We noticed that not only Debian-users like grml but also people coming from the BSD-section, Gentoo-Linux and so on. You don’t need any debian-knowledge to use grml, but if you would like to use the package management you should know some basics.
Command | Action |
---|---|
apt-cache search foobar |
search for foobar |
apt-cache show $package |
show package $package |
apt-cache depends $package |
show dependencies of $package |
apt-cache rdepends $package |
show reverse dependencies of $package |
apt-cache policy $package |
show policy for $package |
apt-get update |
update list of packages in /etc/apt/sources.list |
apt-get upgrade |
upgrade software |
apt-get -s upgrade |
simulate upgrade |
apt-get dist-upgrade |
upgrade the distribution (including dependencies) |
apt-get install $package |
install $package |
apt-get install $package=version |
install a specific version of $package |
apt-get -t release install $package |
install $package from specific release |
apt-get remove $package |
remove $package |
apt-get --purge remove $package |
remove $package and purge configuration files |
apt-get --reinstall install $package |
reinstall $package |
apt-get --download-only install $package |
download .deb files of $package |
apt-get source $package |
download source of $package |
dpkg -i $package.deb |
install debian package |
dpkg -l |
show installed and removed packages |
dpkg -l $package |
show status of $package |
dpkg -S pattern |
show all packages that match ‘pattern’ |
dpkg -L $package |
list files in $package |
dpkg-reconfigure $package |
re-run the configuration for $package |
Another frontend and easy to handle system to the debian package management is the ncurses based ‘aptitude’. ‘aptitude’ can also be used in a console-oriented way (like apt-get). Just replace ‘apt-get’ in the above commands with ‘aptitude’. As of Debian Sarge this is even the prefered way to install and upgrade packages, as ‘aptitude’ is better in handling dependencies.
For handling /etc/apt/sources.list take a look at the apt-howto basics, for further information on package management read chapter 3 of apt-howto.
See grml.org/files/ for instructions how to use the grml-repository. You can use the grml-repos even if you don’t use a grml-system but any other Debian system (preferably sid/unstable).
With introduction of apt-0.6 it’s possible to check integrity of the packages. The following warnings will disappear then:
W: GPG error: http://grml.org ./ Release: The following signatures couldn't be
verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY D8DF53FB37E272E8
WARNING: The following packages cannot be authenticated!
For the grml-repository just run:
gpg --keyserver wwwkeys.eu.pgp.net --recv-keys D8DF53FB37E272E8
gpg --export D8DF53FB37E272E8 > /etc/apt/grml.key
apt-key add /etc/apt/grml.key