NAME

Linux::APT - Interface with APT for Debian distributions

DESCRIPTION

Perl interface to apt-get and apt-cache. If Debian's aptpkg modules were on CPAN, this module (probably) wouldn't be necessary. This is just a wrapper around the apt tools along with some regular expression magic to capture interesting pieces of information/warnings/errors in the process. It doesn't do everything that is possible, but it should fill the most typical needs. Features will be added on request or my own need. Please file a wishlist bug report on the CPAN bug tracker with your feature requests.

All (or almost all?) features require root privileges. If you can use sudo to provide this functionality, see new to see how to do this.

It's not ready for production use, but you're welcome to give it a try. Please file bug reports if you come across any problems/bugs/etc. Patches are always welcomed, of course.

EXAMPLE

my $apt = Linux::APT->new;
my $update = $apt->update;
my $toupgrade = $apt->toupgrade;
my $upgraded = $apt->install(keys(%{$toupgrade->{packages}}));

METHODS

new

my $apt = Linux::APT->new;

# only if you _really_ want to see what's going on...
my $apt = Linux::APT->new(debug => 1);

# if you want to use an alternate apt-get/apt-cache binary
my $apt = Linux::APT->new(
  aptget => '/some/path/to/apt-get',
  aptcache => '/some/path/to/apt-cache',
);

# if you have special needs (like sudo, etc)
my $apt = Linux::APT->new(
  aptget => '/usr/bin/sudo /some/path/to/apt-get -s', # sudo and no-act
  aptcache => '/usr/bin/sudo /some/path/to/apt-cache', # sudo
);

Creates an instance of Linux::APT, just like you would expect.

If you have special needs for only one function (install maybe?), make a separate instance with your special needs (flags, sudo, etc) and use that instance for your special need.

If your special need can't be accommodated via the aptget option above, let me know and I'll attempt to implement whatever it is that you need within the module or make your special need a bit more "accessible" to you. File a bug report on the CPAN bug tracker. Patches welcome, of course.

Arguments available:

debug: Set to 1 to enable, defaults to 0.
aptget: Specify the apt-get binary to use along with any special flags or command line tricks (sudo, chroot, fakeroot, etc). Defaults to `which apt-get`.
aptcache: Specify the apt-cache binary to use along with any special flags or command line tricks (sudo, chroot, fakeroot, etc). Defaults to `which apt-cache`.

update

my $update = $apt->update;

warn "There were errors...\n" if $update->{error};
warn "There were warnings...\n" if $update->{warning};

Update apt cache. Basically equivalent to apt-get update.

Returns hashref containing these items:

error: Arrayref of errors.
warning: Arrayref of warnings.
speed: Network transfer speed of update.
time: Wallclock time it took to update.
size: Amount of received transferred during update.

toupgrade

my $toupgrade = $apt->toupgrade;

Returns hashref of packages, errors, and warnings:

warning

Warnings, if any.

error

Errors, if any.

packages

Contains a hashref of updateable packages. Keys are package names. Each update is a hashref containing these items:

current: Currently installed version.
new: Version to be installed.

search

my $search = $apt->search('^t\w+d$', 'perl');

my $search = $apt->search({in => ['all']}, '^t\w+d$', 'perl'); # 'all' is default

my $search = $apt->search({in=>['name', 'description']},
  'linux[\s-]image', 'linux[\s-]source', 'linux kernel image');

my $search = $apt->search({in => ['description']}, 'linux kernel source');

Requires one or more search arguments in regex format. Optional options as first argument in hashref format.

Return a hashref of packages that match the regex search.

packages: Multiple searches can be specified. Each search is a hash key then broken down by each matching package name and it's summary.

install

# install or upgrade the specified packages (and all deps)
my $install = $apt->install('nautilus', 'libcups2', 'rhythmbox');

# just a dry run
my $install = $apt->install('-test', 'nautilus', 'libcups2', 'rhythmbox');

# upgrade all upgradable packages with a name containing "pulseaudio" (and all deps)
my $toupgrade = $apt->toupgrade;
my $install = $apt->install(grep(m/pulseaudio/i, keys(%{$toupgrade->{packages}})));

Install a list of packages. If the packages are already installed, they will be upgraded if an upgrade is available.

Pass in these optional options:

-force: If you wish to force an update (eg: WARNING: The following packages cannot be authenticated!), pass -force as one of your arguments (same effect as apt-get --force-yes install $packages).
-test: If you just want to know what packages would be installed/upgraded/removed, pass -test as one of your arguments. No actions will actually take place, only the actions that would have been performed will be captured. This is useful when you want to ensure some bad thing doesn't happen on accident (like removing apache2-mpm-worker when you install php5) or to allow you to present the proposed changes to the user via a user interface (GUI, webapp, etc).

Returns hashref of packages, errors, and warnings:

warning

Warnings, if any.

error

Errors, if any.

packages

Contains a hashref of installed/upgraded packages. Keys are package names. Each item is a hashref containing these items:

current: Currently installed version (after install/upgrade attempt). This version is found via an experimental technique and might fail (though it has yet to fail for me). Let me know if you find a bug or have a problem with this value.
new: Version to be installed. If new == current, the action seems to have succeeded.
old: Version that was installed before the upgrade was performed. If old == current, the action seems to have failed.

remove

my $removed = $apt->remove('php5', 'php5-common');

# just a dry run
my $removed = $apt->remove('-test', 'php5', 'php5-common');

Remove a list of packages. Arguments are the exact same as install. Returns the exact same as install.

purge

my $removed = $apt->purge('php5', 'php5-common');

# just a dry run
my $removed = $apt->purge('-test', 'php5', 'php5-common');

Purge a list of packages. Arguments are the exact same as install. Returns the exact same as install.

TODO

(update this todo list...)
Add functions to modify the sources.list.
Add dist-upgrade functionality.
Add function to show version(s) of currently installed specified package(s).
Determine other necessary features. (please use the CPAN bug tracker to request features)

BUGS/WISHLIST

REPORT BUGS! Report any bugs to the CPAN bug tracker. Bug reports are adored.

To wishlist something, use the CPAN bug tracker (set as wishlist). I'd be happy to implement useful functionality in this module on request.

PARTICIPATION

I'd be very, very happy to accept patches in diff format. Or...

If you wish to hack on this code, please fork the git repository found at: http://github.com/dustywilson/Linux--APT/

If you have some goodness to push back to that repository, just use the "pull request" button on the github site or let me know where to pull from.

THANKS

Nicholas DeClario

Patch to provide initial search function for version 0.02.

COPYRIGHT/LICENSE

Perl Artistic License

Read it at http://dev.perl.org/licenses/artistic.html. This is the license we prefer.

GNU General Public License (GPL) Version 2

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program.  If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/

See the full license at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

GNU General Public License (GPL) Version 3

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program.  If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/