Hi everyone! Today in this tutorial, we’re going to look at 5 different package management tools that Debian uses specially in DevOps.
Above all, Before diving in, lets take a brief look at what Package Management actually is.
What is Package Management?
Firstly, A package generally refers to a compressed file archive containing all the files that come with a particular application. These are referred to as dependencies.
Secondly, The task of finding, installing, maintaining, upgrading or uninstalling these software packages upon the user’s command is handled by a Package Manager.
It presents an interface which assists the users in managing the collection of packages installed on their system.In conclusion , the process is known as Package Management.
Moreoever, Debian package files typically has the extension .deb.
Additionally, They are stored in repositories which are collections of packages found online or on physical media.
However, Packages normally come in a pre-compiled binary format which makes their installation quick and there is no longer a need of compiling the software.
There are multiple tools that are used to manage Debian packages, from graphic or text-based interfaces to the low level tools.Finally, Let’s discuss 5 of them one by one.
1. Debian dpkg
Firstly, It stands for Package Manager for Debian. It is a tool to install, build, remove and manage Debian
packages.
SYNOPSIS – dpkg [option...] action
dpkg is controlled entirely via command line parameters, which consist of exactly one action and zero or more options. Here, the action-parameter tells dpkg what to do and options control the behaviour of the action in some way. Let’s get our hands dirty with some basic commands used to manage locally installed packages.
| Command | Function |
|---|---|
dpkg --help | For finding out all the options |
dpkg --info foo_VVV-RRR.deb | For printing out the control file and other information for a specific package |
dpkg --install foo_VVV-RRR.deb | For installing a package including unpacking and configuring |
dpkg --remove foo | For removing a package but not its configuration files |
dpkg --purge foo | For removing a package including its configuration files |
dpkg -l | For listing all the packages in the system’s package database including all packages, installed and uninstalled |
dpkg -l | grep apache2 | For piping the output through grep to see a specific package |
dpkg -L ufw | For listing the files installed by a package, in this case ufw is the package |
2. Debian APT
Short for Advanced Package Tool, APT is an advanced interface to dpkg which provides the apt-get program. Moreover, APT tool merges the functionality of apt-get and apt-cache and also has a fancier coloured output format which makes it more pleasant for humans.
Below are mentioned a few basic commands to use APT.
| Command | Function |
|---|---|
apt update | To update the list of packages known by your system |
apt install foo | To install the foo package and all its dependencies |
apt remove foo | To remove the foo package from your system |
apt purge foo | To remove the foo package along with its configuration files from your system |
apt list --upgradable | To list all the packages for which newer versions are available |
apt upgrade | To upgrade all the packages on your system without installing extra packages or removing packages |
apt full-upgrade | To upgrade all the packages on your system, and, if needed for a package upgrade, installing extra packages or removing packages |
apt search word | To find packages whose description contain word |
apt show package | To print the detailed information of a package |
3. Debian Aptitude
Firstly, Aptitude is another package manager for Debian GNU/Linux systems. Secondly moreover ,It provides a front-end to the apt package management infrastructure.
In Addition, Actions can be performed from a visual interface or from the command-line.Aptitude can be used to perform management tasks in a fast and easy way.
However, It provides the functionality of apt-get as well as many additional features such as easy access to all versions of a package.
In Addition, easy tracking of obsolete packages, powerful system for searching particular packages, limiting the package display, etc.
Using Aptitude for package management is relatively straightforward, and the user interface makes common tasks simple to perform.
However, Some examples of common package management functions as performed in Aptitude are installing packages, removing packages, updating packaging index, upgrading packages, etc.In Conclusion, The current state of the package is described using the following keys –
- i: Installed package
- c: Package not installed but package configuration remains on the system
- p: Purged from system (Removed from the system including the configuration files)
- v: Virtual Package
- B: Broken package
- u: Unpacked files but package not yet configured
- C: Half-configured (Configuration failed and requires fix)
- H: Half-installed (Removal failed and requires a fix)
In Addition, Aptitude can also be used as a command-line tool having very much similarity to APT package manager. You can always go to the man pages for more details about the usage and options.
4. Synaptic
Similarly, Synaptic is a graphical package management program for apt.In Addition, It provides the same features as the apt-get command line utility with a GUI front-end.
It enables you to install, upgrade and remove software packages in a user friendly way.In Addition, Along with most of the features offered by aptitude, some additional features are listed below:
- Firstly, Installing, removing, upgrading and downgrading single and multiple packages
- Secondly, Managing package repositories
- Moreoever, Finding packages by name, description and several other attributes
- In Addition, Sorting of packages by name, status, size or version
- Browsing all available online documentation related to a package
- Downloading the latest changelog of a package
- Locking packages to the current version
- Forcing the installation of a specific package version
- Undoing and Redoing of selections
- In Conclusion, Built-in terminal emulator for the package manage
5. Tasksel
Firstly, Performing a specific task might be difficult when you need to find the appropriate suite of packages that caters to your needs.
However, For this, tasks have been defined by the Debian developers which is simply just a collection of several individual Debian packages.All relating to a specific activity.
In Addition , these tasks can be installed through the Tasksel program or through aptitude.
Additionally , the installation of the tasks associated with a standard system and a desktop environment, is automatically done by the Debian installer.
Also, these tasks might be automatically installed in your system, depending on your selections throughout the installation process.
For example, if you selected a language other than English, the task associated with it will be installed automatically too and if the installer recognises you are installing on a laptop system the laptop task will also be installed.
