apt.package — Classes for package handling

Functionality related to packages.

The Package class

class apt.package.Package(pcache: apt.cache.Cache, pkgiter: apt_pkg.Package)

Representation of a package in a cache.

This class provides methods and properties for working with a package. It lets you mark the package for installation, check if it is installed, and much more.

Note

Several methods have been deprecated in version 0.7.9 of python-apt, please see the Version class for the new alternatives.

architecture() → str

Return the Architecture of the package.

Note that for Architecture: all packages, this returns the native architecture, as they are internally treated like native packages. To get the concrete architecture, look at the Version.architecture attribute.

Changed in version 0.7.100.3: This is now the package’s architecture in the multi-arch sense, previously it was the architecture of the candidate version and deprecated.

property candidate

Return the candidate version of the package.

This property is writeable to allow you to set the candidate version of the package. Just assign a Version() object, and it will be set as the candidate version.

commit(fprogress: apt.progress.base.AcquireProgress, iprogress: apt.progress.base.InstallProgress) → None

Commit the changes.

The parameter fprogress refers to a apt_pkg.AcquireProgress() object, like apt.progress.text.AcquireProgress().

The parameter iprogress refers to an InstallProgress() object, as found in apt.progress.base.

property essential

Return True if the package is an essential part of the system.

property fullname

Return the name of the package, including architecture.

Note that as for architecture(), this returns the native architecture for Architecture: all packages.

New in version 0.7.100.3.

get_changelog(uri: Optional[str] = None, cancel_lock: Optional[threading.Event] = None) → str

Download the changelog of the package and return it as unicode string.

The parameter uri refers to the uri of the changelog file. It may contain multiple named variables which will be substitued. These variables are (src_section, prefix, src_pkg, src_ver). An example is the Ubuntu changelog:

"http://changelogs.ubuntu.com/changelogs/pool" \
    "/%(src_section)s/%(prefix)s/%(src_pkg)s" \
    "/%(src_pkg)s_%(src_ver)s/changelog"

The parameter cancel_lock refers to an instance of threading.Event, which if set, prevents the download.

property has_config_files

Checks whether the package is is the config-files state.

property id

Return a uniq ID for the package.

This can be used eg. to store additional information about the pkg.

property installed

Return the currently installed version of the package.

New in version 0.7.9.

property installed_files

Return a list of files installed by the package.

Return a list of unicode names of the files which have been installed by this package

property is_auto_installed

Return whether the package is marked as automatically installed.

property is_auto_removable

Return True if the package is no longer required.

If the package has been installed automatically as a dependency of another package, and if no packages depend on it anymore, the package is no longer required.

property is_inst_broken

Return True if the to-be-installed package is broken.

property is_installed

Return True if the package is installed.

property is_now_broken

Return True if the installed package is broken.

property is_upgradable

Return True if the package is upgradable.

mark_auto(auto: bool = True) → None

Mark a package as automatically installed.

Call this function to mark a package as automatically installed. If the optional parameter auto is set to False, the package will not be marked as automatically installed anymore. The default is True.

mark_delete(auto_fix: bool = True, purge: bool = False) → None

Mark a package for deletion.

If auto_fix is True, the resolver will be run, trying to fix broken packages. This is the default.

If purge is True, remove the configuration files of the package as well. The default is to keep the configuration.

mark_install(auto_fix: bool = True, auto_inst: bool = True, from_user: bool = True) → None

Mark a package for install.

If autoFix is True, the resolver will be run, trying to fix broken packages. This is the default.

If autoInst is True, the dependencies of the packages will be installed automatically. This is the default.

If fromUser is True, this package will not be marked as automatically installed. This is the default. Set it to False if you want to be able to automatically remove the package at a later stage when no other package depends on it.

mark_keep() → None

Mark a package for keep.

mark_upgrade(from_user: bool = True) → None

Mark a package for upgrade.

property marked_delete

Return True if the package is marked for delete.

property marked_downgrade

Package is marked for downgrade

property marked_install

Return True if the package is marked for install.

property marked_keep

Return True if the package is marked for keep.

property marked_reinstall

Return True if the package is marked for reinstall.

property marked_upgrade

Return True if the package is marked for upgrade.

property name

Return the name of the package, possibly including architecture.

