Ubuntu 16.04 / Debian 8: apt command

This article will describe apt command tips.

 

1 What is apt command

This is a command that puts apt-get and apt-cache into one command. If you are tired of "apt-get search" or "apt-cache install", you can use "apt search" and "apt install". And apt has a progress bar.

2 Usage

Commands from apt-get / apt-cache are as below.

 

apt install <pkgname> Install package.
apt remove <pkgname> Uninstall package.
apt autoremove Uninstall packages installed for dependency.
apt search <pkgname> Search package.
apt show <pkgname> Show package information.
apt update Update repository and get upgradeable packages.
apt upgrade Upgrade packages.
apt dist-upgrade Upgrade packages which will cause replace packages.
apt -f install Fix broken package dependency.
apt <command> –just-print Simulate command which enable checking packages.

 

Original commands of apt are as below.

 

apt list –upgradeable Show upgradeable packages.
apt list –installed Show installed packages.

 

3 The difference between apt upgrade and apt-get upgrade

apt upgrade might install new packages. apt-get upgrade does not install new packages.

apt dist-upgrade and apt-dist-upgrade might install new packages and remove installed packages.

You should use apt upgrade.

3.1 apt-get upgrade does not upgrade kernel package

There are security update packages.

Welcome to Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (GNU/Linux 4.4.0-21-generic x86_64)

 * Documentation:  https://help.ubuntu.com
 * Management:     https://landscape.canonical.com
 * Support:        https://ubuntu.com/advantage

7 packages can be updated.
7 updates are security updates.

Last login: Sat Jul  9 21:56:03 2016 from 192.168.11.4

Security update packages are kernel packages.

$ apt list --upgradable
Listing... Done
linux-generic/xenial-updates,xenial-security 4.4.0.28.30 amd64 [upgradable from: 4.4.0.21.22]
linux-headers-generic/xenial-updates,xenial-security 4.4.0.28.30 amd64 [upgradable from: 4.4.0.21.22]
linux-image-generic/xenial-updates,xenial-security 4.4.0.28.30 amd64 [upgradable from: 4.4.0.21.22]

apt-get upgrade does not upgrade these packages because kernel packages are considered to be install packages.

$ sudo apt-get upgrade -y
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
The following packages have been kept back:
  linux-generic linux-headers-generic linux-image-generic
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 3 not upgraded.

apt upgrade will upgrade these packages.

$ sudo apt upgrade -y
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  linux-headers-4.4.0-28 linux-headers-4.4.0-28-generic linux-image-4.4.0-28-generic
  linux-image-extra-4.4.0-28-generic
The following packages will be upgraded:
  linux-generic linux-headers-generic linux-image-generic
3 upgraded, 4 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 68.3 MB of archives.
After this operation, 295 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://jp.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64
linux-image-4.4.0-28-generic amd64 4.4.0-28.47 [18.7 MB]

apt-get upgrade with –with-new-pkgs option will upgrade these packages.

$ sudo apt-get upgrade --with-new-pkgs # equal with sudo apt upgrade.