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1 | .\" dselect manual page - dselect(1) |
2 | .\" | |
3 | .\" Copyright © 1995 Juho Vuori <javuori@cc.helsinki.fi> | |
4 | .\" Copyright © 2000 Josip Rodin | |
5 | .\" Copyright © 2001 Joost Kooij | |
6 | .\" Copyright © 2001 Wichert Akkerman <wakkerma@debian.org> | |
7 | .\" Copyright © 2010-2015 Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org> | |
8 | .\" | |
9 | .\" This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify | |
10 | .\" it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by | |
11 | .\" the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or | |
12 | .\" (at your option) any later version. | |
13 | .\" | |
14 | .\" This is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, | |
15 | .\" but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of | |
16 | .\" MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the | |
17 | .\" GNU General Public License for more details. | |
18 | .\" | |
19 | .\" You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License | |
20 | .\" along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>. | |
21 | . | |
22 | .TH dselect 1 "%RELEASE_DATE%" "%VERSION%" "dpkg suite" | |
23 | .nh | |
24 | .SH NAME | |
25 | dselect \- Debian package management frontend | |
26 | . | |
27 | .SH SYNOPSIS | |
28 | .B dselect | |
29 | .RI [ option "...] [" command "...]" | |
30 | . | |
31 | .SH DESCRIPTION | |
32 | .B dselect | |
33 | is one of the primary user interfaces for managing packages on a Debian | |
34 | system. At the \fBdselect\fP main menu, the system administrator can: | |
35 | - Update the list of available package versions, | |
36 | - View the status of installed and available packages, | |
37 | - Alter package selections and manage dependencies, | |
38 | - Install new packages or upgrade to newer versions. | |
39 | .PP | |
40 | .B dselect | |
41 | operates as a front-end to \fBdpkg\fP(1), the low-level Debian package | |
42 | handling tool. It features a full-screen package selections manager | |
43 | with package depends and conflicts resolver. When run with administrator | |
44 | privileges, packages can be installed, upgraded and removed. Various | |
45 | access methods can be configured to retrieve available package version | |
46 | information and installable packages from package repositories. | |
47 | Depending on the used access method, these repositories can be public | |
48 | archive servers on the internet, local archive servers or cdroms. | |
49 | The recommended access method is \fIapt\fP, which is provided by the | |
50 | package \fBapt\fP. | |
51 | .PP | |
52 | Normally \fBdselect\fP is invoked without parameters. An interactive | |
53 | menu is presented, offering the user a list of commands. If a command | |
54 | is given as argument, then that command is started immediately. Several | |
55 | command line parameters are still available to modify the running behaviour | |
56 | of \fBdselect\fP or show additional information about the program. | |
57 | . | |
58 | .SH OPTIONS | |
59 | All options can be specified both on the command line and in the \fBdselect\fP | |
60 | configuration file \fI%PKGCONFDIR%/dselect.cfg\fP or the files on the | |
61 | configuration directory \fI%PKGCONFDIR%/dselect.cfg.d/\fP. Each line in the | |
62 | configuration file is either an option (exactly the same as the | |
63 | command line option but without leading hyphens) or a comment (if it starts | |
64 | with a ‘\fB#\fR’). | |
65 | .br | |
66 | .TP | |
67 | .BI \-\-admindir " directory" | |
68 | Changes the directory where the dpkg ‘\fIstatus\fP’, | |
69 | ‘\fIavailable\fP’ and similar files are located. | |
70 | This defaults to \fI%ADMINDIR%\fP | |
71 | and normally there shouldn't be any need to change it. | |
72 | .TP | |
73 | .BR \-D "\fIfile\fP, " \-\-debug " \fIfile\fP" | |
74 | Turn on debugging. Debugging information is sent to \fIfile\fP. | |
75 | .TP | |
76 | .B \-\-expert | |
77 | Turns on expert mode, i.e. doesn't display possibly annoying help | |
