update-alternatives(1) dpkg suite update-alternatives(1)
NAME
update-alternatives - maintain symbolic links determining default
commands
SYNOPSIS
update-alternatives [option...] command
DESCRIPTION
update-alternatives creates, removes, maintains and displays
information about the symbolic links comprising the alternatives
system.
It is possible for several programs fulfilling the same or similar
functions to be installed on a single system at the same time. For
example, many systems have several text editors installed at once.
This gives choice to the users of a system, allowing each to use a
different editor, if desired, but makes it difficult for a program to
make a good choice for an editor to invoke if the user has not
specified a particular preference.
The alternatives system aims to solve this problem. A generic name in
the filesystem is shared by all files providing interchangeable
functionality. The alternatives system and the system administrator
together determine which actual file is referenced by this generic
name. For example, if the text editors ed(1) and nvi(1) are both
installed on the system, the alternatives system will cause the generic
name /usr/bin/editor to refer to /usr/bin/nvi by default. The system
administrator can override this and cause it to refer to /usr/bin/ed
instead, and the alternatives system will not alter this setting until
explicitly requested to do so.
The generic name is not a direct symbolic link to the selected
alternative. Instead, it is a symbolic link to a name in the
alternatives directory, which in turn is a symbolic link to the actual
file referenced. This is done so that the system administrator's
changes can be confined within the /etc directory: the FHS (q.v.) gives
reasons why this is a Good Thing.
When each package providing a file with a particular functionality is
installed, changed or removed, update-alternatives is called to update
information about that file in the alternatives system. update-
alternatives is usually called from the following Debian package
maintainer scripts, postinst (configure) to install the alternative and
from prerm and postrm (remove) to remove the alternative. Note: in
most (if not all) cases no other maintainer script actions should call
update-alternatives, in particular neither of upgrade nor disappear, as
any other such action can lose the manual state of an alternative, or
make the alternative temporarily flip-flop, or completely switch when
several of them have the same priority.
It is often useful for a number of alternatives to be synchronized, so
that they are changed as a group; for example, when several versions of
the vi(1) editor are installed, the manual page referenced by
/usr/share/man/man1/vi.1 should correspond to the executable referenced
by /usr/bin/vi. update-alternatives handles this by means of master
and slave links; when the master is changed, any associated slaves are
changed too. A master link and its associated slaves make up a link
group.
Each link group is, at any given time, in one of two modes: automatic
or manual. When a group is in automatic mode, the alternatives system
will automatically decide, as packages are installed and removed,
whether and how to update the links. In manual mode, the alternatives
system will retain the choice of the administrator and avoid changing
the links (except when something is broken).
Link groups are in automatic mode when they are first introduced to the
system. If the system administrator makes changes to the system's
automatic settings, this will be noticed the next time update-
alternatives is run on the changed link's group, and the group will
automatically be switched to manual mode.
Each alternative has a priority associated with it. When a link group
is in automatic mode, the alternatives pointed to by members of the
group will be those which have the highest priority.
When using the --config option, update-alternatives will list all of
the choices for the link group of which given name is the master
alternative name. The current choice is marked with a ‘*’. You will
then be prompted for your choice regarding this link group. Depending
on the choice made, the link group might no longer be in auto mode.
You will need to use the --auto option in order to return to the
automatic mode (or you can rerun --config and select the entry marked
as automatic).
If you want to configure non-interactively you can use the --set option
instead (see below).
Different packages providing the same file need to do so cooperatively.
In other words, the usage of update-alternatives is mandatory for all
involved packages in such case. It is not possible to override some
file in a package that does not employ the update-alternatives
mechanism.
TERMINOLOGY
Since the activities of update-alternatives are quite involved, some
specific terms will help to explain its operation.
generic name (or alternative link)
A name, like /usr/bin/editor, which refers, via the alternatives
system, to one of a number of files of similar function.
alternative name
The name of a symbolic link in the alternatives directory.
alternative (or alternative path)
The name of a specific file in the filesystem, which may be made
accessible via a generic name using the alternatives system.
alternatives directory
A directory, by default /etc/alternatives, containing the symlinks.
administrative directory
A directory, by default /var/lib/dpkg/alternatives, containing
update-alternatives' state information.
link group
A set of related symlinks, intended to be updated as a group.
master link
The alternative link in a link group which determines how the other
links in the group are configured.
slave link
An alternative link in a link group which is controlled by the
setting of the master link.
automatic mode
When a link group is in automatic mode, the alternatives system
ensures that the links in the group point to the highest priority
alternative appropriate for the group.
manual mode
When a link group is in manual mode, the alternatives system will
not make any changes to the system administrator's settings.
