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diff --git a/man/dselect.man b/man/dselect.man new file mode 100644 index 0000000..206caa3 --- /dev/null +++ b/man/dselect.man @@ -0,0 +1,486 @@ +.\" dselect manual page - dselect(1) +.\" +.\" Copyright © 1995 Juho Vuori <javuori@cc.helsinki.fi> +.\" Copyright © 2000 Josip Rodin +.\" Copyright © 2001 Joost Kooij +.\" Copyright © 2001 Wichert Akkerman <wakkerma@debian.org> +.\" Copyright © 2010-2015 Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org> +.\" +.\" This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify +.\" it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by +.\" the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or +.\" (at your option) any later version. +.\" +.\" This is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, +.\" but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of +.\" MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the +.\" GNU General Public License for more details. +.\" +.\" You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License +.\" along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>. +. +.TH dselect 1 "%RELEASE_DATE%" "%VERSION%" "dpkg suite" +.nh +.SH NAME +dselect \- Debian package management frontend +. +.SH SYNOPSIS +.B dselect +.RI [ option "...] [" command "...]" +. +.SH DESCRIPTION +.B dselect +is one of the primary user interfaces for managing packages on a Debian +system. At the \fBdselect\fP main menu, the system administrator can: + - Update the list of available package versions, + - View the status of installed and available packages, + - Alter package selections and manage dependencies, + - Install new packages or upgrade to newer versions. +.PP +.B dselect +operates as a front-end to \fBdpkg\fP(1), the low-level Debian package +handling tool. It features a full-screen package selections manager +with package depends and conflicts resolver. When run with administrator +privileges, packages can be installed, upgraded and removed. Various +access methods can be configured to retrieve available package version +information and installable packages from package repositories. +Depending on the used access method, these repositories can be public +archive servers on the internet, local archive servers or cdroms. +The recommended access method is \fIapt\fP, which is provided by the +package \fBapt\fP. +.PP +Normally \fBdselect\fP is invoked without parameters. An interactive +menu is presented, offering the user a list of commands. If a command +is given as argument, then that command is started immediately. Several +command line parameters are still available to modify the running behaviour +of \fBdselect\fP or show additional information about the program. +. +.SH OPTIONS +All options can be specified both on the command line and in the \fBdselect\fP +configuration file \fI%PKGCONFDIR%/dselect.cfg\fP or the files on the +configuration directory \fI%PKGCONFDIR%/dselect.cfg.d/\fP. Each line in the +configuration file is either an option (exactly the same as the +command line option but without leading hyphens) or a comment (if it starts +with a ‘\fB#\fR’). +.br +.TP +.BI \-\-admindir " directory" +Changes the directory where the dpkg ‘\fIstatus\fP’, +‘\fIavailable\fP’ and similar files are located. +This defaults to \fI%ADMINDIR%\fP +and normally there shouldn't be any need to change it. +.TP +.BR \-D "\fIfile\fP, " \-\-debug " \fIfile\fP" +Turn on debugging. Debugging information is sent to \fIfile\fP. +.TP +.B \-\-expert +Turns on expert mode, i.e. doesn't display possibly annoying help +messages. +.TP +.BR \-\-colour | \-\-color " \fIscreenpart\fP:[\fIforeground\fP],[\fIbackground\fP][:\fIattr\fP[\fI+attr\fP]...]" +Configures screen colors. This works only if your display supports colors. +This option may be used multiple times (and is best used in +\fIdselect.cfg\fP). Each use changes the color (and optionally, other +attributes) of one part of the screen. +The parts of the screen (from top to bottom) are: +.RS +.TP +.B title +The screen title. +.TP +.B listhead +The header line above the list of packages. +.TP +.B list +The scrolling list of packages (and also some help text). +.TP +.B listsel +The selected item in the list. +.TP +.B pkgstate +In the list of packages, the text indicating the current state of each +package. +.TP +.B pkgstatesel +In the list of packages, the text indicating the current state of the +currently selected package. +.TP +.B infohead +The header line that displays the state of the currently selected package. +.TP +.B infodesc +The package's short description. +.TP +.B info +Used to display package info such as the package's description. +.TP +.B infofoot +The last line of the screen when selecting packages. +.TP +.B query +Used to display query lines +.TP +.B helpscreen +Color of help screens. +.RE +.IP +After the part of the screen comes a colon and the color specification. You +can specify either the foreground color, the background color, or both, +overriding the compiled-in colors. Use standard curses