6.12 How do I put a package on hold?

There are three ways of holding back packages, with dpkg, aptitude or with dselect.

With dpkg, you just have to export the list of package selections, with:

     dpkg --get-selections \* > selections.txt

Then edit the resulting file selections.txt, change the line containing the package you wish to hold, e.g. libc6, from this:

     libc6                                           install

to this:

     libc6                                           hold

Save the file, and reload it into dpkg database with:

     dpkg --set-selections < selections.txt

With aptitude, you can hold a package using

     aptitude hold package_name

and remove the hold with

     aptitude unhold package_name

With dselect, you just have to enter the [S]elect screen, find the package you wish to hold in its present state, and press the `=' key (or `H'). The changes will go live immediately after you exit the [S]elect screen.