Hi,
This is not for the faint of heart so fresh baked noobs get away!
This is my first HOWTO. I noticed I was explaining debfoster a lot and I wanted to have a link to it. debfoster is a very powerful tool once you are getting used to it. I've thought up five scenarios of use :
SCENARIO 1)You use it to keep track of what you did install
SCENARIO 2)You want to make your system clean,mean and lean.
SCENARIO 3)You have had problems with upgrading to hoary or you have entered a dependencies hell on accident.
SCENARIO 4)You want an internet gateway with a nice windowmanager that uses little resources.
SCENARIO 5)You want to remove all of kde and kubuntu and go back to ubuntu-desktop
apt-cache show debfoster :
Description: Install only wanted Debian packages
debfoster is a wrapper program for apt and dpkg. When first run, it
will ask you which of the installed packages you want to keep
installed.
.
After that, it maintains a list of packages that you want to have
installed on your system. It uses this list to detect packages that
have been installed only because other packages depended on them. If
one of these dependencies changes, debfoster will take notice, and
ask if you want to remove the old package.
.
This helps you to maintain a clean Debian install, without old
(mainly library) packages lying around that aren't used any more.
man debfoster :
to install debfoster :debfoster - weed unnecessary Debian packages
debfoster maintains a list of installed packages that were explicitly requested rather than installed as a dependency. Arguments are entirely optional, debfoster can be invoked per se after each run of dpkg and/or apt-get.
Alternatively you can use debfoster to install and remove packages by specifying the packages on the command line. Packages suffixed with a - are removed while packages without a suffix are installed.
If a new package is encountered or if debfoster notices that a package that used to be a dependency is now an orphan, it will ask you what to do with it. If you decide to keep it, debfoster will just take note and continue. If you decide that this package is not interesting enough it will be removed as soon as debfoster is done asking questions. If your choises cause other packages to become orphaned more questions will ensue.
sudo apt-get install debfoster
EVERYTHING IN THIS HOWTO IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. You should understand what you are doing and also read the manpage($ man defoster) before doing any commands. If you do the following things the risk will be minimal.
-There is one very IMPORTANT thing. ALWAYS MAKE SURE THAT THE PACKAGE ubuntu-base IS MENTIONED IN YOUR KEEPERS FILE! Never choose to purge it when run debfoster from the commandline! This will render your system unusable.
-Be sure to to never remove the kernel you are currently running from your keepers file. Removing it probably won't succeed but if it will succeed (and you have no other kernels available in your grub menu then it will be a pain to boot the correct kernel)
-don't remove the grub package!
-Also be sure that you backup important configuration files that you have edited yourself!
-If you decide to do it and this is your only box. It would be handy to keep a live-cd aside in case you run into troubles
-it's nice if you leave debfoster in the keepers file otherwise it might try to remove itself
SCENARIO 1)You use it to keep track of what you did install
to install debfoster type :
$ sudo apt-get install debfoster
to create the initial keepers file type :
$ sudo debfoster -q
to edit the keepers file type :
$ sudo pico /var/lib/debfoster/keepers
NEVER remove your current kernel (for example linux-686) and ubuntu-base
Also be sure that you backup important configuration files that you have edited yourself!
To force debfoster to remove all packages that aren't listed in this list or dependencies of packages that are listed in this list.It will also add all packages in this list that aren't installed. So it makes your system comply with this list. Do this :
$ sudo debfoster -f
from the manpage of debfoster :
To keep track of what you installed additionally do once in a while :-f, --force
Don’t ask anything and assume ‘no’ as the answer to all questions. It also installs any packages that seem to be missing, thus forcing your
system to comply with the debfoster database. Can have ‘interesting’ results if you’re not careful.
$ sudo debfoster
type i for info, h for help, p for purge, y for remove and n for not remove
================================================== ==========================================
SCENARIO 2)You want to make your system clean,mean and lean.
basically the same as scenario 1 but I want to add these comments :
ubuntu-base,ubuntu-desktop are the metapackages that all other packages depend on when you first install ubuntu.
