August 3, 2026

Package management on Debian and Ubuntu

Installing, upgrading and cleaning up software with apt.

Refresh and upgrade

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

update downloads fresh package lists; upgrade installs newer versions of what you already have.

apt search markdown searches names and descriptions, and apt show pandoc prints details before you install anything.

sudo apt remove pkg keeps configuration files, while purge deletes them too. sudo apt autoremove cleans up dependencies nothing needs any more.

dpkg -S /usr/bin/ss
dpkg -L iproute2 | head