path: root/doc/en/manpage.xml

<refentry>
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    <author>
      <personname>
	<firstname>Daniel</firstname>
	<surname>Burrows</surname>
      </personname>
      <email>dburrows@debian.org</email>
    </author>
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    <title>aptitude</title>

     <!-- NWalsh's docbook scripts use this to generate the footer: -->
    <productname>aptitude</productname>
    <productnumber>&VERSION;</productnumber>

    <legalnotice>
      <para>
	This manual page 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.
      </para>

      <para>
	This manual page 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.
      </para>

      <para>
	You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public
	License along with this program; if not, write to the Free
	Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
	Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
      </para>
    </legalnotice>
  </refentryinfo>

  <refmeta>
    <refentrytitle>&aptitude;</refentrytitle>
    <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
  </refmeta>

  <refnamediv>
    <refname>&aptitude;</refname>
    <refpurpose>high-level interface to the package manager</refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>

  <refsynopsisdiv>
    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>aptitude</command>

      <arg choice='opt' rep='repeat'><replaceable>options</replaceable></arg>

      <group choice='req'>
	<arg choice='plain'>autoclean</arg>
	<arg choice='plain'>clean</arg>
	<arg choice='plain'>forget-new</arg>
	<arg choice='plain'>keep-all</arg>
	<arg choice='plain'>update</arg>
	<arg choice='plain'>safe-upgrade</arg>
      </group>
    </cmdsynopsis>

    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>aptitude</command>

      <arg choice='opt' rep='repeat'><replaceable>options</replaceable></arg>

      <group choice='req'>
	<arg choice='plain'>changelog</arg>
	<arg choice='plain'>full-upgrade</arg>
	<arg choice='plain'>download</arg>
	<arg choice='plain'>forbid-version</arg>
	<arg choice='plain'>hold</arg>
	<arg choice='plain'>install</arg>
	<arg choice='plain'>keep-all</arg>
	<arg choice='plain'>markauto</arg>
	<arg choice='plain'>purge</arg>
	<arg choice='plain'>reinstall</arg>
	<arg choice='plain'>remove</arg>
	<arg choice='plain'>show</arg>
	<arg choice='plain'>unhold</arg>
	<arg choice='plain'>unmarkauto</arg>
      </group>

      <arg choice='plain' rep='repeat'><replaceable>packages</replaceable></arg>
    </cmdsynopsis>

    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>aptitude</command>

      <arg choice='opt' rep='repeat'><replaceable>options</replaceable></arg>

      <arg choice='plain'>search</arg>

      <arg choice='plain' rep='repeat'><replaceable>patterns</replaceable></arg>
    </cmdsynopsis>

    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>aptitude</command>

      <arg choice='opt' rep='repeat'><replaceable>options</replaceable></arg>

      <group choice='req'>
	<arg choice='plain'>why</arg>
	<arg choice='plain'>why-not</arg>
      </group>

      <arg choice='plain' rep='repeat'><replaceable>patterns</replaceable></arg>

      <arg choice='plain'><replaceable>package</replaceable></arg>
    </cmdsynopsis>

    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>aptitude</command>
      <arg choice='opt'>-S <replaceable>fname</replaceable></arg>
      <group choice='opt'><arg choice='plain'>-u</arg> <arg
      choice='plain'>-i</arg></group>
    </cmdsynopsis>

    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>aptitude</command>
      <arg choice='plain'>help</arg>
    </cmdsynopsis>
  </refsynopsisdiv>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Description</title>

    <para>
      &aptitude; is a text-based interface to the Debian GNU/Linux
      package system.
    </para>

    <para>
      It allows the user to view the list of packages and to
      perform package management tasks such as installing,
      upgrading, and removing packages.  Actions may be performed
      from a visual interface or from the command-line.
    </para>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Command-Line Actions</title>

    <para>
      The first argument which does not begin with a hyphen (<quote><literal>-</literal></quote>)
      is considered to be an action that the program should
      perform.  If an action is not specified on the command-line,
      &aptitude; will start up in visual mode.
    </para>

