Annoying behaviour of "apt-get upgrade"

[daihard]

Why is it that when I run "apt-get upgrade" on specific packages, it will try to upgrade all the available packages?

$ sudo apt-get upgrade compiz-core
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages will be upgraded:
 compiz-core compiz-kde compiz-plugins libdecoration0 libldap-2.4-2
 libpoppler-glib2 libpoppler-qt2 libpoppler2 linux-headers-2.6.24-19
 linux-headers-2.6.24-19-generic linux-image-2.6.24-19-generic
 linux-kernel-devel linux-libc-dev linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-19-generic
 poppler-utils
15 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 34.1MB of archives.
After this operation, 0B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]?

I checked the dependency using Adept. As far as I can see, compiz-core is not dependent on any of the kernel packages that are available, yet apt-get forces me to upgrade everything. What gives?

[dibl]

Re: Annoying behaviour of "apt-get upgrade"

man apt-get

says

" upgrade is used to install the newest versions of all packages
currently installed on the system from the sources enumerated in
/etc/apt/sources.list. Packages currently installed with new
versions available are retrieved and upgraded; under no
circumstances are currently installed packages removed, or packages
not already installed retrieved and installed. New versions of
currently installed packages that cannot be upgraded without
changing the install status of another package will be left at
their current version. An update must be performed first so that
apt-get knows that new versions of packages are available."

[daihard]

Re: Annoying behaviour of "apt-get upgrade"

man apt-get

says

" upgrade is used to install the newest versions of all packages
currently installed on the system from the sources enumerated in
/etc/apt/sources.list. Packages currently installed with new
versions available are retrieved and upgraded; under no
circumstances are currently installed packages removed, or packages
not already installed retrieved and installed. New versions of
currently installed packages that cannot be upgraded without
changing the install status of another package will be left at
their current version. An update must be performed first so that
apt-get knows that new versions of packages are available."

Thanks for the info. I guess it was a wrong expectation on my side. That begs the next question... how can I selectlvely upgrade packages via apt-get? I should probably read the man page first, but if you know the answer off the top of your head, I would appreciate your sharing it with me.

Dai

[dibl]

Re: Annoying behaviour of "apt-get upgrade"

Hmmmm -- I think you just exceeded my expertise!

I usually do

sudo apt-get update

and then accept all of them, on the theory that dpkg will manage the dependencies, and I might as well update everything while I'm doing it.

The difference between the Debian "update" and "upgrade" is kind of subtle and technical -- I would advise you to study up on it, since it appears to be important for your situation.

[Nate]

Re: Annoying behaviour of "apt-get upgrade"

Don't you do "sudo apt-get install packagename" ?

[Snowhog]

Re: Annoying behaviour of "apt-get upgrade"

That doesn't work on an already installed package.

[daihard]

Re: Annoying behaviour of "apt-get upgrade"

Hmmmm -- I think you just exceeded my expertise!

I usually do

sudo apt-get update

and then accept all of them, on the theory that dpkg will manage the dependencies, and I might as well update everything while I'm doing it.

The difference between the Debian "update" and "upgrade" is kind of subtle and technical -- I would advise you to study up on it, since it appears to be important for your situation.

I usually update everything, too, except for the kernel. I try to avoid updating the kernel unless security fixes are included in the new version.

Updating individual packages is very easy on yum-based distributions such as RHEL and Fedora. All you have to do is run "sudo yum update <package_name>," and yum will automatically update the specified packages solving the dependencies. I am hoping it is similarly easy on debian-based systems. I'll read up on apt-get and dpkg a bit more.

[toad]

Re: Annoying behaviour of &quot;apt-get upgrade&quot;

Well, you can upgrade the kernel but still boot into the old one, so no danger to your system here. Simply change your /boot/grub/menu.lst

Below you see the top part of any /boot/grub/menu.lst - simply change the default value (at the bottom) to whichever kernel you want to boot - they are listed at the bottom of the file.

# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
# grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
# grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
# and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not use 'savedefault' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default 0

[kubicle]

Re: Annoying behaviour of &quot;apt-get upgrade&quot;

Updating individual packages is very easy on yum-based distributions such as RHEL and Fedora. All you have to do is run "sudo yum update <package_name>," and yum will automatically update the specified packages solving the dependencies. I am hoping it is similarly easy on debian-based systems. I'll read up on apt-get and dpkg a bit more.

I've found 'wajig' a rather intuitive front-end for apt-get and dpkg commands.
Here's a list of what it can do (bolded where appropiate):

All JIG commands:

addcdrom Add a CD-ROM to the list of available sources of packages
auto-alts Mark the alternative to be auto set (using set priorities)
auto-clean Remove superseded .deb files from the download cache
auto-download Do an update followed by a download of all updated packages
auto-install Perform an install without asking questions (non-interactive)
auto-remove Remove packages installed automatically as dependencies
available List versions of packages available for installation
bug Check reported bugs in package using the Debian Bug Tracker
build Retrieve/unpack sources and build .deb for the named packages
build-depend Retrieve packages required to build listed packages
changelog Retrieve latest changelog for the package
clean Remove all deb files from the download cache
commands List all the JIG commands and one line descriptions for each
contents List the contents of a package file
daily-upgrade Perform an update then a dist-upgrade
dependents List of packages which depend/recommend/suggest the package
describe One line description of packages (-v and -vv for more detail)
describe-new One line description of new packages
detail Provide a detailed description of package (describe -vv)
detail-new Provide a detailed description of new packages (describe -vv)
dist-upgrade Upgrade to new distribution (installed and new rqd packages)
docs Equivalent to help with -verbose=2
download Download package files ready for an install
file-download Download packages listed in file ready for an install
file-install Install packages listed in a file
file-remove Remove packages listed in a file
find-file Search for a file within installed packages
find-pkg Search for an unofficial Debian package at apt-get.org
fix-configure Perform dpkg --configure -a (to fix interrupted configure)
fix-install Perform apt-get -f install (to fix broken dependencies)
fix-missing Perform apt-get --fix-missing upgrade
force Install packages and ignore file overwrites and depends
help Print documentation (detail depends on --verbose)
hold Place listed packages on hold so they are not upgraded
init Initialise or reset the JIG archive files
info List the information contained in a package file
install Install (or upgrade) one or more packages or .deb files
installr Install package and associated recommended packages
installrs Install package and recommended and suggested packages
installs Install package and associated suggested packages
install/dist Install packages from specified distribution
integrity Check the integrity of installed packages (through checksums)
large List size of all large (>10MB) installed packages
last-update Identify when an update was last performed
list List the status and description of installed packages
list-all List a one line description of given or all packages
list-alts List the objects that can have alternatives configured
list-cache List the contents of the download cache
list-commands List all the JIG commands and one line descriptions for each
list-daemons List the daemons that JIG can start/stop/restart
list-files List the files that are supplied by the named package
list-hold List those packages on hold
list-installed List packages (with optional argument substring) installed
list-log List the contents of the install/remove log file (filtered)
list-names List all known packages or those containing supplied string
list-orphans List libraries not required by any installed package
list-scripts List the control scripts of the package of deb file
list-section List packages that belong to a specific section
list-sections List the sections that are available
list-status Same as list but only prints first two columns, not truncated
list-wide Same as list but avoids truncating package names
local-dist-upgrade Dist-upgrade using packages already downloaded
local-upgrade Upgrade using packages already downloaded, but not any others
locate Search for a file within installed packages
madison Runs the madison command of apt-cache.
