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Diffstat (limited to 'doc/apt.conf.5.xml')
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/apt.conf.5.xml | 153 |
1 files changed, 147 insertions, 6 deletions
diff --git a/doc/apt.conf.5.xml b/doc/apt.conf.5.xml index 1fe980d28..e752f9d27 100644 --- a/doc/apt.conf.5.xml +++ b/doc/apt.conf.5.xml @@ -21,12 +21,13 @@ &apt-email; &apt-product; <!-- The last update date --> - <date>10 December 2008</date> + <date>18 September 2009</date> </refentryinfo> <refmeta> <refentrytitle>apt.conf</refentrytitle> <manvolnum>5</manvolnum> + <refmiscinfo class="manual">APT</refmiscinfo> </refmeta> <!-- Man page title --> @@ -85,17 +86,40 @@ DPkg::Pre-Install-Pkgs {"/usr/sbin/dpkg-preconfigure --apt";}; <para>The names of the configuration items are not case-sensitive. So in the previous example you could use <literal>dpkg::pre-install-pkgs</literal>.</para> - <para>Two specials are allowed, <literal>#include</literal> and <literal>#clear</literal> + <para>Names for the configuration items are optional if a list is defined as it can be see in + the <literal>DPkg::Pre-Install-Pkgs</literal> example above. If you don't specify a name a + new entry will simply add a new option to the list. If you specify a name you can override + the option as every other option by reassigning a new value to the option.</para> + + <para>Two specials are allowed, <literal>#include</literal> and <literal>#clear</literal>: <literal>#include</literal> will include the given file, unless the filename ends in a slash, then the whole directory is included. <literal>#clear</literal> is used to erase a part of the configuration tree. The - specified element and all its descendents are erased.</para> + specified element and all its descendants are erased. + (Note that these lines also need to end with a semicolon.)</para> + + <para>The #clear command is the only way to delete a list or a complete scope. + Reopening a scope or the ::-style described below will <emphasis>not</emphasis> + override previously written entries. Only options can be overridden by addressing a new + value to it - lists and scopes can't be overridden, only cleared.</para> <para>All of the APT tools take a -o option which allows an arbitrary configuration directive to be specified on the command line. The syntax is a full option name (<literal>APT::Get::Assume-Yes</literal> for instance) followed by an equals sign then the new value of the option. Lists can be appended too by adding - a trailing :: to the list name.</para> + a trailing :: to the list name. (As you might suspect: The scope syntax can't be used + on the command line.)</para> + + <para>Note that you can use :: only for appending one item per line to a list and + that you should not use it in combination with the scope syntax. + (The scope syntax implicit insert ::) Using both syntaxes together will trigger a bug + which some users unfortunately relay on: An option with the unusual name "<literal>::</literal>" + which acts like every other option with a name. These introduces many problems + including that a user who writes multiple lines in this <emphasis>wrong</emphasis> syntax in + the hope to append to a list will gain the opposite as only the last assignment for this option + "<literal>::</literal>" will be used. Upcoming APT versions will raise errors and + will stop working if they encounter this misuse, so please correct such statements now + as long as APT doesn't complain explicit about them.</para> </refsect1> <refsect1><title>The APT Group</title> @@ -226,7 +250,12 @@ DPkg::Pre-Install-Pkgs {"/usr/sbin/dpkg-preconfigure --apt";}; indicating how many outstanding requests APT should send. A value of zero MUST be specified if the remote host does not properly linger on TCP connections - otherwise data corruption will occur. Hosts which - require this are in violation of RFC 2068.</para></listitem> + require this are in violation of RFC 2068.</para> + + <para>The used bandwidth can be limited with <literal>Acquire::http::Dl-Limit</literal> + which accepts integer values in kilobyte. The default value is 0 which deactivates + the limit and tries uses as much as possible of the bandwidth (Note that this option implicit + deactivates the download from multiple servers at the same time.)