Use to drctl-tools to parse Debian package information using the Debian control file format (the dctrl format).
Installation
Install drctl-tools and debtags packages.
$ sudo apt install drctl-tools debtools
Utilities
There are several utilities included that perform the same task but use different system databases.
| Utility | Database | Database details |
| grep-dctrl | dctrl-format files | Single or multiple files provided as a parameter |
| grep-available | DPKG available database | File /var/lib/dpkg/available |
| grep-status | DPKG status database | File /var/lib/dpkg/status |
| grep-aptavail | APT available database | Command apt-cache dumpavail |
| grep-debtags | Debtags package database | Command debtags dumpavail |
There are three additional utilities like sort-dctrl to sort data, tbl-ctrl to tabulate data and sync-available to sync DPKG available database with its APT counterpart.
Synchronize DPKG available database with APT counterpart
Use sync-available utility to perform synchronization.
$ sudo sync-available Merging available database in /tmp/apt-available.wTdjrp...done. Replacing available packages info, using /tmp/apt-available.wTdjrp. Information about 56805 packages was updated.
This is a straightforward operation.
[...] aptcache=/usr/bin/apt-cache [...] tf=`mktemp -t apt-available.XXXXXX` || exit 1 echo -n "Merging available database in $tf..." $aptcache dumpavail >> $tf echo "done." dpkg --update-avail $tf [...]
Usage
Count packages in a specific repository.
$ grep-dctrl --count '' /var/lib/apt/lists/repo.proxysql.com_ProxySQL_proxysql-2.0.x_stretch_._Packages 5
Display packages defined in a specific repository.
$ grep-dctrl --show-field Package,Version '' /var/lib/apt/lists/repo.proxysql.com_ProxySQL_proxysql-2.0.x_stretch_._Packages Package: proxysql Version: 2.0.4 Package: proxysql Version: 2.0.2 Package: proxysql Version: 2.0.3 Package: proxysql Version: 2.0.1 Package: proxysql Version: 2.0.5
Display packages defined in a specific repository using a table.
$ grep-dctrl --show-field Package,Version '' /var/lib/apt/lists/repo.proxysql.com_ProxySQL_proxysql-2.0.x_stretch_._Packages | \ sort-dctrl --key-spec Package,Version | \ tbl-dctrl --column Package --column Version +==========+=========+ | Package | Version | +----------+---------+ | proxysql | 2.0.1 | | proxysql | 2.0.2 | | proxysql | 2.0.3 | | proxysql | 2.0.4 | | proxysql | 2.0.5 | +==========+=========+
Count installed packages.
$ grep-status --count --field Package '' 351
Display details of the specific installed package.
$ grep-status --exact-match --field Package openssh-server --and --field Status "install ok installed" Package: openssh-server Status: install ok installed Priority: optional Section: net Installed-Size: 1449 Maintainer: Debian OpenSSH Maintainers <debian-ssh@lists.debian.org> Architecture: amd64 Multi-Arch: foreign Source: openssh Version: 1:7.9p1-9 Replaces: openssh-client (<< 1:7.9p1-8), ssh, ssh-krb5 Provides: ssh-server Depends: adduser (>= 3.9), dpkg (>= 1.9.0), libpam-modules (>= 0.72-9), libpam-runtime (>= 0.76-14), lsb-base (>= 4.1+Debian3), openssh-client (= 1:7.9p1-9), openssh-sftp-server, procps, ucf (>= 0.28), debconf (>= 0.5) | debconf-2.0, libaudit1 (>= 1:2.2.1), libc6 (>= 2.26), libcom-err2 (>= 1.43.9), libgssapi-krb5-2 (>= 1.17), libkrb5-3 (>= 1.13~alpha1+dfsg), libpam0g (>= 0.99.7.1), libselinux1 (>= 1.32), libssl1.1 (>= 1.1.1), libsystemd0, libwrap0 (>= 7.6-4~), zlib1g (>= 1:1.1.4) Recommends: default-logind | logind | libpam-systemd, ncurses-term, xauth Suggests: molly-guard, monkeysphere, rssh, ssh-askpass, ufw Conflicts: sftp, ssh-socks, ssh2 Conffiles: /etc/default/ssh 500e3cf069fe9a7b9936108eb9d9c035 /etc/init.d/ssh 0adcea4e477bba5422f1ced4ec15ce64 /etc/pam.d/sshd 8b4c7a12b031424b2a9946881da59812 /etc/ssh/moduli 3f02069ef69e6636b879ec3c0706a664 /etc/ufw/applications.d/openssh-server 486b78d54b93cc9fdc950c1d52ff479e Description: secure shell (SSH) server, for secure access from remote machines This is the portable version of OpenSSH, a free implementation of the Secure Shell protocol as specified by the IETF secsh working group. . Ssh (Secure Shell) is a program for logging into a remote machine and for executing commands on a remote machine. It provides secure encrypted communications between two untrusted hosts over an insecure network. X11 connections and arbitrary TCP/IP ports can also be forwarded over the secure channel. It can be used to provide applications with a secure communication channel. . This package provides the sshd server. . In some countries it may be illegal to use any encryption at all without a special permit. . sshd replaces the insecure rshd program, which is obsolete for most purposes. Homepage: http://www.openssh.com/ </debian-ssh@lists.debian.org>
Check if a specific version is installed.
