Manual: apt-mark
APT-MARK(8) APT APT-MARK(8)
NAME
apt-mark - show, set and unset various settings for a package
SYNOPSIS
apt-mark {-f=filename | {auto | manual} pkg... | {showauto | showmanual} [pkg...] } | {-v | --version} |
{-h | --help}
apt-mark {hold | unhold | install | remove | purge} pkg... |
{showhold | showinstall | showremove | showpurge} [pkg...]
DESCRIPTION
apt-mark can be used as a unified front-end to set various settings for a package, such as marking a package as being
automatically/manually installed or changing dpkg selections such as hold, install, deinstall and purge which are
respected e.g. by apt-get dselect-upgrade or aptitude.
AUTOMATICALLY AND MANUALLY INSTALLED PACKAGES
When you request that a package is installed, and as a result other packages are installed to satisfy its
dependencies, the dependencies are marked as being automatically installed, while the package you installed
explicitly is marked as manually installed. Once an automatically installed package is no longer depended on by any
manually installed package it is considered no longer needed and e.g. apt-get or aptitude will at least suggest
removing them.
auto
auto is used to mark a package as being automatically installed, which will cause the package to be removed when
no more manually installed packages depend on this package.
manual
manual is used to mark a package as being manually installed, which will prevent the package from being
automatically removed if no other packages depend on it.
minimize-manual
minimize-manual is used to mark (transitive) dependencies of metapackages as automatically installed. This can be
used after an installation for example, to minimize the number of manually installed packages; or continuously on
systems managed by system configuration metapackages.
showauto
showauto is used to print a list of automatically installed packages with each package on a new line. All
automatically installed packages will be listed if no package is given. If packages are given only those which
are automatically installed will be shown.
showmanual
showmanual can be used in the same way as showauto except that it will print a list of manually installed
packages instead.
Options
-f=filename, --file=filename
Read/Write package stats from the filename given with the parameter filename instead of from the default
location, which is extended_states in the directory defined by the Configuration Item: Dir::State.
PREVENT CHANGES FOR A PACKAGE
hold
hold is used to mark a package as held back, which will prevent the package from being automatically installed,
upgraded or removed.
unhold
unhold is used to cancel a previously set hold on a package to allow all actions again.
showhold
showhold is used to print a list of packages on hold in the same way as for the other show commands.
SCHEDULE PACKAGES FOR INSTALL, REMOVE AND PURGE
Some front-ends like apt-get dselect-upgrade can be used to apply previously scheduled changes to the install state
of packages. Such changes can be scheduled with the install, remove (also known as deinstall) and purge commands.
Packages with a specific selection can be displayed with showinstall, showremove and showpurge respectively. More
information about these so called dpkg selections can be found in dpkg(1).
OPTIONS
-h, --help
Show a short usage summary.
-v, --version
Show the program version.
--audit
Show audit (and notice) messages. This overrides the quiet option, but only for notice messages, not progress
ones.
-c, --config-file
Configuration File; Specify a configuration file to use. The program will read the default configuration file and
then this configuration file. If configuration settings need to be set before the default configuration files are
parsed specify a file with the APT_CONFIG environment variable. See apt.conf(5) for syntax information.
-o, --option
Set a Configuration Option; This will set an arbitrary configuration option. The syntax is -o Foo::Bar=bar. -o
and --option can be used multiple times to set different options.
--cli-version
Requests a specific CLI version. This is a pattern that takes a MAJOR.MINOR version. You may omit the MINOR
version, in which case the latest supported minor level will be used.
Version tracks are presented as follows: The version 3.2 has equivalent versions 0.32, 1.22, and 2.12,
implementing new features for their specified major versions.
A special case is the X.9 version pattern: A version like 2.9 is followed by 3.0, but 2.10 follows directly on
2.8; given that we use odd version numbers as development series (2.9 is the 3.0 development series).
This feature has been introduced in APT 3.1.10, and replaces the binary-specific configuration. You may use the
APT::Version to similar effect on older binaries, for example, use -o APT::Version=2 to make apt(8) behave like
the 2.x series.
The default value is the current APT version for apt(8) and 0.(10 * major + minor) for the classic commands. The
0.X series is soft-deprecated and the other commands will roll over to the 2.x series in the future.
--no-color, --color
Turn colors on or off. Colors are on by default on supported terminals for apt(8) and can also be disabled using
the NO_COLOR or APT_NO_COLOR environment variables, or further configured by the APT::Color configuration option
and scope, see apt.conf(5) for information on that.
FILES
/var/lib/apt/extended_states
Status list of auto-installed packages. Configuration Item: Dir::State::extended_states.
SEE ALSO
apt-get(8), aptitude(8), apt.conf(5)
DIAGNOSTICS
apt-mark returns zero on normal operation, non-zero on error.
BUGS
APT bug page[1]. If you wish to report a bug in APT, please see /usr/share/doc/debian/bug-reporting.txt or the
reportbug(1) command.
AUTHORS
Mike O'Connor
APT team
NOTES
1. APT bug page
https://bugs.debian.org/src:apt
APT 3.2.0 14 September 2024 APT-MARK(8)