feta - a frontend to many Debian package-related tools

feta [options] [command] [packages|files|urls] ...

Feta takes the place of programs like dpkg, apt-get, apt-cache, and provides one program name to remember for all those functions. It deals with about a dozen different helper programs in the Debian packaging system for you.

Feta is executed with the name of a command (all of which are listed below), and any parameters for that command. Usually, parameters will be package names, search terms, or files; it depends on the command.

Feta allows you to 'chain' commands together using commas on the command line; for example feta install libc6-dev, remove less, info zgv.

This manual page contains only a small overview of each of Feta's commands. For more information on each command, you can try feta help command, which may bring up more information about the command.

-h

Read this manual page.

-o

Use sudo for running commands, instead of su. This option can be cancelled by using the -O option.

-q

Turn on "quiet mode". Feta will print less than it usually does.

-t

Turn off "teaching mode". Normally, Feta displays the commands it is running. Using -t makes it not display them.

-u

Update the list of available packages before doing anything else.

-v

Display version and copyright information, and exit.

-x

Exit as soon an error is encountered. This is the recommended behavior when running in scripts.

-y

Assume yes at most yes or no prompts. This is analogous to the apt-get --assume-yes option, and also affects yes and no prompts that are in Feta.

-R

If no other options or commands are passed, run 'feta select'. If anything else is passed, this is ignored. This is useful if you put it in FETA_OPTS, because then running 'feta' will really run 'feta select'.

-U

Assume no to any prompt to update the APT package list.

-V

Turn on "verbose" mode. When possible, more information will be printed to the screen. This also replaces Feta's generic error message with one that may be more informative, from the program that the error occurred in.

Some other command line options are expanded and turned into actions; see below for that list.

Feta has a variety of commands to query and modify your local Debian package database and packages. If a command is followed by [*], you will need to be root to perform the command, and Feta will automatically run su for you.

This is only a short overview of each command. For a listing of all the features of each one, use feta help command.

add-override [*]

Add a stat override to a file; this takes the same arguments as the dpkg-statoverride command. The concept behind a stat override is too complicated to explain here, please read dpkg-statoverride(8).

alternatives [*]

Select an appropriate program for a 'generic' UNIX command (for example, editor or pager). For a complete list of alternatives you can change, look in /etc/alternatives.

apropos

Search the contents of all the Feta help files you have installed.

apt-sources [*]

Edit your /etc/apt/sources.list file, to add or remove different package repositories.

available

Display the currently installed version and available version of the packages given.

bug

Report bugs in packages to the Debian BTS. You can also use this command to query the BTS for information on existing bugs or packages.

build

Download, compile, and build all the packages given on the command line. This requires APT to be configured to download source packages (which it usually is).

build-depends, build-dep

Download and install any packages you need to build the given packages. The build command does this automatically.

changes

Display the changelog.Debian, changelog, or NEWS file (checked in that order) of an installed package within your default text pager.

check [*]

Rebuild the APT sources.list cache file. Do this if you think it's been corrupted in some, or if APT complains.

checksums, sums

Verify that files have not been modified or corrupted using MD5 checksums. If a binary or data file is reported as not having a correct checksum, you may wish to consider reinstalling the package.

clean [*]

Delete obsolete packages in /var/cache/apt/archives. If you run feta clean all, all packages will be deleted.

commands

Display a list of Feta's commands. This is mostly useful in shell scripts.

configure [*]

Reconfigure the packages given on the command line, if that is possible. If there are no packages given, this configures all unconfigured packages.

console

Use Feta in interactive console mode. See the section "The Feta Console" below for more information on how to use it.

contents, -c

Display the contents of a package (either a filename, or an installed one).

dist-upgrade [*]

Perform a dist-upgrade. This is like an "upgrade" (see below), except some packages may be removed if they conflict.

provides, find, -S

Find the packages that contain the filenames (or wildcards) given on the command line.

force-install [*]

Forcibly install packages (only off your hard drive), regardless of any problems with them. This is a bad idea.

