Datasheet

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Chapter 4 ✦ Software Management
to lose power during a package maintenance session, the database would be left in
an inconsistent state. There’s actually a third space there for another letter, which
is the error indicator. See Table 4-2 for the meanings of the three status letters.
Table 4-2
Status Indicators
Letter Description
First Character — Desired Status
u Unknown: For package names that dpkg has never had to install or remove, this
character is displayed.
i Install: The package is supposed to be installed.
r Remove: The package is supposed to be removed.
p Purge: The package is supposed to be purged (removed, and with all
configuration files deleted as well).
h Hold: Any packages that the administrator has put on hold won’t be
automatically upgraded or removed.
Second Character — Actual Status
n Not Installed: The package is not installed.
i Installed: The package is installed.
c Config-files: The package’s configuration files remain.
u Unpacked: The package has been unpacked, and its files have overwritten old
ones, but the package’s post-installation script has not been run.
f Failed-config: The package’s post-installation script ran, but it failed for some
reason.
h Half-installed: The package’s installation was interrupted.
Third Character—Error Status
A single space in this position means there are no errors with the package.
H Held: A package can also be put on hold by the packaging system; for instance, if
its dependencies are broken (this often happens when the administrator forces a
package’s installation, ignoring the package’s dependencies).
R Reinst-required: If a package is in a particularly poor state, its reinstallation may
be required, and this letter indicates that.
X Both problems: When a package is both put on hold by the system and needs to
be reinstalled, X is the character displayed.
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