This cleans your apt-get cache this can be a lot of space if you never do apt-get clean :
$ sudo apt-cache clean
deborphan is also very nice.
$ sudo apt-get install deborphan
To find leftover configuration files :
$ deborphan --find-config
To find all orphans (only remove things you are sure about!) :
$ deborphan -a
xdiskusage is nice if you want to easily see where the space on your harddrive goes
$ sudo apt-get install xdiskusage
$ sudo xdiskusage
================================================== ============================================
SCENARIO 3)You have had problems with upgrading to hoary or you have entered a dependencies hell on accident.
First go read :
www.ubuntuguide.org
www.ubuntulinux.org/wiki/guidetohoary
http://www.ubuntulinux.org/wiki/HoaryUpgradeNotes
Make sure your /etc/apt/sources.list is the same as the one on : www.ubuntulinux.org/wiki/guidetohoary
You should search the forums about your specific problem. Here's a relevant thread about upgrading to hoary :
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=23624
So you have screwed up your box? The easiest way out of this mess is ofcourse reinstalling when hoary gets released. But that isn't fun.
Okay here we go :
Install debfoster by :
$ sudo apt-get install debfoster
edit your keepers file by :
$ sudo pico /var/lib/debfoster/keepers
It should look at like this (assuming you are on a 686 processor and using grub) :
You should remove all other lines.Code:ubuntu-base linux-686 debfoster grub
Now we go to init 1. To make sure we don't harm processes that are running.
$ sudo init 1
Also be sure that you backup important configuration files that you have edited yourself!
To force debfoster to remove all packages that aren't listed in this list or dependencies of packages that are listed in this list.It will also add all packages in this list that aren't installed. So it makes your system comply with this list. Do this :
$ sudo debfoster -f
from the manpage of debfoster :
After this your system is compatible with the keepers file.-f, --force
Don’t ask anything and assume ‘no’ as the answer to all questions. It also installs any packages that seem to be missing, thus forcing your
system to comply with the debfoster database. Can have ‘interesting’ results if you’re not careful.
Now install ubuntu-desktop and xserver-xorg by :
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop xserver-xorg
To start your gdm / gnome again do this :
$ sudo init 2
if gdm doesn't start do :
$ startx
if it still doesn't start you should :
backup your /etc/X11/xorg.conf by :
suco cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.bak
reconfigure your xserver by :
$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
try to start gdm/gnome again by :
$ startx
if it still doesn't start you should edit your xorg.conf by hand to solve the problem :
$ sudo pico /etc/X11/xorg.conf
or post in the forums for help and include your /var/log/Xorg.0.log
To keep track of what you installed additionally do once in a while :
$ sudo debfoster
type i for info, h for help, p for purge, y for remove and n for not remove
================================================== ===========================================
SCENARIO 4)You want an internet gateway with a nice windowmanager that uses little resources.
I've played enough with xfce4 to feel confident to use it as my only desktop-environment on my internet gateway/fileserver (using xfwm4 and vncserver
It's install size is only 771 mb in /. /home is mounted on a different partition. I've also got installed J2SE and hugin lite (but not from packages). I "downgraded" my ubuntu-base / ubuntu-desktop configuration using debfoster.
I use it for:
-downloading
-working at my own pc from school using vncserver
-fileserver using samba
this is my /var/lib/debfoster/keepers :
Okay here we go :Code:amule cgoban debfoster deborphan firestarter flashplayer-mozilla gaim gnugo grub grubconf isag linux-686 mozilla-firefox nmap prelink python raidtools2 samba slocate smbfs ssh swf-player ubuntu-base unrar vncserver xdiskusage xfce4 xfce4-goodies xfwm4 xserver-xorg
Install debfoster by :
$ sudo apt-get install debfoster
This is to create your initial keepers file :
$ sudo debfoster -q
Now edit your keepers file :
$ sudo pico /var/lib/debfoster/keepers
And change it to at least (IMO for this scenario) :
Also include your favorite applications.Be sure not to forget the ones you have already configured because all packages that are not listed will be removed completly (including configuration files). GNOME applications look really nice in XFCE4! I haven't checked kde applications but they should also work nicely.Code:debfoster deborphan firestarter gaim grub linux-686 mozilla-firefox prelink samba slocate smbfs ssh ubuntu-base xfce4 xfce4-goodies xfwm4 xserver-xorg
Now we go to init 1. To make sure we don't harm processes that are running.
