• Categories
    Category
    {{ postCtrl.tags }}
    • {{ category.tag_type }}

      • {{tag.tag_name}}
      • View more
  • Categories
    Category
    {{ postCtrl.tags }}
    • {{ category.tag_type }}

      • {{tag.tag_name}}
      • View more
  • News
  • Tutorials
  • Forums
  • Tags
  • Users
Tutorial News Comments FAQ Related Articles

dpkg commands in Linux with Examples

{{postValue.id}}

dpkg commands for Debian Based Distros

In this article we will discuss about “ dpkg commands” for Debian Based Distros. We will describe each of these briefly, before focusing on ' dpkg' command.

APT Command
Advanced Package Tool(APT) works directly without using ' deb' packages. It works with ‘ deb‘ archive from the location specified in the “ /etc/apt/sources.list” file.

Aptitude
It' s a text based package manager for Debian. It enables user to manage packages easily.

Synaptic
It is a graphical package manager, even a newbies can install, upgrade and uninstall packages easily.

Tasksel
It enables user to install all the required packages for a specific task.

Deselect
A menu-driven package management tool. It is initially used during the first time of installation and now is replaced with aptitude.

Dpkg-deb
It Interacts with the Debian archive.

Dpkg-split
splitting and merging larger file into small files to store on a smaller size storage medium like floppy-disk.

Dpkg Command

dpkg is the main package management program to install, build, remove, and manage packages in Debian and Debian based System.

To Install a Package

To install a " deb" package, use the dpkg command with “ -i” option.

root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg -i teamviewer_11.0.57095_i386.deb 
Selecting previously unselected package teamviewer:i386.
(Reading database ... 204404 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack teamviewer_11.0.57095_i386.deb ...
Unpacking teamviewer:i386 (11.0.57095) ...
Setting up teamviewer:i386 (11.0.57095) ...

List the installed Packages

To view and list the packages use the “ -l” option along with the command.

root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg -l
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 a11y-profile-manager-indicato 0.1.10-0ubuntu3 amd64 Accessibility Profile Manager - Unity desktop indicator
ii account-plugin-facebook 0.12+16.04.20160126 all GNOME Control Center account plugin for single signon - faceboo
ii account-plugin-flickr 0.12+16.04.20160126 all GNOME Control Center account plugin for single signon - flickr
ii account-plugin-google 0.12+16.04.20160126 all GNOME Control Center account plugin for single signon
ii accountsservice 0.6.40-2ubuntu11.1 amd64 query and manipulate user account information
.
.
.
ii zenity 3.18.1.1-1ubuntu2 amd64 Display graphical dialog boxes from shell scripts
ii zenity-common 3.18.1.1-1ubuntu2 all Display graphical dialog boxes from shell scripts (common files
ii zip 3.0-11 amd64 Archiver for .zip files
ii zlib1g:amd64 1:1.2.8.dfsg-2ubunt amd64 compression library - runtime
ii zlib1g:i386 1:1.2.8.dfsg-2ubunt i386 compression library - runtime

You can also use the “ -l” option along with package-name.

root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg -l teamviewer
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
+++-=============================-===================-===================-===============================================================
rc teamviewer:i386 11.0.57095 i386 TeamViewer (Remote Control Application)

To remove a Package

“ -r” option is used to remove/uninstall a package.

root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg -r teamviewer
(Reading database ... 204689 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing teamviewer:i386 (11.0.57095) ...
Removed symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/teamviewerd.service.
Clearing assignments ...
done

Use ‘ p‘ option instead of ‘ r’ to remove the package along with configuration file.

dpkg -P teamviewer
(Reading database ... 230988 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing teamviewer:i386 (11.0.57095) ...
Removed symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/teamviewerd.service.
Clearing assignments ...
done

To View the Content of a Package

Use the “ -c” option to display the contents of “ .deb” package in a long-list format.

