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I want to setup a new virtual machine with some specified packages (name and version), that are provided.

For example, apache2 in version 2.2.20-1ubuntu1 with all dependencies. Even if there is a new version of this package on the servers this one should be installed.

The solution has to work/scale with multiple (n) "setups". Another virtual machine might need an older version of apache2.

I currently know of some possibilities that install the exact packages, but do not scale that good:

  1. Copy all required *.deb to every virtual machine manually and enter: dpkg -i ... -> Could work, but it is very error-prone. (Manual scripts etc.)
  2. Create and use a new Ubuntu repository for each setup. -> Does not work because I would need n repositories.
  3. Setup the machine once and copy the VM / create a snapshot. -> Does not work because I would need to store n VMs.

My problem could be labeled as patch management, but I do not want to update my packages to the current version. My goal is to install old packages.

6 Answers 6

329

You can use apt-get to install a specific version of the package a long as it is in an archive that apt knows about. From the apt-get manpage:

A specific version of a package can be selected for installation by following the package name with an equals and the version of the package to select. This will cause that version to be located and selected for install. Alternatively a specific distribution can be selected by following the package name with a slash and the version of the distribution or the Archive name (stable, frozen, unstable).

For example, you could do:

sudo apt-get install apache2=2.2.20-1ubuntu1

Note that you may need to do some dependency resolution on your own in this case, but if there are any problems apt-get will tell you what is causing them. On my 11.10 system I would need to do the following to get this to work:

sudo apt-get install apache2=2.2.20-1ubuntu1 \
                     apache2.2-common=2.2.20-1ubuntu1 \
                     apache2.2-bin=2.2.20-1ubuntu1 \
                     apache2-mpm-worker=2.2.20-1ubuntu1

You can display available package versions as follows:

sudo apt list -a apache2
0
97

To check which versions are available, you can check via:

sudo apt-cache madison ^apache2

If won't work, consider running sudo apt-get update before to update the package list.

Then copy the version or use the following syntax:

sudo apt-get install apache2=2.2.\*

To check which version you've installed, run:

dpkg -l 'apache2*' | grep ^i

If the version info is truncated, try:

COLUMNS=100 dpkg -l <packageName>
5
  • 14
    Thanks a lot for pointing out the =2.2\* option as a way to use a wildcard for selecting any available subversion. Thats what I wanted to know but didn't know how to ask :) Apr 16, 2015 at 14:31
  • 1
    N: Unable to locate package ^apache2 after $sudo apt-get update but sudo apt-get install apache2=2.2* works for me Jul 24, 2017 at 15:04
  • 2
    @BraianMellor apt-get madison is obsolescence, use apt-get policy instead, apt-get policy ^apache2 is OK
    – netawater
    Aug 5, 2020 at 5:28
  • sudo not needed for apt-cache; and apt-cache policy <pkg> is a similar alternative too, as a sidenote
    – creanion
    Sep 19, 2022 at 9:45
  • The madison option on Ubuntu 22.* only shows the current version (and other commands in the answer either return errors or do not work) Nov 26, 2023 at 8:18
26

I'll expand on earlier answers with other handy versioning commands in the apt family. To see which versions are available, run apt-cache policy:

# apt-cache policy apache2
apache2:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.4.7-1ubuntu4.5
  Version table:
     2.4.10-1ubuntu1.1~ubuntu14.04.1 0
        100 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-backports/main amd64 Packages
     2.4.7-1ubuntu4.5 0
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-security/main amd64 Packages
     2.4.7-1ubuntu4 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages

Then, as mentioned elsewhere, install a specific version with apt-get:

# apt-get install apache2=2.4.7-1ubuntu4.5
...

You can now see which version you have installed by running apt-cache policy again:

# apt-cache policy apache2
apache2:
  Installed: 2.4.7-1ubuntu4.5
  Candidate: 2.4.7-1ubuntu4.5
  Version table:
     2.4.10-1ubuntu1.1~ubuntu14.04.1 0
        100 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-backports/main amd64 Packages
 *** 2.4.7-1ubuntu4.5 0
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-security/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     2.4.7-1ubuntu4 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages

If you don't want newer versions to be installed on updates, pin the package with apt-mark:

# apt-mark hold apache2
apache2 set on hold.

Let's say a new version of apache2 is added to the package index and your machine is synced with apt-get update. You'll see this when you next run apt-get upgrade:

# apt-get upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
The following packages have been kept back:
  apache2
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded.
10

As psusi explains, old versions are not kept in the ubuntu repository, but apparently you can still find them on launchpad. So, you go to (replace trusty and amd64 with your ubuntu version and architecture):

https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/trusty/amd64/apache2

and select the version you desire. Then you download the deb as a file and install with:

dpkg -i apache2_2.4.7-1ubuntu4.20_amd64.deb

Again, replace the filename to your file. This gets tedious if you have to downgrade a lot of packages but it's better than nothing if you're desperate.

5

Practically speaking, this isn't possible because the old versions are not kept in the archive, so unless you have a copy of the old version laying around somewhere, you can't install it. You should be asking yourself why you want to install an older version in the first place. On a stable release, the main reason for a new version being released is to correct a security vulnerability, and you don't want to be running a vulnerable server do you?

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  • 31
    I need this to reproduce exact copies of old environments for development purposes. Is it possible to setup a mirror that does not delete old package versions to access the required packages or do I need to setup multiple repositories that only hold diffs?
    – ayckoster
    Jan 2, 2012 at 14:57
  • 24
    @psusi: Not exactly a fair response, there might be many reasons. In my case the newer version might actually have a bug, and to double check that is the case the older version is needed. Just an example.
    – Cookie
    Mar 28, 2014 at 21:23
  • 2
    @nomen, no, it is a single distro that does not use a rolling release model. Great care is taken to ensure that when critical bugs and security vulnerabilities are fixed in the stable release, that they do not cause regressions, but if it does happen, then file a bug report tagged with regression-release and it will be fixed or rolled back.
    – psusi
    Apr 5, 2014 at 23:48
  • 5
    @nomen, if you want to make up your own meanings for words you will have a hard time communicating with others. For everyone else in the world, that is not what a rolling release is, and rolling release is the exact opposite, and thus, mutually exclusive with stable release. And now that I think about it, the original version shipped with the release is actually kept in the -release pocket, and updates go to the -updates or -security pocket, so while you can't go back to a previous update, you can go back to the originally released version.
    – psusi
    Apr 6, 2014 at 1:17
  • 8
    @psusi: Here is another one for you. Unison is required to always be the same version on all machines. Yet on 13.10 it is a different version than in 12.04 LTS. So now what? When coming to a question like this, receiving an answer like why do you want to do this is really incredibly unhelpful and a waste of time for everyone.
    – Cookie
    Apr 15, 2014 at 7:01
3

Also consider "wildcarding" the minor version

I've just learnt today that PPA minor versions are sometimes removed and replaced with another. E.g. it happened recently that the Git PPA https://launchpad.net/~git-core/+archive/ubuntu/ppa removed 1:2.36.0-0ppa1~ubuntu20.04.1 and replaced it with 1:2.36.1-0ppa1~ubuntu20.04.1. This then broke some Docker setup I had.

Luckily, I've found that wildcards do work on apt install, so I replaced the broken:

sudo apt install git=1:2.36.0-0ppa1~ubuntu20.04.1

with:

sudo apt install git='1:2.36.*'

Hopefully this will keep my scripts going for some longer.

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