Synaptic Package Manager

Synaptic is a graphical front-end to apt (Advanced Package Tool), the package management system in Bodhi. It combines the point-and-click simplicity with the power of the apt/apt-get command-line tools.

Features

• Install, remove, upgrade and downgrade single and multiple packages.
• Upgrade your whole system.
• Manage package repositories (sources.list).
• Find packages by name, description and several other attributes.
• Select packages by status, section, name or a custom filter.
• Sort packages by name, status, size or version.
• Browse all available online documentation related to a package.
• Download the latest changelog of a package.
• Lock packages to the current version.
• Force the installation of a specific package version.
• Undo/Redo of selections.

Getting Started

To open Synaptic Package Manager:

Main Menu > Applications > System Tools > Synaptic Package Manager

NOTE: Synaptic requires elevated permissions to run, you will be required to enter your sudoers password before opening.

Application Overview

The Main Window

This is divided into three sections.

• 1. Left. The Package Browser
• 2. Upper Right. The Package List
• 3. Lower Right. The Package Details.

The Toolbar

The toolbar contains the following items:

• Reload: The Reload button reloads the list of applications from each of the repositories held on your system.
• Mark All Upgrades: Mark all Upgrades marks all the applications that have available upgrades.
• Apply: The Apply button applies changes to marked applications.
• Properties: Properties provides information about selected applications.
• Search: The Search button opens a search box where you can search the repositories for an application.

The Left Panel (Package Browser)

There are a series of buttons at the bottom of the left panel,  they change the view of the list at the top of the left panel. The buttons being:

• Sections: Shows a list of categories in the left panel
• Status: Show applications by status. The statuses are: Installed; Installed (auto removable); Installed (local or obsolete); Installed (manually); Installed (upgradeable); Not Installed; Not Installed (residual config)
• Origin: Displays a list of repositories.
• Custom Filters: Filter by categories: All; Broken; Community Maintained; Marked Changes; Missing Recommended Packages; Packages with Debconf; Search Filter; Upgradeable (upstream)
• Search Results: Shows a list of search results in the right panel
• Architecture: Lists categories by architecture: All; Arch: all; Arch: amd64; Arch: i386

The Upper Right Panel (The Package List)

Clicking on a category in the left panel or searching for an application, brings up a list of applications in the upper right panel. The applications panel has the following headings:

• Check Mark (for selected)
• Package (name)
• Installed Version
• Latest Version
• Description

To install or upgrade an application, see the section Install Software Packages (below)

Repositories

Repositories represent collections full of almost all the software, drivers, codecs, libraries and other packages that are available to Bodhi Linux. These are curated by the Bodhi Development Team (Moksha Desktop, Bodhi Apps and similar) or for the more generic (ubuntu based packages) the wider Ubuntu development community.

To access software package repositories management, from the Synaptic Menu, click Settings > Repositories.  From there you can enable/disable installed repositories, or add new.

Using Synaptic To:

Install Software Package(s)

1. Find a package you want to install (by searching or using filtered categories). In the right-hand panel (Package List), click your package and select “Mark for Installation”. A confirmation will be displayed, review the confirmation and when happy click Mark
   
2. If you have more software packages to install, repeat step #1. Once you’re satisfied you have all your software Marked for Installation, click Apply from the toolbar.
3. A final confirmation window will open. Review the packages to be installed by expanding the “To be Installed” list. When you’re happy to proceed, click Apply to install the package. The installation progress will be shown followed by a confirmation when complete.

Upgrade a Package

Click Reload from the toolbar (or press Ctrl + R) to refresh Synaptic repository cache. Right-click on the package, selecting Mark for Upgrade from the context menu (or press Ctrl + U). Once you’re satisfied with your choices, click on Apply in the toolbar (or press Ctrl + P).

A summary of changes that will be shown, Confirm the changes by clicking on Apply.

NOTE: If your PC/Laptop has no internet access then generate a download script instead of using “Apply”

Update all Package(s)

Just like when upgrading a package, click Reload (or press Ctrl + R) to refresh Synaptic repository cache. from the toolbar click Mark all Upgrades (or press Ctrlscree + G). Click Apply on the toolbar (or press Ctrl + P). A  summary of the changes will be shown, click Apply to confirm the changes and go ahead with updates.

Remove or Uninstall Packages

To remove a package, Right-click on the package and select Mark for Removal. Once you’re satisfied with your selection(s), click on Apply from the toolbar (or press Ctrl + P). A summary of changes will be shown, Confirm the changes by clicking Apply.

NOTE: The Mark for Complete Removal option will remove any configuration files associated with the package as well.

Fix broken package(s)

A broken package is where a package has dependencies that can’t be satisfied during installation. If one or more broken packages are detected, Synaptic will prevent any further package changes until the broken package(s) have been addressed.

To fix broken package(s), from the Synaptic Menu select Edit > Fix Broken Packages. Select Apply Marked Changes (or press Ctrl + P). Confirm the summary of changes and click Apply.

Additional Resources

• Synaptic website
• Further detail from Debian relating to apt/apt-get