dselect Documentation for Beginnersdselect is Launched
Once in dselect you will get this screen:
Debian Linux `dselect' package handling frontend.
0. [A]ccess Choose the access method to use.
1. [U]pdate Update list of available packages, if possible.
2 [S]elect Request which packages you want on your system.
3. [I]nstall Install and upgrade wanted packages.
4. [C]onfig Configure any packages that are unconfigured.
5. [R]emove Remove unwanted software.
6. [Q]uit Quit dselect.
Let's look at these one by one.
Here's the access screen:
dselect - list of access methods
Abbrev. Description
cdrom Install from a CD-ROM.
* multi_cd Install from a CD-ROM set.
nfs Install from an NFS server (not yet mounted).
multi_nfs Install from an NFS server (using the CD-ROM set) (not yet mounted).
harddisk Install from a hard disk partition (not yet mounted).
mounted Install from a filesystem which is already mounted.
multi_mount Install from a mounted partition with changing contents.
floppy Install from a pile of floppy disks.
apt APT Acquisition [file,http,ftp]
Here we tell dselect where our packages are. Please ignore the
order that these appear in. It is very important that you select the proper
method for installation. You may have a few more methods listed, or a few
less, or see them listed in a different order; just don't worry about it. In
the following list, we describe the different methods.
Packages.cd). When you first select this
method, be sure the CD-ROM you will be using is not mounted. Place the last
binary disk of the set (we don't need the source CDs) in the drive and
answer the questions you are asked:
Once you have updated the available list and selected the packages to be installed, the multi-cd method diverges from normal procedure. You will need to run an ``install'' step for each of the CDs you have in turn. Unfortunately due to the limitations of dselect it will not be able to prompt you for a new disk at each stage; the way to work for each disk is
It may be neccesary to run the installation step more than once to cover the order of package installation - some packages installed early may need to have later packages installed before they will configure properly.
Running a ``Configure'' step is recommended, to help fix any packages that may end up in this state.
Configuration of this method is straight-forward; you may select any number of different locations, mixing and matching file: URLs (local disks or NFS mounted disks), http: URLs, or ftp: URLs. Note however that the HTTP and FTP options do not support local authenticating proxies.
If you have proxy server for either http or ftp (or both), make sure you set the http_proxy or ftp_proxy environment variables, respectively. Set them from your shell before starting dselect, i.e.:
# export http_proxy=http://gateway:3128/
# dselect
This is a simple installation method, with simple requirements: give it the address of the NFS server, the location of the Debian distribution on the server and (maybe) the Packages file(s). Then dselect will install the various sections in turn from the server. Slow but easy; does not use proper ordering, so it will take many runs of the ``Install'' and/or ``Configure'' steps. Obviously only appropriate for NFS based installation.
Supply the block device of the hard drive partition to use, and as usual the locations of the Debian files on that partition. Slow and easy. Does not use proper ordering, so it will take many runs of the ``Install'' and/or ``Configure'' steps. Not recommended, since the ``apt'' method supports this functionality, with proper ordering.
Simply specify the location(s) of the Debian files in your filesystem. Possibly the easiest method, but slow. Does not use proper ordering, so it will take many runs of the ``Install'' and/or ``Configure'' steps.
Designed for single-CD installations, this simple method will ask for the location of your CD-ROM drive, the location of the Debian distribution on that disk and then (if necessary) the location(s) of the Packages file(s) on the disk. Simple but quite slow. Does not use proper ordering, so it will take many runs of the ``Install'' and/or ``Configure'' steps. Not recommended, because it assumes the distribution is on a single CD-ROM, which is no longer the case. Use the ``multi_cd'' method instead.
If you run into any problems -- maybe Linux can not see your CD-ROM, your NFS mount is not working or you have forgotten which partition the packages are on -- you have a couple of options:
dselect and run it again later. You might even need to shut
down the computer to solve some problem. This is quite ok but when you come
back to dselect run it as root. It will not be run automatically
after the first time.
After you choose the access method dselect will get you to
indicate the precise location of the packages. If you do not get this right
the first time hit Control-C and return to the ``Access'' item.
Once you are through here you will be returned to the main screen.
dselect will read the Packages or
Packages.gz files from the mirror and create a database on your
system of all available packages. This may take a while as it downloads and
processes the files.
Hang on to your hat. This is where it all happens. The object of the exercise is to select just which packages you wish to have installed.
Hit Enter. If you have a slow machine be aware that the screen will clear and can remain blank for 15 seconds so don't start bashing keys at this point.
The first thing that comes up on the screen is page 1 of the Help file. You can get to this help by hitting ? at any point in the ``Select'' screens and you can page through the help screens by hitting the . (full stop) key.
Before you dive in note these points:
dselect will warn you of the problem and will most likely suggest
a solution. If package A conflicts with package B (i.e.,
if they are mutually exclusive) you will be asked to decide between them.
Let's look at the top two lines of the ``Select'' screen.
dselect - main package listing (avail., priority) mark:+/=/- verbose:v help:?
EIOM Pri Section Package Inst.ver Avail.ver Description
This header reminds us of some of the special keys:
Flag Meaning Possible values
E Error Space, R, I
I Installed state Space, *, -, U, C, I
O Old mark *, -, =, _, n
M Mark *, -, =, _, n
Rather that spell all this out here I refer you to the Help screens where all is revealed. One example though.
