Correct way to install virtual dependency

Question

I'm in the process of creating a .deb package of our Java-based application (see this superuser-question). I'm now using following dependency information:

Depends: java-runtime-headless (>= 1.6)
Recommends: openjdk-7-jre-headless, ...

Now I'm trying to install it:

$ sudo dpkg -i MYAPP.deb 
Selecting previously unselected package MYAPP.
(Reading database ... 140874 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking MYAPP (from MYAPP.deb) ...
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of MYAPP:
 MYAPP depends on java-runtime-headless (>= 1.6); however:
  Package java-runtime-headless is not installed.
dpkg: error processing MYAPP (--install):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils ...
Processing triggers for bamfdaemon ...
Rebuilding /usr/share/applications/bamf.index...
Processing triggers for gnome-menus ...
Errors were encountered while processing:
 MYAPP
$

OK, I'm trying to install the dependency:

$ sudo apt-get install java-runtime-headless
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Package java-runtime-headless is a virtual package provided by:
  openjdk-7-jre-headless 7u25-2.3.10-1ubuntu0.12.04.2
  openjdk-6-jre-headless 6b27-1.12.6-1ubuntu0.12.04.2
  gcj-jre-headless 4:4.6.3-1ubuntu5
  gcj-4.6-jre-headless 4.6.3-1ubuntu2
  default-jre-headless 1:1.6-43ubuntu2
You should explicitly select one to install.

E: Package 'java-runtime-headless' has no installation candidate

OK, I chose one of these packages:

$ sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jre-headless
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
You might want to run 'apt-get -f install' to correct these:
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 openjdk-7-jre-headless : Depends: openjdk-7-jre-lib (= 7u25-2.3.10-1ubuntu0.12.04.2) but it is not going to be installed
                          Depends: ca-certificates-java but it is not going to be installed
                          Depends: tzdata-java (>= 2012e-0ubuntu0.12.04.1) but it is not going to be installed
                          Depends: java-common (>= 0.28) but it is not going to be installed
                          Depends: libnss3-1d (>= 3.12.9+ckbi-1.82-0ubuntu4) but it is not going to be installed
                          Recommends: icedtea-7-jre-jamvm (= 7u25-2.3.10-1ubuntu0.12.04.2) but it is not going to be installed
 MYAPP : Depends: java-runtime-headless (>= 1.6)
         Recommends: mercurial but it is not going to be installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or specify a solution).

Now it only suggests me to remove my application:

$ sudo apt-get -f install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Correcting dependencies... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  MYAPP
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove and 3 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 41.0 MB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? n
Abort.
$

It looks like I first need to install the dependency (openjdk-7-jre-headless) and then my application. How a normal user should understand that? Or is there a better way to install MYAPP.deb?

NGRhodes · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-18T14:31:11.093

I would remove the version from your "java-runtime-headless" dependency.

Virtual packages suffer from some troubling limitations, the most significant of which being the absence of a version number.

http://debian-handbook.info/browse/stable/sect.package-meta-information.html

If you want to specify which of a set of real packages should be the default to satisfy a particular dependency on a virtual package, you should list the real package as an alternative before the virtual one.

http://sdn.vlsm.org/share/Debian-Doc/debian-policy/ch-relationships.html

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23

2

So, why did you aborted the execution of sudo apt-get -f install. Run it again and don't abort it.

After run these commands:

sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt-get autoclean
sudo dpkg --configure -a

Then run again:

sudo apt-get -f install

If the output is something like:

0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded

then run:

sudo apt-get -u dist-upgrade

See How do I resolve unmet dependencies after adding a PPA? for more about.

Now install java-runtime-headless using the following command:

sudo apt-get install openjdk-7-jre-headless

And finally, install your application:

sudo dpkg -i MYAPP.deb

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23

Community

1

answered Oct 19 '13 at 13:19

Radu Rădeanu

169,590

I aborted it, because it wanted to remove MYAPP. – Thomas S. Oct 21 '13 at 07:11
Well, I want MYAPP to be installed with dependencies, not to be removed. – Thomas S. Oct 21 '13 at 07:17
@ThomasS. The last line/command from my answer will do this :) – Radu Rădeanu Oct 21 '13 at 07:22
@ThomasS. So, have you tried to clean and then install as I said? Something changed? – Radu Rădeanu Oct 22 '13 at 11:58

score 2 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23

2

As NGRhodes suggested I changed the dependencies to

Depends: openjdk-7-jre-headless | java-runtime-headless, ...
Recommends: ...

Now I can install it with

$ sudo dpkg -i MYAPP.deb

and install the missing dependencies with

$ sudo apt-get -f install

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23

Community

1

answered Oct 22 '13 at 14:20

Thomas S.

239
1
2
9

1

You might want to consider marking my answer as the accepted one. – NGRhodes Oct 24 '13 at 08:51
1

Or editing @NGRhodes answer to give completness. – Braiam Nov 26 '13 at 14:38

Correct way to install virtual dependency

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