APT: Adding Release Preferences for Specific Packages

Introduction link

You may have encountered a situation where you’re running the stable version of your system, but you’d like to use a more up-to-date package from testing, for example. This is possible! :-)

Configuration link

source.list link

I’ve chosen backuppc as an example. Let’s say I’m using the stable version, and I’d like to permanently install the testing version. I need to edit my /etc/apt/source.list file so it contains what’s necessary to download from both stable and testing repositories:

  # Stable
deb http://ftp.fr.debian.org/debian/ stable main non-free contrib
deb-src http://ftp.fr.debian.org/debian/ stable main non-free contrib

# Testing
deb http://ftp.fr.debian.org/debian/ testing main non-free contrib
deb-src http://ftp.fr.debian.org/debian/ testing main non-free contrib

deb http://security.debian.org/ stable/updates main contrib non-free
deb-src http://security.debian.org/ stable/updates main contrib non-free
  

Then we update:

  apt-get update
  

Preferences link

Now, we’ll create a /etc/apt/preferences file and fill it as follows:

  Package: *
Pin: release a=stable
Pin-priority: 900

Package: *
Pin: release a=testing
Pin-priority: 100
  

Let me try to be clear:

• Pin: ‘Package *’ with Pin must be present to indicate each Debian version you want to use (here stable and testing)
• Pin-priority: priorities for Debian versions range from 1 to 1000. The highest value takes precedence over others. So here stable (900) is stronger than testing (500).

That was for the essential part. Now to add backuppc, we’ll add these lines:

  Package: backuppc
Pin: release a=testing
Pin-priority: 1001
  

Again, a brief explanation:

• Package: we indicate the name of the package to update in a certain version
• Pin: I’m indicating that I want to switch to testing for the desired package
• Pin-priority: this must be a number above 1000 to override previous restrictions.

And now to verify, if I do:

  apt-get install backuppc
  

I’m offered the testing version, without being offered the rest of the system in testing :-). Here’s some useful information:

Installing a specific package without using the preferences file link

It’s possible to install a specific package without explicitly configuring it. For example, for Nginx, here’s how to get the list of available packages:

  apt-cache policy nginx
nginx:
  Installé : (aucun)
  Candidat : 1.2.1-2.2+wheezy2
 Table de version :
     1.4.4-2 0
        100 http://ftp.fr.debian.org/debian/ unstable/main amd64 Packages
     1.2.1-2.2+wheezy2 0
        500 http://ftp.fr.debian.org/debian/ wheezy/main amd64 Packages
  

I can see the unstable and wheezy versions. If I want to install the unstable version, I’ll use the ‘-t’ option:

  aptitude install -t unstable nginx
  

Blocking updates for a specific package link

I never clearly remember how to block a Debian package update. Yet it’s quite simple if you follow the documentation!

I continue to use and appreciate swiftfox but I have an issue with the latest version (2.0.0.9-1) which doesn’t work (problem loading libXcomposite.so.1). I don’t have the patience to search for a solution, so I decided to stay with the previous version I have installed: 2.0.0.6-1. For this, it’s very simple, just add the following lines to /etc/apt/preferences:

  Package: swiftfox-athlon64
Pin: version 2.0.0.6-1
Pin-priority: 1001
  

The priority 1001 means that the package will never be updated, which is exactly what I want! We can verify this has been taken into account in two ways:

• By trying to update (apt-get upgrade). We shouldn’t see the swiftfox package.
• By using apt-cache policy swiftfox-athlon64

Here’s the output of this last command:

   > apt-cache policy swiftfox-athlon64
 swiftfox-athlon64:
 Installé : 2.0.0.6-1
 Candidat : 2.0.0.6-1
 Étiquette de paquet : 2.0.0.6-1
 Table de version :
     2.0.0.9-1 1001
        500 http://getswiftfox.com unstable/non-free Packages
 *** 2.0.0.6-1 1001
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
  

FAQ link

APT: apt-get error: “E: Dynamic MMap ran out of room” link

This message may appear during an “apt-get update” when apt no longer has enough space for its cache. To fix this problem, simply create a file /etc/apt/apt.conf and add the following line:

  APT::Cache-Limit "10000000"
  

Run a quick:

  apt-get update
  

And you’re done!

Resources link

• https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-reference/ch02.en.html