ipkg

A package management utility for embedded devices.

Version: 0.99.163

Status: Done

Configuration

In order to use remote repositories, ipkg needs to be configured with their respective URLs. To determine which possible version of a package to install, ipkg must know about your preferred architectures. When installing a package, ipkg must also know about your directory structure. All of this information is stored in the 'ipkg.conf' file, by default located in /usr/etc.

Here is a good example of an ipkg.conf file:

# Default ipkg.conf for mg35tools project
src mg35tools-default http://mg35tools.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/mg35tools/packages
src link-standard http://link.pigsinspace.ca/packages/standard
src link-devel http://link.pigsinspace.ca/packages/development
src link-test http://link.pigsinspace.ca/packages/test
# Linux root is on cramfs, usr is writeable
dest cramroot /
# Architecture match order
arch    mg35     1
arch    mg45     1
arch    armv4l   3
arch    all      5
arch    noarch   5
arch    arm     10

• src
  • Specifies a package repository to query during "update", and to potentially download from during "install".
• dest
  • Specifies a root directory for installing your packages
• arch
  • Itemizes the priority of various architecture names when selecting packages to download and install.

Usage

ipkg version 0.99.163
usage: ipkg [options...] sub-command [arguments...]
where sub-command is one of:
Package Manipulation:
update                  Update list of available packages
upgrade                 Upgrade all installed packages to latest version
install <pkg>           Download and install <pkg> (and dependencies)
install <file.ipk>      Install package <file.ipk>
configure [<pkg>]       Configure unpacked packages
remove <pkg|regexp>     Remove package <pkg|packages following regexp>
flag <flag> <pkg> ...   Flag package(s) <pkg>
<flag>=hold|noprune|user|ok|installed|unpacked (one per invocation)    
Informational Commands:
list                    List available packages and descriptions
list_installed          List all and only the installed packages and description 
files <pkg>             List all files belonging to <pkg>
search <file|regexp>            Search for a package providing <file>
info [pkg|regexp]               Display all info for <pkg>
status [pkg|regexp]             Display all status for <pkg>
download <pkg>          Download <pkg> to current directory.
compare_versions <v1> <op> <v2>
compare versions using <= < > >= = << >>
print_architecture      prints the architecture.
print_installation_architecture
whatdepends [-A] [pkgname|pat]+
whatdependsrec [-A] [pkgname|pat]+
whatprovides [-A] [pkgname|pat]+
whatconflicts [-A] [pkgname|pat]+
whatreplaces [-A] [pkgname|pat]+
prints the installation architecture.
Options:
-A                      Query all packages with whatdepends, whatprovides, whatreplaces, whatconflicts
-V <level>               Set verbosity level to <level>. If no value is
--verbosity <level>      provided increase verbosity by one. Verbosity levels:
0 errors only
1 normal messages (default)
2 informative messages
3 debug output
-f <conf_file>          Use <conf_file> as the ipkg configuration file
-conf <conf_file>       Default configuration file location
is /usr/etc/ipkg.conf
-d <dest_name>          Use <dest_name> as the the root directory for
-dest <dest_name>       package installation, removal, upgrading.
<dest_name> should be a defined dest name from
the configuration file, (but can also be a
directory name in a pinch).
-o <offline_root>       Use <offline_root> as the root directory for
-offline <offline_root> offline installation of packages.
-verbose_wget           more wget messages
Force Options (use when ipkg is too smart for its own good):
-force-depends          Make dependency checks warnings instead of errors
Install/remove package in spite of failed dependences
-force-defaults         Use default options for questions asked by ipkg.
(no prompts). Note that this will not prevent
package installation scripts from prompting.
-force-reinstall        Allow ipkg to reinstall a package.
-force-overwrite        Allow ipkg to overwrite files from another package during an install.
-force-downgrade        Allow ipkg to downgrade packages.
-force_space            Install even if there does not seem to be enough space.
-noaction               No action -- test only
-nodeps                 Do not follow dependences
-force-removal-of-dependent-packages
-recursive              Allow ipkg to remove package and all that depend on it.
-test                   No action -- test only
-t                      Specify tmp-dir.
--tmp-dir               Specify tmp-dir.
regexp could be something like 'pkgname*' '*file*' or similar
eg: ipkg info 'libstd*'  or ipkg search '*libop*' or ipkg remove 'libncur*'

Examples

• To update the list of packages from the repositories:

• To list all available packages:

• To install the MG-35 version of vi:

• To list currently installed packages:

Download

If you do not have ipkg already installed, put the .bin format ipkg (above) into your /usr/bin directory .

History

[John, 2008-04]