color names. +.IP +Optionally, after the color specification is another colon, and an +attribute specification. This is a list of one or more attributes, +separated by plus (‘+’) characters. +Available attributes include (not all of these will work on all terminals): +.BR normal ", " standout ", " underline ", " reverse ", " blink ", " +.BR bright ", " dim ", " bold +.TP +.BR \-? ", " \-\-help +Print a brief help text and exit successfully. +.TP +.B \-\-version +Print version information and exit successfully. +. +.SH COMMANDS +When +.B dselect +is started it can perform the following commands, either directly if it +was specified on the command line or by prompting the user with a menu +of available commands if running interactively: +.SS access +Choose and configure an access method to access package repositories. +.sp +By default, \fBdselect\fP provides several methods such +as \fIcdrom\fP, \fImulti_cd\fP, \fInfs\fP, \fImulti_nfs\fP, \fIharddisk\fP, +\fImounted\fP, \fImulti_mount\fP or \fIftp\fP, but other +packages may provide additional methods, eg. the \fIapt\fP access method +provided by the \fBapt\fP package. +.sp +The use of the \fIapt\fP access method is strongly recommended. +.sp +.SS update +Refresh the available packages database. +.sp +Retrieves a list of available package versions from the package +repository, configured for the current access method, and update +the dpkg database. The package lists are commonly provided by the +repository as files named \fIPackages\fP or \fIPackages.gz\fP. +These files can be generated by repository maintainers, using the +program \fBdpkg\-scanpackages\fP(1). +.sp +Details of the update command depend on the access method's implementation. +Normally the process is straightforward and requires no user interaction. +.sp +.SS select +View or manage package selections and dependencies. +.sp +This is the main function of \fBdselect\fP. In the select screen, the +user can review a list of all available and installed packages. When run +with administrator privileges, it is also possible to interactively +change packages selection state. \fBdselect\fP tracks the implications +of these changes to other depending or conflicting packages. +.sp +When a conflict or failed depends is detected, a dependency resolution +subscreen is prompted to the user. In this screen, a list of conflicting +or depending packages is shown, and for each package listed, the reason +for its listing is shown. The user may apply the suggestions proposed +by \fBdselect\fP, override them, or back out all the changes, including +the ones that created the unresolved depends or conflicts. +.sp +The use of the interactive package selections management screen is +explained in more detail below. +.sp +.SS install +Installs selected packages. +.sp +The configured access method will fetch installable or upgradable packages +from the relevant repositories and install these using \fBdpkg\fP. +Depending on the implementation of the access method, all packages can +be prefetched before installation, or fetched when needed. +Some access methods may also remove packages that were marked for removal. +.sp +If an error occurred during install, it is usually advisable to run +install again. In most cases, the problems will disappear or be solved. +If problems persist or the installation performed was incorrect, please +investigate into the causes and circumstances, and file a bug in the +Debian bug tracking system. Instructions on how to do this can be found +at https://bugs.debian.org/ or by reading the documentation +for \fBbug\fP(1) or \fBreportbug\fP(1), if these are installed. +.sp +Details of the install command depend on the access method's implementation. +The user's attention and input may be required during installation, +configuration or removal of packages. This depends on the maintainer +scripts in the package. Some packages make use of the \fBdebconf\fP(1) +library, allowing for more flexible or even automated installation +setups. +.sp +.SS config +Configures any previously installed, but not fully configured packages. +.sp +.SS remove +Removes or purges installed packages, that are marked for removal. +.sp +.SS quit +Quit \fBdselect\fP. +.sp +Exits the program with zero (successful) errorcode. +.sp +. +.SH PACKAGE SELECTIONS MANAGEMENT +.sp +.SS Introduction +.sp +.B dselect +directly exposes +the administrator to some of the complexities involved with managing +large sets of packages with many interdependencies. For a user who is +unfamiliar with the concepts and the ways of the Debian package management +system, it can be quite overwhelming. Although \fBdselect\fP is aimed +at easing package management and administration, it is only instrumental +in doing so and cannot be assumed to be a sufficient substitute for +administrator skill and understanding. The user is required to +be familiar with the concepts underlying the Debian packaging system. +In case of doubt, consult the \fBdpkg\fP(1) manpage and the distribution +policy. +.sp +Unless \fBdselect\fP is run in expert +or immediate mode, a help screen is first displayed when choosing this +command from the menu. The user is \fIstrongly\fP advised to study all of +the information presented in the online help screens, when one pops up. +The online help screens can at any time be invoked with the ‘\fB?