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 package-name-pat-
	      tern.  Please note you will probably have to quote package-name-pattern to prevent the shell from performing filename expansion. For
	      example this will list all package names starting with "libc6":

		dpkg-query -l 'libc6*'

	      The first three columns of the output show the desired action, the package status, and errors, in that order.

	      Desired action:
		u = Unknown
		i = Install
		h = Hold
		r = Remove
		p = Purge

	      Package status:
		n = Not-installed
		c = Config-files
		H = Half-installed
		U = Unpacked
		F = Half-configured
		W = Triggers-awaiting
		t = Triggers-pending
		i = Installed

	      Error flags:
		<empty> = (none)
		R = Reinst-required

	      An uppercase status or error letter indicates the package is likely to cause severe problems. Please refer to dpkg(1)  for  informa-
	      tion about the above states and flags.

	      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 format.

       -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 (extended with the
	      architecture qualifier for foreign architecture packages) 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 package-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 deficiencies
	      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.

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:

		  
  newline
		  
  carriage return
		  	  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 references 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  recog-
	      nised  but they are not necessarily available in the status file (only internal fields or fields stored in the binary package 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
		  PackageSpec (virtual field)
		  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 "${PackageSpec}	${Version}
".  Actually, 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. PackageSpec is
	      a special field that will print the package name with an architecture qualifier (like "libc6:amd64") if the package is of a  foreign
	      architecture  (an  architecture  that  doesn't match dpkg's architecture).  To get the name of the dpkg maintainer and the installed
	      version, you could run:

		dpkg-query -W -f='${PackageSpec} ${Version}	${Maintainer}
' dpkg

EXIT STATUS

       0      The requested query was successfully performed.

       1      Problems were encountered while parsing the command line or performing the query, including no file or package being  found  (except
	      for --control-path).

ENVIRONMENT

       DPKG_ADMINDIR
	      If set and the --admindir option has not been specified, it will be used as the dpkg data directory.

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

AUTHOR

       Copyright (C) 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							    2010-03-07							     dpkg-query(1)