Unix in a Nutshell, 4th Edition

Name

apt-cache

Synopsis

apt-cache [options]command

Perform low-level operations on the APT binary cache, including the ability to perform searches and produce output reports from package metadata.

Commands

add files

Add the specified package index files to the source cache.

depends pkgs

For each specified package, show a list of dependencies and packages that can fulfill them.

dotty pkgs

Graph the relationships between the specified packages. The default is to trace out all dependent packages; turn this behavior off by setting the APT::Cache::GivenOnly configuration option.

dump

List every package in the cache. Used for debugging.

dumpavail

Print a list of available packages to standard output, suitable for use with dpkg.

gencaches

Build source and package caches from the sources in the file sources.list and from /var/lib/dpkg/status. Equivalent to running apt-get check.

madison [ pkgs ]

Display a table showing the available versions of each specified package. Similar to madison, a Debian tool that checks for package versions and reports their status. This option works locally and doesn’t require access to the Debian project’s internal archive.

pkgnames [ prefix ]

Print a list of packages in the system. If prefix is specified, print only packages whose names begin with that prefix. Most useful with the --generate option.

policy [ pkgs ]

Print detailed information about the priority selection of each specified package. With no arguments, print the priorities of all sources. Useful for ...