Retrieve the architecture-specific package(s) from the Debian mirrors into the current directory. If the package has already been downloaded, apt-cross will skip the download unless --force is used.

Retrieve the architecture-specific package(s) from the Debian mirrors into the current directory and pass to dpkg-cross to build a cross-built version.

'Architecture: all' dependencies of the requested package are added to the list of dependencies to be excluded from the cross package using dpkg-cross -X.

--build will always replace any existing cross package file in the same directory. Use --force only to ensure that apt-cross gets a fresh package prior to conversion.

Dependencies of the requested package are not processed recursively so the cross package may be uninstallable without other cross packages, see --install for that functionality.

Retrieve the architecture-specific package(s) from the Debian mirrors into the current directory. Check for dependencies that are suitable for dpkg-cross, download each dependency and build, then install the package and dependencies using dpkg-cross and dpkg -i. If successfully installed, the temporary downloaded archives are removed. Requires working sudo setup and will prompt for the sudo password if necessary (if sudo is not already cached).

Remove the cross-built package by calling dpkg. Requires working sudo setup and will prompt for the sudo password if necessary (if sudo is not already cached).

Show the package information for the cross-built packages specified. If the package name does not end in -$arch-cross, the correct suffix will be added. The output format is the same as the equivalent apt-cache show output and includes the dependencies of the cross-built package. Note that only the details of cross-built packages (in the repository or installed) are displayed.

List all cross-built package names. (Similar to apt-cache pkgnames).

Force the user-specific apt-cross cache to be updated. Note that all sources for this suite on the specified architecture will be erased before the package cache is updated. If /etc/apt/sources.list or /etc/apt/sources.list.d/* does not contain a source for this suite, the updated cache for this suite will be empty. Use -m|--mirror to specify a source to be added to whatever sources are available for this suite in /etc/apt/sources.list and /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.

Force the user-specific apt-cross package list files to be updated. apt-cross turns off the normal apt default of cleaning up the package lists automatically because apt has a habit of removing the package lists for non-native architectures during the automated clean.

This makes it impossible to maintain two sets of package lists from different architectures, requiring a complete update every time the cache switches architecture.

Turning the option off, however, can lead to clutter and confusing errors from libcache-apt-perl so this command removes all package list files from the apt-cross directory for the specified or default suite, then runs force_update.

Check if the user-specific apt-cross cache needs to be updated and update if necessary.

set architecture (default: defined in the ~/.dpkg-cross/cross-compile configuration file or by the dpkg-cross debconf configuration.)

set the Debian suite (stable, testing, unstable [default])

set the Debian mirror to use to retrieve packages (default: first usable apt source.)

As from apt-cross v0.1.2, architecture-independent dependencies are NOT processed. apt-cross also passes options to dpkg-cross to ensure that the cross package omits the same dependencies. If there are additional packages that need to be omitted, this option allows individual packages (e.g. perl-base) to be added to the list.

The option is typically used to drop dependencies on packages that are not required within a cross-build environment, e.g. packages containing only executables or architecture independent files.

Requires -i. Halts the install operation at the point where the dependencies have been calculated and apt-cross prints a summary message indicating how many packages need to be installed as new and how many as upgrades.

Requires -i. Retains the .deb archives downloaded for conversion by dpkg-cross for use in later builds. Normally, these foreign architecture .deb archives are removed after a successful installation. This option is provided mainly for use in a chroot or other situation where the archives need to be copied into the local cache. apt-cross will check /var/cache/apt/archives/ before trying to download another copy so a chroot process can copy the archives into the chroot apt cache to prevent repeat downloads. Note that apt-cross downloads the archives into the current working directory; if this is a package source directory, consider changing to a temporary directory before starting apt-cross --keep-temp --install foo or arrange for the chroot process to move the files into the local apt cache before starting the build. (empdebuild from emdebian-tools does this for you.)

apt-cross will normally skip downloads and rebuilds of cross packages already installed at the latest available version. Use --force to override this behaviour. In --get mode, --force simply downloads another version of the ARCH package. In --build mode, --force downloads a fresh ARCH package and rebuilds the cross version, overwriting a cross package in the same directory.

be verbose - repeat once for extra verbosity. Repeat twice to see comprehensive debug information.

be quiet. (default)

Print usage and version information and exit.

Collection of directories and cache files for each suite (unstable, testing, stable etc.).

Sources list for each suite.