Provided by: cupt_2.6.4_amd64 
NAME
cupt - console package management tool
DESCRIPTION
Cupt is a high-level package manager for Debian and Debian-based systems.
You might want to read cupt_tutorial(7) (or its HTML version at
/usr/share/doc/cupt/tutorial.html) before.
SYNOPSIS
cupt [ option... ] action [ { parameter | option } ... ]
ACTIONS
Query actions
version,-v,--version
prints versions of packages 'cupt' and 'libcupt-perl'
help,-h,--help
prints the short help for available actions
config-dump
prints all configuration variables to standard output
Example:
"cupt config-dump"
show
prints version info of specified binary packages
This subcommand receives list of "Binary package version expression"'s, see below.
Specific options:
--all-versions,-a
print all versions of the package, not selected one
Corresponding configuration variable: apt::cache::allversions
--no-all-versions
don't print all versions of the package, use only selected one
Corresponding configuration variable: apt::cache::allversions
--with-release-info
also print information about release info where the version of the package live
Examples:
"cupt show qmmp"
"cupt show --all-versions qmmp debianutils"
"cupt show --with-release-info audacious/testing apt debianutils=2.3.38"
showsrc
The same as show, only for source packages.
Examples:
"cupt showsrc --all-versions qmmp"
"cupt showsrc --with-release-info audacious/testing apt"
"cupt showsrc libxine1"
search
searches for packages that contains some string within package names and package
descriptions
This subcommand receives a list a Perl-compatible Regular Expressions (PCRE) to
search. Only those packages will be printed that contain all of specified patterns.
Specific options:
--case-sensitive
search case-sensitively
--names-only,-n
search only in package names
Corresponding configuration variable: apt::cache::namesonly
--fse,-f
Turns on functional selector expression mode. In that mode, instead of specifying
one or more regular expressions, exactly one FSE (see cupt_functionalselectors(7))
should be specified.
Examples:
"cupt search nvidia driver"
"cupt search --case-sensitive Vim"
"cupt search -n vim"
"cupt search "package manager""
"cupt search --fse 'Zbd(Pn(cupt))'"
showauto
prints list of automatically/manually installed packages, one package name per line
"cupt showauto": prints list of automatically installed packages
"cupt showauto --invert": prints list of manually installed packages
depends
prints dependency relation expressions for given version of package
By default prints 'Pre-Depends', 'Depends' and 'Recommends' for the version.
This subcommand receives list of "Binary package version expression"'s, see below.
Specific options:
--with-suggests
take also 'Suggests' dependencies into account
--recurse
process the dependencies recursively
Corresponding configuration variable: apt::cache::recursedepends
--all-versions,-a
when --recurse is specified, pick up all versions for the relation expression, not
the "best" one
Corresponding configuration variable: apt::cache::allversions
Examples:
"cupt depends nlkt perl/stable"
"cupt depends --important xserver-xorg-core"
"cupt depends --recurse xmlto"
rdepends
same as depends, but prints reverse relations instead of forward ones
why prints one of available dependency paths between package(s)/system and the package.
This subcommand receives a list of binary package expressions (which can be empty),
then one binary package expression without wildcards.
If the list of binary package expressions is empty (i.e. subcommand received only one
argument), then the list is build of manually installed packages in the system.
If no dependency paths found, prints nothing.
Uses configuration variables cupt::resolver::keep-recommends and
cupt::resolver::keep-suggests to determine whether to honor Recommends and Suggests
respectively when building dependency paths.
Examples:
"cupt why kmail libgnutls26"
"cupt why libgnutls26"
"cupt why icedove kmail libgnutls26"
policy
Given arguments, prints available versions with pins and release info for each binary
package
Arguments: list of binary package names.
Given no arguments, prints available Release info for binary packages.
Specific options:
--show-dates
Show also publish and expiration dates for each record. Works only for a second
form (i.e. no arguments).
