NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | COMMANDS | OPTIONS | EXIT STATUS | ENVIRONMENT | FILES | NOTES | EXAMPLES | SEE ALSO | COLOPHON

dpkg-divert(1)                   dpkg suite                   dpkg-divert(1)

NAME         top

       dpkg-divert - override a package's version of a file

SYNOPSIS         top

       dpkg-divert [option...]  command

DESCRIPTION         top

       dpkg-divert is the utility used to set up and update the list of
       diversions.
       File diversions are a way of forcing dpkg(1) not to install a file
       into its location, but to a diverted location. Diversions can be used
       through the Debian package scripts to move a file away when it causes
       a conflict. System administrators can also use it to override some
       package's configuration file, or whenever some files (which aren't
       marked as “conffiles”) need to be preserved by dpkg, when installing
       a newer version of a package which contains those files.

COMMANDS         top

       [--add] file
              Add a diversion for file.
       --remove file
              Remove a diversion for file.
       --list glob-pattern
              List diversions matching glob-pattern.
       --listpackage file
              Print the name of the package that diverts file (since dpkg
              1.15.0).  Prints LOCAL if file is locally diverted and nothing
              if file is not diverted.
       --truename file
              Print the real name for a diverted file.

OPTIONS         top

       --admindir directory
              Set the dpkg data directory to directory (default:
              /usr/local/var/lib/dpkg).
       --divert divert-to
              divert-to is the location where the versions of file, as
              provided by other packages, will be diverted.
       --local
              Specifies that all packages' versions of this file are
              diverted.  This means, that there are no exceptions, and
              whatever package is installed, the file is diverted. This can
              be used by an admin to install a locally modified version.
       --package package
              package is the name of a package whose copy of file will not
              be diverted. i.e. file will be diverted for all packages
              except package.
       --quiet
              Quiet mode, i.e. no verbose output.
       --rename
              Actually move the file aside (or back). dpkg-divert will abort
              operation in case the destination file already exists.
       --test Test mode, i.e. don't actually perform any changes, just
              demonstrate.
       -?, --help
              Show the usage message and exit.
       --version
              Show the version and exit.

EXIT STATUS         top

       0      The requested action was successfully performed.
       2      Fatal or unrecoverable error due to invalid command-line
              usage, or interactions with the system, such as accesses to
              the database, memory allocations, etc.

ENVIRONMENT         top

       DPKG_ADMINDIR
              If set and the --admindir option has not been specified, it
              will be used as the dpkg data directory.
       DPKG_MAINTSCRIPT_PACKAGE
              If set and the --local and --package options have not been
              specified, dpkg-divert will use it as the package name.

FILES         top

       /usr/local/var/lib/dpkg/diversions
              File which contains the current list of diversions of the
              system. It is located in the dpkg administration directory,
              along with other files important to dpkg, such as status or
              available.
              Note: dpkg-divert preserves the old copy of this file, with
              extension -old, before replacing it with the new one.

NOTES         top

       When adding, default is --local and --divert original.distrib. When
       removing, --package or --local and --divert must match if specified.
       Directories can't be diverted with dpkg-divert.
       Care should be taken when diverting shared libraries, ldconfig(8)
       creates a symbolic link based on the DT_SONAME field embedded in the
       library.  Because ldconfig doesn't honour diverts (only dpkg does),
       the symlink may end up pointing at the diverted library, if a
       diverted library has the same SONAME as the undiverted one.

EXAMPLES         top

       To divert all copies of a /usr/bin/example to /usr/bin/example.foo,
       i.e. directs all packages providing /usr/bin/example to install it as
       /usr/bin/example.foo, performing the rename if required:
       dpkg-divert --divert /usr/bin/example.foo --rename /usr/bin/example
       To remove that diversion:
       dpkg-divert --rename --remove /usr/bin/example
       To divert any package trying to install /usr/bin/example to
       /usr/bin/example.foo, except your own wibble package:
       dpkg-divert --package wibble --divert /usr/bin/example.foo --rename
              /usr/bin/example
       To remove that diversion:
       dpkg-divert --package wibble --rename --remove /usr/bin/example

SEE ALSO         top

       dpkg(1).

COLOPHON         top

       This page is part of the dpkg (Debian Package Manager) project.
       Information about the project can be found at 
       ⟨https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg/⟩.  If you have a bug report for
       this manual page, see 
       ⟨http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?src=dpkg⟩.  This page
       was obtained from the project's upstream Git repository 
       ⟨git://git.debian.org/git/dpkg/dpkg.git⟩ on 2017-07-05.  If you dis‐
       cover any rendering problems in this HTML version of the page, or you
       believe there is a better or more up-to-date source for the page, or
       you have corrections or improvements to the information in this
       COLOPHON (which is not part of the original manual page), send a mail
       to man-pages@man7.org
1.18.15-3-ga2ef                  1970-01-01                   dpkg-divert(1)