    <para>
      The following actions are available:
    </para>

    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry id='cmdlineInstall'>
	<term><literal>install</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Install one or more packages.  The packages should be
	    listed after the <quote>install</quote> command; if a
	    package name contains a tilde character
	    (<quote><literal>~</literal></quote>), it will be
	    treated as a search pattern and every package matching
	    the pattern will be installed (see the section <link
	    linkend='secSearchPatterns'><quote>Search
	    Patterns</quote></link> in the &aptitude; reference
	    manual).
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    To select a particular version of the package, append <quote><literal>=<replaceable>version</replaceable></literal></quote>
	    to the package name: for instance, <quote><literal>aptitude install
	    apt=0.3.1</literal></quote>.  Similarly, to select a
	    package from a particular archive, append <quote><literal>/<replaceable>archive</replaceable></literal></quote>
	    to the package name: for instance, <quote><literal>aptitude install
	    apt/experimental</literal></quote>.
	  </para>

	  <para id='parOverrideSpecifiers'>
	    Not every package listed on the command line has to be
	    installed; you can tell &aptitude; to do something
	    different with a package by appending an <quote>override
	    specifier</quote> to the name of the package.  For
	    example, <literal>aptitude remove wesnoth+</literal> will
	    install <literal>wesnoth</literal>, not remove it.  The
	    following override specifiers are available:
	  </para>

	  <variablelist>
	    <varlistentry>
	      <term><replaceable>package</replaceable><literal>+</literal></term>
	      <listitem>
		<para>
		  Install <replaceable>package</replaceable>.
		</para>
	      </listitem>
	    </varlistentry>

	    <varlistentry>
	      <term><replaceable>package</replaceable><literal>+M</literal></term>
	      <listitem>
		<para>
		  Install <replaceable>package</replaceable> and
		  immediately mark it as <link
		  linkend='secAutoInstall'>automatically
		  installed</link> (note that if nothing depends on
		  <replaceable>package</replaceable>, this will cause
		  it to be immediately removed).
		</para>
	      </listitem>
	    </varlistentry>

	    <varlistentry>
	      <term><replaceable>package</replaceable><literal>-</literal></term>
	      <listitem>
		<para>
		  Remove <replaceable>package</replaceable>.
		</para>
	      </listitem>
	    </varlistentry>

	    <varlistentry>
	      <term><replaceable>package</replaceable><literal>_</literal></term>
	      <listitem>
		<para>
		  Purge <replaceable>package</replaceable>: remove it
		  and all its associated configuration and data files.
		</para>
	      </listitem>
	    </varlistentry>

	    <varlistentry>
	      <term><replaceable>package</replaceable><literal>=</literal></term>
	      <listitem>
		<para>
		  Place <replaceable>package</replaceable> on hold:
		  cancel any active installation, upgrade, or removal,
		  and prevent this package from being automatically
		  upgraded in the future.
		</para>
	      </listitem>
	    </varlistentry>

	    <varlistentry>
	      <term><replaceable>package</replaceable><literal>:</literal></term>
	      <listitem>
		<para>
		  Keep <replaceable>package</replaceable> at its
		  current version: cancel any installation, removal,
		  or upgrade.  Unlike <quote>hold</quote> (above) this
		  does not prevent automatic upgrades in the future.
		</para>
	      </listitem>
	    </varlistentry>

	    <varlistentry>
	      <term><replaceable>package</replaceable><literal>&amp;M</literal></term>
	      <listitem>
		<para>
		  Mark <replaceable>package</replaceable> as having
		  been <link linkend='secAutoInstall'>automatically installed</link>.
		</para>
	      </listitem>
	    </varlistentry>

	    <varlistentry>
	      <term><replaceable>package</replaceable><literal>&amp;m</literal></term>
	      <listitem>
		<para>
		  Mark <replaceable>package</replaceable> as having
		  been <link linkend='secAutoInstall'>manually installed</link>.
		</para>
	      </listitem>
	    </varlistentry>
	  </variablelist>

