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When there's more than one way to perform an action, multiple commands are listed. There is some overlap is these commands. Some are better suited for interactive use and might have enhanced usability features, and others might be better suited to run inside a script. Many of these examples have auto-completion available (tab) for both actions and package names.
If you install an OpenStack a VM using the "ubuntu-16.04-server-cloudimg"a "server" image, then you can install the desktop related packages (and get a GUI login screen, etc) using 'apt install ubuntu-desktop' or 'apt install ubuntu-gnome-desktop'
Command | Relevent Pathname | Package Name | Purpose / Notes |
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apt update |
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| update repository metadata |
apt upgrade |
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| install all pending updates |
apt-cache policy | /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ |
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| /var/log/apt/ /var/log/dpkg.log /var/log/aptitude /var/log/unattended-upgrades/ |
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| log file locations relevent to software management |
dpkg-query --list dpkg --get-selections |
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| list all installed packages |
dpkg-query --listfiles <package-name> |
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| list all files owned by <package-name> |
dpkg-query --search <filename-pattern> |
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| find out which installed package owns a filename |
apt-file search <filename-pattern> |
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| apt-file | find out which package would install <filename-pattern>. package does not need to be installed already |
aptitude install <package-name> apt install <package-name> apt-get install <package-name> |
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| aptitude | install <package-name{ tip: use tab completion for actions and package names |
apt show <package-name> aptitude show <package-name> |
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| show details about <package-name>, including repository |
debconf-show <package-name> | /var/cache/debconf |
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| show configuration options and current values of <package-name> |
dpkg-reconfigure <package-name> |
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| reconfigures packages after they have already been installed. it will ask configuration questions, much like when the package was first installed. |
aptitude changelog <package-name> |
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| displays the changelog for <package-name> |
aptitude search <package-name-pattern> apt search <package-name-pattern> apt-cache search <package-name-pattern> |
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| search for packages which match <package-name-pattern> |
aptitude download <package-name> |
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| downloads the .deb file for the given package to the current directory |
aptitude --simulate <action> |
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| print the actions that would normally be performed, but don't actually perform them. this does not require root privileges. |
man deb |
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| man page describing deb package format |
dpkg-deb --raw-extract <package.deb> <directory> |
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| extracts contents of <package-deb> to <directory>, including the control information files into a DEBIAN subdirectory |
apt-cache search meta package |
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| list of all meta packages (a package name that installs a group of other packages) |
Related articles
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