root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg -c teamviewer_11.0.57095_i386.deb
drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2016-03-22 14:12 ./
drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2016-03-22 14:12 ./opt/
drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2016-03-22 14:12 ./opt/teamviewer/
drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2016-03-22 14:12 ./opt/teamviewer/doc/
-rw-r--r-- root/root 25805 2016-03-22 14:12 ./opt/teamviewer/doc/CopyRights_EN.txt
-rw-r--r-- root/root 1003 2016-03-22 14:12 ./opt/teamviewer/doc/Lizenz.txt
-rw-r--r-- root/root 812 2016-03-22 14:12 ./opt/teamviewer/doc/License.txt
.
.
.
lrwxrwxrwx root/root 0 2016-03-22 14:12 ./opt/teamviewer/logfiles ->  /var/log/teamviewer11
lrwxrwxrwx root/root 0 2016-03-22 14:12 ./opt/teamviewer/tv_bin/TeamViewer ->  script/teamviewer
lrwxrwxrwx root/root 0 2016-03-22 14:12 ./opt/teamviewer/tv_bin/wine/lib/libwine.so.1 ->  libwine.so.1.0
lrwxrwxrwx root/root 0 2016-03-22 14:12 ./opt/teamviewer/tv_bin/wine/lib/libwine.so ->  libwine.so.1.0
lrwxrwxrwx root/root 0 2016-03-22 14:12 ./usr/bin/teamviewer ->  /opt/teamviewer/tv_bin/script/teamviewer

To check a Package is installed or not

Use “ -s” option with package name to check whether a deb package installed or not.

root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg -s teamviewer
Package: teamviewer
Status: install ok installed
Priority: optional
Section: non-free/internet
Installed-Size: 189688
Maintainer: Teamviewer GmbH < service@teamviewer.com> 
Architecture: i386
Version: 11.0.57095
Replaces: teamviewer5, teamviewer6, teamviewer7, teamviewer8, teamviewer9
Depends: libc6 (> = 2.4), libgcc1, libasound2, libdbus-1-3, libexpat1, libfontconfig1, libfreetype6, libjpeg62, libpng12-0, libsm6, libxdamage1, libxext6, libxfixes3, libxinerama1, libxrandr2, libxrender1, libxtst6, zlib1g
Recommends: ttf-liberation | fonts-liberation
Conflicts: teamviewer5, teamviewer6, teamviewer7, teamviewer8, teamviewer9
Description: TeamViewer (Remote Control Application)
TeamViewer is a remote control application. TeamViewer provides easy, fast and secure remote access to Linux, Windows PCs, and Macs.
.
TeamViewer is free for personal use. You can use TeamViewer completely free of charge to access your private computers or to help your friends with their computer problems.
.
To buy a license for commercial use, please visit http://www.teamviewer.com

To check the location of Packages installed

Run dpkg command along with ' L' option to know the location of the installed packages.

root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg -L apacheds
/.
/etc
/etc/init.d
/etc/init.d/apacheds-2.0.0-M21-default
/opt
/opt/apacheds-2.0.0-M21
/opt/apacheds-2.0.0-M21/bin
/opt/apacheds-2.0.0-M21/bin/apacheds
/opt/apacheds-2.0.0-M21/bin/wrapper
/opt/apacheds-2.0.0-M21/conf

To Install all Packages from a Directory

Use dpkg command along with the “ -R” and “ &ndash install” options, to install all packages from a directory.

root@linuxhelp:~# ls /deb
apacheds-2.0.0-M21-amd64.deb webmin_1.801_all.deb
root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg -R --install /deb
Selecting previously unselected package webmin.
(Reading database ... 204690 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack /deb/webmin_1.801_all.deb ...
Unpacking webmin (1.801) ...
Selecting previously unselected package apacheds.
Preparing to unpack .../apacheds-2.0.0-M21-amd64.deb ...
Unpacking apacheds (2.0.0-M21) ...
Setting up webmin (1.801) ...
Webmin install complete. You can now login to https://linuxhelp:10000/
as root with your root password, or as any user who can use sudo
to run commands as root.
Setting up apacheds (2.0.0-M21) ...
Processing triggers for systemd (229-4ubuntu6) ...
Processing triggers for ureadahead (0.100.0-19) ...