Examples:
"cupt policy"
"cupt policy --show-dates"
"cupt policy dpkg"
"cupt policy libpqxx-2.6.9ldbl libpqxx-3.0"
policysrc
Given arguments, prints available versions with pins and release info for each source
package.
Arguments: list of source package names.
Given no arguments, prints available Release info for source packages.
Same specific options as for "policy" subcommand.
Examples:
"cupt policysrc"
"cupt policysrc --show-dates"
"cupt policysrc dpkg"
"cupt policysrc libpqxx libpqxx3"
pkgnames
prints package names that start with a supplied prefix
If no prefix is given, prints all package names
Examples:
"cupt pkgnames"
"cupt pkgnames liba"
changelog
displays changelog for given versions of packages
This subcommand receives list of "Binary package version expression"'s, see below.
Works only with installed packages and official Debian and Ubuntu repositories.
Examples:
"cupt changelog dpkg/installed"
"cupt changelog --installed-only dpkg nlkt lintian"
"cupt changelog libqtcore4"
copyright
displays copyright for given versions of packages
This subcommand receives list of "Binary package version expression"'s, see below.
Works only with installed packages and official Debian and Ubuntu repositories.
Examples:
"cupt copyright dpkg/installed"
"cupt copyright --installed-only dpkg nlkt lintian"
"cupt copyright libqtcore4"
screenshots
open a browser window/tab with screenshots of given packages.
This subcommand receives list of package names.
Example:
"cupt screenshots arora"
snapshot list
list names of the available system snapshots, one per line
This subcommand receives no arguments.
Example: "cupt snapshot list"
tar-metadata
This subcommand is experimental. Its name and functionality are unstable.
Packs all cupt configuration files and repository metadata to a tar stream and outputs
it to standard output.
Example: "cupt tar-metadata | xz --verbose -c > cupt-metadata.tar.xz"
query-specific options
--important,-i
don't take 'Recommends' dependencies into account
Corresponding configuration variable: apt::cache::important
--installed-only
work only with installed versions of packages; valuable only for "show", "depends",
"rdepends", "search", "pkgnames", "changelog" actions
Management actions
update
updates package indexes
This subcommand receives no arguments.
Example:
"cupt update"
install
installs, upgrades or downgrades specified packages
This subcommand receives list of "Binary package version expression"'s, see below.
If some version of package was already installed, this command will upgrade/downgrade
it; otherwise, the package will be freshly installed.
Examples:
"cupt install nlkt"
"cupt install devscripts xserver-xorg/experimental xfce4-mixer=4.6.0-2"
remove
removes specified packages
This subcommand receives the list of package names.
Examples:
"cupt remove nlkt"
"cupt remove devscripts kde4-minimal"
purge
removes specified packages along with their configuration files. Also this command
can purge the configuration files when the packages are removed already.
This subcommand receives the list of package names.
Examples:
"cupt purge nlkt"
"cupt purge devscripts kde4-minimal"
See also the configuration option cupt::worker::purge.
full-upgrade
performs as more upgrades of the installed packages as possible, the recommended way
to do upgrades
This subcommand is usually invoked without any further parameters:
"cupt full-upgrade"
List of "Binary package version expression"'s can be however specified as additional
parameters.
Example: the command "cupt full-upgrade xserver-xorg/installed" will try to upgrade
your system, however preserving package 'xserver-xorg' to be sticked with currently
installed version.
safe-upgrade
the same as "full-upgrade", but with the change that problem resolver won't try to
remove non-automatically installed packages in order to upgrade more packages,
equivalent of 'full-upgrade --no-remove'.
dist-upgrade
the same as "full-upgrade", but firstly upgrades the package management tools, then
upgrades the whole system.
Recommended over "full-upgrade" for major upgrades.
This subcommand cannot be run under the Cupt shell.
reinstall
reinstalls specified binary packages
This subcommand receives list of binary package names.
Examples:
"cupt reinstall libc6"
iii ""install" if installed"
Same as "install", but silently ignores packages which are not installed.
Examples:
"cupt iii gnash"
"cupt iii xserver* *cupt*"
markauto
marks specified packages as automatically installed
This subcommand receives the list of package names.
