How To Install opam on Debian 10

Learn how to install opam on Debian 10 with this tutorial. opam is package manager for OCaml

Introduction

In this tutorial we learn how to install opam on Debian 10.

What is opam

opam is:

OPAM stands for OCaml PAckage Manager. It aims to suit to a vast number of users and use cases, and has unique features:

  • Powerful handling of dependencies: versions constraints, optional dependencies, conflicts, etc.
  • Multiple repositories backends: HTTP, rsync, git
  • Ease to create packages and repositories
  • Ability to switch between different compiler versions

Typically, OPAM will probably make your life easier if you recognize yourself in at least one of these profiles:

  • You use multiple versions of the OCaml compiler, or you hack the compiler yourself and needs to frequently switch between compiler versions.
  • You use or develop software that needs a specific and/or modified version of the OCaml compiler to be installed.
  • You use or develop software that depends on a specific version of an OCaml library, or you just want to install a specific version of a package, not just the latest one.
  • You want to create your own packages yourself, put them on your own repository, with minimal effort.

There are three methods to install opam on Debian 10. We can use apt-get, apt and aptitude. In the following sections we will describe each method. You can choose one of them.

Install opam Using apt-get

Update apt database with apt-get using the following command.

sudo apt-get update

After updating apt database, We can install opam using apt-get by running the following command:

sudo apt-get -y install opam

Install opam Using apt

Update apt database with apt using the following command.

sudo apt update

After updating apt database, We can install opam using apt by running the following command:

sudo apt -y install opam

Install opam Using aptitude

If you want to follow this method, you might need to install aptitude first since aptitude is usually not installed by default on Debian. Update apt database with aptitude using the following command.

sudo aptitude update

After updating apt database, We can install opam using aptitude by running the following command:

sudo aptitude -y install opam

How To Uninstall opam on Debian 10

To uninstall only the opam package we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get remove opam

Uninstall opam And Its Dependencies

To uninstall opam and its dependencies that are no longer needed by Debian 10, we can use the command below:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove opam

Remove opam Configurations and Data

To remove opam configuration and data from Debian 10 we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get -y purge opam

Remove opam configuration, data, and all of its dependencies

We can use the following command to remove opam configurations, data and all of its dependencies, we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove --purge opam

Dependencies

opam have the following dependencies:

References

Summary

In this tutorial we learn how to install opam package on Debian 10 using different package management tools: apt, apt-get and aptitude.