If the package is not part of the system’s preferred architecture, return the same as fullname, otherwise return the same as shortname

Changed in version 0.7.100.3.

As part of multi-arch, this field now may include architecture information.

property shortname

Return the name of the package, without architecture.

New in version 0.7.100.3.

property versions

Return a VersionList() object for all available versions.

New in version 0.7.9.

The Version class

class apt.package.Version(package: apt.package.Package, cand: apt_pkg.Version)

Representation of a package version.

The Version class contains all information related to a specific package version.

New in version 0.7.9.

property architecture

Return the architecture of the package version.

property dependencies

Return the dependencies of the package version.

property description

Return the formatted long description.

Return the formatted long description according to the Debian policy (Chapter 5.6.13). See http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-controlfields.html for more information.

property downloadable

Return whether the version of the package is downloadable.

property enhances

Return the list of enhances for the package version.

fetch_binary(destdir: str = '', progress: Optional[apt.progress.base.AcquireProgress] = None, allow_unauthenticated: Optional[bool] = None) → str

Fetch the binary version of the package.

The parameter destdir specifies the directory where the package will be fetched to.

The parameter progress may refer to an apt_pkg.AcquireProgress() object. If not specified or None, apt.progress.text.AcquireProgress() is used.

The keyword-only parameter allow_unauthenticated specifies whether to allow unauthenticated downloads. If not specified, it defaults to the configuration option APT::Get::AllowUnauthenticated.

New in version 0.7.10.

fetch_source(destdir: str = '', progress: Optional[apt.progress.base.AcquireProgress] = None, unpack: bool = True, allow_unauthenticated: Optional[bool] = None) → str

Get the source code of a package.

The parameter destdir specifies the directory where the source will be fetched to.

The parameter progress may refer to an apt_pkg.AcquireProgress() object. If not specified or None, apt.progress.text.AcquireProgress() is used.

The parameter unpack describes whether the source should be unpacked (True) or not (False). By default, it is unpacked.

If unpack is True, the path to the extracted directory is returned. Otherwise, the path to the .dsc file is returned.

The keyword-only parameter allow_unauthenticated specifies whether to allow unauthenticated downloads. If not specified, it defaults to the configuration option APT::Get::AllowUnauthenticated.

property filename

Return the path to the file inside the archive.

New in version 0.7.10.

get_dependencies(*types: str) → List[apt.package.Dependency]

Return a list of Dependency objects for the given types.

Multiple types can be specified. Possible types are: ‘Breaks’, ‘Conflicts’, ‘Depends’, ‘Enhances’, ‘PreDepends’, ‘Recommends’, ‘Replaces’, ‘Suggests’

Additional types might be added in the future.

property homepage

Return the homepage for the package.

property installed_size

Return the size of the package when installed.

property is_installed

Return wether this version of the package is currently installed.

New in version 1.0.0.

property md5

Return the md5sum of the binary.

New in version 0.7.10.

property origins

Return a list of origins for the package version.

property policy_priority

Return the internal policy priority as a number. See apt_preferences(5) for more information about what it means.

property priority

Return the priority of the package, as string.

property provides

Return a list of names that this version provides.

property raw_description

return the long description (raw).

property recommends

Return the recommends of the package version.

property record

Return a Record() object for this version.

Return a Record() object for this version which provides access to the raw attributes of the candidate version

property section

Return the section of the package.

property sha1

Return the sha1sum of the binary.

New in version 0.7.10.

property sha256

Return the sha256sum of the binary.

New in version 0.7.10.

property size

Return the size of the package.

property source_name

Return the name of the source package.

property source_version

Return the version of the source package.

property suggests

Return the suggests of the package version.

property summary

Return the short description (one line summary).

property tasks

Get the tasks of the package.