To Unpack a Package

Using “ &ndash unpack” will simply unpack the package and it will not install or configure.

root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg --unpack teamviewer_11.0.57095_i386.deb
(Reading database ... 230989 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack teamviewer_11.0.57095_i386.deb ...
Removed symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/teamviewerd.service.
Unpacking teamviewer:i386 (11.0.57095) over (11.0.57095) ...

To Reconfigure a Unpacked Package

Option “ --configure” will reconfigure the already unpacked package.

root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg --configure teamviewer
Setting up teamviewer:i386 (11.0.57095) ...

To print the Architecture, run the below command.

root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg --print-architecture
amd64

To Forget Uninstalled and Unavailable Packages

The dpkg command with option “ --forget-old-unavail” option will automatically forget the uninstalled and unavailable packages

root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg --forget-old-unavail
dpkg: warning: obsolete ' --forget-old-unavail'  option  unavailable packages are automatically cleaned up
root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg --version
Debian ' dpkg'  package management program version 1.18.4 (amd64).
This is free software  see the GNU General Public License version 2 or
later for copying conditions. There is NO warranty.
Use “ --help”  option to get a list of available options in dpkg command.

root@linuxhelp:~# dpkg --help
Usage: dpkg [...]

Commands:
-i|--install ... | -R|--recursive ...
--unpack ... | -R|--recursive ...
-A|--record-avail ... | -R|--recursive ...
--configure ... | -a|--pending
--triggers-only ... | -a|--pending
-r|--remove ... | -a|--pending
-P|--purge ... | -a|--pending
-V|--verify ... Verify the integrity of package(s).
--get-selections [ ...] Get list of selections to stdout.
--set-selections Set package selections from stdin.

Tags:
jayce
Author: 

Comments ( 0 )

No comments available

Add a comment
{{postCtrl.cmtErrMsg}}

Frequently asked questions ( 5 )

Q

What is the Purpose of using the Dpkg command ?

A

Dpkg is responsible for package management in Debian based systems. It is a tool used for the process of installation, removal, building, and management of packages.

Q

Is it possible to execute the Dpkg command on Redhat based distro?

A

No, Dpkg command can be executed only Debian based distros.

Q

Dpkg command has trouble to install dependencies for particular packages. is there any alternative command?

A

Instead of Dpkg Use "gdebi" command to install Debian packages to install the package along with dependencies.

Q

How to status the status of the package using the Dpkg command?

A

Check the status of Dpkg command by executing the following command "dpkg -s 'package name' "

Q

Does dpkg command works on linuxmint?

A

Yes dpkg command works on linuxmint as it is also debian based distro

Back To Top!
Rank
User
Points

Top Contributers

userNamenaveelansari
135850

Top Contributers

userNameayanbhatti
92510

Top Contributers

userNamehamzaahmed
32150

Top Contributers

1
userNamelinuxhelp
31040

Top Contributers

userNamemuhammadali
24500
Can you help David Lopez Guillen ?
Ayuda urgente instale SSL para servidor Opensuse y ahora no funciona tengo servicio web

hola segui este tutorial para tener un certificado ssl y ahora no se ve mi app en la red, espero alguien pueda ayudarme, tengo M9oodle en3.5 en un servidor open suse y ahora no funciona por favor ayuda.

https://www.linuxhelp.com/how-to-create-ssl-certificate-in-opensuse

Networking
  • Routing
  • trunk
  • Netmask
  • Packet Capture
  • domain
  • HTTP Proxy
Server Setup
  • NFS
  • KVM
  • Memory
  • Sendmail
  • WebDAV
  • LXC
Shell Commands
  • Cloud commander
  • Command line archive tools
  • last command
  • Shell
  • terminal
  • Throttle
Desktop Application
  • Linux app
  • Pithos
  • Retrospect
  • Scribe
  • TortoiseHg
  • 4Images
Monitoring Tool
  • Monit
  • Apache Server Monitoring
  • EtherApe 
  • Arpwatch Tool
  • Auditd
  • Barman
Web Application
  • Nutch
  • Amazon VPC
  • FarmWarDeployer
  • Rukovoditel
  • Mirror site
  • Chef
Contact Us | Terms of Use| Privacy Policy| Disclaimer
© 2025 LinuxHelp.com All rights reserved. Linux™ is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. This site is not affiliated with linus torvalds in any way.