[Bug 891696] Re: /etc/apt/preferences and /etc/apt/preferences.d/* are ignored.

[xtsbdu3reyrbrmroezob]

"""
       Note that the files in the /etc/apt/preferences.d directory are parsed
       in alphanumeric ascending order and need to obey the following naming
       convention: The files have either no or "pref" as filename extension
       and only contain alphanumeric, hyphen (-), underscore (_) and period
       (.) characters. Otherwise APT will print a notice that it has ignored a
       file, unless that file matches a pattern in the
       Dir::Ignore-Files-Silently configuration list - in which case it will
       be silently ignored.

"""

this appears to be well defined behavior. filenames MUST adhere to the
above. will close this bug out.

** Changed in: apt (Ubuntu)
       Status: Confirmed => Invalid

** Changed in: apt
   Importance: Unknown => Undecided

** Changed in: apt
       Status: Unknown => New

** Changed in: apt
 Remote watch: Debian Bug tracker #557580 => None

** Changed in: apt
   Importance: Undecided => Unknown

** Changed in: apt
       Status: New => Unknown

** Changed in: apt
 Remote watch: None => Debian Bug tracker #557580

** Changed in: apt
   Importance: Unknown => Undecided

** Changed in: apt
       Status: Unknown => New

** Changed in: apt
 Remote watch: Debian Bug tracker #557580 => None

** Changed in: apt
       Status: New => Invalid

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/891696

Title:
  /etc/apt/preferences and /etc/apt/preferences.d/* are ignored.

Status in APT:
  Invalid
Status in apt package in Ubuntu:
  Invalid

Bug description:
  Apt pinning is not possible, because /etc/apt/preferences and
  /etc/apt/preferences.d/* files are ignored.

  I know that they are ignored, because I made syntax error (after I had
  set up pinnings on both computers and noticed that they didn'' work on
  Ubuntu) in that file with two computers running different
  distribution. Debian gave error, Ubuntu didn't do anything.

  Apt pinning with these files is referred from wiki pages and man
  pages.

  I am using Ubuntu 11.10
  Package version is 0.8.16~exp5ubuntu13
  % apt-get --version
  apt 0.8.16~exp5ubuntu13 laitealustalle i386 käännöksen päiväys Oct  6 2011 15:25:29
  Tuetut moduulit:
  *Ver: Standard .deb
  *Pkg:  Debian dpkg interface (Priority 30)
   Pkg:  Debian APT solver interface (Priority -1000)
   S.L: 'deb' Standard Debian binary tree
   S.L: 'deb-src' Standard Debian source tree
   Idx: Debian Source Index
   Idx: Debian Package Index
   Idx: Debian Translation Index
   Idx: Debian dpkg status file
   Idx: EDSP scenario file

  I expected packages to get pinned.

  What happened instead: apt just ignored /etc/apt/preferences and
  /etc/apt/preferences.d/

  Steps to reproduce:
  1. Write anything to /etc/apt/preferences or some file in /etc/apt/preferences.d/
  2. That file is ignored in Ubuntu (with Debian you get error).

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
  Package: apt 0.8.16~exp5ubuntu13
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-12.20-generic 3.0.4
  Uname: Linux 3.0.0-12-generic i686
  NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia wl
  ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu4
  Architecture: i386
  Date: Thu Nov 17 18:20:44 2011
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Release i386 (20110427.1)
  SourcePackage: apt
  UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to oneiric on 2011-10-09 (39 days ago)

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