{"id":5181,"date":"2018-06-28T21:23:46","date_gmt":"2018-06-28T17:23:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.howtoforge.com\/linux-dpkg-command\/"},"modified":"2018-06-28T21:23:46","modified_gmt":"2018-06-28T17:23:46","slug":"linux-dpkg-command-tutorial-for-beginners-8-examples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afaghhosting.net\/blog\/linux-dpkg-command-tutorial-for-beginners-8-examples\/","title":{"rendered":"Linux dpkg Command Tutorial for Beginners (8 Examples)"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you are on a Debian or Debian-based system (like Ubuntu), there are high chances you might have encountered .deb packages. These are Debian packages, and Linux command line offers built-in commands\/tools to deal with this kind of packages. One such tool is dpkg<\/strong>, which we will discuss here in this tutorial.<\/p>\n

But before we do that, it’s worth mentioning that all examples in this tutorial have been tested on an Ubuntu 16.04LTS machine.<\/p>\n

Linux dpkg command<\/h2>\n

The dpkg tool is basically a package manager for Debian\/Debian-based systems. Following is its syntax:<\/p>\n

dpkg ACTIONS<\/p>\n

OR<\/p>\n

dpkg [options] filename<\/p>\n

And here’s how the man page explains it:<\/p>\n

 dpkg\u00a0 is\u00a0 a\u00a0 tool to install, build, remove and manage Debian packages.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The primary and more user-friendly front-end for dpkg\u00a0 is\u00a0 aptitude(1).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 dpkg\u00a0 itself\u00a0 is controlled entirely via command line parameters, which\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 consist of exactly one action and zero or\u00a0 more\u00a0 options.\u00a0 The\u00a0 action-\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 parameter tells dpkg what to do and options control the behavior of the\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 action in some way.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 dpkg can also be used as a front-end to dpkg-deb(1) and\u00a0 dpkg-query(1).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The list of supported actions can be found later on in the ACTIONS sec?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 tion. If any such action is encountered\u00a0 dpkg\u00a0 just\u00a0 runs\u00a0 dpkg-deb\u00a0 or\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 dpkg-query with the parameters given to it, but no specific options are\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 currently passed to them, to use any such option the back-ends need\u00a0 to\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 be called directly.<\/p><\/pre>\n
Following are some Q&A styled examples that should give you a good basic idea on how dpkg works.<\/p>\n
Q1. How to install a package using dpkg?<\/h2>\n
This you can do using the -i command line option.<\/p>\n
dpkg -i [package-name]\n
For example:<\/p>\n
dpkg -i google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb<\/p>\n
Here’s what all steps are involved in the installation process:<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1. Extract the control files of the new package.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2.\u00a0 If\u00a0 another version of the same package was installed before\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the new installation, execute prerm script of the old package.<\/p>
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 3. Run preinst script, if provided by the package.<\/p>
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 4. Unpack the new files, and at the same time back\u00a0 up\u00a0 the\u00a0 old\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 files, so that if something goes wrong, they can be restored.<\/p>
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 5.\u00a0 If\u00a0 another version of the same package was installed before\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the new installation, execute the postrm script of the old pack?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 age.\u00a0 Note that this script is executed after the preinst script\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 of the new package, because new files are written\u00a0 at\u00a0 the\u00a0 same\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 time old files are removed.<\/p>
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 6.\u00a0 Configure the package. See --configure for detailed informa?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 tion about how this is done.<\/p><\/pre>\n
Q2. How to remove an already installed package using dpkg?<\/h2>\n
This can be done using the -r command line option.<\/p>\n
dpkg -r [package-name]\n
For example:<\/p>\n
dpkg -r googler_3.3.0-1_all.deb<\/p>\n
Here’s what the man page says about this option:<\/p>\n
 Removing of a package consists of the following steps:
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1. Run prerm script<\/p>
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2. Remove the installed files<\/p>
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 3. Run postrm script<\/p><\/pre>\n
Q3. How to list all installed packages in the system?<\/h2>\n
For this, you can use the -l command line option.<\/p>\n
dpkg -l<\/p>\n
For example, here’s the output this command line option produced on my system:<\/p>\n
\"How<\/a><\/p>\n
Q4. How to make dpkg list contents of a package?<\/h2>\n
This can be done using the –contents flag.<\/p>\n
dpkg –contents [package name]\n
For example:<\/p>\n
\"How<\/a><\/p>\n
Q5. How to just unpack a package using dpkg?<\/h2>\n
There may be times when you’d want to just unpack the package, not configure it. Well, dpkg provides an option for this as well: –unpack.<\/p>\n
dpkg –unpack [package-name]\n
If later on you’d like to configure an already unpacked package, you can do so using the –configure command line option.<\/p>\n
dpkg –configure [package-name]\n
Following is what the man page says about this option:<\/p>\n
 Configuring consists of the following steps:
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1.\u00a0 Unpack\u00a0 the\u00a0 conffiles, and at the same time back up the old\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 conffiles, so that they can be restored if something goes wrong.<\/p>
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2. Run postinst script, if provided by the package.<\/p><\/pre>\n
Q6. How to check if a package is installed or not?<\/h2>\n
Use the -s command line option for this.<\/p>\n
dpkg -s [package-name]\n
For example:<\/p>\n
\"How<\/a><\/p>\n
Q7. How to print architecture of packages dpkg installs?<\/h2>\n
This info can be accessed using the –print-architecture command line option.<\/p>\n
dpkg –print-architecture<\/p>\n
For example, the output the above command produced on my system was:<\/p>\n
amd64<\/pre>\n
Q8. How to purge a package using dpkg?<\/h2>\n
We already discussed how to remove a package using the dpkg command. You can also purge a package, a process which removes everything, including conffiles. This can be done using the -P command line option.<\/p>\n
dpkg -P [package-name]\n
Here’s what the man page has to say about this option:<\/p>\n
 Some configuration files might be unknown to dpkg because\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 they are created and handled separately through\u00a0 the\u00a0 configura?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 tion\u00a0 scripts.\u00a0 In\u00a0 that case, dpkg won't remove them by itself,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 but the package's postrm script (which is called by\u00a0 dpkg),\u00a0 has\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 to take care of their removal during purge. Of course, this only\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 applies to files in system directories, not configuration\u00a0 files\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 written to individual users' home directories.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Purging of a package consists of the following steps:<\/p>
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1.\u00a0 Remove the package, if not already removed. See --remove for\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 detailed information about how this is done.<\/p>
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2. Run postrm script.<\/p><\/pre>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n
The dpkg command offers plethora of options. What we’ve discussed here are those options that will help you get started with the tool. Once you’re done practicing these, head to the command’s\u00a0man page<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n
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If you are on a Debian or Debian-based system (like Ubuntu), there are high chances you might have encountered .deb packages. These are Debian packages, and Linux command line offers built-in commands\/tools to deal with this kind of packages. One such tool is dpkg, which we will discuss here in this tutorial. But before we …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-36"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/afaghhosting.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/afaghhosting.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/afaghhosting.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afaghhosting.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afaghhosting.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/afaghhosting.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5181\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/afaghhosting.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afaghhosting.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afaghhosting.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}