move Move packages in the download cache to a local Debian mirror
new List packages that became available since last update
news Obtain the latest news about the package
new-upgrades List packages newly available for upgrading
non-free List installed packages that do not meet the DFSG
orphans List libraries not required by any installed package
package Generate a .deb file for an installed package
policy From preferences file show priorities/policy (available)
purge Remove one or more packages and configuration files
purge-depend Purge package and those it depend on and not required by others
purge-orphans Purge orphaned libraries (not required by installed packages)
readme Display the package's README file from /usr/share/doc
recursive Download package and any packages it depends on
recommended Install package and associated recommended packages
reconfigure Reconfigure the named installed packages or run gkdebconf
reinstall Reinstall each of the named packages
reload Reload daemon configs, e.g., gdm, apache (see list-daemons)
remove Remove one or more packages (see also purge)
remove-depend Remove package and its dependees not required by others
remove-orphans Remove orphaned libraries (not required by installed packages)
repackage Generate a .deb file for an installed package
reset Initialise or reset the JIG archive files
restart Stop then start a daemon, e.g., gdm, apache (see list-daemons)
rpm2deb Convert a RedHat .rpm file to a Debian .deb file
rpminstall Install a RedHat .rpm package
rpmtodeb Convert a RedHat .rpm file to a Debian .deb file
search Search for packages containing listed words
search-apt Find local Debian archives suitable for sources.list
setup Configure the sources.list file which locates Debian archives
show Provide a detailed description of package [same as detail]
showdistupgrade Trace the steps that a dist-upgrade would perform
showinstall Trace the steps that an install would perform
showremove Trace the steps that a remove would perform
showupgrade Trace the steps that an upgrade would perform
size Print out the size (in K) of all, or listed, installed packages
sizes Print out the size (in K) of all, or listed, installed packages
snapshot Generates list of package=version for all installed packages
source Retrieve and unpack sources for the named packages
start Start a daemon, e.g., gdm, apache (see list-daemons)
status Show the version and available version of packages
status-match Show the version and available version of matching packages
status-search Show the version and available version of matching packages
stop Stop a daemon, e.g., gdm, apache (see list-daemons)
suggested Install package and associated suggested packages
tasksel Run the Gnome task selector to install groups of packages
toupgrade List packages with newer versions available for upgrading
unhold Remove listed packages from hold so they are again upgraded
unofficial Search for an unofficial Debian package at apt-get.org
update Update the list of downloadable packages
update-alts Update default alternative for things like x-window-manager
update-pci-ids Updates the local list of PCI ids from the internet master list
update-usb-ids Updates the local list of USB ids from the internet master list
upgrade Upgrade all of the installed packages or just those listed
verify Check the md5sums of a package.
version Show the current version of wajig.
versions List version and distribution of (all) packages.
whatis A synonym for describe
whichpkg Find the package that supplies the given command or file

Command line options:

-h|--help Print usage message.
-q|--quiet Do system commands everything quietly.
-n|--noauth Allow packages from unathenticated archives.
-s|--simulate Trace but don't execute the sequence of underlying commands.
-t|--teaching Trace the sequence of commands performed.
-v|--verbose=n Increase (or set) the level of verbosity (to n).
-y|--yes Assume yes for any questions asked.

Fuller documentation can be found at http://www.togaware.com/wajig.

Also, wajig will ask for your password when needed so you don't have to 'sudo' the commands.
If you want wajig, install package 'wajig'.

[daihard]

Re: Annoying behaviour of &quot;apt-get upgrade&quot;

Updating individual packages is very easy on yum-based distributions such as RHEL and Fedora. All you have to do is run "sudo yum update <package_name>," and yum will automatically update the specified packages solving the dependencies. I am hoping it is similarly easy on debian-based systems. I'll read up on apt-get and dpkg a bit more.

I've found 'wajig' a rather intuitive front-end for apt-get and dpkg commands.
Here's a list of what it can do (bolded where appropiate):
...
Also, wajig will ask for your password when needed so you don't have to 'sudo' the commands.
If you want wajig, install package 'wajig'.

Thanks for the useful information! I will give wajig a try.