Table of Contents

Debian - Backports - Example use of Backport

Using backports is simple.

Configure Backport

Add this line to the /etc/apt/sources.list.

/etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://www.backports.org/debian etch-backports main contrib non-free

Update

apt-get update

NOTE: An error message might be seen: 

Reading package lists... Done
W: GPG error: http://www.backports.org etch-backports Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY EA8E8B2116BA136C
W: You may want to run apt-get update to correct these problems
  • This message comes on Debian Etch because you have not imported the backports keyring.

Import the backports keyring

sudo apt-get install debian-backports-keyring

Example install of a backport package

To install a newer version of nmap: 

sudo apt-get -t etch-backports install nmap

NOTE:

  • -t etch-backports: Since all backports are deactivated by default, the package manager needs to be told to use the backports repository.

WARNING: It you forget to tell apt-get that nmap is installed from backports, and run another apt-get install nmap, it will remove the backports package and install the standard one.