apt-get update/upgrade list without changing anything

Question

I would like to view what packages are available for update/upgrade without actually changing any files becuase there are some packages I wouldn't like to update. Would it then be possible to apt-get update with exceptions.

Answer 1

From the apt-get man page,

   -s, --simulate, --just-print, --dry-run, --recon, --no-act
       No action; perform a simulation of events that would occur
       but do not actually change the system. Configuration Item:
       APT::Get::Simulate.

       Simulation run as user will deactivate locking (Debug::NoLocking)
       automatic. Also a notice will be displayed indicating that this
       is only a simulation, if the option APT::Get::Show-User-Simulation-Note
       is set (Default: true). Neither NoLocking nor the notice will be
       triggered if run as root (root should know what he is doing without
       further warnings by apt-get).

       Simulate prints out a series of lines each one representing a
       dpkg operation, Configure (Conf), Remove (Remv), Unpack (Inst).
       Square brackets indicate broken packages and empty set of square
       brackets meaning breaks that are of no consequence (rare).

So just make sure you apt-get -s upgrade.

If you want to upgrade certain packages, just apt-get install <package name> and it will update it if it's already installed. It will however also have to update all the dependencies as well, and depending on what they are, that can cascade into a lot of updates.

If I'm behind on package updates, I'll do an apt-get install on some of the big ones (maybe php, apache2, etc.) so I can keep them contained and check any issues, and then apt-get upgrade after I'm done.

Answer 2

Does it help you to issue apt-get -s update which does only a simulation? And then you can update each wanted package with apt-get install <thepackage>.

If you want that interactive with a nice CLI GUI then use aptitude. If it is not installed yet then install it with apt-get install aptitude.