Works On

Viewing:

Debian 9 (Stretch)

Same on:

Debian 10 (Buster) Debian 11 (Bullseye) Debian 12 (Bookworm) Debian 13 (Trixie)

Other versions:

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish) Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat)

Details

Size: 16 lines
MD5: e99ea2a4a8db4dd2b5b90a60670d4fe0
SHA256: 84cb100b000873f25f677cf23ab51f841eb490264fa496361591d6071aebf0f4

/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/docker-autoremove-suggests

# Since Docker users are looking for the smallest possible final images, the
# following emerges as a very common pattern:

#   RUN apt-get update \
#       && apt-get install -y <packages> \
#       && <do some compilation work> \
#       && apt-get purge -y --auto-remove <packages>

# By default, APT will actually _keep_ packages installed via Recommends or
# Depends if another package Suggests them, even and including if the package
# that originally caused them to be installed is removed.  Setting this to
# "false" ensures that APT is appropriately aggressive about removing the
# packages it added.

# https://aptitude.alioth.debian.org/doc/en/ch02s05s05.html#configApt-AutoRemove-SuggestsImportant
Apt::AutoRemove::SuggestsImportant "false";

Copy & Paste

curl:

curl https://exampleconfig.com/api/v1/config/original/e99ea2a4a8db4dd2b5b90a60670d4fe0?hint=docker-autoremove-suggests

wget:

wget -O docker-autoremove-suggests https://exampleconfig.com/api/v1/config/original/e99ea2a4a8db4dd2b5b90a60670d4fe0?hint=docker-autoremove-suggests

For AI Agents

<prompt><role>DevOps agent</role><source url='https://exampleconfig.com/api/v1/config/original/e99ea2a4a8db4dd2b5b90a60670d4fe0?hint=docker-autoremove-suggests' /><config><app>APT</app><os>Debian 9 (Stretch)</os><location>/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/docker-autoremove-suggests</location><lines>16</lines><md5>e99ea2a4a8db4dd2b5b90a60670d4fe0</md5><sha256>84cb100b000873f25f677cf23ab51f841eb490264fa496361591d6071aebf0f4</sha256></config></prompt>

Paste into Claude, ChatGPT, or any AI assistant.

Install APT

Debian

sudo apt update && sudo apt install apt

Ubuntu

sudo apt update && sudo apt install apt

File Location

File Path

/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/docker-autoremove-suggests

FAQ

When should I use this docker-autoremove-suggests?

Use it to restore a missing default, confirm what shipped, or diff against your current APT config.

How do I restore APT defaults?

Download the file, back up the current one in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/docker-autoremove-suggests, replace it, then reload or restart APT.

Is docker-autoremove-suggests safe for production?

It is the vendor default for Debian 9 (Stretch). Treat it as a baseline and review security and performance settings before production use.

How does this differ from other OS versions?

Defaults vary by distro and version. This copy matches Debian 9 (Stretch).

Can I use this for APT troubleshooting?

Yes. Diff it against yours to find drift, then restore only the sections you need.

APT /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/docker-autoremove-suggests