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Howto: Set up and Maintain a Mixed Testing/Unstable System

Share your HowTo, Documentation, Tips and Tricks. Not for support questions!.
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rickh
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#76 Post by rickh »

But what if package X is the same in testing and unstable but there is a newer version in the 'onofficial' repo...
how do I install that package?
If your sources.list identifies the 'onofficial' repo... as "testing", ...
deb http://www.unofficial_repo.com testing main
...it will install automatically

A typical example might be cinelerra

Your preferred release is "testing". Your sources.list might look like this:

deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ testing main contrib non-free
deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free
deb http://ftp.cinelerra_repo.org/ unstable main contrib non-free

# aptitude install -t unstable cinelerra
...would evaluate all the pieces of cinelerra from all three sources, and take the pieces from "testing" that matched the highest version, then the pieces from Debian "unstable" that matched the highest version, then the rest of the pieces from the cinelerra repo since its versions were the very highest.

That's slightly oversimplified, but not much.
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roooz
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#77 Post by roooz »

Ok, and if i it is not a testing and not an unstable one, like:

deb http://apt.64studio.com/64studio/stable/ 64studio main
or
deb http://dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/jedit ./

?


And if I want to build my own repo, can I call it testing?

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rickh
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#78 Post by rickh »

Sorry. I've made it as clear as I can ... maybe someone else is more into hand holding than I.

Obviously, your 1st example would require "-t stable" and the 2nd, as far as I'm concerned, should be installed with dpkg.
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roooz
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#79 Post by roooz »

rickh wrote:Sorry. I've made it as clear as I can ... maybe someone else is more into hand holding than I.

Obviously, your 1st example would require "-t stable" and the 2nd, as far as I'm concerned, should be installed with dpkg.
ok, clear thanks...

that dpkg command how can I use it? or do you use wget first?

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graysky
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#80 Post by graysky »

Great guide, rich. I'm interested in running iceweasel from the unstable repo on my lenny box. I created the /etc/apt/apt.conf and added the lie you suggested, updated aptitude, then:

Code: Select all

# aptitude install -t unstable iceweasel
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information      
Initializing package states... Done
Reading task descriptions... Done  
The following packages will be upgraded:
  iceweasel 
1 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 206 not upgraded.
Need to get 1145kB of archives. After unpacking 0B will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n/?] y
Writing extended state information... Done
Err http://ftp.us.debian.org unstable/main iceweasel 3.0.4-1
  404 Not Found [IP: 35.9.37.225 80]
E: Failed to fetch http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/pool/main/i/iceweasel/iceweasel_3.0.4-1_amd64.deb: 404 Not Found [IP: 35.9.37.225 80]
Reading package lists... Done             
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information      
Initializing package states... Done
Reading task descriptions... Done 
My /etc/apt/sources.list:

Code: Select all

# cat /etc/apt/sources.list
# 
# deb cdrom:[Debian GNU/Linux testing _Lenny_ - Official RC amd64 NETINST Binary-1 20081105-22:41]/ lenny main

#deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org lenny main

deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ lenny main
deb-src http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ lenny main

deb http://security.debian.org/ lenny/updates main
deb-src http://security.debian.org/ lenny/updates main

deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable main
deb-src http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable main 

deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/shames/debian-lenny/desktopfx/unstable/ ./
deb http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt lenny main
Is there anything obvious I'm not doing here?

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rickh
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#81 Post by rickh »

Is there anything obvious I'm not doing here?
Nope. Try again.
Debian-Lenny/Sid 32/64
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anarchyinc666
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#82 Post by anarchyinc666 »

Nice Howto, I've been wondering how I was going to do this the correct way once the freeze is over and I might have to start pulling programs from stable or testing. Is unstable ever actually "unstable" this has been the most stable OS I have ever used.
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.12
GIT d- s: a- C++++ UL++++ P+ L+++ E-- W+++ N- o-- K- w++
O- M-- V-- PS+++ PE+++ Y PGP+++ t-- 5-- X+++ R* tv+++ b DI++++ D
G e+ h---- r+++ y++++
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

Debian-SID Xfce

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graysky
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#83 Post by graysky »

rickh wrote:
Is there anything obvious I'm not doing here?
Nope. Try again.
It worked now, thank you for the guide and the time it took you to write it :)

Image

A follow-up question: if for some reason I wish to go back to a purely Lenny system, what method do you recommend to do so?

My thought is:

1) # aptitude purge iceweasel
2) remove the sid sources from my /etc/apt/sources.list
3) # aptitude update && aptitude install iceweasel

Thanks again!

