APT-MARK(8) APT APT-MARK(8)
NAME
apt-mark - show, set and unset various settings for a package
SYNOPSIS
apt-mark {-f=filename | {auto | manual} pkg... |
{showauto | showmanual} [pkg...] } | {-v | --version} |
{-h | --help}
apt-mark {hold | unhold | install | remove | purge} pkg... |
{showhold | showinstall | showremove | showpurge} [pkg...]
DESCRIPTION
apt-mark can be used as a unified front-end to set various settings for
a package, such as marking a package as being automatically/manually
installed or changing dpkg selections such as hold, install, deinstall
and purge which are respected e.g. by apt-get dselect-upgrade or
aptitude.
AUTOMATICALLY AND MANUALLY INSTALLED PACKAGES
When you request that a package is installed, and as a result other
packages are installed to satisfy its dependencies, the dependencies are
marked as being automatically installed, while the package you installed
explicitly is marked as manually installed. Once an automatically
installed package is no longer depended on by any manually installed
package it is considered no longer needed and e.g. apt-get or aptitude
will at least suggest removing them.
auto
auto is used to mark a package as being automatically installed,
which will cause the package to be removed when no more manually
installed packages depend on this package.
manual
manual is used to mark a package as being manually installed, which
will prevent the package from being automatically removed if no
other packages depend on it.
minimize-manual
minimize-manual is used to mark (transitive) dependencies of
metapackages as automatically installed. This can be used after an
installation for example, to minimize the number of manually
installed packages; or continuously on systems managed by system
configuration metapackages.
showauto
showauto is used to print a list of automatically installed packages
with each package on a new line. All automatically installed
packages will be listed if no package is given. If packages are
given only those which are automatically installed will be shown.
showmanual
showmanual can be used in the same way as showauto except that it
will print a list of manually installed packages instead.
Options
-f=filename, --file=filename
Read/Write package stats from the filename given with the parameter
filename instead of from the default location, which is
extended_states in the directory defined by the Configuration Item:
Dir::State.
PREVENT CHANGES FOR A PACKAGE
hold
hold is used to mark a package as held back, which will prevent the
package from being automatically installed, upgraded or removed.
unhold
unhold is used to cancel a previously set hold on a package to allow
all actions again.
showhold
showhold is used to print a list of packages on hold in the same way
as for the other show commands.
SCHEDULE PACKAGES FOR INSTALL, REMOVE AND PURGE
Some front-ends like apt-get dselect-upgrade can be used to apply
previously scheduled changes to the install state of packages. Such
changes can be scheduled with the install, remove (also known as
deinstall) and purge commands. Packages with a specific selection can be
displayed with showinstall, showremove and showpurge respectively. More
information about these so called dpkg selections can be found in
dpkg(1).
OPTIONS
-h, --help
Show a short usage summary.
-v, --version
Show the program version.
--audit
Show audit (and notice) messages. This overrides the quiet option,
but only for notice messages, not progress ones.
-c, --config-file
Configuration File; Specify a configuration file to use. The program
will read the default configuration file and then this configuration
file. If configuration settings need to be set before the default
configuration files are parsed specify a file with the APT_CONFIG
environment variable. See apt.conf(5) for syntax information.
-o, --option
Set a Configuration Option; This will set an arbitrary configuration
option. The syntax is -o Foo::Bar=bar. -o and --option can be used
multiple times to set different options.
--no-color, --color
Turn colors on or off. Colors are on by default on supported
terminals for apt(8) and can also be disabled using the NO_COLOR or
APT_NO_COLOR environment variables, or further configured by the
APT::Color configuration option and scope, see apt.conf(5) for
information on that.
FILES
/var/lib/apt/extended_states
Status list of auto-installed packages. Configuration Item:
Dir::State::extended_states.
SEE ALSO
apt-get(8), aptitude(8), apt.conf(5)
DIAGNOSTICS
apt-mark returns zero on normal operation, non-zero on error.
BUGS
APT bug page[1]. If you wish to report a bug in APT, please see
/usr/share/doc/debian/bug-reporting.txt or the reportbug(1) command.
AUTHORS
Mike O'Connor
APT team
NOTES
1. APT bug page
https://bugs.debian.org/src:apt
APT 3.0.3 14 September 2024 APT-MARK(8)
Generated by dwww version 1.16 on Tue Dec 16 04:53:19 CET 2025.