The `apt` command

command-line interface 22 examples from the lessons of the IVski Linux Playground — try them in the terminal next to them.

Subcommands in the examples

apt install: Performs the requested action on one or more packages specified via regex(7), glob(7) or exact match.
apt list: list is somewhat similar to dpkg-query --list in that it can display a list of packages satisfying certain criteria.
apt update: update is used to download package information from all configured sources.
apt autoremove: autoremove is used to remove packages that were automatically installed to satisfy dependencies for other packages and are now no longer…
apt autoclean
apt remove: Performs the requested action on one or more packages specified via regex(7), glob(7) or exact match.
apt search: search can be used to search for the given regex(7) term(s) in the list of available packages and display matches.
apt upgrade: upgrade is used to install available upgrades of all packages currently installed on the system from the sources configured via…
apt full-upgrade: full-upgrade performs the function of upgrade but will remove currently installed packages if this is needed to upgrade the system as a…
apt purge: Performs the requested action on one or more packages specified via regex(7), glob(7) or exact match.
apt show: Show information about the given package(s) including its dependencies, installation and download size, sources the package is available…

sudo apt update

apt list --upgradable

sudo apt upgrade

Upgrade everything that's safe to upgrade

sudo apt full-upgrade

Also handles dependency changes (may remove packages)

apt --version

sudo apt install htop

sudo apt install htop tree curl

Multiple at once

sudo apt install -y htop

Auto-confirm prompts

sudo apt remove htop

Removes the program, keeps config files

sudo apt purge htop

Removes the program AND its config files

sudo apt autoremove

Removes packages that were only installed as dependencies and are no longer needed

sudo apt autoclean

Clears out old downloaded .deb files from cache

sudo apt install --reinstall htop

sudo apt install nginx

sudo apt remove --purge htop

apt search nginx

apt search "web server"

apt show nginx

apt list --installed

apt list --installed | grep nginx

sudo apt install -f

"Fix" — installs missing dependencies

sudo apt install git

Make sure git is available