Managing Software with APT

Managing Software with APT

$ sudo apt-get update
Consults /etc/apt/sources.list and updates the database of available packages.

$ sudo apt-get upgrade
Check updates for all installed packages and then prompt to download and install them.

$ sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
Updates the entire system to a new release, even if it means removing packages.

$ sudo apt-get clean
Removes all cached packages from /var/cache/apt/archives to free up disk space.

$ sudo apt-get autoclean
Can be run anytime to delete partially downloaded packages, or packages no longer installed.

$ sudo apt-get install "package"
Download and install the given package name as found in the package database.

$ sudo apt-get -d install "package"
Download the package only, placing it in /var/cache/apt/archives.

$ sudo apt-cache search "keyword"
Case-insensitive search of the package database for the keyword given. The package names and descriptions are returned where that keyword is found.

$ apt-cache show "package"
Display information about the software from the named package.

$ sudo apt-cache depends
Print dependencies for a package.

$ sudo apt-key list
List gpg keys that APT knows about.

$ sudo apt-cache pkgnames
List all packages installed on the system.

$ sudo apt-get --purge remove "package"
Remove the named package and all its configuration files. Remove the --purge keyword to keep config files.

$ sudo apt-get -f install
Do a sanity check for broken packages.

$ sudo apt-config -V
Print version information of installed APT utilities.

$ sudo apt-cache stats
Print statistics on all packages installed.