Examples:
"cupt markauto libstreamanalyzer0"
"cupt markauto lsof gimp-data"
unmarkauto
marks specified packages as manually installed
This subcommand receives the list of package names.
Examples:
"cupt unmarkauto kpogre"
"cupt unmarkauto dpkg-dev"
satisfy
performs all needed operations to satisfy list of specified relations
This subcommand receives the list of relations or relation lines. Relation and
relation lines has the same syntax as defined in Debian Policy ยง7.1.
The minus sign can be appended to some of relation expression lines to make relation
expressions unsatisfied instead.
Examples:
"cupt satisfy "kmail (>= 4:4.2), wget (>= 1.10.0)""
"cupt satisfy "gettext (= 0.17-7)" "mail-transport-agent-""
build-dep
performs all needed operations to satisfy list of build-dependencies of specified
source packages
This subcommand receives the list of "Source package version expression"'s.
Examples:
"cupt build-dep qt4-x11"
"cupt build-dep unetbootin/unstable libcdio/experimental"
source
fetches Debian source files needed to build a Debian binary package
This subcommand receives the list of "Source package version expression"'s.
Parameters:
--tar-only
download only original tarball
--diff-only
download only Debian diff
--dsc-only
download only Debian dsc
--download-only
don't unpack downloaded source files
Examples:
"cupt source libsort-fields-perl"
"cupt source --diff-only libpqxx cupt/unstable"
"cupt source libxine1"
clean
removes all deb archives and partially downloaded archive files from the cache on a
disk
This subcommand receives no arguments.
Example: "cupt clean"
autoclean
removes deb archives which are not available in package indexes and partially
downloaded archive files from the cache on a disk
This subcommand receives no arguments.
Example: "cupt autoclean"
snapshot save
saves a snapshot of the current packages state
This subcommand receives one argument - desired snapshot name.
Example: "cupt snapshot save old-udev"
snapshot load
returns the system (as set of installed packages) to the previously saved state
This subcommand receives one argument - snapshot name to load.
Example: "cupt snapshot load old-udev"
snapshot remove
removes the system snapshot
This subcommand receives one argument - snapshot name to remove.
Example: "cupt snapshot remove old-libgtk"
snapshot rename
renames the system snapshot
This subcommand receives two arguments - old snapshot name and new snapshot name.
Example: "cupt snapshot rename old-libgtk 20091005"
shell
starts interactive shell-like environment
This subcommand receives no arguments.
This subcommand can receive all common options which will be preserved across all
session. You can override them for any subcommand in a usual way.
On every shell prompt you can supply any valid subcommand from this manual page, using
all allowed parameters, just if it was command line. Simple shell quotes around
arguments are also allowed.
You can use 'quit', 'exit', ':q' or 'q' command to exit cupt shell.
management-specific options
--no-remove
disallow problem resolver to remove manually installed packages. Packages that are
marked to remove/purge in the command line will be remove/purged as usual.
Corresponding configuration option: cupt::resolver::no-remove
--no-auto-remove
don't try to remove automatically installed packages after doing requested actions
Corresponding configuration option: cupt::resolver::auto-remove
--simulate,-s
don't modify anything in the system, just print supposed actions
Doesn't require root privileges.
Corresponding configuration option: cupt::worker::simulate
--summary-only
Show only summary of actions without details.
Corresponding configuration options: cupt::console::actions-preview::show-summary,
cupt::console::actions-preview::show-details.
--no-summary
Show only details of actions without a summary.
Corresponding configuration options: cupt::console::actions-preview::show-summary,
cupt::console::actions-preview::show-details.
--resolver=
string, determines type of resolver: can be
fair
medium-class resolver. It chooses best possible solution (by overall score) each
time. This is a default resolver.
full
full resolver. Guaranteed to suggest solution in precise order from the best to
the worst result score (by the resolver's opinion). Latter means that resolver
builds full resolve tree before suggesting the solutions, which means large RAM
and speed penalties. Use it with caution.
