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Which Kicksecure Debian packages are safe to remove? What is a meta package? What other packages do Kicksecure meta packages install? Which packages should never be removed?
Introduction[edit]
It is safe to run sudo apt autoremove so long as the specific Kicksecure machine meta package is kept for the Kicksecure or Kicksecure-Qubes platform. In other words, these packages should not be in the list of autoremoved packages.
- Kicksecure Xfce:
kicksecure-xfce - Kicksecure CLI:
kicksecure-cli
- Kicksecure-Qubes GUI:
kicksecure-qubes-gui - Kicksecure-Qubes CLI
kicksecure-qubes-cli
Derivatives such as Whonix®
which are based on Kicksecure:
- See derivative (Whonix®) specific documentation instead of this wiki page. [1]
It is actually a good idea to safely run sudo apt autoremove according to the following instructions on this wiki page to make sure extraneous packages which might no longer be recommended for default installation are removed.
Re-install Meta Packages and Safely Run Autoremove[edit]
1. Update the package lists.
sudo apt update
2. Ensure a proper meta package is installed.
Kicksecure Xfce:
- Kicksecure: sudo apt install kicksecure-qubes-gui
3. Auto remove packages.
sudo apt autoremove
4. Reconfirm a proper meta package is still installed.
Repeat step two.
5. Done.
The procedure of safely running sudo apt autoremove is complete.
Related: Kicksecure Factory Reset
Changed Configuration Files[edit]
Be careful if a message like this appears.
Configuration file '/etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.sdwdate'
==> Modified (by you or by a script) since installation.
==> Package distributor has shipped an updated version.
What would you like to do about it ? Your options are:
Y or I : install the package maintainer's version
N or O : keep your currently-installed version
D : show the differences between the versions
Z : start a shell to examine the situation
The default action is to keep your current version.
*** usr.bin.sdwdate (Y/I/N/O/D/Z) [default=N] ?
For general advice, see: Changed Configuration Files.
Package Version Check[edit]
If you need to check your package version, use dpkg -l package-name where package-name is the package you wish to check.
dpkg -l package-name
Your output should look like this:
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold | Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend |/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad) ||/ Name Version Architecture Description +++-==============-============-============-=================================== ii grep 3.8-5 amd64 GNU grep, egrep and fgrep ii package-name 0.1 amd64 package-description
If you wish to independently verify the version, you can either access the github of a package and check its changelog.
See list of github repositories.
Go to a github repository. Example github repository:
https://github.com/whonix/kloak
Click on the debian sub folder.
Click on the changelog file. Example /debian/changelog file:
https://github.com/whonix/kloak/blob/master/debian/changelog
On the very top of the changelog is the latest version number.
TODO: document how to view the version number using deb.kicksecure.com / deb.whonix.org
related: Package Upgrade Policy
Advanced Topics[edit]
Packages FAQ[edit]
Table: Meta-packages Frequently Asked Questionss
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is the disadvantage of removing a meta package? | The disadvantage is any changes in package dependencies will not be automatically processed by the system when it is upgraded.
For example the See also: Technical Information. |
| Which meta packages are safe to remove? | Use apt-cache to see the package description.
apt-cache package-name It will include either:
Note the Removal Instructions below! When that entry is understood, feel free to remove any desktop specific meta packages. |
| Which packages do Kicksecure meta packages install? | Refer to the following files:
Or use for example. apt-cache show kicksecure-packages-recommended-gui |
| Which meta packages should never be removed? | Do not remove any packages which include the name dependencies, unless the implications are fully understood.
TODO: document |
How to uninstall qubes-core-agent-passwordless-root without also uninstalling kicksecure-qubes-gui or kicksecure-qubes-cli?
|
Install dummy-dependency first, then drop qubes-core-agent-passwordless-root:
sudo apt update sudo apt install dummy-dependency sudo apt purge qubes-core-agent-passwordless-root |
Removal Instructions[edit]
These instructions allow for safe removal of a package (in this example the sdwdate package). This results in meta package removal without breaking the whole system when next time running sudo apt autoremove.