	  <para>
	    As a special case, <quote><literal>install</literal></quote> with no
	    arguments will act on any stored/pending actions.
	  </para>

	  <note>
	    <para>
	      Once you enter <userinput>Y</userinput> at the final
	      confirmation prompt, the
	      <quote><literal>install</literal></quote> command will
	      modify &aptitude;'s stored information about what
	      actions to perform.  Therefore, if you issue (e.g.) the
	      command <quote><literal>aptitude install foo
	      bar</literal></quote> and then abort the installation
	      once &aptitude; has started downloading and installing
	      packages, you will need to run <quote><literal>aptitude
	      remove foo bar</literal></quote> to cancel that order.
	    </para>
	  </note>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>remove</literal>, <literal>purge</literal>, <literal>hold</literal>, <literal>unhold</literal>, <literal>keep</literal>, <literal>reinstall</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    These commands are the same as
	    <quote><literal>install</literal></quote>, but apply the
	    named action to all packages given on the command line for
	    which it is not <link
	    linkend='parOverrideSpecifiers'>overridden</link>.  The
	    difference between <literal>hold</literal> and
	    <literal>keep</literal> is that <literal>hold</literal>
	    will cause a package to be ignored by future
	    <literal>safe-upgrade</literal> or <literal>full-upgrade</literal> commands, while
	    <literal>keep</literal> merely cancels any scheduled
	    actions on the package.  <literal>unhold</literal> will
	    allow a package to be upgraded by future
	    <literal>safe-upgrade</literal> or <literal>full-upgrade</literal> commands, without otherwise
	    altering its state.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    For instance, <quote><literal>aptitude remove
	    '~ndeity'</literal></quote> will remove all packages
	    whose name contains <quote><literal>deity</literal></quote>.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>markauto</literal>, <literal>unmarkauto</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Mark packages as automatically installed or manually
	    installed, respectively.  Packages are specified in
	    exactly the same way as for the <quote><literal>install</literal></quote> command.
	    For instance, <quote><literal>aptitude markauto
	    '~slibs'</literal></quote> will mark all packages in
	    the <quote><literal>libs</literal></quote> section as
	    having been automatically installed.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    For more information on automatically installed
	    packages, see the section <quote><link
	    linkend='secAutoInstall'>Managing Automatically
	    Installed Packages</link></quote> in the &aptitude;
	    reference manual.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>forbid-version</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Forbid a package from being upgraded to a particular
	    version.  This will prevent aptitude from
	    automatically upgrading to this version, but will
	    allow automatic upgrades to future versions.  By
	    default, aptitude will select the version to which the
	    package would normally be upgraded; you may override
	    this selection by appending <quote><literal>=<replaceable>version</replaceable></literal></quote>
	    to the package name: for instance, <quote><literal>aptitude forbid-version
	    vim=1.2.3.broken-4</literal></quote>.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    This command is useful for avoiding broken versions of
	    packages without having to set and clear manual holds.
	    If you decide you really want the forbidden version
	    after all, the <quote><literal>install</literal></quote> command will
	    remove the ban.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>update</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Updates the list of available packages from the &apt;
	    sources (this is equivalent to <quote><literal>apt-get
	    update</literal></quote>)
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>safe-upgrade</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Upgrades installed packages to their most recent
	    version.  Installed packages will not be removed
	    unless they are unused (see the section <quote><link
	    linkend='secAutoInstall'>Managing Automatically
	    Installed Packages</link></quote> in the &aptitude;
	    reference manual); packages which are not currently
	    installed will not be installed.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	      It is sometimes necessary to remove or install one
	      package in order to upgrade another; this command is not
	      able to upgrade packages in such situations.  Use the
	      <link
	      linkend='manpageFullUpgrade'><literal>full-upgrade</literal></link>
	      command to upgrade as many packages as possible.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id='manpageFullUpgrade'>
	<term><literal>full-upgrade</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Upgrades installed packages to their most recent version,
	    removing or installing packages as necessary.  This
	    command is less conservative than
	    <literal>safe-upgrade</literal> and thus more likely to
	    perform unwanted actions.  However, it is capable of
	    upgrading packages that <literal>safe-upgrade</literal> cannot
	    upgrade.
	  </para>

