Lesson 73: apt-get Command
In this lesson, you'll learn how to use the apt-get command to install, upgrade, remove, and manage software packages in Debian-based Linux distributions.
The apt-get command is a powerful and free command-line program used to work with Ubuntu's APT (Advanced Packaging Tool) library.
It facilitates various package management tasks, including the installation of new software packages, removal of existing packages, upgrading of existing software packages, and can even be used to upgrade the entire operating system.
It served as the primary package management command in Debian-based Linux distributions before the introduction of the apt command.
apt-get Command Syntax
The syntax for the apt-get command is as follows:
$ sudo apt-get [OPTIONS] [COMMAND]
Here, OPTIONS represents any additional flags or modifiers you can use with the command, and COMMAND specifies the action you want to perform, such as installing, upgrading, removing, or searching for packages.
apt-get Command Options
| Command/Option | Description |
|---|---|
update |
Resynchronize the package index files from the sources |
upgrade |
Upgrade all currently installed packages |
install |
Install or upgrade a package |
remove |
Remove a package but keep its configuration files |
purge |
Remove a package and its configuration files |
autoremove |
Remove packages that are no longer required |
clean |
Remove downloaded package files from the cache |
autoclean |
Remove old downloaded package files from the cache |
check |
Update the package cache and check for broken dependencies |
download |
Download a package without installing it |
source |
Download the source code of a package |
build-dep |
Install the build dependencies of a package |
changelog |
Download and display the changelog of a package |
--no-upgrade |
Prevent upgrading an already installed package |
--only-upgrade |
Only upgrade the package without installing new packages |
--download-only |
Download only, without installing or unpacking |
--compile |
Download, unpack, and compile the source code |
Let's look at some of the useful examples of the apt-get command.
1. Update System Packages
The apt-get update command is used to resynchronize the package index files from the sources specified in the /etc/apt/sources.list file.
This command fetches the packages from their respective locations and updates them to newer versions:
$ sudo apt-get update
Hit:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy InRelease
Get:2 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security InRelease [110 kB]
Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates InRelease [119 kB]
Fetched 229 kB in 2s (114 kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done