Free LPI Linux Certification in a Nutshell by Adam Haeder; Stephen Addison Schneiter; Bruno Gomes Pessanha; James Stanger Page B

don’t specify a pattern, all packages will be
     listed:
# dpkg -l xdm ii xdm 3.3.2.3a-11 X display manager
    Example 8
    Use dpkg -S to determine the package from
     which a particular file was installed with the filename :
# dpkg -S /usr/bin/nl textutils: /usr/bin/nl

Name
    apt-get
    Syntax
apt-get [
options
] [
command
] [
package_name
...]
    Description
    The apt-get command is part of theAdvanced Package Tool (APT) management system. It does
     not work directly with .deb files like dpkg , but uses package names instead. apt-get maintains a database of package
     information that enables the tool to automatically upgrade packages
     and their dependencies as new package releases become
     available.
    Frequently used options
    -d
Download files, but do not install. This is useful when
     you wish to get a large number of package files but delay
     their installation to prevent installation errors from
     stopping the download process.
-s
Simulate the steps in a package change, but do not
     actually change the system.
-y
Automatically respond “yes” to all prompts, instead of
     prompting you for a response during package
     installation/removal.
    Frequently used commands
    dist-upgrade
Upgrade automatically to new versions of Debian
     Linux.
install
Install or upgrade one or more packages by name.
remove
Remove specified packages.
update
Fetch a list of currently available packages. This is
     typically done before any changes are made to existing
     packages.
upgrade
Upgrade a system’s complete set of packages to current
     versions safely. This command is conservative and will not
     process upgrades that could cause a conflict or break an
     existing configuration; it also will not remove
     packages.
    Additional commands and options are available. See the apt-get manpage for more information.
    apt-get uses /etc/apt/sources.list to determine where
     packages should be obtained. The file should contain one or more
     lines that look something like this:
deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian stable main contrib non-free
    Example
    Remove the elvis package using apt-get :
# apt-get remove elvis Reading Package Lists... Done
Building Dependency Tree... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
elvis
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove
and 376 not upgraded.
Need to get 0B of archives. After unpacking 1363kB
will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y (Reading database ... 54816 files and directories
currently installed.)
Removing elvis ...
(removal continues...)
    In this example, the user is required to respond with y when prompted to continue.
     Using the -y option to apt-get would eliminate this
     interaction.

Name
    dselect
    Syntax
dselect
    Description
    dselect is an interactive,
     menu-driven, frontend tool for dpkg and is
     usually invoked without parameters. The dselect command lets you interactively manage packages by selecting them for
     installation, removal, configuration, and so forth. Selections are
     made from a locally stored list of available packages, which may be
     updated while running dselect . Package actions
     initiated by dselect are carried out using dpkg .

Name
    alien
    Syntax
alien [--to-deb] [--patch=
patchfile
] [
options
]
file
    Description
    Convert to or install a non-Debian (or “alien”)
     package. Supported package types include Red Hat .rpm , Stampede .slp ,
     Slackware .tgz , and generic .tar.gz files.
rpm
must also be installed on the system
     to convert an RPM package into a .deb package.
     The alien command produces an output
     package in Debian format by default after
     conversion.
    Frequently used options
    -i
Automatically install the output package and remove the
     converted package file.
-r
Convert package to RPM format.
-t
Convert package to a
gzip
     tar
archive.
    Example
    Install a non-Debian package on a Debian system using alien with the -i option:
# alien -i package.rpm
    On the Exam
    dselect, apt-get , and alien are important parts of Debian package
     management, but