Mastering Package Management system with Dpkg

Dpkg is a device to install, build, dispose of and manage Debian programs and is managed utterly through command line parameters, which consists of precisely one action and zero or extra options. The action parameter tells to dpkg, what to do and options to manipulate the conduct of the action is some way. This article explains about -“Mastering Package Management system with Dpkg”.

To get the options of dpkg, use the following command –

$ dpkg --help

The sample output should be like this –

Commands:
-i|--install           <.deb file name> ... | -R|--recursive <directory> ...
--unpack               <.deb file name> ... | -R|--recursive <directory> ...
-A|--record-avail      <.deb file name> ... | -R|--recursive <directory> ...
--configure            <package> ... | -a|--pending
--triggers-only        <package> ... | -a|--pending
-r|--remove            <package> ... | -a|--pending
-P|--purge             <package> ... | -a|--pending
-V|--verify            <package> ... Verify the integrity of package(s).
--get-selections       [<pattern> ...] Get list of selections to stdout.
--set-selections       Set package selections from stdin.
--clear-selections     Deselect every non-essential package.
--update-avail         [<Packages-file>] Replace available packages info.
--merge-avail          [<Packages-file>] Merge with info from file.
--clear-avail          Erase existing available info.
--forget-old-unavail   Forget uninstalled unavailable pkgs.
-s|--status            <package> ... Display package status details.
-p|--print-avail       <package> ... Display available version details.

Assertable features: support-predepends, working-epoch, long-filenames,
multi-conrep, multi-arch, versioned-provides.
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Install Package

To install package, use the following commands as shown below –

$ sudo dpkg -i <File name>.deb

In the below commands VLC is the package name.

Removing Package

To remove the package, use the following command –

$ sudo dpkg -r vlc

Purge the package

To purge the package, use the following command –

$ sudo dpkg -P vlc

Verify the integrity Package

To verify the integrity package, use the following command –

$ sudo dpkg -V vlc

Status of Package

To get the status of package, use the following command –

$ sudo dpkg -s vlc

Displaying available version

To display available version details of package, use the following command –

$ sudo dpkg -p vlc

List of Packages

To get the list of all packages, use the following command –

$ sudo dpkg -L

Searching a specific package

To search a specific package and its supported files, use the following command –

$ sudo dpkg -S vlc

Configuring the package

To configure the package, use the following command –

$ sudo dpkg --configure vlc

Install the package from directory

To install the package from directory, use the following command –

$ sudo dpkg -R -i <Directory>/<package name >

Unpack the package

To unpack the package, use the following command –

$ sudo dpkg -unpack <File name>.deb

Deselect every non-essential package

To deselect every non-essential package, use the following command as shown below –

$sudo dpkg --clear-selections

List packages

To get the list packages concisely, use the following command as shown below –

$sudo dpkg -l

The sample output should be like this –

ri qt-at-spi:i386 0.4.0-3 i386 at-spi accessibility plugin for Q
ri qtchooser 52-gae5eeef- amd64 Wrapper to select between Qt deve
ri qtcore4-l10n 4:4.8.7+dfsg all Qt 4 core module translations
ri qtdeclarative5 0.6+16.04.20 amd64 transitional dummy package for On
ri qtdeclarative5 5.5.1-2ubunt amd64 Qt 5 declarative development prog
ri qtdeclarative5 5.5.1-2ubunt amd64 transitional dummy package Qt 5 Q
ri qtdeclarative5 5.5.1-2ubunt amd64 transitional dummy package for Qt
ri qtdeclarative5 1.3.1918+16. amd64 Transitional dummy package for Ub
ri qtdeclarative5 1.1.0+14.04. amd64 Unity Action QML Components
ri qttranslations 5.5.1-2build all translations for Qt 5
ri qtwayland5:amd 5.5.1-2build amd64 QtWayland platform plugin
ri readline-commo 6.3-8ubuntu2 all GNU readline and history librarie
ri remmina 1.1.2-3ubunt amd64 remote desktop client for GNOME d
ri remmina-common 1.1.2-3ubunt all common files for remmina remote d
ri remmina-plugin 1.1.2-3ubunt amd64 RDP plugin for remmina remote des
ri remmina-plugin 1.1.2-3ubunt amd64 VNC plugin for remmina remote des
ri rename 0.20-4 all Perl extension for renaming multi
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Print dpkg Architecture

To print dpkg architecture, use the following command as shown below –

$sudo dpkg --print-architecture

The sample output should be like this –

amd64

In this articles, we have learnt about – Mastering Package Management system with Dpkg .In our next series of Linux articles, we will come up with more Linux based tricks and tips. Keep reading!!