The apt-cache command is a utility provided by the Advanced Packaging Tool (APT) system, which is used to manage software packages on Ubuntu and other Debian-based Linux distributions. It allows you to search for and list the available packages in the APT package repository, as well as show information about a specific package.
For example, you can use the apt-cache search command to search for a package that provides a particular utility or library, like this:
# apt-cache search nginx
This will list all the packages that match the search term “nginx”. To show information about a specific package, you can use the apt-cache show command, like this:
# apt-cache show nginx
This will display detailed information about the nginx package, such as its version, dependencies, and the files it installs.
apt-cache Command Examples
1. Search for a package in your current sources:
# apt-cache search {{query}}
2. Show information about a package:
# apt-cache show {{package}}
3. Show whether a package is installed and up to date:
# apt-cache policy {{package}}
4. Show dependencies for a package:
# apt-cache depends {{package}}
5. Show packages that depend on a particular package:
# apt-cache rdepends {{package}}