Corresponding configuration option: cupt::resolver::type
--max-solution-count=
number, determines how many maximum solutions will resolver store in memory. This
option prevents large memory grows by purging away solutions with worst scores.
Defaults to 512. Note that very complex requests or requests on multi-repository
system will increase size of solution tree dramatically, so prepare to play with
increasing this option accordingly.
Corresponding configuration option: cupt::resolver::max-solution-count
--no-install-recommends,-R
cupt installs recommended packages by default, this option cancels described behavior
Corresponding configuration option: apt::install-recommends
--show-archives,-A
when displaying actions preview prompt, display also release archives for each package
Corresponding configuration option: cupt::console::actions-preview::show-archives
--show-codenames,-N
when displaying actions preview prompt, display also release codenames for each
package
This option cannot be used together with --show-archives.
Corresponding configuration option: cupt::console::actions-preview::show-codenames
--show-components,-C
when displaying actions preview prompt, display also release components for each
package
Corresponding configuration option: cupt::console::actions-preview::show-components
--show-versions,-V
when displaying actions preview prompt, display also versions of packages
Corresponding configuration option: cupt::console::actions-preview::show-versions
--show-vendors,-O
when displaying actions preview prompt, display also vendors of packages
Corresponding configuration option: cupt::console::actions-preview::show-vendors
--show-size-changes,-Z
when displaying actions preview prompt, display also changes in disk space usage for
each package
Corresponding configuration option: cupt::console::actions-preview::show-size-changes
--show-reasons,--show-deps,-D
when displaying actions preview prompt, display also reasons why this action was
considered to perform
Corresponding configuration option: cupt::console::actions-preview::show-reasons
--show-not-preferred
when displaying actions preview prompt, display also packages which will have a not
preferred version after the proposed changes
Corresponding configuration option: cupt::console::actions-preview::show-not-preferred
--download-only,-d
stop after download stage, don't modify the system
Corresponding configuration option: cupt::worker::download-only
--assume-yes,--yes,-y
don't ask for solution confirmation, assume the answer is 'y' ("yes"), except for
dangerous actions, where assume 'q' ("decline and exit")
Corresponding configuration options: apt::get::assume-yes, cupt::console::assume-yes
management modifiers: action override options
Unlike all the other options, these ones are positional and are effective only for the
rest of parameters (and before next override option if any). One can specify as many
action override options as needed.
--install
install the rest of packages
--remove
remove rest of packages
--purge
purge the rest of packages
--satisfy
satisfy the rest of relation expressions
--unsatisfy
unsatisfy the rest of relation expressions
--iii
"install if installed" (see "iii" subcommand) the rest of packages
--markauto
mark as automatically installed (see "markauto" subcommand) the rest of packages
--unmarkauto
mark as manually installed (see "unmarkauto") subcommand the rest of packages
--asauto=yes
in addition to following actions, also mark packages as automatically installed
--asauto=no
in addition to following actions, also mark packages as manually installed
--asauto=default
reset any previous "--asauto" switches (to default mode, which is: mark newly
installed packages (except for satisfy-type actions) as manually installed and
preserve auto-status otherwise)
management modifiers: request type options
--select=traditional,--st
for install-type actions, request installing the best of chosen versions for each
package; for remove-type actions, request removing the whole package. This is the
default.
--select=flexible,--sf
for install-type actions, request installing any of chosen versions for each package;
for remove-type actions, request removing only chosen versions for each package.
management modifiers: request importance options
--importance=must,--must
the following actions must be unconditionally performed, in other words, mandatory.
This is the default.
--importance=try,--try
the following actions are optional, but relatively big
(cupt::resolver::score::unsatisfied-try) penalty will be applied for each non-
satisfied request
--importance=wish,--wish
the following actions are optional, but relatively small
(cupt::resolver::score::unsatisfied-wish) penalty will be applied for each non-
satisfied request
--importance=<value>
(where <value> is a positive integer) the following actions are optional, but exact
penalty of <value> will be applied for each non-satisfied request
management modifiers: package name suffixes
- remove the package, can be used in non-remove actions
Examples:
"cupt install kde4 icewm-" - install the package 'kde4' and remove the package 'icewm'
simultaneously.