78 | messages. | |
79 | .TP | |
80 | .BR \-\-colour | \-\-color " \fIscreenpart\fP:[\fIforeground\fP],[\fIbackground\fP][:\fIattr\fP[\fI+attr\fP]...]" | |
81 | Configures screen colors. This works only if your display supports colors. | |
82 | This option may be used multiple times (and is best used in | |
83 | \fIdselect.cfg\fP). Each use changes the color (and optionally, other | |
84 | attributes) of one part of the screen. | |
85 | The parts of the screen (from top to bottom) are: | |
86 | .RS | |
87 | .TP | |
88 | .B title | |
89 | The screen title. | |
90 | .TP | |
91 | .B listhead | |
92 | The header line above the list of packages. | |
93 | .TP | |
94 | .B list | |
95 | The scrolling list of packages (and also some help text). | |
96 | .TP | |
97 | .B listsel | |
98 | The selected item in the list. | |
99 | .TP | |
100 | .B pkgstate | |
101 | In the list of packages, the text indicating the current state of each | |
102 | package. | |
103 | .TP | |
104 | .B pkgstatesel | |
105 | In the list of packages, the text indicating the current state of the | |
106 | currently selected package. | |
107 | .TP | |
108 | .B infohead | |
109 | The header line that displays the state of the currently selected package. | |
110 | .TP | |
111 | .B infodesc | |
112 | The package's short description. | |
113 | .TP | |
114 | .B info | |
115 | Used to display package info such as the package's description. | |
116 | .TP | |
117 | .B infofoot | |
118 | The last line of the screen when selecting packages. | |
119 | .TP | |
120 | .B query | |
121 | Used to display query lines | |
122 | .TP | |
123 | .B helpscreen | |
124 | Color of help screens. | |
125 | .RE | |
126 | .IP | |
127 | After the part of the screen comes a colon and the color specification. You | |
128 | can specify either the foreground color, the background color, or both, | |
129 | overriding the compiled-in colors. Use standard curses color names. | |
130 | .IP | |
131 | Optionally, after the color specification is another colon, and an | |
132 | attribute specification. This is a list of one or more attributes, | |
133 | separated by plus (‘+’) characters. | |
134 | Available attributes include (not all of these will work on all terminals): | |
135 | .BR normal ", " standout ", " underline ", " reverse ", " blink ", " | |
136 | .BR bright ", " dim ", " bold | |
137 | .TP | |
138 | .BR \-? ", " \-\-help | |
139 | Print a brief help text and exit successfully. | |
140 | .TP | |
141 | .B \-\-version | |
142 | Print version information and exit successfully. | |
143 | . | |
144 | .SH COMMANDS | |
145 | When | |
146 | .B dselect | |
147 | is started it can perform the following commands, either directly if it | |
148 | was specified on the command line or by prompting the user with a menu | |
149 | of available commands if running interactively: | |
150 | .SS access | |
151 | Choose and configure an access method to access package repositories. | |
152 | .sp | |
153 | By default, \fBdselect\fP provides several methods such | |
154 | as \fIcdrom\fP, \fImulti_cd\fP, \fInfs\fP, \fImulti_nfs\fP, \fIharddisk\fP, | |
155 | \fImounted\fP, \fImulti_mount\fP, \fIfloppy\fP or \fIftp\fP, but other | |
156 | packages may provide additional methods, eg. the \fIapt\fP access method | |
157 | provided by the \fBapt\fP package. | |
158 | .sp | |
159 | The use of the \fIapt\fP access method is strongly recommended. | |
160 | .sp | |
161 | .SS update | |
162 | Refresh the available packages database. | |
163 | .sp | |
164 | Retrieves a list of available package versions from the package | |
165 | repository, configured for the current access method, and update | |
166 | the dpkg database. The package lists are commonly provided by the | |
167 | repository as files named \fIPackages\fP or \fIPackages.gz\fP. | |
168 | These files can be generated by repository maintainers, using the | |
169 | program \fBdpkg\-scanpackages\fP(1). | |
170 | .sp | |
171 | Details of the update command depend on the access method's implementation. | |
