-get clean
  • aptitude clean

clear out the local repository of retrieved package files for outdated packages

  • apt-get autoclean
  • aptitude autoclean

display detailed information about “foo” package

  • apt-cache show foo
  • aptitude show foo

search packages which match

  • apt-cache search <regex>
  • aptitude search <regex>

explain the reason why matching packages should be installed

  • aptitude why <regex>

explain the reason why matching packages can not be installed

  • aptitude why-not <regex>

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