Dpkg is the abbreviation of the Debian package. It is a suite management system specially developed for the “Debian” operating system, which is used for software installation, update, and removal. All Linux distributions from “Debian” use dpkg, such as “Ubuntu”.
1. How To Install dpkg On Ubuntu.
- Open a terminal and run the command sudo apt-get update -y in it to update the Ubuntu system.
$ sudo apt-get update -y [sudo] password for jerry: Hit:1 https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb stable InRelease Get:2 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security InRelease [114 kB] ...... Get:12 http://cn.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports/main amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [7,984 B] Get:13 http://cn.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports/universe amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [12.2 kB] Fetched 1,112 kB in 5s (236 kB/s) Reading package lists... Done
- Run the command sudo apt-get install -y dpkg in the terminal to install the dpkg package.
$ sudo apt-get install -y dpkg Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done dpkg is already the newest version (1.19.7ubuntu3). 0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 80 not upgraded.
- Verify the dpkg package has been installed successfully with the command dpkg –version.
$ dpkg --version Debian 'dpkg' package management program version 1.19.7 (amd64). This is free software; see the GNU General Public License version 2 or later for copying conditions. There is NO warranty.
2. How To Use dpkg To Install Debian Packages.
- Download a Debian package file (.deb) file.
- Then you can run the command dpkg -i <debian_package_file_path_name> to install it.
$ sudo dpkg -i ./google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb
3. How To Use dpkg To List The Files Associated With The Package.
- Add -L parameter to the dpkg command will list out all the files associated with the specified package.
- The command syntax is $ dpkg -L <debian_package_name>.
$ dpkg -L google-chrome-stable /. /etc /etc/cron.daily ...... /usr/bin/google-chrome-stable /usr/share/man/man1/google-chrome.1.gz
4. Show The dpkg Package Version.
- If you want to know the Debian package version you can run the command dpkg -l <debian_package_name>.
$ dpkg -l google-chrome-stable Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold | Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend |/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad) ||/ Name Version Architecture Description +++-====================-==============-============-================================= ii google-chrome-stable 97.0.4692.99-1 amd64 The web browser from Google
5. Remove Debian Package.
- The command dpkg -r <package_name> will remove the Debian package and save the configuration settings.
$ sudo dpkg -r google-chrome-stable [sudo] password for jerry: (Reading database ... 186281 files and directories currently installed.) Removing google-chrome-stable (97.0.4692.99-1) ... update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/firefox to provide /usr/bin/x-www-browser (x-www-browser) in auto mode update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/firefox to provide /usr/bin/gnome-www-browser (gnome-www-browser) in auto mode Processing triggers for man-db (2.9.1-1) ... Processing triggers for gnome-menus (3.36.0-1ubuntu1) ... Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.24-1ubuntu3) ... Processing triggers for mime-support (3.64ubuntu1) ...
- If you do not want to save the package configuration settings when you remove the software, you can run the command dpkg -P <package_name>.
$ sudo dpkg -P google-chrome-stable (Reading database ... 186281 files and directories currently installed.) Removing google-chrome-stable (97.0.4692.99-1) ... update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/firefox to provide /usr/bin/x-www-browser (x-www-browser) in auto mode update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/firefox to provide /usr/bin/gnome-www-browser (gnome-www-browser) in auto mode Purging configuration files for google-chrome-stable (97.0.4692.99-1) ... dpkg: warning: while removing google-chrome-stable, directory '/opt' not empty so not removed Processing triggers for man-db (2.9.1-1) ... Processing triggers for gnome-menus (3.36.0-1ubuntu1) ... Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.24-1ubuntu3) ... Processing triggers for mime-support (3.64ubuntu1) ...
6. List Debian Package File’s Content.
- The command $ dpkg -c <debian_package_file_path_file> can list all the content in the .deb file.
$ dpkg -c ./google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2022-01-19 08:40 ./ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2022-01-19 08:40 ./etc/ ...... lrwxrwxrwx root/root 0 2022-01-19 08:40 ./usr/share/man/man1/google-chrome.1.gz -> google-chrome-stable.1.gz
7. Get The Debian Package’s Detailed Information.
- Run the command dpkg -s <debian_package_name> will return the Debian package’s detailed information.
