How to install a specific version of a Debian package using apt-get

At work we use a backported version of Subversion as the stable package is 1.1.4 and I wanted to install the latest one we could get a package for which was version 1.3.2. Along with the backported Subversion package is a package that contains a number of useful hook scripts called subversion-tools.

When I did an apt-get install subversion-tools Debian wanted to install the 1.1.4 stable release not the 1.3.2 backported release. By doing an apt-cache show subversion-tools I was able to see the two available packages.

These are the steps I went through to install the backported version of subversion-tools, although these steps will work when installing any specific version of a Debian package.

Before you install a specific version of a package you need it's complete version.
This will be displayed when you run:
apt-cache showpkg <package name>

e.g.
apt-cache showpkg subversion-tools

> Package: subversion-tools
> Versions:
> 1.3.2-5~bpo1(/var/lib/dpkg/status)
> 1.1.4-2 (/var/lib/apt/lists/ftp.uk.debian.org_debian_dists_stable_main_binary-i386_Packages)

To install the specific version simply run run:
apt-get install <package name>=<version>

e.g.
apt-get install subversion-tools=1.3.2-5~bpo1

Technorati Tags: Apt-Get, Apt-Cache, Install, Package, Debian, Linux, Subversion, Andrew Beacock