dpkg-query

dpkg-query(1)                     dpkg suite                     dpkg-query(1)



NAME
       dpkg-query - a tool to query the dpkg database

SYNOPSIS
       dpkg-query [option...] command

DESCRIPTION
       dpkg-query  is  a tool to show information about packages listed in the
       dpkg database.

COMMANDS
       -l, --list package-name-pattern...
              List packages matching given pattern. If no package-name-pattern
              is  given,  list all packages in /var/lib/dpkg/status, excluding
              the ones marked as not-installed (i.e.  those  which  have  been
              previously  purged). Normal shell wildchars are allowed in pack‐
              age-name-pattern. Please note you will probably  have  to  quote
              package-name-pattern  to prevent the shell from performing file‐
              name expansion. For example this will  list  all  package  names
              starting with “libc6”:

                dpkg-query -l 'libc6*'

              The output format of this option is not configurable, but varies
              automatically to fit the terminal  width.  It  is  intended  for
              human  readers,  and  is  not  easily  machine-readable.  See -W
              (--show) and --showformat for a way to configure the output for‐
              mat.

       -W, --show package-name-pattern...
              Just like the --list option this will list all packages matching
              the given pattern. However the output can  be  customized  using
              the  --showformat  option.   The default output format gives one
              line per  matching  package,  each  line  having  the  name  and
              installed version of the package, separated by a tab.

       -s, --status package-name...
              Report status of specified package. This just displays the entry
              in the installed package status database.

       -L, --listfiles package-name...
              List files installed to your system from package-name.  However,
              note that files created by package-specific installation-scripts
              are not listed.

       -c, --control-path package-name [control-file]
              List paths for control files installed to your system from pack‐
              age-name.   If control-file is specified then only list the path
              for that control file if it is present. Warning: this command is
              semi-public,  it  should be used only as a last resort solution,
              and if no other interface is available. It might get  deprecated
              later on if better interfaces or the current architectural defi‐
              ciencies have been solved.

       -S, --search filename-search-pattern...
              Search for a filename  from  installed  packages.  All  standard
              shell  wildchars  can  be used in the pattern. This command will
              not list extra files created by maintainer scripts, nor will  it
              list alternatives.

       -p, --print-avail package-name...
              Display    details    about    package-name,    as    found   in
              /var/lib/dpkg/available. Users of APT-based frontends should use
              apt-cache  show  package-name  instead  as the available file is
              only kept up-to-date when using dselect.

       -h, --help
              Show the usage message and exit.

       --version
              Show the version and exit.

       --license, --licence
              Show the copyright licensing terms and exit.

OPTIONS
       --admindir=dir
              Change the location of the dpkg database. The  default  location
              is /var/lib/dpkg.

       -f, --showformat=format
              This  option  is used to specify the format of the output --show
              will produce. The format is a string that  will  be  output  for
              each package listed.

              In the format string, “\” introduces escapes:

                  \n  newline
                  \r  carriage return
                  \t  tab

              “\” before any other character suppresses any special meaning of
              the following character, which is useful for “\” and “$”.

              Package information can be included by inserting variable refer‐
              ences  to  package  fields  using the syntax “${field[;width]}”.
              Fields are printed right-aligned unless the width is negative in
              which case left alignment will be used. The following fields are
              recognised but they are not necessarily available in the  status
              file  (only internal fields or fields stored in the binary pack‐
              age end up in it):

                  Architecture
                  Bugs
                  Conffiles (internal)
                  Config-Version (internal)
                  Conflicts
                  Breaks
                  Depends
                  Description
                  Enhances
                  Essential
                  Filename (internal, dselect related)
                  Homepage
                  Installed-Size
                  MD5sum (internal, dselect related)
                  MSDOS-Filename (internal, dselect related)
                  Maintainer
                  Origin
                  Package
                  Pre-Depends
                  Priority
                  Provides
                  Recommends
                  Replaces
                  Revision (obsolete)
                  Section
                  Size (internal, dselect related)
                  Source
                  Status (internal)
                  Suggests
                  Tag (usually not in the .deb but in APT's Packages files)
                  Triggers-Awaited (internal)
                  Triggers-Pending (internal)
                  Version

              The default format string is “${Package}\t${Version}\n”.   Actu‐
              ally,  all  other  fields  found  in  the status file (i.e. user
              defined fields) can be requested, too. They will be printed  as-
              is,  though,  no  conversion nor error checking is done on them.
              To get the name of the dpkg maintainer and  the  installed  ver‐
              sion, you could run:

                dpkg-query -W -f='${Package} ${Version}\t${Maintainer}\n' dpkg

ENVIRONMENT
       COLUMNS
              This  setting  influences  the  output  of  the --list option by
              changing the width of its output.

AUTHOR
       Copyright © 2001 Wichert Akkerman

       This is free software; see the GNU General Public Licence version 2  or
       later for copying conditions. There is NO WARRANTY.

SEE ALSO
       dpkg(1).




Debian Project                    2009-09-06                     dpkg-query(1)