This chapter covers the basic actions installing, removing and upgrading of packages.
Furthermore performing a system upgrade, browsing the online documentation, reading the changelog and the advanced actions forcing the installation of a specific package version, locking a package to the current version are described.
If different version of the same package are available Synaptic Package Manager will select the most applicable by default. To force the installation of a specific version that is different to the default one, see the section called “To Force the Installation of a Specific Version”.
If you want to install a package perform the following steps:
Reload the package information to be aware of the latest versions available:
Choose → from the menu.
Click on in the toolbar.
Press the key combination Ctrl+R.
Mark the package for installation:
Double click on the name of the package in the package list.
Click on the status icon of the package and choose from the menu.
Right click on the package and choose from the context menu.
Select the package and choose → from the menu.
Select the package and press the key combination Ctrl+I.
If the installation of the package(s) requires additional changes, you will be asked for confirmation. To also mark the additional changes click on the button .
Apply the marked changes to actually install the package:
Click on in the toolbar.
Choose → from the menu.
Press the key combination Ctrl+P.
You will be asked for confirmation. Check the summarized changes that will be applied. To continue with the actual installation confirm the changes click on .
During the processing of the changes you will see a progressbar. Wait until the changes have been applied. This can take some time depending on the number of changes. Afterwards you will be returned to the main window.
The progressbar is not available on Debian system. Instead you will see a detailed terminal output.
Configuration files and user created data (e.g. a website in "/var/www") are not removed from the system by default.
Debian only: You can change the default behavior in the preferences.
Debian only: To remove all files related to the package choose instead of .
To remove a packages follow these steps:
Mark the package for removal:
Double click on the name of the installed package in the package list.
Click on the status icon of the package and choose from the menu.
Right click on the package and choose from the context menu.
Select the package and choose → from the menu.
Select the package and press the key Delete.
If the removal of the package(s) requires additional changes, you will be asked for confirmation. To also mark the additional changes click on the button .
Apply the marked changes to actually remove the package(s):
Click on in the toolbar.
Choose → from the menu.
Press the key combination Ctrl+P.
You are asked for confirmation. Check the summarized changes that will be applied. To continue with the actual removal confirm the changes click on .
During the processing of the changes you will see a progressbar. Wait until the changes have been applied. This can take some time depending on the number of changes. Afterwards you will be returned to the main window.
The progressbar is not available on Debian system. Instead you will see a detailed terminal output.
To upgrade a package follow these steps:
Reload the package information to be aware of the latest versions available:
Choose → from the menu.
Click on in the toolbar.
Press the key combination Ctrl+R.
Mark the package for upgrade:
Double click on the name of the package with a later version available in the package list.
Click on the status icon of the package and choose from the menu.
Right click on the package and choose from the context menu.
Select the package and choose → from the menu.
Select the package and press the key combination Ctrl+P.
If the upgrade of the package(s) requires additional changes, you will be asked for confirmation. To also mark the additional changes click on the button .
Apply the marked changes to actually upgrade the package:
Click on in the toolbar.
Choose → from the menu.
Press the key combination Ctrl+P.
You are asked for confirmation. Check the summarized changes that will be applied. To continue with the actual upgrade confirm the changes click on .
During the processing of the changes you will see a progressbar. Wait until the changes have been applied. This can take some time depending on the number of changes. Afterwards you will be returned to the main window.
The progressbar is not available on Debian system. Instead you will see a detailed terminal output.
To upgrade all installed packages to the latest version, see the section called “To Upgrade the Whole System”.
Synaptic Package Manager provides two methods for marking packages for upgrade:
The default upgrade method marks upgrades of installed packages only. If the later version of a package depends on not installed packages or conflicts with an already installed package, the upgrade will not be marked.
The smart upgrade method tries to resolve package conflicts intelligently. This includes installing additional required packages and preferring packages with higher priority.
Smart upgrade is also known as dist-upgrade in the console tool apt-get.
Upgrades to a later operating system major releases have to be performed with the smart upgrade method, e.g. from Conectiva 9 to Conectiva 10 or from Debian Woody to Debian Sarge.
To upgrade your system to the latest version follow these steps:
Reload the package information to be aware of the latest versions available:
Choose → from the menu.
