Synaptic Package Manager
Revision for “Synaptic Package Manager” created on May 1, 2023 @ 17:38:31
| Title | Synaptic Package Manager |
|---|---|
| Content | <h1>Synaptic Package Manager</h1>
<a href="https://www.bodhilinux.com/a/synaptic/">Synaptic Package Manager</a> is a graphical front-end to <a href="https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-faq/pkgtools.en.html#apt-get">apt</a> (<em>Advanced Package Tool</em>), the package management system in Bodhi Linux. It combines the point-and-click simplicity with the power of the <code>apt</code> or <code>apt-get</code> command-line tools.
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>You will see Synaptic Package Manager interchanged with simply "Synaptic"
</em></p>
<h2>Features</h2>
<ul>
<li>Install, remove, upgrade and downgrade single and multiple packages</li>
<li>Upgrade your whole system</li>
<li>Manage package repositories (<code>sources.list</code>)</li>
<li>Find packages by name, description and several other attributes</li>
<li>Select packages by status, section, name or a custom filter</li>
<li>Sort packages by name, status, size or version</li>
<li>Browse all available online documentation related to a package</li>
<li>Download the latest <code>changelog</code> of a package</li>
<li>Lock packages to the current version</li>
<li>Force the installation of a specific package version</li>
<li>Undo/Redo of selections</li>
</ul>
<h2>Getting Started</h2>
To open <a href="https://www.bodhilinux.com/a/synaptic/">Synaptic Package Manager</a>:
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>Main Menu > Applications > System Tools > Synaptic Package Manager</em></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>Note: Synaptic requires elevated permissions to run; you will be prompted to enter your sudo password - by default, this is your login password
</em></p>
<h2>Application Overview</h2>
<h3>The Main Window</h3>
This is divided into three sections:
<ul>
<li>1. Package browser - left panel</li>
<li>2. Package list - upper right panel</li>
<li>3. Package details - lower right panel</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://www.bodhilinux.com/trial/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/SynapticsPackageManager-620x442.png?x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3473" src="https://www.bodhilinux.com/trial/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/SynapticsPackageManager-620x442.png?x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737" alt="Synaptics Package Manager" width="200" height="143" /></a>
<h3>The Toolbar</h3>
The toolbar contains the following items:
<a href="https://www.bodhilinux.com/trial/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/SynapticToolbar-620x105.png?x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3586" src="https://www.bodhilinux.com/trial/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/SynapticToolbar-620x105.png?x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737" alt="Synaptic Toolbar" width="300" height="51" /></a>
<ul>
<li>Reload: reloads the list of applications from each of the repositories held on your system</li>
<li>Mark All Upgrades: marks all the applications that have available upgrades</li>
<li>Apply: applies changes to marked applications</li>
<li>Properties: provides information about selected applications</li>
<li>Search: opens a search box where you can search the repositories for an application</li>
</ul>
<h3>Package Browser - Left Panel</h3>
There are a series of buttons at the bottom of the left panel, they change the view of the list at the top of the left panel. The buttons being:
<ul>
<li>Sections: shows a list of categories in the left panel</li>
<li>Status: show applications by status. The statuses are: Installed, Installed (<em>auto removable</em>), Installed (<em>local or obsolete</em>), Installed (<em>manually</em>), Installed (<em>upgradeable</em>), Not Installed, Not Installed (<em>residual</em> <em>config</em>)</li>
<li>Origin: displays a list of repositories</li>
<li>Custom Filters: filter by categories: All, Broken, Community Maintained, Marked Changes, Missing Recommended Packages, Packages with Debconf, Search Filter, Upgradeable (<em>upstream</em>)</li>
<li>Search Results: shows a list of search results in the right panel</li>
<li>Architecture: lists categories by architecture: All, Arch: all, Arch: amd64, Arch: i386</li>
</ul>
<h3>Package List - Upper Right Panel</h3>
Clicking a category in the left panel or searching for an application brings up a list of applications in the upper right panel. The applications panel contains the following headings:
<ul>
<li>Check Mark (<em>for selected</em>)</li>
<li>Package (<em>name</em>)</li>
<li>Installed Version</li>
<li>Latest Version</li>
<li>Description</li>
</ul>
<h3>Package Description - Lower Right Panel</h3>
The lower left panel displays a more detailed description of the selected application from the upper right panel package list
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>Tip: to install or upgrade an application, see the section <a href="https://www.bodhilinux.com/w/synaptic-package-manager/#Install_Software_Packages">Install Software Packages </a>(below)</em></p>
<h3>Repositories</h3>
Repositories represent collections of nearly all the software, drivers, codecs, libraries and other packages that are available for Bodhi Linux. These are curated by the <a href="https://www.bodhilinux.com/w/the-team/">Bodhi Linux Development Team</a> (<em>Moksha Desktop, Bodhi Linux Apps and similar</em>) or, for more generic/general Ubuntu based packages<em>,</em> the wider <a href="https://ubuntu.com/community">Ubuntu development community</a>.
