Mehandiratta

Advanced Packaging Tool is a user interface that lets the user install and remove packages/softwares on Debian/GNU Linux Distributions.

Searching for Packages

To search for a software/package in the repositories run the following command in the terminal

apt-cache search <search-term>|less

less is used for a better navigation through the output list

Adding Repositories

To add the repository run the following command

sudo add-apt-repository <repository name>

Manually the repositories can be added or changed by editing APTs source file

sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list

Updating Sources

After adding repositories, the Package List has to be updated

sudo apt-get update

This will update the package list from all repositories in one go. Remember to do this after every added repository

Installation

Now that you have added the software repository and updated your package list, and found the package name you need, you can install it by running the following command

sudo apt-get install <Package Names>

This will download and install all of the packages mentioned.If there are dependencies-other prerequisite packages-they will also be installed

Removing Packages

To get rid of a program run the following command

sudo apt-get remove <Package Name>

To get rid of the configuration files and associated directories as well

sudo apt-get --purge remove <Package Name>

Checking What is Installed

A list of all the installed packages can be seen by

sudo dpkg --list

To search through the list use the grep command

sudo dpkg --list|grep <search term>

If you want to know whether the particular package has been installed or not

dpkg -s <Package Name>