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rickh
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#84 Post by rickh »

A follow-up question: if for some reason I wish to go back to a purely Lenny system, what method do you recommend to do so?
With a Howto as well written and discussed as this one, newbies should read the entire thread before recycling issues that have already been discussed.

As long as your entire Sid contribution consists of one program, your method will, of course, work. In your case, of course, you don't even have to remove Sid. The only way you'll ever get another program from Sid is if you specify it with -t ... of course.
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graysky
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#85 Post by graysky »

Thanks for the link, rich. "apt-show-versions | grep unstable" rocks.

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graysky
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#86 Post by graysky »

@richk - I'd like to use vlc from the experimental repo. I used your method to get it and all is well. When I did an apt-show-versions | grep unstable I had a few extra packages installed that were not present prior to the vlc installation. Does aptitude mix and match from the lenny, unstable, and experimental repos as it goes? After issuing an aptitude remove vlc, I still had a few unstable libraries installed. I then attempted to remove them, but aptitude told me it would remove over 200 packages in the process including gnome. What am I doing wrong?

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rickh
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#87 Post by rickh »

Does aptitude mix and match from the lenny, unstable, and experimental repos as it goes?
It might. It will definitely pull files from Sid to satisfy dependencies for an Experimental application you requested.

You're doing nothing wrong. You're just learning about metapackages and mixed systems. Learn carefully.

Those packages didn't get there by themselves. If they didn't come with your vlc installation, they came with something else you pulled from either Experimental or Unstable. If you installed an app that needed a Gnome dependency upgraded, it's likely that Gnome claimed it even after you deleted the application it came with.
Last edited by rickh on 2008-12-02 20:52, edited 1 time in total.
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graysky
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#88 Post by graysky »

Thanks for the info.. trial by fire :) I just reinstalled my system. I'd like to have the more recent vlc, but I'm not willing to potentially roach my system again. Is there any other option or do I have just have to accept that some libs will remain even when the package that installed them has been removed?

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jtodd
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#89 Post by jtodd »

graysky wrote:Thanks for the info.. trial by fire :) I just reinstalled my system. I'd like to have the more recent vlc, but I'm not willing to potentially roach my system again. Is there any other option or do I have just have to accept that some libs will remain even when the package that installed them has been removed?
Use debfoster, deborphan, orphaner, and dpkg --get-selections to find unneeded packages and libs.
Debian GNU/Linux Sid | Intel Celeron 2.2GHz | 224mb RAM | 27GB HD | 320GB Ext. HD | dwm

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rickh
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#90 Post by rickh »

jtodd wrote: Use debfoster, deborphan, orphaner, and dpkg --get-selections to find unneeded packages and libs.
Totally out in left field advice in terms of this thread. Pay no attention to it.
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graysky
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#91 Post by graysky »

rickh wrote:
jtodd wrote: Use debfoster, deborphan, orphaner, and dpkg --get-selections to find unneeded packages and libs.
Totally out in left field advice in terms of this thread. Pay no attention to it.
OK.. but can you answer my question :)

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rickh
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#92 Post by rickh »

As far as I'm concerned, it's already been answered. I don't do "chat."
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bugsbunny
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#93 Post by bugsbunny »

graysky wrote:@richk - I'd like to use vlc from the experimental repo. I used your method to get it and all is well. When I did an apt-show-versions | grep unstable I had a few extra packages installed that were not present prior to the vlc installation. Does aptitude mix and match from the lenny, unstable, and experimental repos as it goes? After issuing an aptitude remove vlc, I still had a few unstable libraries installed. I then attempted to remove them, but aptitude told me it would remove over 200 packages in the process including gnome. What am I doing wrong?
If you're installing a package from experimental (aptitude install <packagename>/experimental) then aptitude will pull any dependencies that can't resolved from testing/unstable from experimental. It will prefer the packages from testing/unstable.

If you install using "aptitude -t experimental <packagename>" then it will prefer experimental and will look there first for any dependencies it needs, that are not already installed.

The unstable libraries that you have installed that would pull over 200 packages probably (almost certainly) have versions in testing. You could always force a downgrade to the testing version. If you have a version from unstable installed then "aptitude install <packagename>/testing" will force a downgrade.

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graysky
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#94 Post by graysky »

Thanks for the info, bugs!

roooz
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#95 Post by roooz »

Why is there not a synaptic like tool for aptitude? Or am I wrong?

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