How To Install dctrl-tools on Debian 11

In this tutorial we learn how to install dctrl-tools on Debian 11. dctrl-tools is Command-line tools to process Debian package information

Introduction

In this tutorial we learn how to install dctrl-tools on Debian 11.

What is dctrl-tools

dctrl-tools is:

Debian package information is generally stored in files having a special file format, dubbed the Debian control file format (the dctrl format), a special case of the record jar file format. These tools operate on any files conforming in a general sense to that format and are therefore widely applicable whenever those formats are in play.

Included are:

grep-dctrl - Grep dctrl-format files grep-available - Grep the DPKG available database grep-status - Grep the DPKG status database grep-aptavail - Grep the APT available database grep-debtags - Grep the Debtags package database

sort-dctrl - Sort dctrl-format files

tbl-dctrl - Tabulate dctrl-format files

sync-available - Sync the dpkg available database with the apt database

There are three methods to install dctrl-tools 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 dctrl-tools Using apt-get

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

sudo apt-get update

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

sudo apt-get -y install dctrl-tools

Install dctrl-tools Using apt

Update apt database with apt using the following command.

sudo apt update

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

sudo apt -y install dctrl-tools

Install dctrl-tools 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 dctrl-tools using aptitude by running the following command:

sudo aptitude -y install dctrl-tools

How To Uninstall dctrl-tools on Debian 11

To uninstall only the dctrl-tools package we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get remove dctrl-tools

Uninstall dctrl-tools And Its Dependencies

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

sudo apt-get -y autoremove dctrl-tools

Remove dctrl-tools Configurations and Data

To remove dctrl-tools configuration and data from Debian 11 we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get -y purge dctrl-tools

Remove dctrl-tools configuration, data, and all of its dependencies

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

sudo apt-get -y autoremove --purge dctrl-tools

Dependencies

dctrl-tools have the following dependencies:

References

Summary

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