Can I configure Ubuntu to never install a specific package even if it is required by another package I install?
-
You cannot install a package without its dependencies, unless you want to break your system.– enzotibNov 5, 2011 at 22:05
-
2@enzotib, first of all you're wrong: package dependencies can be redundant. there are numerous examples, or you can have installed an equivalent of a required package another way (for example I have openjdk-6 installed as it is required by all the java applications in the repos, but I never actually use openjdk-6, I set up everything to use openjdk-7 or Oracle JDK 7 instead). And the second thing - I didn't say I want the dependant package to be installed - it can just throw an error in this case, I just want to make sure a particular package is never installed anyway.– IvanNov 5, 2011 at 22:29
-
There is a similar question.– NimmermehrNov 8, 2011 at 15:38
3 Answers
As in Debian we can use apt-pinning for version and installation control in Ubuntu too.
To block the installation of a given package we may put the following lines in /etc/apt/preferences
Package: <nameofpackage>
Pin: origin ""
Pin-Priority: -1
By giving a negative priority for this pin we will block the installation of <nameofpackage>
from not further specified origin, i.e. our local repository. Of course we can use apt-pinning to pin a certain package version or specific origin.
Before you proceed it is strongly recommended to read the documentation given above and the manpage from apt_preferences because errors in these files are not checked by apt and if they occur may break your package management.
For an alternative, and to prevent updating of a given package see:
-
Do you know if this could work in Ubuntu 12.04? Another question is reporting that maybe it doesn't work.– LucioFeb 20, 2013 at 19:27
-
1
-
3In the
Package:
-line, you can list multiple packages separated with spaces, like this: Package: metacity metacity-common libmetacity-private0a. (Seems like patterns like Package: metacity* are also possible) Aug 22, 2014 at 2:46 -
16In Ubuntu 16.04
Pin: origin ""
didn't work for me, butPin: release *
did.– barbazMay 7, 2017 at 15:00 -
5In Ubuntu 20.04, this seems to be the only way to prevent a package to be installed. The
apt-mark hold
solution described elsewhere does not work exactly as expected: sometimes it will work once (i.e. for the next upgrade), but then the 'hold' gets 'released' andapt
will try to install it again... the only thing that seems to consistently work is adding files inside/etc/apt/preferences.d
withPin: release *
. It's worth reading the man page: there are serious limitations in the filename; and you can use multiple packages in the same configuration file as well as use wildcards. Oct 15, 2020 at 14:49
I have a package that keeps sneaking back in and breaking git
sudo apt-mark hold libgnutls-deb0-28
should prevent that package from being installed
-
This is not a reliable solution, especially when you have to upgrade your distro. The good solution is already provided: askubuntu.com/a/76075/93706 Aug 28, 2023 at 15:30
In debian you can block a package, and that package wont upgrade anymore
# echo name_of_package hold | dpkg --set-selections
but I'm not sure that you can forbid
-
1I just tried it on Ubuntu 15.10 (wily) and it didn't block the package; just gave me a warning
package not in database
Aug 22, 2016 at 20:55 -
This is not a reliable solution, especially when you have to upgrade your distro. The good solution is already provided: askubuntu.com/a/76075/93706 Aug 28, 2023 at 15:29