The Advanced Package Tool (APT) is a command-line tool used to interact easily with the dpkg packaging system. APT is the ideal method used for managing software within Debian-based Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu. It manages dependencies effectively, maintains large configuration files, and properly handles upgrades and downgrades to ensure system stability. On its own, dpkg does not handle dependencies properly.
In Debian/Ubuntu-based distributions, software management is done via the apt utility, which is a recent replacement for the utilities apt-get and apt-cache. The most-used commands include:
| Command | Description |
| apt list | List packages |
| apt search | Search in descriptions |
| apt install | Install a package |
| apt show | Show package details |
| apt remove | Remove a package |
| apt update | Update catalog of available packages |
| apt upgrade | Upgrade the installed software |
| apt edit-sources | Edit the repository configuration |
If you encounter below error while running the apt command:
apt: command not found
you may try installing the apt package as per your choice of distribution.
| Distribution | Command |
|---|---|
| Debian | apt-get install apt |
| Ubuntu | apt-get install apt |
| Arch Linux | pacman -S apt |
| Kali Linux | apt-get install apt |
| CentOS | yum install apt |
| Fedora | dnf install apt |
| Raspbian | apt-get install apt |
apt Command Examples
1. Update the list of available packages and versions (it’s recommended to run this before other `apt` commands):
$ sudo apt update
2. Search for a given package:
$ apt search package
3. Show information for a package:
$ apt show package
4. Install a package, or update it to the latest available version:
$ sudo apt install package
5. Remove a package (using `purge` instead also removes its configuration files):
$ sudo apt remove package
6. Upgrade all installed packages to their newest available versions:
$ sudo apt upgrade
7. List all packages:
$ apt list
8. List installed packages:
$ apt list --installed