Dpkg
Encyclopedia
dpkg is the software at the base of the Debian
package management system
.
package
s.
, are used to fetch packages from remote locations or deal with complex package relations. Tools like aptitude
or synaptic are more commonly used than
The Debian package "dpkg" provides the
, Carl Streeter and Ian Murdock
, first as a Perl
program, and then later the main part was rewritten in C
by Ian Jackson
in 1993. The name dpkg was originally the short for "Debian package", but the meaning of that phrase has evolved significantly, as dpkg the software is orthogonal to the deb package format
as well as the Debian Policy which defines how Debian packages behave.
dpkg -i debFileName
where debFileName is the name of the Debian software package.
The list of installed packages can be obtained with:
dpkg -l [optional pattern]
To remove an installed package:
dpkg -r packagename
Debian
Debian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...
package management system
Package management system
In software, a package management system, also called package manager, is a collection of software tools to automate the process of installing, upgrading, configuring, and removing software packages for a computer's operating system in a consistent manner...
.
dpkg is used to install, remove, and provide information about .debDeb (file format)
deb is the extension of the Debian software package format and the most often used name for such binary packages. Like the "Deb" part of the term Debian, it originates from the name of Debra, erstwhile girlfriend and now ex-wife of Debian's founder Ian Murdock.Debian packages are also used in...
package
Software package (installation)
In package management systems, which are commonly used with Linux-based operating systems, a package is a specific piece of software which the system can install and uninstall....
s.
dpkg itself is a low level tool; higher level tools, such as APTAdvanced Packaging Tool
The Advanced Packaging Tool, or APT, is a free user interface that works with core libraries to handle the installation and removal of software on the Debian GNU/Linux distribution and its variants...
, are used to fetch packages from remote locations or deal with complex package relations. Tools like aptitude
Aptitude (program)
aptitude is a front-end to the Advanced Packaging Tool . It displays a list of software packages and allows the user to interactively pick packages to install or remove. It has an especially powerful search system utilizing flexible search patterns...
or synaptic are more commonly used than
dpkg on its own, as they have a more sophisticated way of dealing with package relationships and a friendlier interface.The Debian package "dpkg" provides the
dpkg program, as well as several other programs necessary for run-time functioning of the packaging system, including dpkg-statoverride, dpkg-divert and update-alternatives. It also includes the programs such as start-stop-daemon and install-info, and the latter is kept mostly due to backwards compatibility (it is developed and distributed separately nowadays). The Debian package "dpkg-dev" includes the numerous build tools described below.History
dpkg was originally created by Matt WelshMatt Welsh (computer scientist)
Matt Welsh was the Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science at Harvard University and author of several books about the Linux operating system, several Linux HOWTOs, and articles in the Linux Journal....
, Carl Streeter and Ian Murdock
Ian Murdock
Ian Murdock is the founder of the Debian distribution and Progeny Linux Systems, a commercial Linux company.- Life and career :Murdock was born in Konstanz, Germany....
, first as a Perl
Perl
Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Perl was originally developed by Larry Wall in 1987 as a general-purpose Unix scripting language to make report processing easier. Since then, it has undergone many changes and revisions and become widely popular...
program, and then later the main part was rewritten in C
C (programming language)
C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
by Ian Jackson
Ian Jackson
Ian Jackson is a long time free software author and Debian developer. Jackson wrote dpkg, SAUCE, userv and debbugs. He used to maintain the Linux FAQ. He runs chiark.greenend.org.uk, a popular server, home to PuTTY among other things....
in 1993. The name dpkg was originally the short for "Debian package", but the meaning of that phrase has evolved significantly, as dpkg the software is orthogonal to the deb package format
Deb (file format)
deb is the extension of the Debian software package format and the most often used name for such binary packages. Like the "Deb" part of the term Debian, it originates from the name of Debra, erstwhile girlfriend and now ex-wife of Debian's founder Ian Murdock.Debian packages are also used in...
as well as the Debian Policy which defines how Debian packages behave.
Example use
To install a .deb package:dpkg -i debFileName
where debFileName is the name of the Debian software package.
The list of installed packages can be obtained with:
dpkg -l [optional pattern]
To remove an installed package:
dpkg -r packagename
Development tools
dpkg-dev contains a series of development tools required to unpack, build and upload Debian source packages. These include:- dpkg-source packs and unpacks the source files of a Debian package.
- dpkg-gencontrol reads the information from an unpacked Debian tree source and generates a binary package control package, creating an entry for this in Debian/files.
- dpkg-shlibdeps calculates the dependencies of runs with respect to libraries.
- dpkg-genchanges reads the information from an unpacked Debian tree source that once constructed creates a control file (.changes).
- dpkg-buildpackage is a control script that can be used to construct the package automatically.
- dpkg-distaddfile adds a file input to debian/files.
- dpkg-parsechangelog reads the changes file (changelog) of an unpacked Debian tree source and creates a conveniently prepared output with the information for those changes.
See also
- Advanced Packaging ToolAdvanced Packaging ToolThe Advanced Packaging Tool, or APT, is a free user interface that works with core libraries to handle the installation and removal of software on the Debian GNU/Linux distribution and its variants...
- alien (software)Alien (software)Alien is a computer program that converts between different Linux package formats, written by Joey Hess.-Features:Alien supports conversion between Linux Standard Base, RPM, deb, Stampede , Solaris and Slackware packages...
- Debian build toolchainDebian build toolchainThe Debian build toolchain is a collection of software utilities used to create Debian source packages and Debian binary packages from upstream source tarballs....
- dpkg is similar to RPMRPM Package ManagerRPM Package Manager is a package management system. The name RPM variously refers to the .rpm file format, files in this format, software packaged in such files, and the package manager itself...
. - ipkgIpkgipkg, or the Itsy Package Management System, is a lightweight package management system designed for embedded devices that resembled Debian's dpkg. It was used in the Unslung operating system for the Linksys NSLU2 , in OpenWrt, Openmoko, webOS, Gumstix, the iPAQ, QNAP NASes, Synology NASes and...
is a dpkg-inspired package management system for storage-constrained Linux installations.
External links
- Debian's dpkg package
- Debian dpkg mailing list
- dpkg(8) manual pageManual page (Unix)Man pages are the extensive documentation that comes preinstalled with almost all substantial Unix and Unix-like operating systems. The Unix command used to display them is man. Each page is a self-contained document.- Usage :...
- General Origin handling.