Using Aptitude

Basic Commands

To search for a package

• aptitude search <something>

To get more information on a package

• aptitude show <package-name>

To install a package

• aptitude install <package-name>

To list the files of an installed package

• dpkg -L <package-name>

Files

• The repositories of Debian packages are specified in:

  /etc/apt/sources.list

  After editing this file, run aptitude update

Interactive UI

• First, run it without any arguments

  aptitude

  Use the following interactive keyboard commands

  /	Search
  Enter	View Item
  q	Go back
  u	Update Cache
  +	Install/Upgrade/Downgrade a Package (only, adds the a pending action, but does not actually do anything yet)
  -	Remove Package (only adds the a pending action)
  =	Hold the package at it's current version (undoes + or -)
  U	Mark for all possible upgrades
  g	Perform the installs/upgrades/removes. First press gives a summary of what will be done. Second press preforms all the pending actions