---
name: "debman"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "debian-goodies"
version: "0.88.2"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/debman"
---

# debman(1)

read man pages from uninstalled packages

## NAME

debman - read man pages from uninstalled packages

## SYNOPSIS

**debman** **-f** *filename* \[**--** *[man(1)](/man/1.md) options*\] *name*\
 **debman** **-p** *package* \[**--** *[man(1)](/man/1.md) options*\] *name*\
 **debman** **-p** *package*=*version* \[**--** *[man(1)](/man/1.md) options*\] *name*

## DESCRIPTION

**debman** extracts a Debian package into a temporary directory and displays manual pages from it. If the **-f** option is used, it will use a local *.deb* file; if the **-p** option is used, it will download the named package using **debget**. If a version number is appended with "=" to the package name, the package of that version will be used (if known to APT).

## ENVIRONMENT

**debman** intentionally ignores any $**MANPATH** environment variable that might be set, and constructs its own such that only manual pages within the package will be displayed.

## AUTHOR

**debman** was written by Colin Watson \<cjwatson@debian.org\>.

## SEE ALSO

[**debget**(1)](/debget/1.md)