Debian Aptitude Package Flags
The current state flag
- Shows the state of the package on the system
- i — installed: successfully installed to system
- c — config: package not installed, but configuration files remain
- p — purged: package has no files on system
- v — virtual: package does not exist, but another "Provides" it
- B — broken: dependencies unresolved, fix required
- u — unpacked: only files unpacked, not configured
- C — half-configured: configuration failed, fix required
- H — half-installed: removal failed, must be reinstalled
The action flag
- Shows the change needed to meet current requests (blank): no change needed
- i — install: not currently installed, get latest version
- u — upgrade: currently installed, get latest version
- d — delete: uninstall, don't touch config files
- p — purge: uninstall, remove config files
- h — hold: don't upgrade from current version
- F — forbid: don't upgrade to latest version
- r — reinstall: re-run installation and configuration
- B — broken: dependencies not satisfied, fix required
The automatic flag
- Shows which packages are managed automatically
- If set (A flag), remove package when not needed
- Only affects aptitude, not other APT programs
- If not set (blank flag), package is explicitly wanted by user
- Default behaviour for other APT programs
- Shortcut keys to change selected package
- m ("manual"): Unset automatic flag when a package is useful by itself
- M ("not-manual"): Set automatic flag when a package is of no interest
- Much simpler package management
- Tell aptitude the packages you care about
- Put the rest on automatic