$ dpkg -s google-chrome-stable Package: google-chrome-stable Status: install ok installed Priority: optional Section: web Installed-Size: 282281 Maintainer: Chrome Linux Team <chromium-dev@chromium.org> Architecture: amd64 Version: 97.0.4692.99-1 Provides: www-browser Depends: ca-certificates, fonts-liberation, libasound2 (>= 1.0.16), libatk-bridge2.0-0 (>= 2.5.3), libatk1.0-0 (>= 2.2.0), libatspi2.0-0 (>= 2.9.90), libc6 (>= 2.17), libcairo2 (>= 1.6.0), libcups2 (>= 1.6.0), libcurl3-gnutls | libcurl3-nss | libcurl4 | libcurl3, libdbus-1-3 (>= 1.5.12), libdrm2 (>= 2.4.38), libexpat1 (>= 2.0.1), libgbm1 (>= 8.1~0), libgcc1 (>= 1:3.0), libglib2.0-0 (>= 2.39.4), libgtk-3-0 (>= 3.9.10) | libgtk-4-1, libnspr4 (>= 2:4.9-2~), libnss3 (>= 2:3.22), libpango-1.0-0 (>= 1.14.0), libx11-6 (>= 2:1.4.99.1), libxcb1 (>= 1.9.2), libxcomposite1 (>= 1:0.4.4-1), libxdamage1 (>= 1:1.1), libxext6, libxfixes3, libxkbcommon0 (>= 0.4.1), libxrandr2, wget, xdg-utils (>= 1.0.2) Pre-Depends: dpkg (>= 1.14.0) Recommends: libu2f-udev, libvulkan1 Description: The web browser from Google Google Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier.
8. Extract The Debian Package Content.
- The command dpkg –x <debian_package_file_path_name.deb> <target_directory_path> can extract the Debian package contained files.
$ dpkg -x ./google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb ./ jerry@jerry-VirtualBox:~/Downloads$ ls -l total 624280 drwxr-xr-x 3 jerry jerry 4096 1月 19 08:40 etc -rw-rw-r-- 1 jerry jerry 90862320 1月 19 09:11 google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb drwxr-xr-x 3 jerry jerry 4096 1月 19 08:40 opt drwxr-xr-x 4 jerry jerry 4096 1月 19 08:40 usr
9. Search The Debian Package Content.
- If you want to search a dpkg package installed path, you can run the command dpkg -S <path_contained_keyword> in the terminal.
$ dpkg -S google-chrome bash-completion: /usr/share/bash-completion/completions/google-chrome bash-completion: /usr/share/bash-completion/completions/google-chrome-stable
10. List All The dpkg Packages.
- The command dpkg –list will list all the debian packages.
$ dpkg --list Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold | Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend |/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad) ||/ Name Version Architecture Description +++-==========================================-=====================================-============-=================================> ii accountsservice 0.6.55-0ubuntu12~20.04.5 amd64 query and manipulate user account> ii acl 2.2.53-6 amd64 access control list - utilities ......
- If you want to list the special Debian package installation info, you can run the command dpkg –list <dpkg_package_name>.
$ dpkg --list google-chrome-stable Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold | Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend |/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad) ||/ Name Version Architecture Description +++-====================-==============-============-================================= ii google-chrome-stable 97.0.4692.99-1 amd64 The web browser from Google jerry@jerry-VirtualBox:~/Downloads$
- Run the command dpkg –list | grep keyword to Fuzzy search Debian’s package name.
$ dpkg --list|grep google ii google-chrome-stable 97.0.4692.99-1 amd64 The web browser from Google
- Get the installed Debian packages number with the command sudo dpkg-query -f ‘${binary:Package}\n’ -W | wc -l.
$ sudo dpkg-query -f '${binary:Package}\n' -W | wc -l [sudo] password for jerry: 1627 - The dpkg-query command can also implement the query function on Debian packages.
$ sudo dpkg-query -l | grep chrome ii google-chrome-stable 97.0.4692.99-1 amd64 The web browser from Google
11. How To Export The Currently Installed Debian Packages To A Text File.
- Run the command $ sudo dpkg-query -f ‘${binary:Package}\n’ -W > packages_list.txt to export all the installed Debian packages to a text file.
$ sudo dpkg-query -f '${binary:Package}\n' -W > packages_list.txt jerry@jerry-VirtualBox:~/Downloads$ ls -l total 624296 -rw-rw-r-- 1 jerry jerry 28566 Jan 25 17:46 packages_list.txt
12. Restore The Installed Debian Packages To A New Ubuntu Server.
- Now you can restore the installed Debian packages to a new Ubuntu server with the above packages list text file like below.
$ sudo xargs -a packages_list.txt apt install