172 | Normally the process is straightforward and requires no user interaction. | |
173 | .sp | |
174 | .SS select | |
175 | View or manage package selections and dependencies. | |
176 | .sp | |
177 | This is the main function of \fBdselect\fP. In the select screen, the | |
178 | user can review a list of all available and installed packages. When run | |
179 | with administrator privileges, it is also possible to interactively | |
180 | change packages selection state. \fBdselect\fP tracks the implications | |
181 | of these changes to other depending or conflicting packages. | |
182 | .sp | |
183 | When a conflict or failed depends is detected, a dependency resolution | |
184 | subscreen is prompted to the user. In this screen, a list of conflicting | |
185 | or depending packages is shown, and for each package listed, the reason | |
186 | for its listing is shown. The user may apply the suggestions proposed | |
187 | by \fBdselect\fP, override them, or back out all the changes, including | |
188 | the ones that created the unresolved depends or conflicts. | |
189 | .sp | |
190 | The use of the interactive package selections management screen is | |
191 | explained in more detail below. | |
192 | .sp | |
193 | .SS install | |
194 | Installs selected packages. | |
195 | .sp | |
196 | The configured access method will fetch installable or upgradable packages | |
197 | from the relevant repositories and install these using \fBdpkg\fP. | |
198 | Depending on the implementation of the access method, all packages can | |
199 | be prefetched before installation, or fetched when needed. | |
200 | Some access methods may also remove packages that were marked for removal. | |
201 | .sp | |
202 | If an error occurred during install, it is usually advisable to run | |
203 | install again. In most cases, the problems will disappear or be solved. | |
204 | If problems persist or the installation performed was incorrect, please | |
205 | investigate into the causes and circumstances, and file a bug in the | |
206 | Debian bug tracking system. Instructions on how to do this can be found | |
207 | at https://bugs.debian.org/ or by reading the documentation | |
208 | for \fBbug\fP(1) or \fBreportbug\fP(1), if these are installed. | |
209 | .sp | |
210 | Details of the install command depend on the access method's implementation. | |
211 | The user's attention and input may be required during installation, | |
212 | configuration or removal of packages. This depends on the maintainer | |
213 | scripts in the package. Some packages make use of the \fBdebconf\fP(1) | |
214 | library, allowing for more flexible or even automated installation | |
215 | setups. | |
216 | .sp | |
217 | .SS config | |
218 | Configures any previously installed, but not fully configured packages. | |
219 | .sp | |
220 | .SS remove | |
221 | Removes or purges installed packages, that are marked for removal. | |
222 | .sp | |
223 | .SS quit | |
224 | Quit \fBdselect\fP. | |
225 | .sp | |
226 | Exits the program with zero (successful) errorcode. | |
227 | .sp | |
228 | . | |
229 | .SH PACKAGE SELECTIONS MANAGEMENT | |
230 | .sp | |
231 | .SS Introduction | |
232 | .sp | |
233 | .B dselect | |
234 | directly exposes | |
235 | the administrator to some of the complexities involved with managing | |
236 | large sets of packages with many interdependencies. For a user who is | |
237 | unfamiliar with the concepts and the ways of the Debian package management | |
238 | system, it can be quite overwhelming. Although \fBdselect\fP is aimed | |
239 | at easing package management and administration, it is only instrumental | |
240 | in doing so and cannot be assumed to be a sufficient substitute for | |
241 | administrator skill and understanding. The user is required to | |
242 | be familiar with the concepts underlying the Debian packaging system. | |
243 | In case of doubt, consult the \fBdpkg\fP(1) manpage and the distribution | |
244 | policy. | |
245 | .sp | |
246 | Unless \fBdselect\fP is run in expert | |
247 | or immediate mode, a help screen is first displayed when choosing this | |
