You are running Debian stable because you prefer the stable Debian tree. It runs great, there is just one problem: The software is a little bit outdated compared to other distributions. That is where backports come in.

Backports are recompiled packages from testing (mostly) and unstable (in a few cases only, e.g. security updates), so they will run without new libraries (wherever it is possible) on a stable Debian distribution. It is recommended to pick out single backports which fit your needs, and not to use all backports available.

This article illustrates how to:

• configure your stable system to use the Backports repository
• find a specific backport
• install packages from the repository
• have your backports upgraded automatically

For official instructions on how to use Debian Backports, visit http://backports.debian.org/Instructions/.

• Contents

  1. Configuring your stable system
     1. Verifying backports
     2. Adding the repository
        1. Using Synaptic
        2. Using the command line
  2. Using backports
     1. Finding backports
     2. Installing backports on the command line
     3. Automatic upgrades
  3. FAQ
     1. Reporting bugs
     2. Migrate from backports.org to backports.debian.org
  4. External links

Configuring your stable system

Verifying backports

In order to verify the integrity of downloaded backports before installing them, APT needs the Backports archive key. The package debian-backports-keyring contains this key. So you should install it first.

Note: The Backports repository has to be added first.

Adding the repository

Using Synaptic

• Open Synaptic
• Go to:

   Configuration > Repository

• Add this repository:

  

Using the command line

Become root and open the file /etc/apt/sources.list in your favorite editor:

human@debian:~$ su
Password:
debian:/home/human# nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Add the following lines:

# Backports.org repository
deb http://backports.debian.org/debian-backports lenny-backports main contrib non-free

If you are a free software enthusiast, you might want to remove the contrib and non-free sections. (See Debian sections for details.)

Now that you have added the repository, update APT's cache to include the backports in the list of available packages:

debian:/home/human# aptitude update

Done.

Using backports

Finding backports

There are a several different ways to find out if a backport of a certain Debian package exists. A pretty convenient one is using Debian's web-based package search (packages.debian.org). If you are running Iceweasel, simply use the built-in search plugin (Deb Search).

Installing backports on the command line

The backports repository is deactivated by default. So, if you want to install a backported package, you will have to state that explicitly.

For example:

debian:/home/human# aptitude -t lenny-backports install iceweasel

The -t option here specifies lenny-backports as the target release. This would install Iceweasel 3.5 from Backports instead of version 3.0 from the Debian stable release.

Automatic upgrades

Because the Backports repository is deactivated by default, your installed backports will not recieve upgrades automatically. However, you can use pinning to cause APT to perform automatic upgrades. Pinning basically means controlling which version of which package is to be selected for installation. (See the APT HOWTO and man apt_preferences for in-depth explanation.)

In order to make APT perfom automatic upgrades of installed backports, follow these steps:

1. Open the file /etc/apt/preferences in an editor of your choice. (as root)

2. Insert the text below.
3. Save and exit.

# APT PINNING PREFERENCES
Package: *
Pin: release a=lenny-backports
Pin-Priority: 200

After changing APT's behavior in that file, it will act like this:

If a package was installed from Backports.org and there is a newer version there, it will be upgraded from there. Other packages that are also available from Backports will not be upgraded to the Backports version unless explicitly stated with -t lenny-backports.

FAQ

Reporting bugs

Because of limitations in the Debian Bug Tracking System, any bugs relevant to backported packages still have to be reported to the debian-backports list.

Migrate from backports.org to backports.debian.org

On Sept. 5th, 2010, Backports became an official service (see announcement).

Systems configured to use backports.org should reconfigured to use the new repository/URL (in /etc/apt/source.list*), since backports.org service will be stopped at some point.

1. replace backports.org with backports.debian.org in /etc/apt/source.list*.

2. run aptitude update

3. remove the backports.org key from your keyring. Depending how you installed it...

   • apt-get purge debian-backports-keyring
     or

   • apt-key del 16BA136C

External links

• backports.debian.org for more information

• Article about backports on cliss21.com: The article contains information on how to backport packages as well as some step-by-step simple examples to start with.

• Diffs between lenny-backports and squeeze: A useful comparison of package versions in lenny-backports and squeeze.

• ?CategoryDistributionRelease

ToDo : update the screenshot !