linux man page for apt-mark

APT-MARK(8)								APT							       APT-MARK(8)

NAME
       apt-mark - mark/unmark a package as being automatically-installed

SYNOPSIS
       apt-mark [-hv] [-f=FILENAME] {auto | manual | showauto | showmanual} package...

DESCRIPTION
       apt-mark will change whether a package has been marked as being automatically installed.

       When you request that a package is installed, and as a result other packages are installed to satisfy its dependencies, the dependencies
       are marked as being automatically installed. Once these automatically installed packages are no longer depended on by any manually
       installed packages, they will be removed by e.g.  apt-get or aptitude.

       auto
	   auto is used to mark a package as being automatically installed, which will cause the package to be removed when no more manually
	   installed packages depend on this package.

       manual
	   manual is used to mark a package as being manually installed, which will prevent the package from being automatically removed if no
	   other packages depend on it.

       hold
	   hold is used to mark a package as hold back, which will prevent the package from being automatically installed, upgraded or removed.
	   The command is only a wrapper around dpkg --set-selections and the state is therefore maintained by dpkg(1) and not effected by the
	   --filename option.

       unhold
	   unhold is used to cancel a previously set hold on a package to allow all actions again.

       showauto
	   showauto is used to print a list of automatically installed packages with each package on a new line. All automatically installed
	   packages will be listed if no package is given. If packages are given only those which are automatically installed will be shown.

       showmanual
	   showmanual can be used in the same way as showauto except that it will print a list of manually installed packages instead.

       showhold
	   showhold is used to print a list of packages on hold in the same way as for the other show commands.

OPTIONS
       -f=FILENAME, --file=FILENAME
	   Read/Write package stats from FILENAME instead of the default location, which is extended_status in the directory defined by the
	   Configuration Item: Dir::State.

       -h, --help
	   Show a short usage summary.

       -v, --version
	   Show the program version.

       -c, --config-file
	   Configuration File; Specify a configuration file to use. The program will read the default configuration file and then this
	   configuration file. If configuration settings need to be set before the default configuration files are parsed specify a file with the
	   APT_CONFIG environment variable. See apt.conf(5) for syntax information.

       -o, --option
	   Set a Configuration Option; This will set an arbitrary configuration option. The syntax is -o Foo::Bar=bar.	-o and --option can be
	   used multiple times to set different options.

FILES
       /var/lib/apt/extended_states
	   Status list of auto-installed packages. Configuration Item: Dir::State::extended_states.

SEE ALSO
       apt-get(8),aptitude(8),apt.conf(5)

DIAGNOSTICS
       apt-mark returns zero on normal operation, non-zero on error.

BUGS
       APT bug page[1]. If you wish to report a bug in APT, please see /usr/share/doc/debian/bug-reporting.txt or the reportbug(1) command.

AUTHORS
       Mike O'Connor

       APT team

NOTES
	1. APT bug page
	   http://bugs.debian.org/src:apt

Linux								   21 April 2011						       APT-MARK(8)