Managing Debian/Ubuntu packages with apt-get & apt-cache

Look at the file with repository information

$ cat /etc/apt/sources.list

Update the repository list, upgrade, install, remove, search packages, show package metadata, check dependencies

The relationship

• apt-get / apt-cache — the older, lower-level tools, still present and valid

• apt — a newer, friendlier frontend that combines the most common commands from both

Command equivalents

Old command New apt equivalent

apt-get update apt update

apt-get upgrade apt upgrade

apt-get install apt install

apt-get remove apt remove

apt-cache search apt search

apt-cache show apt show

apt-cache depends apt-cache depends (No equivalent)

update and upgrade

Command What it does

apt-get update Refreshes the package index — downloads the list of available packages from the repositories. Installs/removes nothing.

apt-get upgrade Upgrades installed packages — never removes packages

apt-get dist-upgrade Upgrades installed packages — can remove packages if needed to resolve dependencies

Notes: "update" and "upgrade" have very different meanings depending on the distribution.

For detailed information about "dpkg" options, go here.

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