$ sudo init 1
Also be sure that you backup important configuration files that you have edited yourself!
To force debfoster to remove all packages that aren't listed in this list or dependencies of packages that are listed in this list.It will also add all packages in this list that aren't installed. So it makes your system comply with this list. Do this :
$ sudo debfoster -f
from the manpage of debfoster :
After this your system is compatible with the keepers file.-f, --force
Don’t ask anything and assume ‘no’ as the answer to all questions. It also installs any packages that seem to be missing, thus forcing your
system to comply with the debfoster database. Can have ‘interesting’ results if you’re not careful.
To start your xfce4 and enter init level 2 do this :
$ sudo init 2
if xfce4 doesn't start do :
$ startxfce4
if it still doesn't start you should :
backup your /etc/X11/xorg.conf by :
suco cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.bak
reconfigure your xserver by :
$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
try to start xfce4 again by :
$ startxfce4
if it still doesn't start you should edit your xorg.conf by hand to solve the problem :
$ sudo pico /etc/X11/xorg.conf
or post in the forums for help and include your /var/log/Xorg.0.log
To keep track of what you installed additionally do once in a while :
$ sudo debfoster
type i for info, h for help, p for purge, y for remove and n for not remove
To configure samba and learn more about it please check www.ubuntuguide.org
see here for how to configure prelink :
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthre...hlight=prelink
================================================== ================================
SCENARIO 5)You want to remove all of kde and kubuntu and go back to ubuntu-desktop
Install debfoster by :
$ sudo apt-get install debfoster
to build the keepers file without asking questions :
$ sudo debfoster -q
and edit your keepers file by :
$ sudo pico /var/lib/debfoster/keepers
It should look at least like this (assuming you are on a 686 processor and using grub) :
Also include your favorite applications.Be sure not to forget the ones you have already configured because all packages that are not listed will be removed completly (including configuration files).Code:ubuntu-base ubuntu-desktop linux-686 xserver-xorg debfoster grub
You should remove kubuntu-desktop and all packages that start with the letter k that you know belong to kde and don't want anymore. If your kubuntu-desktop is broken and doesn't show up don't worry it's just a meta-package. Be sure to remove kdebase,kdm,kdelibs,kdelibs4 if they are mentioned in the keepers file. Also please keep all applications that are mentioned in the keepers file and that you do use. You should remove all other lines you are not sure of.
Now we go to init 1. To make sure we don't harm processes that are running.
$ sudo init 1
Also be sure that you backup important configuration files that you have edited yourself!
To force debfoster to remove all packages that aren't listed in this list or dependencies of packages that are listed in this list.It will also add all packages in this list that aren't installed. So it makes your system comply with this list. Do this :
$ sudo debfoster -f
from the manpage of debfoster :
After this your system is compatible with the keepers file.-f, --force
Don’t ask anything and assume ‘no’ as the answer to all questions. It also installs any packages that seem to be missing, thus forcing your
system to comply with the debfoster database. Can have ‘interesting’ results if you’re not careful.
To start your gdm / gnome again do this :
$ sudo init 2
if gdm doesn't start do :
$ startx
if it still doesn't start you should :
backup your /etc/X11/xorg.conf by :
suco cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.bak
reconfigure your xserver by :
$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
try to start gdm/gnome again by :
$ startx
if it still doesn't start you should edit your xorg.conf by hand to solve the problem :
$ sudo pico /etc/X11/xorg.conf
or post in the forums for help and include your /var/log/Xorg.0.log
To keep track of what you installed additionally do once in a while :
$ sudo debfoster
type i for info, h for help, p for purge, y for remove and n for not remove
edit :
here's the website of debfoster :
http://www.fruit.je/debfoster
here's a nice story about debfoster :
http://ubuntu.wordpress.com/
Adv Reply
Originally Posted by bored2k
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