debian package utils

Got a list of helpful bash scripts/functions/aliases to deal with packages

 /**************************/
 /* 1. all package.* utils */
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11:11:28 ~ -1- $ package.
package.count              package.list.all
package.describe           package.list.installed
package.describe2          package.list.updatable
package.files.extract.all  package.needed.for
package.files.extract.one  package.needs
package.files.list         package.remove
package.install            package.search
package.installed.by       package.search.byfile
package.install.last.list  package.search.byname
package.install.last.undo  package.version
package.is.installed       package.whatprovides
11:11:28 ~ -1- $ package.

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 /* 2. accounting   */
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 1. package.count

Counts the number of packages APT knows about 
(packages in /var/lib/dpkg/info/)

11:44:03 ~ -1- $ package.count
3653
11:44:07 ~ -1- $

alias package.count='package.list.all | wc -l'

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 /* 3. listing  */
 /***************/



 2. package.list.all

Lists all the packages APT knows about 
(packages in /var/lib/dpkg/info/)

11:54:55 ~ -1- $ package.list.all | head
a2ps
aac-enc
accountsservice
acl
acpid
acpi-support
adduser
adobe-flashplugin
afpfs-ng
afpfs-ng-utils
11:56:16 ~ -1- $ package.list.all | tail
xtrans-dev
xz-utils
yelp
yelp-xsl
zenity-common
zenity
zip
zlib1g:amd64
zlib1g-dev:amd64
zlib1g:i386
11:56:22 ~ -1- $

alias package.list.all='for file in /var/lib/dpkg/info/*.list; do file="${file#/var/lib/dpkg/info/}"; file="${file%.list}"; echo $file; done'

 3. package.list.installed

outputs only installed packages


17:32:26 ~ -1- $ package.list.installed | head
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  a2ps                                              1:4.14-1.3                                           amd64        GNU a2ps - 'Anything to PostScript' converter and pretty-printer
ii  aac-enc                                           0.1.2-1                                              amd64        Fraunhofer FDK AAC Codec Library - frontend binary
ii  accountsservice                                   0.6.35-0ubuntu7.3                                    amd64        query and manipulate user account information
ii  acl                                               2.2.52-1                                             amd64        Access control list utilities
ii  acpi-support                                      0.142                                                amd64        scripts for handling many ACPI events
17:32:29 ~ -1- $


17:33:12 ~ -1- $ type package.list.installed
package.list.installed is aliased to `dpkg -l'
17:33:13 ~ -1- $



4. package.list.updatable

list the packages that can be updated.

root@messagerie-recup[10.10.10.20] ~ # package.list.updatable
libgcc-s1 [10.2.1-6] -> 12.2.0-14
libapt-pkg6.0 [2.2.4] -> 2.6.1
apt [2.2.4] -> 2.6.1
apt-utils [2.2.4] -> 2.6.1
rsync [3.2.3-4+deb11u1] -> 3.2.7-1
libp11-kit0 [0.23.22-1] -> 0.24.1-2
kmod [28-1] -> 30+20221128-1
libkmod2 [28-1] -> 30+20221128-1
exim4-daemon-light [4.94.2-7+deb11u2] -> 4.96-15+deb12u4
exim4-base [4.94.2-7+deb11u2] -> 4.96-15+deb12u4
guile-2.2-libs [2.2.7+1-6] -> 2.2.7+1-9
libcryptsetup12 [2:2.3.7-1+deb11u1] -> 2:2.6.1-4~deb12u1
libgssapi-krb5-2 [1.18.3-6+deb11u4] -> 1.20.1-2+deb12u1
libkrb5-3 [1.18.3-6+deb11u4] -> 1.20.1-2+deb12u1
libk5crypto3 [1.18.3-6+deb11u4] -> 1.20.1-2+deb12u1
libkrb5support0 [1.18.3-6+deb11u4] -> 1.20.1-2+deb12u1
libmariadb3 [1:10.5.21-0+deb11u1] -> 1:10.11.4-1~deb12u1
libsasl2-modules [2.1.27+dfsg-2.1+deb11u1] -> 2.1.28+dfsg-10
libssh2-1 [1.9.0-2] -> 1.10.0-3+b1
libxml2 [2.9.10+dfsg-6.7+deb11u4] -> 2.9.14+dfsg-1.3~deb12u1
openssl [1.1.1w-0+deb11u1] -> 3.0.11-1~deb12u2
root@messagerie-recup[10.10.10.20] ~ #


