How to get a list of preinstalled packages?

Question

And I'd like to get this list directly and if possible from an external source (maybe repositories?).

Almost all one-liners I have found didn't work for me. So I hope there is an indicator somewhere that denotes packages as "preinstalled".

PS: I don't want to run a clean installation in a VM.

Would you mind fetching the contents from a Live CD directly? — Lekensteyn, Jun 22 '11 at 17:45
I found the list mikewhatever posted on the CD too but, you know, I don't always have a CD ;) — dAnjou, Jun 22 '11 at 23:17

score 26 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 29 '20 at 07:24

26

Every *buntu release has a .manifest or .list file that lists preinstalled packages. This file is located online.

For example:

...and so on.

edited Oct 29 '20 at 07:24

Pablo Bianchi

answered Jun 22 '11 at 22:44

mikewhatever

1

I've compared the Kubuntu CD contents with a [fresh installation inside VBox](http://askubuntu.com/questions/38497/what-packages-are-installed-on-a-fresh-installation/41246#41246), and it seems that the contents match a Live CD, not an actual installation (e.g. the installer, ubiquity, is included in Mike's list) – Lekensteyn Jun 23 '11 at 08:34
1

That's probably true. The ubiquity, ntfsprogs and unused locales are removed at the end of the installation. – mikewhatever Jun 26 '11 at 21:53
Does the manifest list includes dependent packages as well? For example, `libgomp1` is not listed in the manifest file but is a dependent of `libgcc-5-dev`, which is on the manifest file. – zhaofeng-shu33 Oct 04 '19 at 15:27

1 Answers1