	  <note>
	    <para>
	      This command was originally named
	      <literal>dist-upgrade</literal> for historical reasons,
	      and &aptitude; still recognizes
	      <literal>dist-upgrade</literal> as a synonym for
	      <literal>full-upgrade</literal>.
	    </para>
	  </note>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id='manpageKeepAll'>
	<term><literal>keep-all</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Cancels all scheduled actions on all packages; any
	    packages whose sticky state indicates an installation,
	    removal, or upgrade will have this sticky state cleared.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>forget-new</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Forgets all internal information about what packages
	    are <quote>new</quote> (equivalent to pressing <quote><keycap>f</keycap></quote> when in visual
	    mode).
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>search</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Searches for packages matching one of the patterns
	    supplied on the command line.  All packages which
	    match any of the given patterns will be displayed; for
	    instance, <quote><literal>aptitude search
	    '~N' edit</literal></quote> will list all <quote>new</quote> packages and all packages whose name contains <quote>edit</quote>.  For more information on
	    search patterns, see the section <quote><link
	    linkend='secSearchPatterns'>Search
	    Patterns</link></quote> in the &aptitude; reference
	    manual.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    Unless you pass the <link
	    linkend='cmdlineOptionFormat'><literal>-F</literal></link> option, the output of
	    <literal>aptitude search</literal> will look something
	    like this:
	  </para>

	  <screen>i   apt                             - Advanced front-end for dpkg              
pi  apt-build                       - frontend to apt to build, optimize and in
cp  apt-file                        - APT package searching utility -- command-
ihA raptor-utils                    - Raptor RDF Parser utilities</screen>

          <para>
	    Each search result is listed on a separate line.  The
	    first character of each line indicates the current state
	    of the package: the most common states are
	    <literal>p</literal>, meaning that no trace of the package
	    exists on the system, <literal>c</literal>, meaning that
	    the package was deleted but its configuration files remain
	    on the system, <literal>i</literal>, meaning that the
	    package is installed, and <literal>v</literal>, meaning
	    that the package is virtual.  The second character
	    indicates the stored action (if any; otherwise a blank
	    space is displayed) to be performed on the package, with
	    the most common actions being <literal>i</literal>,
	    meaning that the package will be installed,
	    <literal>d</literal>, meaning that the package will be
	    deleted, and <literal>p</literal>, meaning that the
	    package and its configuration files will be removed.  If
	    the third character is <literal>A</literal>, the package
	    was automatically installed.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    For a complete list of the possible state and action
	    flags, see the section <quote><link
	    linkend='secAccessingPackageInformation'>Accessing Package
	    Information</link></quote> in the &aptitude; reference
	    guide.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>show</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Displays detailed information about one or more
	    packages, listed following the search command.  If a
	    package name contains a tilde character
	    (<quote><literal>~</literal></quote>), it will be
	    treated as a search pattern and all matching packages
	    will be displayed (see the section <quote><link
	    linkend='secSearchPatterns'>Search
	    Patterns</link></quote> in the &aptitude; reference
	    manual).
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    If the verbosity level is 1 or greater (i.e., at least one <literal>-v</literal>
	    is present on the command-line), information about all
	    versions of the package is displayed.  Otherwise, information about
	    the <quote>candidate version</quote> (the version
	    that <quote><literal>aptitude install</literal></quote>
	    would download) is displayed.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    You can display information about a different version of
	    the package by appending
	    <literal>=<replaceable>version</replaceable></literal> to
	    the package name; you can display the version from a
	    particular archive by appending
	    <literal>/<replaceable>archive</replaceable></literal> to
	    the package name.  If either of these is present, then
	    only the version you request will be displayed, regardless
	    of the verbosity level.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    If the verbosity level is 1 or greater, the package's
	    architecture, compressed size, filename, and md5sum fields
	    will be displayed.  If the verbosity level is 2 or
	    greater, the select version or versions will be displayed
	    once for each archive in which they are found.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>why</literal>, <literal>why-not</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Explains the reason that a particular package can or
	    cannot be installed on the system.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    This command searches for packages that require or
	    conflict with the given package.  It displays a sequence
	    of dependencies leading to the target package, along with
	    a note indicating the installed state of each package in
	    the dependency chain:
	  </para>

