How to install local .deb packages with apt-get

Question

Is there a way to install packages store on your HD with apt-get, like a "apt-get install ./package.deb ? If not how to handle the dependencies in a very very easy way.

Answer 1

usually i do dpkg -i it'll fail saying it needs dependancies. -- but when you then do an apt-get update it'll say at the end something like "dependacies are ready to install" i think it then advises to use apt-get install -f or --auto something, i forget (im on a rpm distro at the moment).

Once thats done, i use the dpkg -i again.

Worked fine for me last few years.

edit: looking a bit further, apparently a tool called "gdebi" can do this as "gdebi [deb file]"

Answer 2

Sirex has it more or less correct, but his answer isn't clear. I just solved this, so here's what I did:

dpkg -i /path/to/filename.deb

If this fails with a message about the package depending on something that isn't installed, you can probably fix it if you run

apt-get -fy install

This will install the dependencies (assuming they're available in the repos your system knows about) AND the package you were originally requesting to install ('f' is the 'fix' option and 'y' is the 'assume yes to prompts' or 'don't ask me if it's ok, just install it already' option -- very useful for scripted silent installs). On the system I was on, there was no need to run dpkg again (Ubuntu lucid 10.04).

I found it interesting that if you leave off the -fy when you run apt-get install, it will list your package as not being configured due to an unresolved dependency as well as helpfully suggesting: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or specify a solution).