root@messagerie-recup[10.10.10.20] ~ # type package.list.updatable
package.list.updatable is aliased to `apt-get --just-print upgrade | awk "/^Inst/ {print \$2,\$3,\"->\",substr(\$4,2)}"'
root@messagerie-recup[10.10.10.20] ~ #

5. package.files.list

Lists the file of a package,
either by name,
or using a .deb file
requires the apt-file package


12:12:47 ~ -1- $  package.files.list a2ps | tail
/usr/bin/composeglyphs
/usr/bin/a2ps-lpr-wrapper
/usr/bin/ogonkify
/usr/bin/texi2dvi4a2ps
/usr/bin/card
/usr/bin/psmandup
/usr/bin/fixps
/usr/bin/a2ps
/usr/bin/pdiff
/usr/bin/fixnt
12:12:54 ~ -1- $

package.files.list is a function
package.files.list ()
{
    local package;
    package="$1";
    if [[ "$package" =~ ".deb" ]]; then
        case $(ar t "$package") in
            *data.tar.gz*)
                ar fp "$package" data.tar.gz | tar zvt
            ;;
            *data.tar.xz*)
                ar fp "$package" data.tar.xz | tar Jvt
            ;;
        esac;
    else
        dpkg -L "$package" 2> /dev/null || apt-file list "$package";
    fi
}



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 /* 4. informing */
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 6. package.describe

Prints the description of a package
(needs grep-dctrl which is provided by dctrl-tools)

11:58:34 ~ -1- $ package.describe a2ps
Description-en: GNU a2ps - 'Anything to PostScript' converter and pretty-printer
 GNU a2ps converts files into PostScript for printing or viewing. It uses a
 nice default format, usually two pages on each physical page, borders
 surrounding pages, headers with useful information (page number, printing
 date, file name or supplied header), line numbering, symbol substitution
 as well as pretty printing for a wide range of programming languages.
 .
 Historically, a2ps started as a text to PostScript converter, but thanks
 to powerful delegations it is able to let you use it for any kind of files,
 ie it can also digest manual pages, dvi files, texinfo, ....
 .
 Among the other most noticeable features of a2ps are:
  - various encodings (all the Latins and others),
  - various fonts (automatic font downloading),
  - various medias,
  - various printer interfaces,
  - various output styles,
  - various programming languages,
  - various helping applications,
  - and various spoken languages.
11:58:39 ~ -1- $

11:58:39 ~ -1- $ type package.describe
package.describe is a function
package.describe ()
{
    apt-cache show "$1" | grep-dctrl -s Description-en -
}
12:03:12 ~ -1- $ 


7. package.whatprovides

Curious to know which package a particular command is from?

12:03:12 ~ -1- $ package.whatprovides grep-dctrl
dctrl-tools
12:04:45 ~ -1- $

12:04:45 ~ -1- $ type package.whatprovides
package.whatprovides is a function
package.whatprovides ()
{
    dpkg -S "$1" | cut -f1 -d: | sort | uniq
}
12:05:27 ~ -1- $


 8. package.is.installed

tells whether a package is installed or not.