	  <screen>$ aptitude why kdepim
i   nautilus-data Recommends nautilus
i A nautilus      Recommends desktop-base (>= 0.2)
i A desktop-base  Suggests   gnome | kde | xfce4 | wmaker
p   kde           Depends    kdepim (>= 4:3.4.3)</screen>

	  <para>
	    The command <literal>why</literal> finds a dependency
	    chain that installs the package named on the command line,
	    as above.  Note that the dependency that aptitude produced
	    in this case is only a suggestion.  This is because no
	    package installed on my computer depends on or recommends
	    the <systemitem>kdepim</systemitem> package; if a stronger
	    dependency were available, aptitude would have displayed
	    it.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    In contrast, <literal>why-not</literal> finds a
	    dependency chain leading to a conflict
	    with the target package:
	  </para>

	  <screen>$ aptitude why-not textopo
i   ocaml-core          Depends   ocamlweb
i A ocamlweb            Depends   tetex-extra | texlive-latex-extra
i A texlive-latex-extra Conflicts textopo</screen>

	  <para>
	    If one or more <replaceable>patterns</replaceable> are
	    present, then aptitude will begin its search at these
	    patterns; that is, the first package in the chain it
	    prints will be a package matching the pattern in question.
	    The patterns are considered to be package names unless
	    they contain a tilde character (<literal>~</literal>), in
	    which case they are treated as search patterns (see the
	    section <quote><link linkend='secSearchPatterns'>Search
	    Patterns</link></quote> in the &aptitude; reference
	    manual).
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    If no patterns are present, then &aptitude; will search
	    for dependency chains beginning at manually installed
	    packages.
	  </para>

	  <note>
	    <para>
	      <literal>aptitude why</literal> does not perform full
	      dependency resolution; it only displays direct
	      relationships between packages.  For instance, if A
	      requires B, C requires D, and B and C conflict,
	      <quote><literal>aptitude why-not D</literal></quote>
	      will not produce the answer <quote>A depends on B, B
	      conflicts with C, and D depends on C</quote>.
	    </para>
	  </note>

	  <para>
	    By default aptitude outputs only the <quote>most
	    installed, strongest, tightest, shortest</quote>
	    dependency chain.  That is, it looks for a chain that only
	    contains packages which are installed or will be
	    installed; it looks for the strongest possible
	    dependencies under that restriction; it looks for chains
	    that avoid ORed dependencies and Provides; and it looks
	    for the shortest dependency chain meeting those criteria.
	    These rules are progressively weakened until a match is
	    found.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    If the verbosity level is 1 or more, then
	    <emphasis>all</emphasis> the explanations aptitude can
	    find will be displayed, in inverse order of relevance.  If
	    the verbosity level is 2 or more, a truly excessive amount
	    of debugging information will be printed to standard
	    output.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    This command returns 0 if successful, 1 if no explanation
	    could be constructed, and -1 if an error occured.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>clean</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Removes all previously downloaded <literal>.deb</literal> files from the package cache
	    directory (usually <filename>/var/cache/apt/archives</filename>).
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>autoclean</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Removes any cached packages which can no longer be
	    downloaded.  This allows you to prevent a cache from
	    growing out of control over time without completely
	    emptying it.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>changelog</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Downloads and displays the Debian changelog for each of
	    the given source or binary packages.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    By default, the changelog for the version which would be
	    installed with <quote><literal>aptitude
	    install</literal></quote> is downloaded.  You can select a
	    particular version of a package by appending <literal>=<replaceable>version</replaceable></literal> to
	    the package name; you can select the version from a
	    particular archive by appending <literal>/<replaceable>archive</replaceable></literal> to
	    the package name.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>download</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Downloads the <literal>.deb</literal> file for the given
	    package to the current directory.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    By default, the version which would be installed with
	    <quote><literal>aptitude install</literal></quote> is
	    downloaded.  You can select a particular version of a
	    package by appending <literal>=<replaceable>version</replaceable></literal> to
	    the package name; you can select the version from a
	    particular archive by appending <literal>/<replaceable>archive</replaceable></literal> to
	    the package name.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>help</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Displays a brief summary of the available commands and
	    options.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Options</title>