</para></listitem> </varlistentry> <varlistentry><term>https</term> @@ -308,6 +337,34 @@ DPkg::Pre-Install-Pkgs {"/usr/sbin/dpkg-preconfigure --apt";}; </para></listitem> </varlistentry> + <varlistentry><term>CompressionTypes</term> + <listitem><para>List of compression types which are understood by the acquire methods. + Files like <filename>Packages</filename> can be available in various compression formats. + Per default the acquire methods can decompress <command>bzip2</command>, <command>lzma</command> + and <command>gzip</command> compressed files, with this setting more formats can be added + on the fly or the used method can be changed. The syntax for this is: + <synopsis>Acquire::CompressionTypes::<replaceable>FileExtension</replaceable> "<replaceable>Methodname</replaceable>";</synopsis> + </para><para>Also the <literal>Order</literal> subgroup can be used to define in which order + the acquire system will try to download the compressed files. The acquire system will try the first + and proceed with the next compression type in this list on error, so to prefer one over the other type + simple add the preferred type at first - not already added default types will be added at run time + to the end of the list, so e.g. <synopsis>Acquire::CompressionTypes::Order:: "gz";</synopsis> can + be used to prefer <command>gzip</command> compressed files over <command>bzip2</command> and <command>lzma</command>. + If <command>lzma</command> should be preferred over <command>gzip</command> and <command>bzip2</command> the + configure setting should look like this <synopsis>Acquire::CompressionTypes::Order { "lzma"; "gz"; };</synopsis> + It is not needed to add <literal>bz2</literal> explicit to the list as it will be added automatic.</para> + <para>Note that at run time the <literal>Dir::Bin::<replaceable>Methodname</replaceable></literal> will + be checked: If this setting exists the method will only be used if this file exists, e.g. for + the bzip2 method (the inbuilt) setting is <literallayout>Dir::Bin::bzip2 "/bin/bzip2";</literallayout> + Note also that list entries specified on the command line will be added at the end of the list + specified in the configuration files, but before the default entries. To prefer a type in this case + over the ones specified in in the configuration files you can set the option direct - not in list style. + This will not override the defined list, it will only prefix the list with this type.</para> + <para>While it is possible to add an empty compression type to the order list, but APT in its current + version doesn't understand it correctly and will display many warnings about not downloaded files - + these warnings are most of the time false negatives. Future versions will maybe include a way to + really prefer uncompressed files to support the usage of local mirrors.</para></listitem> + </varlistentry> </variablelist> </para> </refsect1> @@ -342,6 +399,7 @@ DPkg::Pre-Install-Pkgs {"/usr/sbin/dpkg-preconfigure --apt";}; <para>Binary programs are pointed to by <literal>Dir::Bin</literal>. <literal>Dir::Bin::Methods</literal> specifies the location of the method handlers and <literal>gzip</literal>, + <literal>bzip2</literal>, <literal>lzma</literal>, <literal>dpkg</literal>, <literal>apt-get</literal> <literal>dpkg-source</literal> <literal>dpkg-buildpackage</literal> and <literal>apt-cache</literal> specify the location of the respective programs.</para> @@ -434,6 +492,87 @@ DPkg::Pre-Install-Pkgs {"/usr/sbin/dpkg-preconfigure --apt";}; the default is to disable signing and produce all binaries.</para></listitem> </varlistentry> </variablelist> + + <refsect2><title>dpkg trigger usage (and related options)</title> + <para>APT can call dpkg in a way so it can make aggressive use of triggers over + multiply calls of dpkg. Without further options dpkg will use triggers only in between his + own run. Activating these options can therefore decrease the time needed to perform the + install / upgrade. Note that it is intended to activate these options per default in the + future, but as it changes the way APT calling dpkg drastically it needs a lot more testing. + <emphasis>These options are therefore currently experimental and should not be used in + productive environments.</emphasis> Also it breaks the progress reporting so all frontends will + currently stay around half (or more) of the time in the 100% state while it actually configures + all packages.