COMMANDS
--install link name path priority [--slave link name path]...
Add a group of alternatives to the system. link is the generic
name for the master link, name is the name of its symlink in the
alternatives directory, and path is the alternative being
introduced for the master link. The arguments after --slave are
the generic name, symlink name in the alternatives directory and
the alternative path for a slave link. Zero or more --slave
options, each followed by three arguments, may be specified. Note
that the master alternative must exist or the call will fail.
However if a slave alternative doesn't exist, the corresponding
slave alternative link will simply not be installed (a warning will
still be displayed). If some real file is installed where an
alternative link has to be installed, it is kept unless --force is
used.
If the alternative name specified exists already in the
alternatives system's records, the information supplied will be
added as a new set of alternatives for the group. Otherwise, a new
group, set to automatic mode, will be added with this information.
If the group is in automatic mode, and the newly added
alternatives' priority is higher than any other installed
alternatives for this group, the symlinks will be updated to point
to the newly added alternatives.
--set name path
Set the program path as alternative for name. This is equivalent
to --config but is non-interactive and thus scriptable.
--remove name path
Remove an alternative and all of its associated slave links. name
is a name in the alternatives directory, and path is an absolute
filename to which name could be linked. If name is indeed linked
to path, name will be updated to point to another appropriate
alternative (and the group is put back in automatic mode), or
removed if there is no such alternative left. Associated slave
links will be updated or removed, correspondingly. If the link is
not currently pointing to path, no links are changed; only the
information about the alternative is removed.
--remove-all name
Remove all alternatives and all of their associated slave links.
name is a name in the alternatives directory.
--all
Call --config on all alternatives. It can be usefully combined
with --skip-auto to review and configure all alternatives which are
not configured in automatic mode. Broken alternatives are also
displayed. Thus a simple way to fix all broken alternatives is to
call yes '' | update-alternatives --force --all.
--auto name
Switch the link group behind the alternative for name to automatic
mode. In the process, the master symlink and its slaves are
updated to point to the highest priority installed alternatives.
--display name
Display information about the link group. Information displayed
includes the group's mode (auto or manual), the master and slave
links, which alternative the master link currently points to, what
other alternatives are available (and their corresponding slave
alternatives), and the highest priority alternative currently
installed.
--get-selections
List all master alternative names (those controlling a link group)
and their status (since version 1.15.0). Each line contains up to
3 fields (separated by one or more spaces). The first field is the
alternative name, the second one is the status (either auto or
manual), and the last one contains the current choice in the
alternative (beware: it's a filename and thus might contain
spaces).
--set-selections
Read configuration of alternatives on standard input in the format
generated by --get-selections and reconfigure them accordingly
(since version 1.15.0).
--query name
Display information about the link group like --display does, but
in a machine parseable way (since version 1.15.0, see section
"QUERY FORMAT" below).
--list name
Display all targets of the link group.
--config name
Show available alternatives for a link group and allow the user to
interactively select which one to use. The link group is updated.
--help
Show the usage message and exit.
--version
Show the version and exit.
OPTIONS
--altdir directory
Specifies the alternatives directory, when this is to be different
from the default. Defaults to «/etc/alternatives».
--admindir directory
Specifies the administrative directory, when this is to be
different from the default. Defaults to
«/var/lib/dpkg/alternatives» if DPKG_ADMINDIR has not been set.
--instdir directory
Specifies the installation directory where alternatives links will
be created (since version 1.20.1). Defaults to «/» if DPKG_ROOT
has not been set.
--root directory
Specifies the root directory (since version 1.20.1). This also
sets the alternatives, installation and administrative directories
to match. Defaults to «/» if DPKG_ROOT has not been set.
--log file
Specifies the log file (since version 1.15.0), when this is to be
different from the default (/var/log/alternatives.log).
