hi,

i hv ubuntu 20.04. I want to install a package using dpkg/apt install, however, in a user's home diretory. It has dependencies as well. How to do it?

dpkg -i --instdir=<user home directory> pkg.deb

apt install --root=<user home directory> <PKG Name>


This is not working

Don't know where you've got this --root apt option - my man page doesn't mention it, dpkg with --instdir would theoretically work but with many caveats: packages being installed this way would expect standard folders - /var, /etc, /run and so on to be present in your home with all necessary subfolder structures and proper permissions, would run properly only when chrooted to home, dependencies would have to be installed manually - all of them, not just new, and would require setting up a local administrative directory as well. It's for maintaining separate chroot environments, not for installing random packages in random places. IMHO it would be easier to unpack package archive and arrange files manually.

That's how I'd do it. Run "ar x" on the package, and manually move files to ~/.local.