obsolete-packages — Packages not available from any repository¶

Packages that no configured repository provides any more get no security updates. After a release upgrade these are usually packages dropped from the new release, or installed from a repository that was disabled.

At a glance


ID	`obsolete-packages`
Category	Packages
Needs root	no
Needs programs	`apt`, `dpkg-query`
Compares with a snapshot	yes
Options	0

What it checks¶

Installed packages APT marks as local: not available from any enabled repository.

Findings¶

Severity	Finding	What to do
warning	N installed packages are not available from any configured repository	Inspect each with `apt policy PACKAGE`; replace it with the new release's equivalent, or remove it.
info	N packages removed since baseline	Check nothing you rely on is gone; reinstall with `sudo apt install PACKAGE`.

Compared with a snapshot¶

The snapshot records every installed package and version; the report lists those that are gone.

Commands it runs¶

apt list --installed
dpkg-query -W -f='${Package}\t${Version}\n'

Limitations¶

Based on the downloaded package lists: a repository that's configured but whose lists were never downloaded makes its packages look obsolete. Run sudo apt update first; see apt-lists-age.
Packages you built or installed from .deb files yourself always show up here.

Options¶

This check has no options. Turn it off with enabled: false under checks: obsolete-packages: in the configuration file, or for one run with --skip obsolete-packages.