To manage software package repositories from the Synaptic Menu, click <em>Settings > Repositories
</em>
<a href="https://www.bodhilinux.com/trial/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/SynapticRepositories-620x434.png?x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3587" src="https://www.bodhilinux.com/trial/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/SynapticRepositories-620x434.png?x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737" alt="Synaptic Repositories " width="200" height="140" /></a>From there you can enable/disable installed repositories, or add new.
<h2>Using Synaptic To:</h2>
<h3>Install Software Package(s)</h3>
<ol>
<li>Find a package you want to install (<em>by searching or using filtered categories</em>). In the package list on the right, click your package and select <em>Mark for Installation</em>. A confirmation will be displayed; review and when happy click <em>Mark</em>.<em>
<img class="wp-image-3589 aligncenter" src="https://www.bodhilinux.com/trial/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/SynapticMarkForInstallation-620x597.png?x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737" alt="Synaptic Mark for Installation" width="200" height="193" /></em></li>
<li>If you have more software packages to install, repeat step #1. Once you're satisfied you have all your software <em>Marked for Installation</em>, click <em>Apply</em> from the toolbar.</li>
<li>A final confirmation window will open. Review the packages to be installed by expanding the <em>To be Installed</em> list. When you're happy to proceed, click <em>Apply</em> to install the package. The installation progress will be shown, followed by a confirmation when complete.</li>
</ol>
<a href="https://www.bodhilinux.com/trial/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/SynapticApply-620x364.png?x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737"><img class="wp-image-3591 aligncenter" src="https://www.bodhilinux.com/trial/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/SynapticApply-620x364.png?x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737" alt="Synaptic Apply" width="199" height="117" /></a>
<h3>Upgrade a Package</h3>
Click <em>Reload</em> from the toolbar (<em>or press <Ctrl>+< R></em>) to refresh the <em>Synaptic Repository Cache</em>. Right-click on the package, selecting <em>Mark for Upgrade</em> from the context menu (<em>or press <Ctrl>+<U></em>). Once you are satisfied with your choices, click <em>Apply</em> in the toolbar (<em>or press <Ctrl>+<P></em>).
A summary of changes will be shown, confirm the changes by clicking on <em>Apply</em>.
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>Note: if your system does not have Internet access, generate a download script instead of using Apply</em></p>
<h3>Update all Package(s)</h3>
Just like when upgrading a package, click <em>Reload</em> (<em>or press <Ctrl>+<R></em>) to refresh the <em>Synaptic Repository Cache.</em> From the toolbar, click <em>Mark all Upgrades</em> (<em>or press <Ctrl>+<G></em>). Click <em>Apply</em> on the toolbar (<em>or press <Ctrl>+<P></em>). A summary of the changes will be shown. Click <em>Apply</em> to confirm the changes and proceed with updates.
<a href="https://www.bodhilinux.com/trial/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/SynapticMarkAllForUpgrade.png?x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3605" src="https://www.bodhilinux.com/trial/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/SynapticMarkAllForUpgrade-620x376.png?x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737&x55737" alt="Synaptic Mark All For Upgrade" width="200" height="121" /></a>
<h3>Remove or Uninstall Packages</h3>
To remove a package, right-click on the package and select <em>Mark for Removal</em>. Once you're satisfied with your selection(s), click on <em>Apply</em> from the toolbar (<em>or press <Ctrl>+< P></em>). A summary of changes will be shown; confirm the changes by clicking <em>Apply</em>.
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>Note: the Mark for Complete Removal option will remove any configuration files associated with the package as well, similar to <a href="https://docs.oracle.com/cd/B19306_01/server.102/b14200/statements_9018.htm">purge </a></em></p>
<h3>Fix broken package(s)</h3>
A <strong>broken package</strong> is one which has <a href="https://askubuntu.com/questions/361741/what-are-dependencies">dependencies</a> that <em>cannot be satisfied</em> during installation. If one or more broken packages are detected, <a href="https://www.bodhilinux.com/a/synaptic/">Synaptic </a>will prevent any further package changes until the broken package(s) have been addressed.
To fix broken package(s), from the <em>Synaptic Menu</em> select <em>Edit > Fix Broken Packages</em>. <em>S</em>elect <em>Apply Marked Changes</em> (<em>or press <Ctrl>+< P></em>). Confirm the summary of changes and click <em>Apply</em>.
<h2>Additional Resources</h2>
<ul>
<li>Synaptic <a href="https://www.nongnu.org/synaptic/">website</a></li>
<li>Further detail from Debian relating to <a href="https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-faq/pkgtools.en.html#apt-get">apt/apt-get</a></li>
<li>Get <a href="https://www.bodhilinux.com/a/synaptic/">Synaptic</a></li>
</ul>
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