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)