Lavene
07-02-2006, 12:50 AM
This HOWTO describes how to install packages from backports.org. The method described in this HOWTO is just one of several approaches one can use and does not claim neither to be the best nor the most effective way to use Backports. Although the described method should be safe it's always a good idea to make a backup of important data before doing major changes to the system. This HOWTO is licensed under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.html) It has been written in the hope that it will be useful to the community but it comes with no warranty; use it at your own risk.
A lot of people feel that Debian Sarge is growing old and opt for installing Testing or Unstable instead in order to get the latest packages. The downside of this is that Testing and Unstable is prone to breakage. Backports.org is a repository that has a lot of the latest packages compiled for Sarge so that one can get the latest and greatest packages without having to upgrade the entire system to Testing/ Unstable.
Preparing your system for Backports.org:
Open, as root, the file /etc/apt/sources.list and add the backports repository. A typical sources.list with the backports included might look like this (your sources list might look different, but the important thing here is the Backports entry):
# Stable
deb ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/ stable main contrib non-free
# Backports
deb http://www.backports.org/debian/ sarge-backports main
# Security
deb http://security.debian.org/ stable/updates main
We want to be able to choose what packages we want to install/ upgrade from Backports so we will utilize apt's pinning to give Backports a lower priority than Debian Stable. This is done in the file /etc/apt/preferences by adding an entry for Backports.
You might find that you have no such file, but don't panic! Just create it, as root, with your favorite text editor. The /etc/apt/preferences will typically look something like this (your preferences file might look different. The important thing is the backports entry):
Explanation: see http://www.argon.org/~roderick/apt-pinning.html
Package: *
Pin: release o=Debian,a=stable
Pin-Priority: 900
Package: *
Pin: release a=sarge-backports
Pin-Priority: 200
Package: *
Pin: release o=Debian
Pin-Priority: -10
Installing packages from Backports.org:
When you have edited the sources.list and preferences the first thing to do is updating the package list:
apt-get update
To install packages from Backports, say the newest available Firefox, you do
apt-get -t sarge-backports install firefox
And that's it!
Links:
Backports: http://www.backports.org/
Packages: http://www.backports.org/debian/pool/
Backports disclaimer (READ!!): http://www.backports.org/warnings.html
Enjoy!
Tina :)
A lot of people feel that Debian Sarge is growing old and opt for installing Testing or Unstable instead in order to get the latest packages. The downside of this is that Testing and Unstable is prone to breakage. Backports.org is a repository that has a lot of the latest packages compiled for Sarge so that one can get the latest and greatest packages without having to upgrade the entire system to Testing/ Unstable.
Preparing your system for Backports.org:
Open, as root, the file /etc/apt/sources.list and add the backports repository. A typical sources.list with the backports included might look like this (your sources list might look different, but the important thing here is the Backports entry):
# Stable
deb ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/ stable main contrib non-free
# Backports
deb http://www.backports.org/debian/ sarge-backports main
# Security
deb http://security.debian.org/ stable/updates main
We want to be able to choose what packages we want to install/ upgrade from Backports so we will utilize apt's pinning to give Backports a lower priority than Debian Stable. This is done in the file /etc/apt/preferences by adding an entry for Backports.
You might find that you have no such file, but don't panic! Just create it, as root, with your favorite text editor. The /etc/apt/preferences will typically look something like this (your preferences file might look different. The important thing is the backports entry):
Explanation: see http://www.argon.org/~roderick/apt-pinning.html
Package: *
Pin: release o=Debian,a=stable
Pin-Priority: 900
Package: *
Pin: release a=sarge-backports
Pin-Priority: 200
Package: *
Pin: release o=Debian
Pin-Priority: -10
Installing packages from Backports.org:
When you have edited the sources.list and preferences the first thing to do is updating the package list:
apt-get update
To install packages from Backports, say the newest available Firefox, you do
apt-get -t sarge-backports install firefox
And that's it!
Links:
Backports: http://www.backports.org/
Packages: http://www.backports.org/debian/pool/
Backports disclaimer (READ!!): http://www.backports.org/warnings.html
Enjoy!
Tina :)