NAME

       apt-mark - show, set and unset various settings for a package

SYNOPSIS

       apt-mark {-f=filename | {auto | manual} pkg...  | {showauto | showmanual} [pkg...] } |
                {-v | --version} | {-h | --help}

       apt-mark {hold | unhold | install | remove | purge} pkg...  |
                {showhold | showinstall | showremove | showpurge} [pkg...]

DESCRIPTION

       apt-mark can be used as a unified front-end to set various settings for a package, such as
       marking a package as being automatically/manually installed or changing dpkg selections
       such as hold, install, deinstall and purge which are respected e.g. by apt-get
       dselect-upgrade or aptitude.

AUTOMATICALLY AND MANUALLY INSTALLED PACKAGES

       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,
       while the package you installed explicitly is marked as manually installed. Once an
       automatically installed package is no longer depended on by any manually installed package
       it is considered no longer needed and e.g.  apt-get or aptitude will at least suggest
       removing them.

       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.

       minimize-manual
           minimize-manual is used to mark (transitive) dependencies of metapackages as
           automatically installed. This can be used after an installation for example, to
           minimize the number of manually installed packages; or continuously on systems managed
           by system configuration metapackages.

       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.

   Options
       -f=filename, --file=filename
           Read/Write package stats from the filename given with the parameter filename instead
           of from the default location, which is extended_states in the directory defined by the
           Configuration Item: Dir::State.

PREVENT CHANGES FOR A PACKAGE

       hold
           hold is used to mark a package as held back, which will prevent the package from being
           automatically installed, upgraded or removed.

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

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

SCHEDULE PACKAGES FOR INSTALL, REMOVE AND PURGE

       Some front-ends like apt-get dselect-upgrade can be used to apply previously scheduled
       changes to the install state of packages. Such changes can be scheduled with the install,
       remove (also known as deinstall) and purge commands. Packages with a specific selection
       can be displayed with showinstall, showremove and showpurge respectively. More information
       about these so called dpkg selections can be found in dpkg(1).

OPTIONS

       -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