On a Debian system you have downloaded a single .deb file that is not in any configured repository, and you want to install it. Which command is designed for that job?
LPIC-1 Exam 101-500, objective 102. Linux installation and package management medium
Machine-checked — no person has signed for it. This question was read against the source cited below by an automated pass, which found no contradiction. That is a weaker claim than it sounds: the same kind of process wrote the question, so it can confirm its own mistake.
Treat it as a good draft rather than as settled fact, and read the source below before you rely on it. It is not used in mock exams here — only questions a person has signed for are.
How these questions are written — where each question comes from, what the verification ledger records, and what happens when one is found wrong.
The options
Not correct apt-cache install package
Wrong. apt-cache only queries the package index — search, show, depends, policy. It has no install subcommand and never modifies the system.
Not correct apt-get install package
Wrong. apt-get installs by package name from the repositories listed in sources.list; this package is in no configured repository, so apt-get reports that it cannot find it and never looks at the file you downloaded.
Correct dpkg -i package.deb
Correct. dpkg is the low-level tool that operates on package files on disk. It unpacks and configures the package, but it will not fetch missing dependencies — it stops and reports them instead.
Not correct dpkg-reconfigure package
Wrong. dpkg-reconfigure re-runs the debconf configuration of a package that is already installed; it takes a package name, not a file, and cannot install anything.
Why
The dividing line in Debian tooling is where the package comes from: dpkg handles .deb files already on disk and does no dependency resolution, while apt-get/apt work from repository metadata and pull in dependencies. The common recovery after a failed 'dpkg -i' is 'apt-get -f install' (or 'apt install -f'), which fixes the broken dependencies dpkg reported. Modern apt can also install a local file when given a path such as ./package.deb.
Where this comes from
- Cited
- LPI exam objective 102.4
- What it says
- Install, upgrade and uninstall Debian binary packages with dpkg and apt.
Practise this
Reading one question is not practice. The trainer will draw a short set from objective 102 and space the ones you get wrong.
More questions on this objective
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