Under CentOS / Fedora / RHEL I can use rpm -ql packageName command to view contacts of .rpm file. How do I view the contents of a .deb file under Debian / Ubuntu Linux?
You need to install the apt-file command which is a command line tool for searching files in packages for the APT package management system.
Install apt-file
# apt-get update && apt-get install apt-file
Sample outputs:
Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done The following extra packages will be installed: libapt-pkg-perl libconfig-file-perl liblist-moreutils-perl menu Suggested packages: gksu kdebase-bin kdebase-runtime ktsuss sux The following NEW packages will be installed: apt-file libapt-pkg-perl libconfig-file-perl liblist-moreutils-perl menu 0 upgraded, 5 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded. Need to get 626kB of archives. After this operation, 2687kB of additional disk space will be used. Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y Get:1 http://mirrors.kernel.org lenny/main libconfig-file-perl 1.42-1 [11.7kB] Get:2 http://mirrors.kernel.org lenny/main libapt-pkg-perl 0.1.22+b1 [89.6kB] Get:3 http://mirrors.kernel.org lenny/main liblist-moreutils-perl 0.22-1+b1 [51.9kB] Get:4 http://mirrors.kernel.org lenny/main apt-file 2.1.5 [19.2kB] Get:5 http://mirrors.kernel.org lenny/main menu 2.1.41 [453kB] Fetched 626kB in 9s (67.3kB/s) Selecting previously deselected package libconfig-file-perl. (Reading database ... 21061 files and directories currently installed.) Unpacking libconfig-file-perl (from .../libconfig-file-perl_1.42-1_all.deb) ... Selecting previously deselected package libapt-pkg-perl. Unpacking libapt-pkg-perl (from .../libapt-pkg-perl_0.1.22+b1_amd64.deb) ... Selecting previously deselected package liblist-moreutils-perl. Unpacking liblist-moreutils-perl (from .../liblist-moreutils-perl_0.22-1+b1_amd64.deb) ... Selecting previously deselected package apt-file. Unpacking apt-file (from .../apt-file_2.1.5_all.deb) ... Selecting previously deselected package menu. Unpacking menu (from .../archives/menu_2.1.41_amd64.deb) ... Processing triggers for man-db ... Setting up libconfig-file-perl (1.42-1) ... Setting up libapt-pkg-perl (0.1.22+b1) ... Setting up liblist-moreutils-perl (0.22-1+b1) ... Setting up apt-file (2.1.5) ... You need to run 'apt-file update' as root to update the cache. Setting up menu (2.1.41) ... Processing triggers for menu ...
First, resynchronize the package contents from their sources, enter:
# apt-file update
Task: List contents Of a Debian .deb File / Package
The syntax is as follows:
# apt-file list packageName
# apt-file list wget
Sample outputs:
epiphany-extension-gwget: /usr/lib/epiphany-gecko/2.22/extensions/gwget.xml epiphany-extension-gwget: /usr/lib/epiphany-gecko/2.22/extensions/libgwgetextension.a epiphany-extension-gwget: /usr/lib/epiphany-gecko/2.22/extensions/libgwgetextension.la epiphany-extension-gwget: /usr/lib/epiphany-gecko/2.22/extensions/libgwgetextension.so epiphany-extension-gwget: /usr/share/doc/epiphany-extension-gwget/AUTHORS epiphany-extension-gwget: /usr/share/doc/epiphany-extension-gwget/NEWS.gz epiphany-extension-gwget: /usr/share/doc/epiphany-extension-gwget/README epiphany-extension-gwget: /usr/share/doc/epiphany-extension-gwget/THANKS epiphany-extension-gwget: /usr/share/doc/epiphany-extension-gwget/TODO epiphany-extension-gwget: /usr/share/doc/epiphany-extension-gwget/changelog.Debian.gz epiphany-extension-gwget: /usr/share/doc/epiphany-extension-gwget/changelog.gz epiphany-extension-gwget: /usr/share/doc/epiphany-extension-gwget/copyright gwget: /usr/bin/gwget gwget: /usr/share/applications/gwget.desktop gwget: /usr/share/dbus-1/services/gwget.service gwget: /usr/share/doc/gwget/AUTHORS gwget: /usr/share/doc/gwget/NEWS.Debian.gz ..... ...... wget-el: /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/wget-el/wget-sysdep.el wget-el: /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/wget-el/wget.el
How Do I See foo.deb Contents?
