05 July 2008

apt-get: "kept back"

I have the following (executable) file in /etc/cron.daily on my Ubuntu desktop:

#!/bin/bash

apt-get update
apt-get -s upgrade


This lets me know when updates are available: the -s option lists available updates without running them unattended.

Occasionally I'll get a list saying that some updates have been "kept back." I always have trouble remembering what to do in this case. It's typically just some dependency problem. This issue is addressed in the APT HOWTO on the Debian Web site. In my (limited) experience, this has always been overcome by doing apt-get instal pgkname, where pkgname is the offending package which is being "kept back."

1 comment:

Unknown said...

It's 4 years since your post & am not sure if ur still up on this blog.

Myself facing this issue with kept back packages, I found the solution on my own. I'd like to say that I am not sure whether it was available or not at the time of writing your post but it is now.

All you have to do is run apt-get dist-upgrade instead of the plain upgrade.