--force
Allow replacing or dropping any real file that is installed where
an alternative link has to be installed or removed.
--skip-auto
Skip configuration prompt for alternatives which are properly
configured in automatic mode. This option is only relevant with
--config or --all.
--quiet
Do not generate any comments unless errors occur.
--verbose
Generate more comments about what is being done.
--debug
Generate even more comments, helpful for debugging, about what is
being done (since version 1.19.3).
EXIT STATUS
0 The requested action was successfully performed.
2 Problems were encountered whilst parsing the command line or
performing the action.
ENVIRONMENT
DPKG_ROOT
If set and the --instdir or --root options have not been specified,
it will be used as the filesystem root directory.
DPKG_ADMINDIR
If set and the --admindir option has not been specified, it will be
used as the base administrative directory.
FILES
/etc/alternatives/
The default alternatives directory. Can be overridden by the
--altdir option.
/var/lib/dpkg/alternatives/
The default administration directory. Can be overridden by the
--admindir option.
QUERY FORMAT
The --query format is using an RFC822-like flat format. It's made of n
+ 1 stanzas where n is the number of alternatives available in the
queried link group. The first stanza contains the following fields:
Name: name
The alternative name in the alternative directory.
Link: link
The generic name of the alternative.
Slaves: list-of-slaves
When this field is present, the next lines hold all slave links
associated to the master link of the alternative. There is one
slave per line. Each line contains one space, the generic name of
the slave alternative, another space, and the path to the slave
link.
Status: status
The status of the alternative (auto or manual).
Best: best-choice
The path of the best alternative for this link group. Not present
if there is no alternatives available.
Value: currently-selected-alternative
The path of the currently selected alternative. It can also take
the magic value none. It is used if the link doesn't exist.
The other stanzas describe the available alternatives in the queried
link group:
Alternative: path-of-this-alternative
Path to this stanza's alternative.
Priority: priority-value
Value of the priority of this alternative.
Slaves: list-of-slaves
When this field is present, the next lines hold all slave
alternatives associated to the master link of the alternative.
There is one slave per line. Each line contains one space, the
generic name of the slave alternative, another space, and the path
to the slave alternative.
Example
$ update-alternatives --query editor
Name: editor
Link: /usr/bin/editor
Slaves:
editor.1.gz /usr/share/man/man1/editor.1.gz
editor.fr.1.gz /usr/share/man/fr/man1/editor.1.gz
editor.it.1.gz /usr/share/man/it/man1/editor.1.gz
editor.pl.1.gz /usr/share/man/pl/man1/editor.1.gz
editor.ru.1.gz /usr/share/man/ru/man1/editor.1.gz
Status: auto
Best: /usr/bin/vim.basic
Value: /usr/bin/vim.basic
Alternative: /bin/ed
Priority: -100
Slaves:
editor.1.gz /usr/share/man/man1/ed.1.gz
Alternative: /usr/bin/vim.basic
Priority: 50
Slaves:
editor.1.gz /usr/share/man/man1/vim.1.gz
editor.fr.1.gz /usr/share/man/fr/man1/vim.1.gz
editor.it.1.gz /usr/share/man/it/man1/vim.1.gz
editor.pl.1.gz /usr/share/man/pl/man1/vim.1.gz
editor.ru.1.gz /usr/share/man/ru/man1/vim.1.gz
DIAGNOSTICS
With --verbose update-alternatives chatters incessantly about its
activities on its standard output channel. If problems occur, update-
alternatives outputs error messages on its standard error channel and
returns an exit status of 2. These diagnostics should be self-
explanatory; if you do not find them so, please report this as a bug.
EXAMPLES
There are several packages which provide a text editor compatible with
vi, for example nvi and vim. Which one is used is controlled by the
link group vi, which includes links for the program itself and the
associated manual page.
To display the available packages which provide vi and the current
setting for it, use the --display action:
update-alternatives --display vi
To choose a particular vi implementation, use this command as root and
then select a number from the list:
update-alternatives --config vi
To go back to having the vi implementation chosen automatically, do
this as root:
update-alternatives --auto vi
SEE ALSO
ln(1), FHS (the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard).
1.22.6 2025-09-18 update-alternatives(1)
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