Last Updated on September 30, 2010 by Dave Farquhar
Yes, Todd, I’m posting an update from work. This’ll save me from wasting time on Google later in life.
Use the command dpkg --get-selections to generate a list of all the installed packages. If you want to replicate a system quickly (say, for disaster recovery or system deployment), redirect the package list to a file (dpkg --get-selections >packagelist). Then, as long as you have a copy of the file, you can install a minimal Debian system and turn it into a replica of the other system with nothing more than an Internet connection and a few commands:
dpkg --get-selections |sed 's/\(de\)*install/purge/' | > dpkg --set-selections
dpkg --set-selections dselect install
And they say Windows’ TCO is lower than Linux…
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.
Todd checks this to see if we update from work? Yikes! Um, I only update to keep myself from needing Google too, for work-related stuff only. Yeah, that’s it.
Yeah, and I only read the work related stuff. Really enjoy all the articles on scheduling appointments.