A set of the names of the tasks this package belongs to.

New in version 0.8.0.

property uri

Return a single URI for the binary.

New in version 0.7.10.

property uris

Return a list of all available uris for the binary.

New in version 0.7.10.

property version

Return the version as a string.

Dependency Information

class apt.package.BaseDependency(version: apt.package.Version, dep: apt_pkg.Dependency)

A single dependency.

property installed_target_versions

A list of all installed Version objects which satisfy this dep.

New in version 1.0.0.

property name

The name of the target package.

property pre_depend

Whether this is a PreDepends.

property rawstr

String represenation of the dependency.

Returns the string representation of the dependency as it would be written in the debian/control file. The string representation does not include the type of the dependency.

Example for an unversioned dependency:

python3

Example for a versioned dependency:

python3 >= 3.2

New in version 1.0.0.

property rawtype

Type of the dependency.

This should be one of ‘Breaks’, ‘Conflicts’, ‘Depends’, ‘Enhances’, ‘PreDepends’, ‘Recommends’, ‘Replaces’, ‘Suggests’.

Additional types might be added in the future.

property relation

The relation (<, <=, =, !=, >=, >, ‘’) in mathematical notation.

The empty string will be returned in case of an unversioned dependency.

property relation_deb

The relation (<<, <=, =, !=, >=, >>, ‘’) in Debian notation.

The empty string will be returned in case of an unversioned dependency. For more details see the Debian Policy Manual on the syntax of relationship fields: https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-relationships.html#s-depsyntax # noqa

New in version 1.0.0.

property target_versions

A list of all Version objects which satisfy this dependency.

New in version 1.0.0.

property version

The target version or an empty string.

Note that the version is only an empty string in case of an unversioned dependency. In this case the relation is also an empty string.

class apt.package.Dependency

The dependency class represents a Or-Group of dependencies. It provides an attribute to access the BaseDependency object for the available choices.

or_dependencies

A list of BaseDependency objects which could satisfy the requirement of the Or-Group.

Origin Information

class apt.package.Origin

The Origin class provides access to the origin of the package. It allows you to check the component, archive, the hostname, and even if this package can be trusted.

archive

The archive (eg. unstable)

component

The component (eg. main)

label

The Label, as set in the Release file

origin

The Origin, as set in the Release file

site

The hostname of the site.

trusted

Boolean value whether this is trustworthy. An origin can be trusted, if it provides a GPG-signed Release file and the GPG-key used is in the keyring used by apt (see apt-key).

The Record class

class apt.package.Record(record_str: str)

Record in a Packages file

Represent a record as stored in a Packages file. You can use this like a dictionary mapping the field names of the record to their values:

>>> record = Record("Package: python-apt\nVersion: 0.8.0\n\n")
>>> record["Package"]
'python-apt'
>>> record["Version"]
'0.8.0'

For example, to get the tasks of a package from a cache, you could do:

package.candidate.record["Tasks"].split()

Of course, you can also use the Version.tasks property.

Note

Changed in version 0.7.100: This class is a subclass of collections.Mapping when used in Python 2.6 or newer.

record[name]

Return the value of the field with the name name.

name in record

Return whether a field name exists in record.

len(record)

The number of fields in the record

str(record)

Display the record as a string

get(key: str, default: Optional[object] = None) → object

Return record[key] if key in record, else default.

The parameter default must be either a string or None.

has_key(key: str) → bool

deprecated form of key in x.

iteritems() → Iterable[Tuple[object, str]]

An iterator over the (key, value) items of the record.

Examples

import apt

cache = apt.Cache()
pkg = cache['python-apt'] # Access the Package object for python-apt
print('python-apt is trusted:', pkg.candidate.origins[0].trusted)

# Mark python-apt for install
pkg.mark_install()

print('python-apt is marked for install:', pkg.marked_install)

print('python-apt is (summary):', pkg.candidate.summary)

# Now, really install it
cache.commit()