blacklisting

Managing software packages efficiently is crucial for maintaining the stability, performance, and security of Linux systems. One advanced technique system administrators often use is package blacklisting. This approach prevents specific packages from being inadvertently installed or updated, which can be vital for compatibility reasons, or to avoid software with known issues. In this blog post, we'll discuss how to blacklist packages using popular package managers like apt (used in Debian and Ubuntu), dnf (used in Fedora), and zypper (used in openSUSE). Package blacklisting is a method to exclude specific packages from being managed through system updates or installations.

Keeping your Linux system up-to-date is critical for ensuring security and stability but sometimes, there are instances when you might not want to update certain packages. In this article, we'll explore how to blacklist or hold packages from being updated in various Linux package managers, including APT (used in Debian-based systems), DNF (utilized in Fedora and its derivatives), and Zypper (the command line interface of openSUSE). APT is the package management system used by Debian and its derivatives like Ubuntu. To prevent a package from being updated, you can hold it using the apt-mark command. This is particularly useful if updating that package would cause issues with your system or disrupt a service.