force-remove [*]

Forcibly remove packages from your system, regardless of any remaining dependencies. This is also a bad idea.

force-purge [*]

Forcibly remove packages and their configuration files from your system, regardless of any remaining dependencies. This, like the other forced commands, is a bad idea.

foster [*]

Verify that you want packages that nothing depends on, and remove them if you don't want them.

help

Without any arguments, Feta will display this manual page. If a command name is given, Feta will display help on that command, if it is available.

hold [*]

Place a package on hold. The package will not be upgraded during an upgrade or dist-upgrade command.

info, show, -s

Display a brief screen of information about a package or file.

install, -i [*]

Install packages from a filename, or download automatically from a URL or the Debian package servers.

install-list [*]

Read in a text file and install all the packages in it (one per line). If you use this with the list-installed command to create a (poor) copy of your system.

install-tasks [*]

Install a set of packages known as a 'task'. You can view packages in a task, or a list of all tasks, by using list-tasks.

list

List all installed packages and their short descriptions. A wildcard pattern (*something*) can be provided to display all packages, installed or not, that match that wildcard.

list-installed

Display a list of all the currently installed/held packages. If a filename is given, Feta will output to that filename instead. This can be used in conjunction with install-list to create a (poor) copy of your system.

list-overrides

List all the stat overrides you have created. This is too in-depth to explain here; please read to dpkg-statoverride(8).

list-tasks

List all the tasks that can be installed using the task install command. If one or more task names are also given, Feta will display all the packages in those tasks.

names

List the names of all the packages available, sorted. You can also give a filter on the command line.

overrides

Start an interactive and more helpful interface to add, remove, and view stat overrides.

orphan [*]

Track down unneeded libraries and remove them. This might affect you if you have custom-compiled or proprietary software, but is generally safe.

package-sizes

Display the sizes of all installed packages, as well as the total size. The switches -r and -s can be used after the command time to sort by size (rather than alphabetically), and reverse the display order.

policy

Display information about your /etc/apt/preferences file, such as package priorities and pins. If package names are given, detailed information about those packages are printed out; otherwise, a summary of all package priorities and pins are printed out.

purge-config [*]

Remove configuration files from uninstalled packages.

prep [*]

Feta uses several other programs to manipulate the package database. If some of these programs are missing, Feta works fine, but with reduced functionality. The prep command will install those missing packages.

purge, -p [*]

Remove packages given, every package that depends on them, and their configuration files.

recommends [*]

Install packages that any given packages recommend. In the case of a virtual package, or multiple options, you will be prompted for which package you want to install (if any).

reinstall [*]

Reinstall a package, even if it is the same version.

remove, -r [*]

Remove packages given and every package that depends on them.

remove-override [*]

Remove a stat override on a file; this takes the same arguments as the dpkg-statoverride command. The concept behind a stat override is too complicated to explain here, please read dpkg-statoverride(8).

repackage

Attempt to put together a .deb file of an installed package. This can be dangerous, because it uses system-local configuration files from /etc if the package contained files in /etc.

show-package

Show basic information about the package. This output is probably more useful for scripts than people; look at the "info" command for more readable output.

search

Search package descriptions for the text given on the command line.

select

Run the `dselect' program, which lets you interactively edit your package selections.

source

Download the source for packages given on the command line. This requires APT to be configured to download source packages (which it usually is).

status

Display the status of the packages. This provides much of the same information as the info command, but also displays whether the package is installed or uninstalled.

suggests [*]

Install packages that any given packages suggest. In the case of a virtual package, or multiple options, you will be prompted for which package you want to install (if any).

to-upgrade

Show a list of packages that need to be upgraded, the version currently installed, and the version available to install.

to-install

List packages that are marked for install.

to-purge

List packages that are marked to be purged.

unhold [*]

Remove a hold on a package. The package will be upgraded during an upgrade or dist-upgrade command.

update, -u [*]

Update the list of packages available from Debian and third-party servers. upgrade and dist-upgrade will prompt you to do this, as well.

upgrade [*]

Upgrade all the packages given on the command line, or all the packages on the system if no explicit packages are given.

version

Display version and copyright information about Feta.

what-is

Get a short description of the package, its size, and available versions from the packages.debian.org server. This only works on official packages.

which-package

Show a list of all files in the given package, and a list of all packages containing a file with that name. Unlike the contents or provides command, this command queries the packages.debian.org server.

