Provided by: apt_1.6.17_amd64 
NAME
apt - command-line interface
SYNOPSIS
apt [-h] [-o=config_string] [-c=config_file] [-t=target_release] [-a=architecture] {list |
search | show | update | install pkg [{=pkg_version_number | /target_release}]... |
remove pkg... | upgrade | full-upgrade | edit-sources | {-v | --version} |
{-h | --help}}
DESCRIPTION
apt provides a high-level commandline interface for the package management system. It is
intended as an end user interface and enables some options better suited for interactive
usage by default compared to more specialized APT tools like apt-get(8) and apt-cache(8).
Much like apt itself, its manpage is intended as an end user interface and as such only
mentions the most used commands and options partly to not duplicate information in
multiple places and partly to avoid overwhelming readers with a cornucopia of options and
details.
update (apt-get(8))
update is used to download package information from all configured sources. Other
commands operate on this data to e.g. perform package upgrades or search in and
display details about all packages available for installation.
upgrade (apt-get(8))
upgrade is used to install available upgrades of all packages currently installed on
the system from the sources configured via sources.list(5). New packages will be
installed if required to satisfy dependencies, but existing packages will never be
removed. If an upgrade for a package requires the remove of an installed package the
upgrade for this package isn't performed.
full-upgrade (apt-get(8))
full-upgrade performs the function of upgrade but will remove currently installed
packages if this is needed to upgrade the system as a whole.
install, remove, purge (apt-get(8))
Performs the requested action on one or more packages specified via regex(7), glob(7)
or exact match. The requested action can be overridden for specific packages by append
a plus (+) to the package name to install this package or a minus (-) to remove it.
A specific version of a package can be selected for installation by following the
package name with an equals (=) and the version of the package to select.
Alternatively the version from a specific release can be selected by following the
package name with a forward slash (/) and codename (stretch, buster, sid ...) or suite
name (stable, testing, unstable). This will also select versions from this release for
dependencies of this package if needed to satisfy the request.
Removing a package removes all packaged data, but leaves usually small (modified) user
configuration files behind, in case the remove was an accident. Just issuing an
installation request for the accidentally removed package will restore its function as
before in that case. On the other hand you can get rid of these leftovers by calling
purge even on already removed packages. Note that this does not affect any data or
configuration stored in your home directory.
autoremove (apt-get(8))
autoremove is used to remove packages that were automatically installed to satisfy
dependencies for other packages and are now no longer needed as dependencies changed
or the package(s) needing them were removed in the meantime.
You should check that the list does not include applications you have grown to like
even though they were once installed just as a dependency of another package. You can
mark such a package as manually installed by using apt-mark(8). Packages which you
have installed explicitly via install are also never proposed for automatic removal.
search (apt-cache(8))
search can be used to search for the given regex(7) term(s) in the list of available
packages and display matches. This can e.g. be useful if you are looking for packages
having a specific feature. If you are looking for a package including a specific file
try apt-file(1).
show (apt-cache(8))
Show information about the given package(s) including its dependencies, installation
and download size, sources the package is available from, the description of the
packages content and much more. It can e.g. be helpful to look at this information
before allowing apt(8) to remove a package or while searching for new packages to
install.
list (work-in-progress)
list is somewhat similar to dpkg-query --list in that it can display a list of
packages satisfying certain criteria. It supports glob(7) patterns for matching
package names as well as options to list installed (--installed), upgradeable
(--upgradeable) or all available (--all-versions) versions.
edit-sources (work-in-progress)
edit-sources lets you edit your sources.list(5) files in your preferred texteditor
while also providing basic sanity checks.
SCRIPT USAGE AND DIFFERENCES FROM OTHER APT TOOLS
The apt(8) commandline is designed as an end-user tool and it may change behavior between
versions. While it tries not to break backward compatibility this is not guaranteed either
if a change seems beneficial for interactive use.
All features of apt(8) are available in dedicated APT tools like apt-get(8) and apt-
cache(8) as well. apt(8) just changes the default value of some options (see apt.conf(5)
and specifically the Binary scope). So you should prefer using these commands (potentially
with some additional options enabled) in your scripts as they keep backward compatibility
as much as possible.
SEE ALSO
apt-get(8), apt-cache(8), sources.list(5), apt.conf(5), apt-config(8), The APT User's
guide in /usr/share/doc/apt-doc/, apt_preferences(5), the APT Howto.
DIAGNOSTICS
apt returns zero on normal operation, decimal 100 on error.
BUGS
APT bug page[1]. If you wish to report a bug in APT, please see
/usr/share/doc/debian/bug-reporting.txt or the reportbug(1) command.
AUTHOR
APT team
NOTES
1. APT bug page
http://bugs.debian.org/src:apt