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APT Exit Codes

This document details exit codes for APT (Advanced Package Tool) commands used in syspkg.

Overview

APT uses a simple binary exit code system:

  • 0: Success
  • 100: Any error occurred
  • 1: Special case (apt run without options)

Source Reference

From Debian APT source code (cmdline/apt.cc):

  • Returns 100 on failure, 0 on success
  • Multiple exit(100) statements throughout codebase for various errors
  • No specific exit codes for different error types

Verified Behavior

apt search

# No packages found - returns SUCCESS
$ apt search nonexistentpackage123456
$ echo $?  # Returns: 0

# Invalid option - returns ERROR
$ apt search --invalid-option
$ echo $?  # Returns: 100

apt-get commands

  • apt-get update failures: 100
  • apt-get install failures: 100
  • Repository errors: 100
  • Network errors: 100

Current syspkg Bug

BUG: Our code incorrectly assumes:

// WRONG: APT search does NOT return 100 for "no packages found"
if exitError.ExitCode() == 100 {
    // No packages found, return empty list
    return []manager.PackageInfo{}, nil
}

Reality:

  • APT search returns 0 when no packages found
  • APT search returns 100 only on actual errors (invalid options, etc.)

dpkg Exit Codes

APT also uses dpkg-query which has different exit codes:

  • 0: Success
  • 1: Package not found (normal condition)
  • 2: Serious error

Example:

// Current code in utils.go handles this correctly:
if exitErr.ExitCode() != 1 && !strings.Contains(string(out), "no packages found matching") {
    return nil, fmt.Errorf("command failed with output: %s", string(out))
}

Recommendations

  1. Fix search exit code handling: Remove incorrect 100 handling
  2. Test each command: APT uses different tools with different codes
  3. No generic helpers: APT behavior is unique

Testing Commands

# Test in Ubuntu container
docker run --rm ubuntu:22.04 bash -c 'apt search test; echo $?'
docker run --rm ubuntu:22.04 bash -c 'apt search --invalid; echo $?'