# System Cleanup: antiX

A small set of commands for routine package maintenance and checking the health
of an antiX system.

These commands use the standard Debian package management tools available in
antiX.

---

## Update Package Lists

Refresh the local package information.

```bash
sudo apt update
```

This does not upgrade installed packages. It only updates the information used
by APT.

---

## Upgrade Installed Packages

Install available upgrades for packages already installed on the system.

```bash
sudo apt upgrade
```

---

## Remove Unneeded Packages

Remove packages that were installed as dependencies but are no longer required.

```bash
sudo apt autoremove
```

Review the proposed removals before confirming.

---

## Clean the Package Cache

Remove obsolete package files from the local APT cache.

### Remove obsolete cached packages

```bash
sudo apt autoclean
```

`autoclean` removes package files that can no longer be downloaded from the
configured repositories.

### Remove the entire package cache

```bash
sudo apt clean
```

Use this when disk space is more important than keeping locally cached package
files.

---

## Repair Broken Dependencies

Ask APT to resolve unfinished or broken package dependencies.

```bash
sudo apt --fix-broken install
```

This is useful after an interrupted installation or an incomplete package
upgrade.

---

## Check Package Database

Look for packages with problems that require attention.

```bash
dpkg --audit
```

No output normally means that `dpkg` has not detected an incomplete package
state.

---

## Check Held Packages

List packages that have been deliberately held back from normal upgrades.

```bash
apt-mark showhold
```

An empty result means that no packages are currently held.

---

## Verify Package Dependencies

Check whether the installed package system has dependency problems.

```bash
sudo apt check
```

This performs a dependency check without changing installed packages.

---

## A Simple Maintenance Pass

For routine maintenance, a reasonable sequence is:

```bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt autoremove
sudo apt autoclean
sudo apt check
```

The other commands are more useful when diagnosing a particular
package-management problem.

### When something is broken

A useful diagnostic sequence is:

```bash
dpkg --audit
apt-mark showhold
sudo apt check
sudo apt --fix-broken install
```

Then repeat the checks if necessary.

---

**Note:** `apt clean` is deliberately not part of the normal maintenance
sequence. It removes the entire local package cache and is better treated as a
disk-space cleanup operation rather than routine housekeeping.