\fP’ key. +.sp +.SS Screen layout +.sp +The select screen is by default split in a top and a bottom half. +The top half shows a list of packages. A cursor bar can select an +individual package, or a group of packages, if applicable, by selecting +the group header. The bottom half of the screen shows some details +about the package currently selected in the top half of the screen. +The type of detail that is displayed can be varied. +.sp +Pressing the ‘\fBI\fP’ key toggles a full-screen display of the packages +list, an enlarged view of the package details, or the equally split screen. +.sp +.SS Package details view +.sp +The package details view by default shows the extended package description +for the package that is currently selected in the packages status list. +The type of detail can be toggled by pressing the ‘\fBi\fP’ key. +This alternates between: + - the extended description + - the control information for the installed version + - the control information for the available version +.sp +In a dependency resolution screen, there is also the possibility of +viewing the specific unresolved depends or conflicts related to the +package and causing it to be listed. +.sp +.SS Packages status list +.sp +The main select screen displays a list of all packages known to the Debian +package management system. This includes packages installed on the system +and packages known from the available packages database. +.sp +For every package, the list shows the package's status, priority, section, +installed and available architecture, installed and available versions, +the package name and its short description, all in one line. +By pressing the ‘\fBA\fP’ key, the display of the installed and +available architecture can be toggled between on an off. +By pressing the ‘\fBV\fP’ key, the display of the installed and +available version can be toggled between on an off. +By pressing the ‘\fBv\fP’ key, the package status display is toggled +between verbose and shorthand. +Shorthand display is the default. +.sp +The shorthand status indication consists +of four parts: an error flag, which should normally be clear, the +current status, the last selection state and the current selection state. +The first two relate to the actual state of the package, the second pair +are about the selections set by the user. +.sp +These are the meanings of the shorthand package status indicator codes: + Error flag: + \fIempty\fP no error + \fBR\fP serious error, needs reinstallation; + Installed state: + \fIempty\fP not installed; + \fB*\fP fully installed and configured; + \fB\-\fP not installed but some config files may remain; + \fBU\fP unpacked but not yet configured; + \fBC\fP half-configured (an error happened); + \fBI\fP half-installed (an error happened). + Current and requested selections: + \fB*\fP marked for installation or upgrade; + \fB\-\fP marked for removal, configuration files remain; + \fB=\fP on hold: package will not be processed at all; + \fB_\fP marked for purge, also remove configuration; + \fBn\fP package is new and has yet to be marked. +.sp +.SS Cursor and screen movement +.sp +The package selection list and the dependency conflict +resolution screens can be navigated using motion +commands mapped to the following keys: +.br + \fBp, Up, k\fP move cursor bar up + \fBn, Down, j\fP move cursor bar down + \fBP, Pgup, Backspace\fP scroll list 1 page up + \fBN, Pgdn, Space\fP scroll list 1 page down + \fB^p\fP scroll list 1 line up + \fB^n\fP scroll list 1 line down + \fBt, Home\fP jump to top of list + \fBe, End\fP jump to end of list + \fBu\fP scroll info 1 page up + \fBd\fP scroll info 1 page down + \fB^u\fP scroll info 1 line up + \fB^d\fP scroll info 1 line down + \fBB, Left-arrow\fP pan display 1/3 screen left + \fBF, Right-arrow\fP pan display 1/3 screen right + \fB^b\fP pan display 1 character left + \fB^f\fP pan display 1 character right +.sp +.SS Searching and sorting +.sp +The list of packages can be searched by package name. This +is done by pressing ‘\fB/\fP’, and typing a simple search +string. The string is interpreted as a +.BR regex (7) +regular expression. +If you add ‘\fB/d\fP’ to the search expression, dselect will also +search in descriptions. +If you add ‘\fB/i\fP’ the search will be case insensitive. +You may combine these two suffixes like this: ‘\fB/id\fP’. +Repeated searching is accomplished by repeatedly pressing the +‘\fBn\fP’ or ‘\fB\\\fP’ keys, until the wanted package is found. +If the search reaches the bottom of the list, it wraps to the top +and continues searching from there. +.sp +The list sort order can be varied by pressing +the ‘\fBo\fP’ and ‘\fBO\fP’ keys repeatedly. +The following nine sort orderings can be selected: + alphabet available status + priority+section available+priority