Re: apt-get

[Craig Sanders <cas@taz.net.au>]

On Fri, Jul 04, 2003 at 09:20:19AM +0200, Craig wrote:
> Hi Guys
> 
> How do I setup dpkg/apt-get to hold back on a specific package when doing an
> apt-get upgrade ?

i don't think that apt-get can do it, but the following shell script will hold
a package:


---cut here---
#! /bin/bash

# dpkg-hold  --  command line tool to flag package(s) as held.
#
# by Craig Sanders, 1998-10-26.  This script is hereby placed into the 
# public domain.
#
# BUGS: this script has absolutely no error checking.  this is not good.

if [ -z "$*" ] ; then
	echo "Usage:"
	echo "      dpkg-hold <package...>"
	exit 1
fi

for i in $@ ; do
	echo "$i	hold"
done | dpkg --set-selections
---cut here---


this works for apt-get upgrade, dist-upgrade, and dselect-upgrade.

you can still upgrade the package manually by running 
"apt-get install PACKAGE".



BTW, another useful variant of the script is dpkg-unhold:

(strictly speaking, "unhold" isn't an accurate name.  it flags the message
for installation - regardless of what the previous status was).

---cut here---
#! /bin/bash

# dpkg-unhold  --  command line tool to flag package(s) for installation.
#
# by Craig Sanders, 1998-10-26.  This script is hereby placed into the 
# public domain.
#
# BUGS: this script has absolutely no error checking.  this is not good.

if [ -z "$*" ] ; then
	echo "Usage:"
	echo "      dpkg-unhold <package...>"
	exit 1
fi

for i in $@ ; do
	echo "$i	install"
done | dpkg --set-selections
---cut here---



craig