8.5 How can I keep a log of the packages I added to the system? I'd like to know when which package upgrades and removals have occured!

Passing the --log-option to dpkg makes dpkg log status change updates and actions. It logs both the dpkg-invokation (e.g.

     2005-12-30 18:10:33 install hello 1.3.18 2.1.1-4

) and the results (e.g.

     2005-12-30 18:10:35 status installed hello 2.1.1-4

) If you'd like to log all your dpkg invokations (even those done using frontends like aptitude), you could add

     log /var/log/dpkg.log

to your /etc/dpkg/dpkg.cfg. Be sure the created logfile gets rotated periodically. If you're using logrotate, this can be achieved by creating a file /etc/logrotate.d/dpkg with contents

     /var/log/dpkg {
       missingok
       notifempty
     }

More details on dpkg logging can be found in the dpkg(1) manual page.

aptitude logs the package installations, removals, and upgrades that it intends to perform to /var/log/aptitude. Note that the results of those actions are not recorded in this file!

Another way to record your actions is to run your package management session within the script(1) program.