17:27:31 ~ -1- $ package.is.installed apache2
apache2 2.4.7-1ubuntu4.22
17:27:39 ~ -1- $ package.is.installed nginx
dpkg-query: no packages found matching nginx
17:27:45 ~ -1- $

17:27:45 ~ -1- $ type package.is.installed
package.is.installed is aliased to `dpkg-query -W'
17:28:17 ~ -1- $

9. package.version / package.versions

Prints the installed version of a package / all available versions

12:29:32 ~/DOWNLOADS/LIBS -1- $ package.version vlc
vlc     2.1.6-0ubuntu14.04.4
12:29:35 ~/DOWNLOADS/LIBS -1- $ package.versions vlc
Version: 2.1.6-0ubuntu14.04.5+esm1
Version: 2.1.6-0ubuntu14.04.5+esm1
Version: 2.1.6-0ubuntu14.04.4
Version: 2.1.6-0ubuntu14.04.4
Version: 2.1.2-2build2
Version: 2.1.2-2build2
Version: 2.1.6-0ubuntu14.04.4
Version: 2.1.6-0ubuntu14.04.4
12:29:39 ~/DOWNLOADS/LIBS -1- $


 /*******************************/
 /*  5. dealing with .deb files */
 /*******************************/


 10. package.files.extract.all

Extracts all the files inside a .deb package

12:06:50 ~ -1- $ type.cat package.files.extract.all
#!/bin/bash
package="$1"
if [[ "$package" =~ ".deb" ]]
then
    echo "ar fp $package data.tar.xz | tar Jvx"
    ar fp "$package" data.tar.xz | tar Jvx
else
    echo "I only know about .deb packages."
    echo "Sorry."
    exit 1
fi
12:06:53 ~ -1- $


11. package.files.extract.one

Extracts one file from a .deb archive,
useful when looking for a specific .so for example.

#!/bin/bash

if (( $# != 2 ))
then
    echo "usage :  $(basename $0) .deb file"
    exit 1
fi

package="$1"

if ! [[ "$package" =~ ".deb" ]]	
then
    echo "not a debian package"
    exit 2
fi 

file="$2"

echo "ar fp $package data.tar.xz | tar Jvx $file"
ar fp "$package" data.tar.xz | tar Jvx "$file"



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 /*  6. dependencies */
 /********************/


 12. package.installed.by

Tells you which package installed the provided package,
or informs you that it was manually installed.
requires aptitude.

12:15:32 ~ -1- $ package.installed.by a2ps
i   hpijs-ppds       Depends    cups-filters (>= 1.0.42) | foomatic-filters (>= 3.0.2)
p   foomatic-filters Recommends cups | enscript | a2ps | mpage
12:15:59 ~ -1- $


12:15:28 ~ -1- $ type package.installed.by
package.installed.by is aliased to `aptitude why'
12:15:32 ~ -1- $


13. package.needed.for

Useful to know if you can safely remove a package.

11:12:37 ~ -1- $ package.needed.for xpenguins
xpenguins
Reverse Depends:
  xpenguins:i386
  junior-toys
11:13:23 ~ -1- $ package.is.installed junior-toys
dpkg-query: no packages found matching junior-toys
11:13:31 ~ -1- $ # 


09:33:57 ~ -1- $ type package.needed.for
package.needed.for is aliased to `_asroot apt-cache rdepends'
11:10:14 ~ -1- $


 /****************/
 /* 7. searching */
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14.package.search

search packages by name or by file

12:07:47 ~ -1- $ package.search iodine
iodine - tool for tunneling IPv4 data through a DNS server
network-manager-iodine - network management framework (iodine plugin core)
network-manager-iodine-gnome - network management framework (iodine plugin GNOME GUI)
12:08:27 ~ -1- $

12:21:31 ~/DOWNLOADS/LIBS -1- $ package.search.byfile libpq-fe.h
libpq-dev: /usr/include/postgresql/libpq-fe.h
postgres-xc-server-dev: /usr/include/postgres-xc/server/gtm/libpq-fe.h
12:22:00 ~/DOWNLOADS/LIBS -1- $

12:07:24 ~ -1- $ type package.search
package.search is aliased to `package.search.byname'
12:07:36 ~ -1- $ type package.search.byname
package.search.byname is aliased to `apt-cache search'
12:07:47 ~ -1- $