248 | command from the menu. The user is \fIstrongly\fP advised to study all of | |
249 | the information presented in the online help screens, when one pops up. | |
250 | The online help screens can at any time be invoked with the ‘\fB?\fP’ key. | |
251 | .sp | |
252 | .SS Screen layout | |
253 | .sp | |
254 | The select screen is by default split in a top and a bottom half. | |
255 | The top half shows a list of packages. A cursor bar can select an | |
256 | individual package, or a group of packages, if applicable, by selecting | |
257 | the group header. The bottom half of the screen shows some details | |
258 | about the package currently selected in the top half of the screen. | |
259 | The type of detail that is displayed can be varied. | |
260 | .sp | |
261 | Pressing the ‘\fBI\fP’ key toggles a full-screen display of the packages | |
262 | list, an enlarged view of the package details, or the equally split screen. | |
263 | .sp | |
264 | .SS Package details view | |
265 | .sp | |
266 | The package details view by default shows the extended package description | |
267 | for the package that is currently selected in the packages status list. | |
268 | The type of detail can be toggled by pressing the ‘\fBi\fP’ key. | |
269 | This alternates between: | |
270 | - the extended description | |
271 | - the control information for the installed version | |
272 | - the control information for the available version | |
273 | .sp | |
274 | In a dependency resolution screen, there is also the possibility of | |
275 | viewing the specific unresolved depends or conflicts related to the | |
276 | package and causing it to be listed. | |
277 | .sp | |
278 | .SS Packages status list | |
279 | .sp | |
280 | The main select screen displays a list of all packages known to the Debian | |
281 | package management system. This includes packages installed on the system | |
282 | and packages known from the available packages database. | |
283 | .sp | |
284 | For every package, the list shows the package's status, priority, section, | |
285 | installed and available architecture, installed and available versions, | |
286 | the package name and its short description, all in one line. | |
287 | By pressing the ‘\fBA\fP’ key, the display of the installed and | |
288 | available architecture can be toggled between on an off. | |
289 | By pressing the ‘\fBV\fP’ key, the display of the installed and | |
290 | available version can be toggled between on an off. | |
291 | By pressing the ‘\fBv\fP’ key, the package status display is toggled | |
292 | between verbose and shorthand. | |
293 | Shorthand display is the default. | |
294 | .sp | |
295 | The shorthand status indication consists | |
296 | of four parts: an error flag, which should normally be clear, the | |
297 | current status, the last selection state and the current selection state. | |
298 | The first two relate to the actual state of the package, the second pair | |
299 | are about the selections set by the user. | |
300 | .sp | |
301 | These are the meanings of the shorthand package status indicator codes: | |
302 | Error flag: | |
303 | \fIempty\fP no error | |
304 | \fBR\fP serious error, needs reinstallation; | |
305 | Installed state: | |
306 | \fIempty\fP not installed; | |
307 | \fB*\fP fully installed and configured; | |
308 | \fB\-\fP not installed but some config files may remain; | |
309 | \fBU\fP unpacked but not yet configured; | |
310 | \fBC\fP half-configured (an error happened); | |
311 | \fBI\fP half-installed (an error happened). | |
312 | Current and requested selections: | |
313 | \fB*\fP marked for installation or upgrade; | |
314 | \fB\-\fP marked for removal, configuration files remain; | |
315 | \fB=\fP on hold: package will not be processed at all; | |
316 | \fB_\fP marked for purge, also remove configuration; | |
317 | \fBn\fP package is new and has yet to be marked. | |
318 | .sp | |
319 | .SS Cursor and screen movement | |
320 | .sp | |
321 | The package selection list and the dependency conflict | |