Click on in the toolbar.
Press the key combination Ctrl+R.
Mark all possible upgrades:
Click on in the toolbar.
Choose → from the menu.
Press the key combination Ctrl+G.
Choose the upgrade method. Smart upgrade is recommended.
Apply the marked changes to actually upgrade the package(s):
Click on in the toolbar.
Choose → from the menu.
Press the key combination Ctrl+P.
You are asked for confirmation. Check the summarized changes that will be applied. To continue with the actual upgrade confirm the changes click on .
During the processing of the changes you will see a progressbar. Wait until the changes have been applied. This can take some time depending on the number of changes. Afterwards you will be returned to the main window.
The progressbar is not available on Debian system. Instead you will see a detailed terminal output.
You can change the default upgrade method for further upgrade in the preferences .
To show packages that are marked for a status change only choose the "Marked Changes" filter, see the section called “To Apply Filters”.
To apply marked changes:
Click on in the toolbar.
Choose → from the menu.
Press the key combination Ctrl+P.
You are asked for confirmation. Check the summarized changes that will be applied. To confirm the changes click on the button .
During the processing of the changes you will see a progressbar. Wait until the changes have been applied. This can take some time depending on the number of changes. Afterwards you will be returned to the main window.
The progressbar is not available on Debian system. Instead you will see a detailed terminal output.
The following ways allow you to unmark changes:
Right click on the package and choose from the context menu.
Select the package(s) and choose → .
Select the package(s) and press Ctrl+N.
Choose → from the menu.
Choose → from the menu.
This step can be repeated. The maxmium number of undo operations can be set in the preferences. FIX link
To use this feature you have to install the package libgnome2-perl.
Debian provides a unified method, called debconf, to configure software packages. This feature is not supported by all packages. If a package supports this feature the configuration can be done through an assistant.
To configure a supported package:
Select the package that you wish to configure in the package list.
Choose → from the menu.
To get a list of all configurable packages choose the Configurable Packages filter.
To use this feature you have to install the package dwww.
Dwww provides access to all the installed documentation related to package with a web browser. The whole documentation is hosted via a local HTTP server.
Select the package about that you wish to read additional documentation in the package list.
Choose → .
The changelog of native Debian packages can be viewed, only.
To view the changelog of a native Debian package perform the following steps:
Select the package in the package list.
Choose → .
To lock a package to the current version follow these steps:
Select the package that you want to lock in the package list.
Choose → .
The Synaptic Package Manager will reload the package information. You should now see, that the menu item → is checked. Furthermore all actions in the menu are disabled now.
To unlock the package uncheck → .
The Synaptic Package Manager always selects the most applicable version available. If you force a different version from the default one, errors in the dependency handling can occur.
To force the installation of a version of package different to the default one perform the following steps:
Reload the package information to be aware of the latest versions available:
Choose → from the menu.
Click on in the toolbar.
Press the key combination Ctrl+R.
Select the package in the package list.
Choose → from the menu to open a dialog with all available versions of the package.
Select the version that should be marked for installation. To confirm your decision click on the button .
Apply the marked changes to actually install the forced package version:
Click on in the toolbar.
Choose → from the menu.
Press the key combination Ctrl+P.
You will be asked for confirmation. Check the summarized changes that will be applied. To continue with the actual installation confirm the changes click on
During the processing of the changes you will see a progressbar. Wait until the changes have been applied. This can take some time depending on the number of changes. Afterwards you will be returned to the main window.
The progressbar is not available on Debian system. Instead you will see a detailed terminal output.
Synaptic Package Manager will not allow any further changes to the system before all broken packages are fixed.
To show all broken packages choose the Broken filter.
To correct the broken packages perform the following steps: choose → from the menu.
Choose → from the menu.
Apply the marked changes to actually fix the packages:
Click on in the toolbar.
Choose → from the menu.
Press the key combination Ctrl+E.
You will be asked for confirmation. Check the summarized changes that will be applied. To continue with the actual repair confirm the changes click on
During the processing of the changes you will see a progressbar. Wait until the changes have been applied. This can take some time depending on the number of changes. Afterwards you will be returned to the main window.
The progressbar is not available on Debian system. Instead you will see a detailed terminal output.