You enter dselect and find a line like this:
EIOM Pri Section Package Description
** Opt misc loadlin a loader (running under DOS) for LINUX kernel
This is saying that loadlin was selected when you last ran dselect
and that it is still selected, but it is not installed. Why not? The answer
must be that the loadlin package is not physically available. It is missing
from your mirror.
The information which dselect uses to get all the right packages
installed is buried in the packages themselves. Nothing in this world is
perfect and it does sometimes happen that the dependancies built into a package
are incorrect, with the result that dselect simply cannot resolve
the situation. A way out is provided where the user can regain control and it
takes the form of the commands Q and X which are available in
the ``Select'' screen.
dselect to ignore the built in dependancies
and to do what you have specified. The results, of course, will be on your own
head.
Keys which help you not to get lost (!) are R, U and D.
dselect has proposed changes and you have made further changes
U will restore dselect's selections.
dselect, leaving only yours.
An example follows. The boot-floppies package (not an example for
beginners, I know, but it was choosen because it has a lot of dependencies)
depends on these packages:
libc6-pic
slang1-pic
sysutils
makedev
newt0.25
newt0.25-dev
popt
zlib1g
zlib1g-dev
recode
The person maintaining boot-floppies also thinks that the
following packages should be installed. These are not, however, essential:
lynx
debiandoc-sgml
unzip
So when I select boot-floppies I get this screen:
dselect - recursive package listing mark: +/=/- verbose:v help:?
EIOM Pri Section Package Description
dselect - recursive package listing mark:+/=/- verbose:v help:?
EIOM Pri Section Package Description
** Opt admin boot-floppie Scripts to create the Debian installation floppy set.
_* Opt devel newt0.25-dev Developer's toolkit for newt windowing library
_* Opt devel slang1-dev The S-Lang programming library, development version.
_* Opt devel slang1-pic The S-Lang programming library, shared library subset ki
(Other packages may or may not appear, depending on what is already in your system). You'll notice that all the required packages have been selected for me.
The R key puts things back to the starting point.
dselect - recursive package listing mark: +/=/- verbose:v help:?
EIOM Pri Section Package Description
dselect - recursive package listing mark:+/=/- verbose:v help:?
EIOM Pri Section Package Description
__ Opt admin boot-floppie Scripts to create the Debian installation floppy set.
__ Opt devel newt0.25-dev Developer's toolkit for newt windowing library
__ Opt devel slang1-dev The S-Lang programming library, development version.
__ Opt devel slang1-pic The S-Lang programming library, shared library subset ki
To decide now that you don't want boot-floppies, just hit Enter.
The Dkey puts things the way I selected them in the first place:
dselect - recursive package listing mark: +/=/- verbose:v help:?
EIOM Pri Section Package Description
dselect - recursive package listing mark:+/=/- verbose:v help:?
EIOM Pri Section Package Description
_* Opt admin boot-floppie Scripts to create the Debian installation floppy set.
__ Opt devel newt0.25-dev Developer's toolkit for newt windowing library
__ Opt devel slang1-dev The S-Lang programming library, development version.
__ Opt devel slang1-pic The S-Lang programming library, shared library subset ki
The U key restores dselect's selections:
dselect - recursive package listing mark: +/=/- verbose:v help:?
EIOM Pri Section Package Description
dselect - recursive package listing mark:+/=/- verbose:v help:?
EIOM Pri Section Package Description
_* Opt admin boot-floppie Scripts to create the Debian installation floppy set.
_* Opt devel newt0.25-dev Developer's toolkit for newt windowing library
_* Opt devel slang1-dev The S-Lang programming library, development version.
_* Opt devel slang1-pic The S-Lang programming library, shared library subset ki
I suggest running with the defaults for now -- you will have ample opportunity of adding more later.
Whatever you decide, hit Enter to accept and return to the main screen. If this results in unresolved problems you will be bounced right back to another problem resolution screen.
So the R, U, and D keys are very useful in ``what if'' situations. You can experiment at will and then restore everything and start again. Don't look on them as being in a glass box labelled ``Break In Emergency.''
After making your selections in the ``Select'' screen, hit the I to
give you a big window, t to take you to the beginning and then use the
Page-Down key to look quickly through the settings. This way you can
check the results of your work and spot glaring errors. Some people have
deselected whole groups of packages by mistake and not noticed the error until
too late. dselect is a very powerful tool so don't
misuse it.
You should now have this situation:
package category status
required all selected
important all selected
standard mostly selected
optional mostly deselected
extra mostly deselected
Happy? Hit Enter to exit the ``Select'' process. You can come back and run ``Select'' again if you wish.
dselect runs through the entire set of 3650 packages and installs
those selected. Expect to get asked to make decisions as you go. It is often
useful to switch to a different shell to compare, say, an old config with a new
one. If the old file is conf.modules the new one will be
conf.modules.dpkg-new.
The screen scrolls past fairly quickly on a fast machine. You can stop/start
it with Control-s/Control-q and at the end of the run you
will get a list of any uninstalled packages. If you want to keep a record of
everything that happens use normal Unix features like tee or
script.
It can happen that a package does not get installed because it depends on some other package which is listed for installation but is not yet installed. The answer here is to run ``Install'' again. Cases have been reported where it was necessary to run it 4 times before everything slipped into place. This will vary by your acquisistion method.
Most packages get configured in step 3, but anything left hanging can be configured here.
Removes packages that are installed but no longer required.
I suggest running /etc/cron.daily/find at this point as you have a
lot of new files on your system. Then you can use locate to get
the location of any given file.
dselect Documentation for Beginnersbortzmeyer@debian.org