1. Upgrade.
2. Clean up.
If custom packages were installed and uninstalled or dependencies changed in the meanwhile, remove unneeded dependencies first.
sudo apt autoremove
3. Uninstall.
As an example, consider how the sdwdate package could be uninstalled.
sudo apt purge sdwdate
A message will appear similar to this.
Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required: faketime libfaketime Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them. The following packages will be REMOVED: kicksecure-qubes-gui* sdwdate* kicksecure-shared-packages-recommended-cli* kicksecure-workstation-shared-packages-shared-meta* 0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 4 to remove and 1 not upgraded. After this operation, 302 kB disk space will be freed. Do you want to continue? [Y/n]
4. Keep packages installed by meta packages.
Now, there is a small issue:
- Next time the sudo apt autoremove command is run, all packages listed under "The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:" would also be uninstalled. (Such as rads and others.)
- In order to keep the other packages which were installed such as by the kicksecure-packages-recommended-gui and the kicksecure-packages-recommended-cli meta packages, mark them as manually installed so they do not get removed. This can be conveniently achieved with aptitude. [3] [4]
sudo aptitude keep-all
5. Done.
The procedure is complete. Be sure to understand the disadvantage of this approach.
Alternatively, there might be a very crude workaround which is discussed in the following forum topic:
Issues with removal of specific packages by users / builders.
Technical Information[edit]
This section provides technical information for interested readers and can be skipped.
The underlying technical issues with meta packages are not caused by Kicksecure, but instead have been inherited from Debian. Those are also described here:
- The Metapackage Problem and apt autoremove
- Uninstalling a single component of a meta-package
- Debian bug report: Weak-Depends - something in the middle between 'Recommends:' and 'Depends:'
- RFC: "Recommended bloat", and how to possibly fix it
- apt: autoremove fails to remove garbage packages with unrelated Suggests links
The Debian manual also provides further information about meta packages:
The Kicksecure build script installs all packages using apt --no-install-recommends. [5] The --no-install-recommends option is being used to prevent installation of many additional packages that are unwanted. For example:
kicksecure-packages-recommended-gui(used to)Depends: gwenview.- gwenview
Recommends: kamera. - Without using
--no-install-recommends,kamerawould also be installed and then pull its ownDepends:as well. kamera[+ dependencies] would not be useful to have installed by default on Kicksecure as it would cost unnecessary disk space. There are many more examples which could end up installing packages by default that are unrecommended for privacy reasons.
Since the --no-install-recommends option is used, meta packages like kicksecure-packages-recommended-gui must use the Depends: field and cannot use the Recommends: field. (Since no packages would be installed then.)
Even if Kicksecure could and did use the Recommends: field, new packages added to the Recommends: field would not be installed when the meta package that Recommends: them gets upgraded. This is because packages listed after the Recommends: field only get installed during their initial sudo apt install package-name installation.
Some readers might notice that despite this explanation, kicksecure-meta-packages's debian/control file uses the Recommends: field anyway. This is not a contradiction because it may be useful for a later Kicksecure installation from Kicksecure repository use case.
Forum discussion:
Issues with removal of specific packages by users / builders
See Also[edit]
- Configuration Drop-In Folders
- Reset Configuration Files to Vendor Default
- Kicksecure Factory Reset
- Packages for Debian Hosts
- Kicksecure APT Repository
- Building and Update Kicksecure from Source Code
Footnotes[edit]
- ↑ Because derivatives of Kicksecure install additional meta packages.
- ↑
Depends:field indebian/control - ↑
https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/166590/what-is-the-apt-get-equvalent-of-aptitude-keep-all
- ↑
It is possible to safely mix apt-get and aptitude. Raphaël Hertzog, dpkg and Debian Developer, stated in 2011 that this is not a problem anymore:
First I want to make it clear that you can use both and mix them without problems. It used to be annoying when APT did not track which packages were automatically installed while aptitude did, but now that both packages share this list, there’s no reason to avoid switching back and forth.
Source: apt-get, aptitude, … pick the right Debian package manager for you
- ↑
Function
pkg-install-maybein https://github.com/Kicksecure/derivative-maker/blob/master/build-steps.d/3500_install-packages#L96C17.
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