apt: how to prevent a package from upgrading

Sometimes new versions of software introduce new bugs. In this case you might not want the package to upgrade on a simple apt upgrade run. To do so, you can set the package on hold.

Hold a package:

sudo apt-mark hold <package-name>

Remove the hold:

sudo apt-mark unhold <package-name>

Show all packages on hold:

sudo apt-mark showhold

When you set a package on hold and you run apt upgrade you will see the following output which will remind you of the hold:

...
The following packages have been kept back:
<package-name>
...
Daniel Straßner Over 3 years ago