How to Manage Debian Packages Using Debian Goodies Utilities

root@linuxhelp:~# dgrep -o conf apache2
/usr/sbin/a2query:conf
/usr/sbin/a2query:conf
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/usr/share/apache2/default-site/index.html:conf
/usr/share/apache2/icons/README:conf
/usr/share/apache2/icons/README.html:conf

Utilization of dpigs Utility

Execute the following command for finding out the packages that consumes the most space on your system.

root@linuxhelp:~# dpigs
158762 linux-image-extra-4.2.0-16-generic
122884 libreoffice-core
104722 linux-firmware
104458 firefox
91225 thunderbird
90036 libgl1-mesa-dri
88424 liboxideqtcore0
82523 libreoffice-common
65789 linux-headers-4.2.0-16
63018 ubuntu-docs

Inorder to read size of the package in a human-readable format, utilize the -H option.

root@linuxhelp:~# dpigs -H
 155.0M linux-image-extra-4.2.0-16-generic
 120.0M libreoffice-core
 102.3M linux-firmware
 102.0M firefox
  89.1M thunderbird
  87.9M libgl1-mesa-dri
  86.4M liboxideqtcore0
  80.6M libreoffice-common
  64.2M linux-headers-4.2.0-16
  61.5M ubuntu-docs

Utilize the -n option, for specifying a given number of packages.

root@linuxhelp:~# dpigs -H -n 30
 155.0M linux-image-extra-4.2.0-16-generic
 120.0M libreoffice-core
 102.3M linux-firmware
 102.0M firefox
  89.1M thunderbird
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  22.0M git
  21.6M gcc-5
  20.3M humanity-icon-theme
  19.4M cpp-5
  18.5M onboard-data
  17.7M samba-libs

Utilize the -h option, for seeking help in using dpigs

root@linuxhelp:~# dpigs -h
Usage: dpigs [options]

Options:
  -n, --lines=N
    Display the N largest packages on the system (default 10).
  -s, --status=status-file
    Use status-file instead of the default dpkg status file.
  -S, --source
    Display the largest source packages of binary packages installed
    on the system.
  -H, --human-readable
    Display package sizes in human-readable format (like ls -lh or du -h)
  -h, --help
    Display this message.

Utilization of debget Utility

debget utility is used to fetch .deb files for any packages. Here, we are getting .deb files for samba and zip packages.

root@linuxhelp:~# debget samba
(samba ->  2:4.3.9+dfsg-0ubuntu0.15.10.2)
(samba ->  2:4.1.17+dfsg-4ubuntu2)
Downloading samba from http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/s/samba/samba_4.3.9+dfsg-0ubuntu0.15.10.2_amd64.deb
  % Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
                                 Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed
100  885k  100  885k    0     0   72563      0  0:00:12  0:00:12 --:--:--  84787
root@linuxhelp:~# debget zip
(zip ->  3.0-11)
Downloading zip from http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/z/zip/zip_3.0-11_amd64.deb
  % Total    % Received % Xferd  Average Speed   Time    Time     Time  Current
                                 Dload  Upload   Total   Spent    Left  Speed
100  154k  100  154k    0     0   159k      0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:--  159k
root@linuxhelp:~# dir -h1
Desktop
samba_2%3a4.3.9+dfsg-0ubuntu0.15.10.2_amd64.deb
tar_1.27.1-2_amd64.deb
zip_3.0-11_amd64.deb

Utilization of debmany Utility

To use kdg-open GNOME/KDE/Xfce desktop environment, utilize -x option

root@linuxhelp:~# debmany -x tar

To use kfmclient in a KDE desktop environment, select the -k option:

root@linuxhelp:~# debmany -k tar

To use gnome-open in a GNOME desktop environment, utilize -g option:

root@linuxhelp:~# debmany -g tar

Utilization of checkrestart Utility

Utilize the -a option, to list all the processes running old version.

root@linuxhelp:~# checkrestart -a
lsof: WARNING: can' t stat() fuse.gvfsd-fuse file system /run/user/1000/gvfs
      Output information may be incomplete.
Found 23 processes using old versions of upgraded files
(21 distinct programs)
(18 distinct packages)

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policykit-1-gnome:
    1851    /usr/lib/policykit-1-gnome/polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1

Utilize the -p option, to specifying only process deleted files.

root@linuxhelp:~# checkrestart -p
lsof: WARNING: can' t stat() fuse.gvfsd-fuse file system /run/user/1000/gvfs
      Output information may be incomplete.
Found 0 processes using old versions of upgraded files

Utilization of popbugs Utility

If you execute popbugs for the first time, you will receive a message as below:

root@linuxhelp:~# popbugs

There is no popularity-contest data present on your system. This probably means that popularity-contest has not yet run since it was installed. Try waiting for /etc/cron.daily/popularity-contest to collect some data or manually run (as root user)
/usr/sbin/popularity-contest > /var/log/popularity-contest
Execute the below command for the generation of the popularity-contest log

root@linuxhelp:~# /usr/sbin/popularity-contest > /var/log/popularity-contest

Utilize the &ndash output=/path/to/file option for storing output in a file.

root@linuxhelp:~# popbugs --output=/tmp/output.html

Open the file from the web browser, to view the output file.

root@linuxhelp:~# popbugs -d
POPCON: Adding package xserver-xorg-video-vmware
POPCON: Adding package wpasupplicant
POPCON: Adding package upower
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POPCON: Adding package gsettings-desktop-schemas
POPCON: Adding package libaudio2
POPCON: Adding package ubuntu-docs

root@linuxhelp:~# which-pkg-broke samba
Package samba has no install time info
Package libtextwrap1 has no install time info
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samba-common                                           Tue Mar 29 11:51:24 2016
libssl1.0.0:amd64                                      Tue Mar 29 11:51:33 2016
initscripts                                            Tue Mar 29 11:51:36 2016