    <para>
      The following options may be used to modify the behavior of
      the actions described above.  Note that while all options
      will be accepted for all commands, some options don't apply
      to particular commands and will be ignored by those
      commands.
    </para>

    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>-D</literal>, <literal>--show-deps</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    For commands that will install or remove packages
	    (<literal>install</literal>, <literal>full-upgrade</literal>,
	    etc), show brief explanations of automatic installations
	    and removals.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    This corresponds to the configuration option <literal><link linkend='configCmdLine-Show-Deps'>Aptitude::CmdLine::Show-Deps</link></literal>.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>-d</literal>, <literal>--download-only</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Download packages to the package cache as necessary, but
	    do not install or remove anything.  By default, the
	    package cache is stored in
	    <filename>/var/cache/apt/archives</filename>.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    This corresponds to the configuration option <literal><link
	    linkend='configCmdLine-Download-Only'>Aptitude::CmdLine::Download-Only</link></literal>.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id='cmdlineOptionFormat'>
	<term>
	  <literal>-F</literal> <replaceable>format</replaceable>, <literal>--display-format</literal> <replaceable>format</replaceable>
	</term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Specify the format which should be used to display
	    output from the <literal>search</literal> command.
	    For instance, passing <quote><literal>%p %V %v</literal></quote>
	    for <replaceable>format</replaceable> will display a package's name,
	    followed by its currently installed version and its
	    available version (see the section <quote><link linkend='secDisplayFormat'>Customizing how packages are displayed</link></quote> in the &aptitude; reference manual for more information).
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    This corresponds to the configuration option <literal><link linkend='configCmdLine-Package-Display-Format'>Aptitude::CmdLine::Package-Display-Format</link></literal>.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>-f</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Try hard to fix the dependencies of broken packages, even
	    if it means ignoring the actions requested on the command
	    line.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    This corresponds to the configuration item <literal><link linkend='configCmdLine-Fix-Broken'>Aptitude::CmdLine::Fix-Broken</link></literal>.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>
	  <literal>-h</literal>, <literal>--help</literal>
	</term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Display a brief help message.  Identical to the <literal>help</literal> action.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>--purge-unused</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Purge packages that are no longer required by any
	    installed package.  This is equivalent to passing
	    <quote><literal>-o <link linkend='configPurge-Unused'>Aptitude::Purge-Unused=true</link></literal></quote>
	    as a command-line argument.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>-P</literal>, <literal>--prompt</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Always display a prompt, even when no actions other
	    than those explicitly requested will be performed.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    This corresponds to the configuration option <literal><link
	    linkend='configCmdLine-Always-Prompt'>Aptitude::CmdLine::Always-Prompt</link></literal>.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>-R</literal>, <literal>--without-recommends</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Do <emphasis>not</emphasis> treat recommendations as
	    dependencies when installing new packages (this overrides settings in <filename>/etc/apt/apt.conf</filename> and <filename>~/.aptitude/config</filename>).
	    Packages previously installed due to recommendations
	    will not be removed.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    This corresponds to the pair of configuration options <literal><link linkend='configRecommends-Important'>Aptitude::Recommends-Important</link></literal> and <literal><link linkend='configKeep-Recommends'>Aptitude::Keep-Recommends</link></literal>.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>-r</literal>, <literal>--with-recommends</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Treat recommendations as dependencies when installing
