Debian administration

The simple mechanism Debian has for performing package upgrades, apt-get, is often touted as a good thing and indeed it is. But sometimes you will have a package installed that you absolutely do not want to be upgraded. If, for example, you don't wish to upgrade the package apache then you should run the following command as root:

echo "apache hold" | dpkg --set-selections

To remove the hold run this:

echo "apache install" | dpkg --set-selections

Debian-administration.org is a site meant for administrators of Debian machines, initially set up by Steve Kemp. It's packed with tips and tricks about the innards of the Debian system.