apt-mark

Change the install state of packages.

TLDR

Mark a package as automatically installed

$ sudo apt-mark auto [package]

Mark a package as manually installed

$ sudo apt-mark manual [package]

Hold a package at its current version

$ sudo apt-mark hold [package]

Allow a package to be updated again

$ sudo apt-mark unhold [package]

Show manually installed packages

$ apt-mark showmanual

Show automatically installed packages

$ apt-mark showauto

Show held packages

$ apt-mark showhold

SYNOPSIS

apt-mark [options] command package...

apt-mark is a utility to change the status of installed packages. It can mark packages as automatically installed (making them candidates for autoremove), manually installed, or held at their current version.

PARAMETERS

auto package

Mark package as automatically installed

manual package

Mark package as manually installed

hold package

Hold package at current version, preventing upgrades

unhold package

Remove hold, allowing package to be upgraded

showmanual

Show list of manually installed packages

showauto

Show list of automatically installed packages

showhold

Show list of held packages

showinstall

Show list of packages marked as install

showremove

Show list of packages marked for removal

showpurge

Show list of packages marked for purge

minimize-manual

Mark all dependency packages as auto, keeping only directly needed packages as manual

-f, --file filename

Read/write package stats from the specified filename instead of default location

-v, --verbose

Verbose output

-c, --config-file

Specify a configuration file to use

-o, --option

Set a configuration option (syntax: -o Foo::Bar=bar)

CAVEATS

Holding packages may cause dependency issues during system upgrades. Use sparingly.

HISTORY

Part of the APT (Advanced Package Tool) suite developed for Debian-based systems.