322 | resolution screens can be navigated using motion | |
323 | commands mapped to the following keys: | |
324 | .br | |
325 | \fBp, Up, k\fP move cursor bar up | |
326 | \fBn, Down, j\fP move cursor bar down | |
327 | \fBP, Pgup, Backspace\fP scroll list 1 page up | |
328 | \fBN, Pgdn, Space\fP scroll list 1 page down | |
329 | \fB^p\fP scroll list 1 line up | |
330 | \fB^n\fP scroll list 1 line down | |
331 | \fBt, Home\fP jump to top of list | |
332 | \fBe, End\fP jump to end of list | |
333 | \fBu\fP scroll info 1 page up | |
334 | \fBd\fP scroll info 1 page down | |
335 | \fB^u\fP scroll info 1 line up | |
336 | \fB^d\fP scroll info 1 line down | |
337 | \fBB, Left-arrow\fP pan display 1/3 screen left | |
338 | \fBF, Right-arrow\fP pan display 1/3 screen right | |
339 | \fB^b\fP pan display 1 character left | |
340 | \fB^f\fP pan display 1 character right | |
341 | .sp | |
342 | .SS Searching and sorting | |
343 | .sp | |
344 | The list of packages can be searched by package name. This | |
345 | is done by pressing ‘\fB/\fP’, and typing a simple search | |
346 | string. The string is interpreted as a | |
347 | .BR regex (7) | |
348 | regular expression. | |
349 | If you add ‘\fB/d\fP’ to the search expression, dselect will also | |
350 | search in descriptions. | |
351 | If you add ‘\fB/i\fP’ the search will be case insensitive. | |
352 | You may combine these two suffixes like this: ‘\fB/id\fP’. | |
353 | Repeated searching is accomplished by repeatedly pressing the | |
354 | ‘\fBn\fP’ or ‘\fB\\\fP’ keys, until the wanted package is found. | |
355 | If the search reaches the bottom of the list, it wraps to the top | |
356 | and continues searching from there. | |
357 | .sp | |
358 | The list sort order can be varied by pressing | |
359 | the ‘\fBo\fP’ and ‘\fBO\fP’ keys repeatedly. | |
360 | The following nine sort orderings can be selected: | |
361 | alphabet available status | |
362 | priority+section available+priority status+priority | |
363 | section+priority available+section status+section | |
364 | .br | |
365 | Where not listed above explicitly, alphabetic order is used as | |
366 | the final subordering sort key. | |
367 | .sp | |
368 | .SS Altering selections | |
369 | .sp | |
370 | The requested selection state of individual packages may be | |
371 | altered with the following commands: | |
372 | \fB+, Insert\fP install or upgrade | |
373 | \fB=, H\fP hold in present state and version | |
374 | \fB:, G\fP unhold: upgrade or leave uninstalled | |
375 | \fB\-, Delete\fP remove, but leave configuration | |
376 | \fB_\fP remove & purge configuration | |
377 | .sp | |
378 | When the change request results in one or more unsatisfied depends | |
379 | or conflicts, \fBdselect\fP prompts the user with a dependency resolution | |
380 | screen. This will be further explained below. | |
381 | .sp | |
382 | It is also possible to apply these commands to groups of package | |
383 | selections, by pointing the cursor bar onto a group header. The | |
384 | exact grouping of packages is dependent on the current list ordering | |
385 | settings. | |
386 | .sp | |
387 | Proper care should be taken when altering large groups of selections, | |
388 | because this can instantaneously create large numbers of unresolved | |
389 | depends or conflicts, all of which will be listed in one dependency | |
390 | resolution screen, making them very hard to handle. In practice, | |
391 | only hold and unhold operations are useful when applied to groups. | |
392 | .sp | |
393 | .SS Resolving depends and conflicts | |
394 | .sp | |
395 | When the change request results in one or more unsatisfied depends | |
396 | or conflicts, \fBdselect\fP prompts the user with a dependency resolution | |
397 | screen. First however, an informative help screen is displayed. | |
398 | .sp | |
399 | The top half of this screen lists all the packages that will have | |
400 | unresolved depends or conflicts, as a result of the requested change, | |
401 | and all the packages whose installation can resolve any of these | |
