How To Install opensc on Debian 11

In this tutorial we learn how to install opensc on Debian 11. opensc is Smart card utilities with support for PKCS#15 compatible cards

Introduction

In this tutorial we learn how to install opensc on Debian 11.

What is opensc

opensc is:

OpenSC provides a set of libraries and utilities to access smart cards. It mainly focuses on cards that support cryptographic operations. It facilitates their use in security applications such as mail encryption, authentication, and digital signature. OpenSC implements the PKCS#11 API. Applications supporting this API, such as Iceweasel and Icedove, can use it. OpenSC implements the PKCS#15 standard and aims to be compatible with all software that does so as well.

Before purchasing any cards, please read carefully documentation in https://github.com/OpenSC/OpenSC/wiki - only some cards are supported. Not only does card type matters, but also card version, card OS version and preloaded applet. Only a subset of possible operations may be supported for your card. Card initialization may require third party proprietary software.

This package contains tools for interacting with smart cards.

There are three methods to install opensc on Debian 11. We can use apt-get, apt and aptitude. In the following sections we will describe each method. You can choose one of them.

Install opensc Using apt-get

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

sudo apt-get update

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

sudo apt-get -y install opensc

Install opensc Using apt

Update apt database with apt using the following command.

sudo apt update

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

sudo apt -y install opensc

Install opensc 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 opensc using aptitude by running the following command:

sudo aptitude -y install opensc

How To Uninstall opensc on Debian 11

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

sudo apt-get remove opensc

Uninstall opensc And Its Dependencies

To uninstall opensc and its dependencies that are no longer needed by Debian 11, we can use the command below:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove opensc

Remove opensc Configurations and Data

To remove opensc configuration and data from Debian 11 we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get -y purge opensc

Remove opensc configuration, data, and all of its dependencies

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

sudo apt-get -y autoremove --purge opensc

Dependencies

opensc have the following dependencies:

References

Summary

In this tutorial we learn how to install opensc package on Debian 11 using different package management tools: apt, apt-get and aptitude.