status+priority + section+priority available+section status+section +.br +Where not listed above explicitly, alphabetic order is used as +the final subordering sort key. +.sp +.SS Altering selections +.sp +The requested selection state of individual packages may be +altered with the following commands: + \fB+, Insert\fP install or upgrade + \fB=, H\fP hold in present state and version + \fB:, G\fP unhold: upgrade or leave uninstalled + \fB\-, Delete\fP remove, but leave configuration + \fB_\fP remove & purge configuration +.sp +When the change request results in one or more unsatisfied depends +or conflicts, \fBdselect\fP prompts the user with a dependency resolution +screen. This will be further explained below. +.sp +It is also possible to apply these commands to groups of package +selections, by pointing the cursor bar onto a group header. The +exact grouping of packages is dependent on the current list ordering +settings. +.sp +Proper care should be taken when altering large groups of selections, +because this can instantaneously create large numbers of unresolved +depends or conflicts, all of which will be listed in one dependency +resolution screen, making them very hard to handle. In practice, +only hold and unhold operations are useful when applied to groups. +.sp +.SS Resolving depends and conflicts +.sp +When the change request results in one or more unsatisfied depends +or conflicts, \fBdselect\fP prompts the user with a dependency resolution +screen. First however, an informative help screen is displayed. +.sp +The top half of this screen lists all the packages that will have +unresolved depends or conflicts, as a result of the requested change, +and all the packages whose installation can resolve any of these +depends or whose removal can resolve any of the conflicts. +The bottom half defaults to show the depends or conflicts that +cause the currently selected package to be listed. +.sp +When the sublist of packages is displayed initially, \fBdselect\fP +may have already set the requested selection status of some of the +listed packages, in order to resolve the depends or conflicts that +caused the dependency resolution screen to be displayed. Usually, +it is best to follow up the suggestions made by \fBdselect\fP. +.sp +The listed packages' selection state may be reverted to the original +settings, as they were before the unresolved depends or conflicts +were created, by pressing the ‘\fBR\fP’ key. +By pressing the ‘\fBD\fP’ key, the automatic suggestions are reset, +but the change that caused the dependency resolution screen to be prompted +is kept as requested. +Finally, by pressing ‘\fBU\fP’, the selections are again set to the +automatic suggestion values. +.sp +.SS Establishing the requested selections +.sp +By pressing \fBenter\fP, the currently displayed set of selections +is accepted. If \fBdselect\fP detects no unresolved depends as a result +of the requested selections, the new selections will be set. +However, if there are any unresolved depends, \fBdselect\fP will again +prompt the user with a dependency resolution screen. +.sp +To alter a set of selections that creates unresolved depends or +conflicts and forcing \fBdselect\fP to accept it, press the ‘\fBQ\fP’ +key. This sets the selections as specified by the user, +unconditionally. Generally, don't do this unless you've read +the fine print. +.sp +The opposite effect, to back out any selections change requests and +go back to the previous list of selections, is attained by pressing +the ‘\fBX\fP’ or \fBescape\fP keys. By repeatedly pressing these +keys, any possibly detrimental changes to the requested package +selections can be backed out completely to the last established +settings. +.sp +If you mistakenly establish some settings and wish to revert all the +selections to what is currently installed on the system, press the +‘\fBC\fP’ key. +This is somewhat similar to using the unhold command on all packages, +but provides a more obvious panic button in cases where the user +pressed \fBenter\fP by accident. +.sp +. +.SH EXIT STATUS +.TP +.B 0 +The requested command was successfully performed. +.TP +.B 2 +Fatal or unrecoverable error due to invalid command-line usage, or +interactions with the system, such as accesses to the database, +memory allocations, etc. +. +.SH ENVIRONMENT +.TP +.B HOME +If set, \fBdselect\fP will use it as the directory from which to read the +user specific configuration file. +. +.SH BUGS +The +.B dselect +package selection interface is confusing to some new users. +Reportedly, it even makes seasoned kernel developers cry. +.sp +The documentation is lacking. +.sp +There is no help option in the main menu. +.sp +The visible list of available packages cannot be reduced. +.sp +The built in access methods can no longer stand up to current quality +standards. Use the access method provided by apt, it is not only not +broken, it is also much more flexible than the built in access methods. +. +.SH SEE ALSO +.BR dpkg (1), +.BR apt\-get (8), +.BR sources.list (5), +.BR deb (5). |