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dpkg-deb: Inspect a .deb Without Installing It
MediumLinux+ Exam Prep15-25 minThe brief
A .deb package is staged at /root/case/pkg/. Inspect it offline with dpkg-deb — do not install it (no network, no dpkg -i) — and record three facts an admin checks before deploying a package.
(1) The package version → /root/case/answers/version.txt.
(2) Its hard dependency — the package it Depends on, not what it merely Recommends → /root/case/answers/dep.txt.
(3) The install path of its program (the /usr/bin/... file it ships) → /root/case/answers/binpath.txt.
dpkg-deb -f reads control fields, dpkg-deb -c lists contents. See /root/case/brief.txt.
What you'll do
- Read a .deb's metadata and contents without installing it
- Distinguish a hard dependency (Depends) from an optional one (Recommends)
- Find where a package installs its files from the archive listing
Hands-on lab: you work on a real Linux box in your browser, graded on the machine's actual state.