Debian – How to verify that package-installed files match originals

aptdebiandpkgintegrity

Let's say I have an installed, working and up-to-date system, and want to verify that all package-installed files on it are the same as those packaged by the respective package maintainer.

In effect, I want a list of files that are somehow different between what I have installed "now" and what I would get if I were to reinstall using the same set of packages on a blank system. Short of actually reinstalling and comparing the outcome, how would I generate such a list of files?

I realize that some differences (configuration files, for example) are to be expected, but that's okay.

I'm primarily interested in Debian Wheezy, but a good answer would explore a solution that works with any reasonably modern Linux distribution based around the same package management infrastructure (apt, dpkg and friends).

Best Answer

One way to accomplish this is to use the command debsums.

$ debsums <package>

Example

$ debsums xz-utils
/usr/bin/lzmainfo                                                             OK
/usr/bin/xz                                                                   OK
/usr/bin/xzdiff                                                               OK
/usr/bin/xzgrep                                                               OK
/usr/bin/xzless                                                               OK
/usr/bin/xzmore                                                               OK
/usr/share/doc/xz-utils/NEWS.Debian.gz                                        OK
/usr/share/doc/xz-utils/README.Debian                                         OK
/usr/share/doc/xz-utils/README.gz                                             OK
/usr/share/doc/xz-utils/copyright                                             OK
/usr/share/doc/xz-utils/extra/7z2lzma/7z2lzma.bash                            OK
/usr/share/doc/xz-utils/extra/scanlzma/scanlzma.c                             OK
/usr/share/doc/xz-utils/faq.txt.gz                                            OK
/usr/share/doc/xz-utils/history.txt.gz                                        OK
/usr/share/man/man1/lzmainfo.1.gz                                             OK
/usr/share/man/man1/xz.1.gz                                                   OK
/usr/share/man/man1/xzdiff.1.gz                                               OK
/usr/share/man/man1/xzgrep.1.gz                                               OK
/usr/share/man/man1/xzless.1.gz                                               OK
/usr/share/man/man1/xzmore.1.gz                                               OK
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