	    new packages (this overrides settings in <filename>/etc/apt/apt.conf</filename> and <filename>~/.aptitude/config</filename>).
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    This corresponds to the configuration option <literal><link linkend='configRecommends-Important'>Aptitude::Recommends-Important</link></literal>
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>-s</literal>, <literal>--simulate</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    In command-line mode, print the actions that would
	    normally be performed, but don't actually perform them.
	    This does not require &root; privileges.  In the visual
	    interface, always open the cache in read-only mode
	    regardless of whether you are &root;.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    This corresponds to the configuration option <literal><link
	    linkend='configSimulate'>Aptitude::Simulate</link></literal>.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>--schedule-only</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    For commands that modify package states, schedule
	    operations to be performed in the future, but don't
	    perform them.  You can execute scheduled actions by
	    running <literal>aptitude install</literal> with no
	    arguments.  This is equivalent to making the corresponding
	    selections in <link linkend='secUsingVisual'>visual
	    mode</link>, then exiting the program normally.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    For instance, <literal>aptitude --schedule-only install
	    evolution</literal> will schedule the
	    <literal>evolution</literal> package for later
	    installation.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>-t</literal> <replaceable>release</replaceable>, <literal>--target-release</literal> <replaceable>release</replaceable></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Set the release from which packages should be
	    installed.  For instance, <quote><literal>aptitude -t
	    experimental ...</literal></quote> will install
	    packages from the experimental distribution unless you
	    specify otherwise.  For the command-line actions <quote>changelog</quote>, <quote>download</quote>, and <quote>show</quote>,
	    this is equivalent to appending <literal>/<replaceable>release</replaceable></literal>
	    to each package named on the command-line; for other commands,
	    this will affect the default candidate version of packages
	    according to the rules described in <citerefentry><refentrytitle>apt_preferences</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    This corresponds to the configuration item <literal>APT::Default-Release</literal>.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>-O</literal> <replaceable>order</replaceable>, <literal>--sort</literal> <replaceable>order</replaceable></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Specify the order in which output from the <literal>search</literal>
	    command should be displayed.  For instance, passing <quote><literal>installsize</literal></quote>
	    for <replaceable>order</replaceable> will list packages in
	    order according to their size when installed (see the section <quote><link linkend='secSortingPolicy'>Customizing how packages are sorted</link></quote> in the &aptitude; reference manual for more information).
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>-o</literal> <replaceable>key</replaceable><literal>=</literal><replaceable>value</replaceable></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Set a configuration file option directly; for
	    instance, use <literal>-o
	    Aptitude::Log=/tmp/my-log</literal> to log &aptitude;'s
	    actions to <filename>/tmp/my-log</filename>.  For more
	    information on configuration file options, see the
	    section <quote><link
	    linkend='secConfigFile'>Configuration file
	    reference</link></quote> in the &aptitude; reference manual.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>-q<optional>=<replaceable>n</replaceable></optional></literal>, <literal>--quiet<optional>=<replaceable>n</replaceable></optional></literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Suppress all incremental progress indicators, thus making
	    the output loggable.  This may be supplied multiple times
	    to make the program quieter, but unlike &apt-get;,
	    &aptitude; does not enable <literal>-y</literal> when <literal>-q</literal>
	    is supplied more than once.
	  </para>


