LinuxCommandLibrary

Package manager

Which Package Manager?

Every distribution family ships its own package manager. Find yours in the table, then use the matching line in the sections below. Most install/remove operations need sudo.

Package manager	Distribution
apt, apt-get, dpkg	Debian, Ubuntu, Mint
dnf, yum, rpm	Fedora, RHEL, CentOS
pacman	Arch, Manjaro
zypper	openSUSE
emerge	Gentoo
apk	Alpine
pkg	FreeBSD, Termux
snap, flatpak	Distribution-independent app formats

apt is the friendlier front end to apt-get/apt-cache and the better choice for interactive use. On Fedora, dnf replaced yum.

Install from repository

$ apt install [packageName]

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$ dnf install [packageName]

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$ yum install [packageName]

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$ pacman -S [packageName]

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$ zypper install [packageName]

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$ emerge -av [packageName]

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$ apk add [packageName]

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$ pkg install [packageName]

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$ snap install [packageName]

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$ flatpak install [remote] [packageName]

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Install from file

$ dpkg -i [package.deb]

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$ apt install ./[package.deb]

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$ dnf install [package.rpm]

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$ rpm -i [package.rpm]

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$ pacman -U [package.pkg.tar.zst]

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$ flatpak install [package.flatpakref]

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$ pkg add [package.txz]

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Prefer apt install ./package.deb over dpkg -i: apt resolves and installs missing dependencies, dpkg does not.

Remove/Uninstall

$ apt remove [packageName]

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$ dnf remove [packageName]

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$ yum remove [packageName]

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$ pacman -Rs [packageName]

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$ zypper remove [packageName]

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$ emerge --depclean [packageName]

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$ apk del [packageName]

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$ pkg delete [packageName]

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$ snap remove [packageName]

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$ flatpak uninstall [packageName]

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apt purge also deletes the package's system-wide configuration files; pacman -Rs removes the package together with dependencies nothing else needs.Clean up dependencies that are no longer needed by anything.

$ apt autoremove

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$ dnf autoremove

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$ pacman -Qdtq

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Find a package

$ apt search [query]

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$ apt-cache search [query]

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$ dnf search [query]

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$ yum search [query]

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$ pacman -Ss [query]

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$ zypper search [query]

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$ emerge -S [query]

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$ apk search [query]

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$ pkg search [query]

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$ snap find [query]

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$ flatpak search [query]

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View package info

$ apt show [packageName]

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$ apt-cache show [packageName]

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$ dpkg -s [packageName]

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$ dnf info [packageName]

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$ yum info [packageName]

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$ pacman -Si [packageName]

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$ zypper info [packageName]

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$ apk info [packageName]

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$ pkg info [packageName]

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$ snap info [packageName]

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$ pip show [packageName]

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Update package lists

Refresh the list of available packages and versions without installing anything.

$ apt update

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$ dnf check-update

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$ yum check-update

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$ zypper refresh

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$ emerge --sync

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$ apk update

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$ pkg update

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Upgrade installed packages

$ apt upgrade

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$ dnf upgrade

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$ yum update

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$ pacman -Syu

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$ zypper update

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$ emerge -avuDN @world

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$ apk upgrade

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$ pkg upgrade

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$ snap refresh

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$ flatpak update

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On Arch, always sync and upgrade together with pacman -Syu. Refreshing the database with -Sy and then installing single packages can break the system (partial upgrade).

Which package owns a file?

$ dpkg -S /usr/bin/[file]

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$ dnf provides /usr/bin/[file]

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$ rpm -qf /usr/bin/[file]

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$ pacman -Qo /usr/bin/[file]

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List the files a package installed.

$ dpkg -L [packageName]

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$ rpm -ql [packageName]

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$ pacman -Ql [packageName]

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Add repository source

$ add-apt-repository ppa:[userName]/[ppaName]

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$ dnf config-manager --add-repo [url]

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$ yum-config-manager --add-repo [url]

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$ zypper addrepo [url] [alias]

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$ flatpak remote-add flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

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List installed packages

$ apt list --installed

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$ dpkg -l

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$ dnf list installed

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$ rpm -qa

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$ pacman -Q

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$ zypper packages --installed-only

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$ apk list --installed

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$ snap list

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$ flatpak list

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$ pip list

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AUR Helpers

On Arch, yay and paru install community packages from the AUR with the same flags as pacman.

$ yay -S [packageName]

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$ paru -S [packageName]

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Kai