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Bruno Pereira
Asked: 2012-01-28 11:00:24 +0800 CST

Need to prevent a package from being installed [duplicate]

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I have a package I do not want to be installed even if another needs it.

Is there any way to "blacklist" a package from being installed even as a dependency of another?

Can I overcome the fact that it is a dependency and still be able to upgrade my system?

I am thinking in particular about the messaging indicator from Unity. If I remove it and add Unity again for some reason, I dont want the applet installed again. How can I prevent it from being installed? (or the global menu, java versions removing my custom installed one, etc... you get the idea).

apt

2 Answers

    • Is there any way to "blacklist" a package from being installed even as a dependency of another?

    To prevent apt from installing a package foo, add a stanza for that package to the file /etc/apt/preferences which looks like the following.

    Package: foo
Pin: release *
Pin-Priority: -1

    This will prevent apt from installing foo and will also prevent apt from installing anything that Depends on foo.

    The next closest thing I can think of is to put a hold on foo at its current version which prevents foo from being upgraded (unless dpkg is given the --force-hold option or unless apt overrides the hold). To put a hold on package foo, do the following.

    echo foo hold | sudo dpkg --set-selections
    • Can I overcome the fact that it is a dependency and still be able to upgrade my system?

    You can install individual packages despite dependency violations using dpkg --force-depends. You won't be able to use apt to do this unless you apt-get source the package that Depends on foo and rebuild it without the dependency on foo.

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  2. If a package needs (depends on) another package, then it should not work properly without it. If it can, it is a bug, it should be a recommend and not a depend.

    To avoid to install a dependency:

    1. download the required packages:

      sudo apt-get --download-only install pkg-name

    2. remove unwanted packages

      sudo rm /var/cache/apt/archive/bad-pkg_*.deb

    3. install all other packages

      sudo apt-get --no-download --ignore-missing install pkg-name

    On the other side, to install a package without recommends:

    sudo apt-get --no-install-recommends install pkg-name
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