Type the following command to see contents of a .deb file called foo.deb
# dpkg-deb -c foo.deb
# dpkg-deb -c acct_6.4~pre1-6_amd64.deb
Sample outputs:
drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2008-03-08 14:26 ./ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2008-03-08 14:26 ./etc/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2008-03-08 14:26 ./etc/init.d/ -rwxr-xr-x root/root 1787 2008-03-08 14:26 ./etc/init.d/acct drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2008-03-08 14:26 ./etc/default/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 332 2008-03-08 14:26 ./etc/default/acct drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2008-03-08 14:26 ./etc/cron.monthly/ -rwxr-xr-x root/root 1281 2008-03-08 14:26 ./etc/cron.monthly/acct drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2008-03-08 14:26 ./etc/cron.daily/ -rwxr-xr-x root/root 379 2008-03-08 14:26 ./etc/cron.daily/acct drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/sbin/ -rwxr-xr-x root/root 11000 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/sbin/dump-utmp -rwxr-xr-x root/root 12760 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/sbin/dump-acct -rwxr-xr-x root/root 29240 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/sbin/sa -rwxr-xr-x root/root 8184 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/sbin/accton drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/bin/ -rwxr-xr-x root/root 21592 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/bin/ac -rwxr-xr-x root/root 20888 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/bin/lastcomm drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/share/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/share/doc-base/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 587 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/share/doc-base/acct drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/share/doc/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/share/doc/acct/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 3994 2003-06-05 22:27 ./usr/share/doc/acct/README -rw-r--r-- root/root 1247 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/share/doc/acct/copyright -rw-r--r-- root/root 68845 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/share/doc/acct/accounting.html -rw-r--r-- root/root 1601 2006-01-08 04:44 ./usr/share/doc/acct/NEWS.gz -rw-r--r-- root/root 7105 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/share/doc/acct/changelog.Debian.gz -rw-r--r-- root/root 14612 2006-01-08 04:44 ./usr/share/doc/acct/changelog.gz -rw-r--r-- root/root 8534 2003-06-05 22:27 ./usr/share/doc/acct/TODO.gz drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/share/man/ drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/share/man/man1/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 1655 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/share/man/man1/lastcomm.1.gz -rw-r--r-- root/root 2381 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/share/man/man1/ac.1.gz drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/share/man/man8/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 3118 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/share/man/man8/sa.8.gz -rw-r--r-- root/root 728 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/share/man/man8/dump-utmp.8.gz -rw-r--r-- root/root 915 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/share/man/man8/dump-acct.8.gz -rw-r--r-- root/root 553 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/share/man/man8/accton.8.gz drwxr-xr-x root/root 0 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/share/info/ -rw-r--r-- root/root 11307 2008-03-08 14:26 ./usr/share/info/accounting.info.gz
You read the contents of a installed package:
# dpkg -L packageName
A Note About 'apt-file list' And 'dpkg -L'
The apt-file list command list the contents of a package matching the pattern pattern. This action is very close to the dpkg -L command except the package does not need to be installed or fetched.
See also:
- apt-get and dpkg command line cheat sheet.
- dpkg and apt-file command man page for more information.
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Another option to “dpkg-deb -c packageName” is “als packageName” from the atools package. it supports lots of different archive formats, and is nice to have a consistent command.
Thank you, This was helpful.
Shawn
we can get useful info through this how to subscribe this to mail
Just browse it with mc (Midnight Commander)
Another option to “dpkg-deb -c packageName” is “als packageName” from the atools package. it supports lots of different archive formats, and is nice to have a consistent command.
+1
you may use dpkg -S to seek which package contains the particular file.
for eg: dpkg -S /usr/bin/wodim
Might be off topic, but if the goal is to find the parent package of a missing file you need on your Debian machine you can use the ‘Search the contents of packages’ at Debian Packages.