	  <para>
	    The optional <literal>=<replaceable>n</replaceable></literal>
	    may be used to directly set the amount of quietness (for
	    instance, to override a setting in <filename>/etc/apt/apt.conf</filename>);
	    it causes the program to behave as if <literal>-q</literal>
	    had been passed exactly <replaceable>n</replaceable>
	    times.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>-V</literal>, <literal>--show-versions</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Show which versions of packages will be installed.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    This corresponds to the configuration option <literal><link linkend='configCmdLine-Show-Versions'>Aptitude::CmdLine::Show-Versions</link></literal>.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>-v</literal>, <literal>--verbose</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Causes some commands (for instance, <literal>show</literal>) to display extra information.  This may be supplied multiple times to get more and more information.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    This corresponds to the configuration option <literal><link linkend='configCmdLine-Verbose'>Aptitude::CmdLine::Verbose</link></literal>.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>--version</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Display the version of &aptitude; and some information
	    about how it was compiled.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>--visual-preview</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    When installing or removing packages from the command
	    line, instead of displaying the usual prompt, start up the
	    visual interface and display its preview screen.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>-w</literal> <replaceable>width</replaceable>, <literal>--width</literal> <replaceable>width</replaceable></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Specify the display width which should be used for
	    output from the <literal>search</literal> command (by
	    default, the terminal width is used).
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    This corresponds to the configuration option <literal><link linkend='configCmdLine-Package-Display-Width'>Aptitude::CmdLine::Package-Display-Width</link></literal>
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>-y</literal>, <literal>--assume-yes</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    When a yes/no prompt would be presented, assume that
	    the user entered <quote>yes</quote>.  In particular,
	    suppresses the prompt that appears when installing,
	    upgrading, or removing packages.  Prompts for <quote>dangerous</quote> actions, such as removing
	    essential packages, will still be displayed.  This
	    option overrides <literal>-P</literal>.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    This corresponds to the configuration option <literal><link linkend='configCmdLine-Assume-Yes'>Aptitude::CmdLine::Assume-Yes</link></literal>.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>-Z</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Show how much disk space will be used or freed by the
	    individual packages being installed, upgraded, or
	    removed.
	  </para>

	  <para>
	    This corresponds to the configuration option <literal><link linkend='configCmdLine-Show-Size-Changes'>Aptitude::CmdLine::Show-Size-Changes</link></literal>.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>

    <para>
      The following options apply to the visual mode of the
      program, but are primarily for internal use; you generally
      won't need to use them yourself.
    </para>

    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>-S</literal> <replaceable>fname</replaceable></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Loads the extended state information from <replaceable>fname</replaceable> instead of the
	    standard state file.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>-u</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Begins updating the package lists as soon as the
	    program starts.  You cannot use this option and <literal>-i</literal> at the same time.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><literal>-i</literal></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Displays a download preview when the program starts
	    (equivalent to starting the program and immediately
	    pressing <quote><keycap>g</keycap></quote>).  You
	    cannot use this option and <quote><literal>-u</literal></quote> at the same time.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Environment</title>

    <variablelist>
    <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>HOME</literal></term>

      <listitem>
	<para>
	  If $HOME/.aptitude exists, aptitude will store its
	  configuration file in $HOME/.aptitude/config.  Otherwise, it
	  will look up the current user's home directory using <citerefentry><refentrytitle>getpwuid</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry>
	  and place its configuration file there.
	</para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>PAGER</literal></term>

      <listitem>
	<para>
	  If this environment variable is set, &aptitude; will use it
	  to display changelogs when <quote><literal>aptitude
	  changelog</literal></quote> is invoked.  If not set, it
	  defaults to <literal>more</literal>.
	</para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>TMP</literal></term>

      <listitem>
	<para>
	  If <literal>TMPDIR</literal> is unset, &aptitude; will store
	  its temporary files in <literal>TMP</literal> if that
	  variable is set.  Otherwise, it will store them in
	  <filename>/tmp</filename>.
	</para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
      <term><literal>TMPDIR</literal></term>

      <listitem>
	<para>
	  &aptitude; will store its temporary files in the directory
	  indicated by this environment variable.  If
	  <literal>TMPDIR</literal> is not set, then
	  <literal>TMP</literal> will be used; if
	  <literal>TMP</literal> is also unset, then &aptitude; will
	  use <filename>/tmp</filename>.
	</para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>See Also</title>

    <para>
      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>apt-get</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>, <citerefentry><refentrytitle>apt</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>, <filename>/usr/share/doc/aptitude/html/<replaceable>lang</replaceable>/index.html</filename> from the package aptitude-doc-<replaceable>lang</replaceable>
    </para>
  </refsect1>
</refentry>