"cupt full-upgrade iceweasel- icedove-" - upgrade the system, deleting iceweasel and
icedove
+ install the package, can be used in remove actions
Examples:
"cupt remove kde konqueror+" - remove kde, but install/upgrade konqueror
"cupt remove kde konqueror/installed+" - remove kde, but leave konqueror
EXPRESSIONS
This section documents some common expressions used by actions.
Binary package version expression
package_name[modifier]
selects one version of given binary package.
Possible modifiers:
<none>
selects policy version of the package
Example: "audacious".
=<version string>
selects specified version of the package
Example: "audacious=1.5.1-2"
/<distribution>
selects a version from specified distribution (archive name or codename)
Examples: "audacious/lenny" (by codename), "audacious/stable" (by archive name)
/installed
selects installed version of the package
Example: "audacious/installed"
Also, you may specify shell wildcars '*' and '?' in the package names.
Examples: "xfce4-*", "python2.5-*/unstable", "?aff*/installed"
For all management subcommands, there is also '@<path-to-file>' syntax. In this case this
construction will be substituted by binary package expressions listed in the specified
file one by line.
Source package version expression
package_name[modifier]
selects one version of given source package.
Possible modifiers are identical to those defined in "Binary package version expression",
except for '/installed'.
Also, you can specify "Binary package version expression" as "Source package version
expression", then binary-to-source mapping will be performed.
Functional selectors
You can also use functional selectors (cupt_functionalselectors(7)) whereever "Binary
package version expression" or "Source package version expression" is expected.
COMMON OPTIONS
--option=,-o
sets specified configuration option, syntax: "<name>=<value>"
Examples:
"cupt remove nlkt -o 'cupt::resolver::keep-recommends=0'" (regular option)
"cupt remove nlkt -o 'apt::neverautoremove::=libcanberra0" (list option)
--target-release=,--default-release=,-t
sets preferred release to pick up packages from, you can specify codename or archive
name
Corresponding configuration option: apt::default-release
Examples: "cupt install -t unstable xserver-xorg", "cupt -t squeeze full-upgrade"
--include-archives=
Use only repositories with specified archive names (comma-separated).
Corresponding configuration options: cupt::cache::limit-releases::by-archive,
cupt::cache::limit-releases::by-archive::type.
Example:
"cupt safe-upgrade --include-archives=stable,stable-updates"
--exclude-archives=
Ignore repositories with specified archive names (comma-separated).
Corresponding configuration options: cupt::cache::limit-releases::by-archive,
cupt::cache::limit-releases::by-archive::type.
Example:
"cupt rdepends libcomerr2 --exclude-archives=experimental,unstable"
--include-codenames=
Use only repositories with specified codenames (comma-separated).
Corresponding configuration options: cupt::cache::limit-releases::by-codename,
cupt::cache::limit-releases::by-codename::type.
Example:
"cupt safe-upgrade --include-codenames=squeeze,squeeze-updates"
--exclude-codenames=
Ignore repositories with specified codenames (comma-separated).
Corresponding configuration options: cupt::cache::limit-releases::by-codename,
cupt::cache::limit-releases::by-codename::type.
Example:
"cupt rdepends libcomerr2 --exclude-codenames=experimental,sid"
--quiet,-q
don't output anything to standard output
CONFIGURATION VARIABLES
See cupt.conf(5).
REPORTING
Please report all bugs in Cupt to Debian BTS using reportbug(1).
The user support mailing list is cupt-user@lists.alioth.debian.org. The discussion channel
about Cupt is irc://irc.debian.org#cupt.
SEE ALSO
cupt_vs_apt(5), cupt_tutorial(7), cupt.conf(5), cupt_functionalselectors(7)
AUTHOR
Eugene V. Lyubimkin <jackyf@debian.org>