Generate a list of installed deb packages on one device (and install on another)
When setting up a new device with Debian or LMDE, it can be useful to have an updated list of all the deb packages installed on the current device, and replicate that configuration on the new device.
This is how I do it ...
Make a list
Make a list of *.deb packages installed on current device, and save to $LIST ...
$ LIST="${HOME}/deb_pkglist_${HOSTNAME}"
$ dpkg-query -f '${binary:Package}\n' -W > $LIST
Update
I wrote a script - aaa - that combines in a single command:
- update list of installed packages (deb_pkglist)
- update the package database (
apt update) - run a full upgrade (
apt full-upgrade) - clean package repository (
apt autoclean) - remove packages automatically installed to satisfy dependencies and no longer needed (
apt autoremove)
Replicate
Replicate the list on another device. Copy $LIST from current device to the new device.
Install $LIST contents ...
$ sudo xargs -a $LIST apt install
Note: Confirm the new device lists the same repositories in /etc/apt/sources.list as the current device. Otherwise, some packages in $LIST might not be available.
Sources: deb_pkglist and aaa
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