Man page 8 : apt-cdrom

apt-cdrom - APT CDROM management utility

apt-cdrom [-hvrmfan] [-d=\fBcdrom mount point\fR] [-o=\fBconfig string\fR] [-c=\fBfile\fR] [[add] | [ident]]

apt-cdrom is used to add a new CDROM to APTs list of available sources. apt-cdrom takes care of determining the structure of the disc as well as correcting for several possible mis-burns and verifying the index files.

It is necessary to use apt-cdrom to add CDs to the APT system, it cannot be done by hand. Furthermore each disk in a multi-cd set must be inserted and scanned separately to account for possible mis-burns.

Unless the -h, or --help option is given one of the commands below must be present.

add
    add is used to add a new disc to the source list. It will unmount the CDROM device, prompt for a disk to be inserted and then proceed to scan it and copy the index files. If the disc does not have a proper disk directory you will be prompted for a descriptive title.

APT uses a CDROM ID to track which disc is currently in the drive and maintains a database of these IDs in /var/lib/apt/cdroms.list

ident
    A debugging tool to report the identity of the current disc as well as the stored file name

All command line options may be set using the configuration file, the descriptions indicate the configuration option to set. For boolean options you can override the config file by using something like -f-,--no-f, -f=no or several other variations.

-d, --cdrom
    Mount point; specify the location to mount the cdrom. This mount point must be listed in /etc/fstab and properly configured. Configuration Item: Acquire::cdrom::mount.

-r, --rename
    Rename a disc; change the label of a disk or override the disks given label. This option will cause apt-cdrom to prompt for a new label. Configuration Item: APT::CDROM::Rename.

-m, --no-mount
    No mounting; prevent apt-cdrom from mounting and unmounting the mount point. Configuration Item: APT::CDROM::NoMount.

-f, --fast
    Fast Copy; Assume the package files are valid and do not check every package. This option should be used only if apt-cdrom has been run on this disc before and did not detect any errors. Configuration Item: APT::CDROM::Fast.

-a, --thorough
    Thorough Package Scan; This option may be needed with some old Debian 1.1/1.2 discs that have Package files in strange places. It takes much longer to scan the CD but will pick them all up.

-n, --just-print, --recon, --no-act
    No Changes; Do not change the sources.list(5) file and do not write index files. Everything is still checked however. Configuration Item: APT::CDROM::NoAct.

-h, --help
    Show a short usage summary.

-v, --version
    Show the program version.

-c, --config-file
    Configuration File; Specify a configuration file to use. The program will read the default configuration file and then this configuration file. If configuration settings need to be set before the default configuration files are parsed specify a file with the APT_CONFIG environment variable. See apt.conf(5) for syntax information.

-o, --option
    Set a Configuration Option; This will set an arbitrary configuration option. The syntax is -o Foo::Bar=bar. -o and --option can be used multiple times to set different options.

apt.conf(5), apt-get(8), sources.list(5)

apt-cdrom returns zero on normal operation, decimal 100 on error.

\m[blue]APT bug page\m[]\s-2\u[1]\d\s+2. If you wish to report a bug in APT, please see /usr/share/doc/debian/bug-reporting.txt or the reportbug(1) command.

Jason Gunthorpe

APT team

1. 4 APT bug page
    http://bugs.debian.org/src:apt