$ grep-status --quiet --exact-match --field Package openssh-server --and --field Version --ge "1:7.9" && echo PASSED || echo FAILED PASSED
$ grep-status --quiet --exact-match --field Package openssh-server --and --field Version --ge "1:7.11" && echo PASSED || echo FAILED FAILED
Search packages by tags.
$ grep-available \( \( --field Tag "interface::commandline" --and --field Tag "uitoolkit::ncurses" \) --and --field Tag "role::program" --and --field Tag "use::organizing" \) --and --not --field Section "x11" --show-field Package,Description | tbl-dctrl +==========+==========================================================+ | Package | Description | +----------+----------------------------------------------------------+ | calcurse | text-based calendar and todo manager | | grass | Geographic Resources Analysis Support System (GRASS GIS) | | mc | Midnight Commander - a powerful file manager | | wyrd | text-based calendar application | | xstow | Extended replacement of GNU Stow | +==========+==========================================================+
Display the way how the current command line is parsed.
$ grep-available \( \( --field Tag "interface::commandline" --and --field Tag "uitoolkit::ncurses" \) --and --field Tag "role::program" --and --field Tag "use::organizing" \) --and --not --field Section "x11" --debug-optparse
tokens: ( ( -F[Tag] string[interface::commandline] -a -F[Tag] string[uitoolkit::ncurses] ) -a -F[Tag] string[role::program] -a -F[Tag] string[use::organizing] ) -a ! -F[Section] string[x11]
AND
AND
AND
AND
ATOM field_name = Tag
mode = 0
ignore_case = 0
whole_pkg = 0
pat = interface::commandline
ATOM field_name = Tag
mode = 0
ignore_case = 0
whole_pkg = 0
pat = uitoolkit::ncurses
ATOM field_name = Tag
mode = 0
ignore_case = 0
whole_pkg = 0
pat = role::program
ATOM field_name = Tag
mode = 0
ignore_case = 0
whole_pkg = 0
pat = use::organizing
NOT
ATOM field_name = Section
mode = 0
ignore_case = 0
whole_pkg = 0
pat = x11
num_fnames = 0
Display the top 10 maintainers.
$ grep-available --field Maintainer '' --show-field Maintainer --no-field-names | \ sort | \ uniq --count | \ sort --human-numeric-sort --reverse | \ head | \ sed "s/@/ at /" 3616 Debian Perl Group <pkg-perl-maintainers at lists.alioth.debian.org> 2954 Debian Haskell Group <pkg-haskell-maintainers at lists.alioth.debian.org> 2188 Debian Python Modules Team <python-modules-team at lists.alioth.debian.org> 1800 Debian Science Maintainers <debian-science-maintainers at lists.alioth.debian.org> 1774 Debian Java Maintainers <pkg-java-maintainers at lists.alioth.debian.org> 1664 Debian GCC Maintainers <debian-gcc at lists.debian.org> 1646 Debian Javascript Maintainers <pkg-javascript-devel at lists.alioth.debian.org> 1335 Debian QA Group <packages at qa.debian.org> 1233 Debian Med Packaging Team <debian-med-packaging at lists.alioth.debian.org> 1165 Debian Ruby Extras Maintainers <pkg-ruby-extras-maintainers at lists.alioth.debian.org>
Display the top 10 installed packages by size.
$ grep-status --show-field Installed-Size,Package --no-field-names --field Status "install ok installed" | \
paste --serial --delimiters " \n" | \
sort --human-numeric-sort --reverse | \
awk '{MB=$1/1024; printf("%.1f Mb %s\n",MB,$NF)}' | \
head
257.3 Mb linux-image-4.19.0-4-amd64
30.9 Mb libicu63
25.6 Mb libperl5.28
19.0 Mb iso-codes
18.5 Mb perl-modules-5.28
15.8 Mb grub-common
15.7 Mb locales
15.4 Mb coreutils
13.2 Mb systemd
12.0 Mb libc6
Display the top 10 available packages by size.
$ grep-available --show-field Installed-Size,Package --no-field-names --field Package '' | \
paste --serial --delimiters " \n" | \
sort --human-numeric-sort --reverse | \
awk '{MB=$1/1024; printf("%.1f Mb %s\n",MB,$NF)}' | \
head
7216.6 Mb unidic-mecab
4920.2 Mb linux-image-4.19.0-5-rt-amd64-dbg
4919.7 Mb linux-image-4.19.0-5-amd64-dbg
4742.6 Mb kicad-packages3d
1996.3 Mb 0ad-data
1965.3 Mb piglit
1688.6 Mb flightgear-data-base
1468.1 Mb linux-image-4.19.0-5-cloud-amd64-dbg
1235.4 Mb acl2-books
1076.0 Mb texlive-fonts-extra
Additional information
There is a lot more information you can process, so check out the grep-dctrl manual page.