402 | depends or whose removal can resolve any of the conflicts. | |
403 | The bottom half defaults to show the depends or conflicts that | |
404 | cause the currently selected package to be listed. | |
405 | .sp | |
406 | When the sublist of packages is displayed initially, \fBdselect\fP | |
407 | may have already set the requested selection status of some of the | |
408 | listed packages, in order to resolve the depends or conflicts that | |
409 | caused the dependency resolution screen to be displayed. Usually, | |
410 | it is best to follow up the suggestions made by \fBdselect\fP. | |
411 | .sp | |
412 | The listed packages' selection state may be reverted to the original | |
413 | settings, as they were before the unresolved depends or conflicts | |
414 | were created, by pressing the ‘\fBR\fP’ key. | |
415 | By pressing the ‘\fBD\fP’ key, the automatic suggestions are reset, | |
416 | but the change that caused the dependency resolution screen to be prompted | |
417 | is kept as requested. | |
418 | Finally, by pressing ‘\fBU\fP’, the selections are again set to the | |
419 | automatic suggestion values. | |
420 | .sp | |
421 | .SS Establishing the requested selections | |
422 | .sp | |
423 | By pressing \fBenter\fP, the currently displayed set of selections | |
424 | is accepted. If \fBdselect\fP detects no unresolved depends as a result | |
425 | of the requested selections, the new selections will be set. | |
426 | However, if there are any unresolved depends, \fBdselect\fP will again | |
427 | prompt the user with a dependency resolution screen. | |
428 | .sp | |
429 | To alter a set of selections that creates unresolved depends or | |
430 | conflicts and forcing \fBdselect\fP to accept it, press the ‘\fBQ\fP’ | |
431 | key. This sets the selections as specified by the user, | |
432 | unconditionally. Generally, don't do this unless you've read | |
433 | the fine print. | |
434 | .sp | |
435 | The opposite effect, to back out any selections change requests and | |
436 | go back to the previous list of selections, is attained by pressing | |
437 | the ‘\fBX\fP’ or \fBescape\fP keys. By repeatedly pressing these | |
438 | keys, any possibly detrimental changes to the requested package | |
439 | selections can be backed out completely to the last established | |
440 | settings. | |
441 | .sp | |
442 | If you mistakenly establish some settings and wish to revert all the | |
443 | selections to what is currently installed on the system, press the | |
444 | ‘\fBC\fP’ key. | |
445 | This is somewhat similar to using the unhold command on all packages, | |
446 | but provides a more obvious panic button in cases where the user | |
447 | pressed \fBenter\fP by accident. | |
448 | .sp | |
449 | . | |
450 | .SH EXIT STATUS | |
451 | .TP | |
452 | .B 0 | |
453 | The requested command was successfully performed. | |
454 | .TP | |
455 | .B 2 | |
456 | Fatal or unrecoverable error due to invalid command-line usage, or | |
457 | interactions with the system, such as accesses to the database, | |
458 | memory allocations, etc. | |
459 | . | |
460 | .SH ENVIRONMENT | |
461 | .TP | |
462 | .B HOME | |
463 | If set, \fBdselect\fP will use it as the directory from which to read the | |
464 | user specific configuration file. | |
465 | . | |
466 | .SH BUGS | |
467 | The | |
468 | .B dselect | |
469 | package selection interface is confusing to some new users. | |
470 | Reportedly, it even makes seasoned kernel developers cry. | |
471 | .sp | |
472 | The documentation is lacking. | |
473 | .sp | |
474 | There is no help option in the main menu. | |
475 | .sp | |
476 | The visible list of available packages cannot be reduced. | |
477 | .sp | |
478 | The built in access methods can no longer stand up to current quality | |
479 | standards. Use the access method provided by apt, it is not only not | |
480 | broken, it is also much more flexible than the built in access methods. | |
481 | . | |
482 | .SH SEE ALSO | |
483 | .BR dpkg (1), | |
484 | .BR apt\-get (8), | |
485 | .BR sources.list (5), | |
486 | .BR deb (5). |