For compatibility with other packaging tools, there are other command names not documented here. The ones listed above are guaranteed to continue to work, and the undocumented ones may change in later versions of Feta.

It is possible to run multiple commands in Feta using the same command line, To do this, place a comma between the two commands. For example,

$ feta install package1, remove package2

$ feta build-dep package, build package

It is possible, if you have grep-dctrl installed, for Feta to search packages based on a specific field (e.g. Maintainer, Depends, or Version), and to only display certain information about those packages. To do this, place the field you wish to search for after the "search" or "info" command, followed by a colon. To search for all packages that depend on fileutils, for example, use

$ feta search Depends: fileutils angband

angband-doc

aub

c2man

caudium-php4

... and so on.

You may also tell Feta to only display a certain field, by passing it a second field name after the search phrase. For example, if you want a list of all the maintainers of packages that depend on fileutils:

$ feta search Depends: fileutils Maintainer:

Adrian Bunk <bunk@fs.tum.de>

Benjamin Hill (Mako) <mako@debian.org>

Debian Policy List <debian-policy@lists.debian.org>

Herbert Xu <herbert@debian.org> ...

Feta also has a command console that can be used, if Feta is given the command "console". On the command console, any other commands can be typed in. For example:

# feta console

This is the Feta command console. You may interactively run any Feta command from here. Feta will exit automatically on the first error, or when you type the commands `quit' or `exit'.

> install fileutils

(Process of installing fileutils)

> dist-upgrade

(Process of dist-upgrading)

> purge tetex-base

(Process of purging tetex-base)

> exit

#

The command console is useful if you wish to perform many operations as a batch, since Feta can read from stdin using this method.

# feta -x console < things_to_do.txt

Feta has several other options that translate directly into options for its child programs. These options are not treated consistently across Feta, and so are documented in a separate section. It is recommended that you read the man pages for the program they affect to fully understand what the options do.

-d

Download files only. This is most useful in conjunction with an upgrade or a dist-upgrade you want to download overnight but not install until you can monitor it. This is analogous to the apt-get --download-only option.

-m

Do not actually do anything with APT. Instead, simulate what would happen if it was run. This is analogous to the apt-get --simulate option and the dpkg --no-act option.

Joe Wreschnig <piman@debian.org> is the main author. All bug reports and feature requests should go to him (via the Debian BTS -- 'feta bug feta').

The AUTHORS file, included with Feta, includes a complete list of everyone who has donated code or time to Feta. Thanks!

Feta is licensed under the GNU GPL v2 or later. Much of Feta's functionality is provided by separate programs available under different licenses. Please see the copyright and/or copyright.gz files in /usr/share/doc/packagename for more information. Feta's plugins may also be covered under a different license, although most are under the GNU GPL as well.

/usr/local/{lib,share}/feta, /usr/{lib,share}/feta

Places to put plugins.

/etc/apt/feta.prep

Created after Feta is run once, as part of the preparation installation.

FETA_OPTS

The contents of this variable get parsed as additional options to Feta; for example, the string "oV" will make Feta enable sudo and verbose modes, in addition to any options you pass.

FETA_SELECT

This affects the program run by the 'feta select' command, which is by default dselect(8). You can set it to any other program to run.

alien(1), apt-cache(8), apt-get(8), debfoster(8), deborphan(1), debsums(1), dpkg(8), dpkg-deb(8), dpkg-reconfigure(8), dpkg-repack(8), dpkg-statoverride(8), grep-dctrl(1), reportbug(1), su(1), sudo(8), wget(1).