</para> + <para>Note that it is not guaranteed that APT will support these options or that these options will + not cause (big) trouble in the future. If you have understand the current risks and problems with + these options, but are brave enough to help testing them create a new configuration file and test a + combination of options. Please report any bugs, problems and improvements you encounter and make sure + to note which options you have used in your reports. Asking dpkg for help could also be useful for + debugging proposes, see e.g. <command>dpkg --audit</command>. A defensive option combination would be +<literallayout>DPkg::NoTriggers "true"; +PackageManager::Configure "smart"; +DPkg::ConfigurePending "true"; +DPkg::TriggersPending "true";</literallayout></para> + + <variablelist> + <varlistentry><term>DPkg::NoTriggers</term> + <listitem><para>Add the no triggers flag to all dpkg calls (expect the ConfigurePending call). + See &dpkg; if you are interested in what this actually means. In short: dpkg will not run the + triggers then this flag is present unless it is explicit called to do so in an extra call. + Note that this option exists (undocumented) also in older apt versions with a slightly different + meaning: Previously these option only append --no-triggers to the configure calls to dpkg - + now apt will add these flag also to the unpack and remove calls.</para></listitem> + </varlistentry> + <varlistentry><term>PackageManager::Configure</term> + <listitem><para>Valid values are "<literal>all</literal>", "<literal>smart</literal>" and "<literal>no</literal>". + "<literal>all</literal>" is the default value and causes APT to configure all packages explicit. + The "<literal>smart</literal>" way is it to configure only packages which need to be configured before + another package can be unpacked (Pre-Depends) and let the rest configure by dpkg with a call generated + by the next option. "<literal>no</literal>" on the other hand will not configure anything and totally + relay on dpkg for configuration (which will at the moment fail if a Pre-Depends is encountered). + Setting this option to another than the all value will implicit activate also the next option per + default as otherwise the system could end in an unconfigured status which could be unbootable! + </para></listitem> + </varlistentry> + <varlistentry><term>DPkg::ConfigurePending</term> + <listitem><para>If this option is set apt will call <command>dpkg --configure --pending</command> + to let dpkg handle all required configurations and triggers. This option is activated automatic + per default if the previous option is not set to <literal>all</literal>, but deactivating could be useful + if you want to run APT multiple times in a row - e.g. in an installer. In this sceneries you could + deactivate this option in all but the last run.</para></listitem> + </varlistentry> + <varlistentry><term>DPkg::TriggersPending</term> + <listitem><para>Useful for <literal>smart</literal> configuration as a package which has pending + triggers is not considered as <literal>installed</literal> and dpkg treats them as <literal>unpacked</literal> + currently which is a dealbreaker for Pre-Dependencies (see debbugs #526774). Note that this will + process all triggers, not only the triggers needed to configure this package.</para></listitem> + </varlistentry> + <varlistentry><term>PackageManager::UnpackAll</term> + <listitem><para>As the configuration can be deferred to be done at the end by dpkg it can be + tried to order the unpack series only by critical needs, e.g. by Pre-Depends. Default is true + and therefore the "old" method of ordering in various steps by everything. While both method + were present in earlier APT versions the <literal>OrderCritical</literal> method was unused, so + this method is very experimental and needs further improvements before becoming really useful. + </para></listitem> + </varlistentry> + <varlistentry><term>OrderList::Score::Immediate</term> + <listitem><para>Essential packages (and there dependencies) should be configured immediately + after unpacking. It will be a good idea to do this quite early in the upgrade process as these + these configure calls require currently also <literal>DPkg::TriggersPending</literal> which + will run quite a few triggers (which maybe not needed). Essentials get per default a high score + but the immediate flag is relatively low (a package which has a Pre-Depends is higher rated). + These option and the others in the same group can be used to change the scoring. The following + example shows the settings with there default values. + <literallayout>OrderList::Score { + Delete 500; + Essential 200; + Immediate 10; + PreDepends 50; +};</literallayout> + </para></listitem> + </varlistentry> + </variablelist> + </refsect2> </refsect1> <refsect1> @@ -827,7 +966,9 @@ is commented. </refsect1> <refsect1><title>Files</title> - <para><filename>/etc/apt/apt.conf</filename></para> + <variablelist> + &file-aptconf; + </variablelist> </refsect1> <refsect1><title>See Also</title> |