next aptitude mini howto draft
Hello Danial, you might want to include the following new version of my
aptitude mini hotwo into the CVS.
Maybe i get around and compile a HTML Version with screenshots, but don't
hold your breathe.
Danial, please give me your final OK on that text, then I will get it
included in our web pages.
Greetings
Bernd
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( .. ) ecki@{inka.de,linux.de,debian.org} http://home.pages.de/~eckes/
o--o *plush* 2048/93600EFD eckes@irc +497257930613 BE5-RIPE
(O____O) When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl!
aptitude Mini Howto
Written by Bernd Eckenfels <ecki@debian.org>, with a lot usefull comments
(and correct english :) from Branden Robinson, Daniel Burrowsand and others.
aptitude is a curses (= you can run it on console or in a xterm) front-end
to apt and dpkg, the Debian Package Management tools. It tries to provide a
nice user interface to every-day package management (upgrading, installing
and removing of Debian packages).
This short tutorial is not a complete reference of aptitude, instead it is
provided to help a new aptitude user to explore the most usefull features of
a default aptitude installation (this means this tutorial asumes default key
bindings and default color setup).
Starting
You can start aptitude as non-root (this is a major point, since you are not
required to do lookups or package browsing with increased priveledges).
However you have to run aptitude as root to actually change the state of
packages on your system.
Aptitude can be started from the shell prompt with the command "aptitude".
(Actuelly it is expected that aptitude will register itself in the Debian
menu system, too).
Basic Screen Layout
Upon startup, aptitude will present you with a list of categories into
which packages are sorted. Not all categories may be present:
New Packages - packages which appeared since the last aptitude session
Installed Packages - all packages which are currently installed
Not Installed Packages - all packages which can be installed
Upgradeable Packages - installed packages (where a newer version exists)
Virtuel Packages - list of virtual packages
First Steps
The first thing to know about any program is how to to quit it -- you can
use the 'q' ("quit") key from this initial screen to quit aptitude.
Aptitude uses apt's cache of available packages. Therefore, apt's source
repository file, /etc/apt/sources.list, must be correct and up-to-date. Use
the 'u' ("update") command to instruct aptitude to retrieve the available
package lists from the sites listed in the source repository (same as
"apt-get -ufm update").
NOTE: aptitude does extend the apt-cache with some additional flags. It also
tries to sync the desired actions (install, hold, remove) with dselect, but
dont be surprised if some added functionality is not synchonized between
both tools (or other apt front-ends).
If there are new packages present (in other words, Debian packages that
did not exist the last time package lists were retrieved), they will be
grouped under 'New Packages'. To instruct aptitude to disregard the
packages' new status and sort them with the rest of the available
packages, you can use the 'f' command ("forget that packages are new").
You can open each of the categories by moving the cursor to its line and
pressing enter. Subsections for the different trees in Debian package
archives will become visible. If you open those sub sections with enter, the
list of package names will be shown.
If you have a package selected, information about it will be shown in the
status line at the bottom of the screen. Press enter or 'i' ("information")
to display some descriptive information about the package. Use 'q' ("quit")
to get out of the information screens.
Packages that are not presently installed (in the "New Packages" or "Not
Installed Packages" categories) may be selected for installation with the
"+" ("add package") key.
Packages that are installed (in the 'Installed Packages' or 'Upgradeable
Packages' categories) may be placed on hold, removed, or purged. Placing a
package on hold means that it is kept at the currently installed version
even if a newer version is available. Removing a package deletes it from
the system -- but system-specific configuration information about the
package is kept for reference in case the package is re-installed later.
Purging a package removes every trace of it from the system, including its
configuration information.
Pressing the '-' ("remove package") key places upgradeable packages on
hold, and marks installed packages for removeable. Pressing '-' again on a
held package marks it for removal. Pressing the '_' ("purge package") key
marks a package for purge. You can put a package on hold with the '=' key.
Once you have marked packages of interest with the desired actions, use the
'g' ("go") key to put the package manager to work. A confirmation screen
will be displayed that summarizes the actions to be taken. You can use the
same operation keys here that you did on the main screen, in the event you
made a mistake or change your mind. From this confirmation screen,
pressing 'q' ("quit") returns you to the main screen, and 'g' ("go") a
second time invokes the apt program and sets about putting your system's
packages in the desired state. (This may include a FTP download, for
example)
Additional Keys
Additional Keys in aptitude include '/' for searching, 'home', 'end' and
'up' 'down' for navigation. Aptitude 0.0.5 will also support '[' and ']' to
expand and collapse a complete tree.
BTW: it is possible to interrupt the package manager with 'q' if it is
downloading repository informations (on "update") or new packages (on "go")
States and Desired Actions
NOTE: with aptitude 0.0.4a (included in potato) you will find it confusing if
you dont have support for colors in your term.
A package name in boldface and white means "normal and installed", while
not-boldface is "normal and not installed". A broken package (missing
dependencies) is encoded with white on red background.
Indications of what will be done:
background - meaning
----------------------------------------------------------------
red - package is broken (missing dependencies or conflict)
green - install a new package
cyan - update package to new version
magenta - remove (or purge) package
white - hold package (don't upgrade)
Note: the current selection is a inverted line, so don't confuse it with a
package on hold.
The future
Daniel Burrows is working on aptitude to add new features (including split
screen for package info, key reference panel and symbols to represent the
intended action (and state of) a package.
The version 0.0.4a (distributed with potato) is quite usefull, but I bet we
are impressed of the functionality of the 0.0.8 release. So you should look
for it on http://aptitude.sourceforge.net/ or in the unstable tree of
Debian.
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