Using Apt to update, upgrade, install and remove packages (software) on Ubuntu 20.04

If you have searched through the internet for Linux how-to's, chances are you have come across the command apt. Apt or aptitude is the default command line based package manager for Ubuntu. With apt you can install, upgrade, and remove software. In this article, we will cover the basic commands used alongside apt to help you better manage Ubuntu on Shells^TM. 

These commands should be run with sudo

To update your package list

sudo apt update

To upgrade your packages (done after you have updated your package list)

sudo apt upgrade

Or to update and upgrade at once you can use double ampersands &&

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

To install a package

sudo apt install “package name”

To remove a package (uninstall)

sudo apt remove “package name”

Purge a package (this will remove all binaries but keep files associated with them)

sudo apt purge “package name”

To search for a packages

apt search “package name”

To see if you have a package already installed

apt show “package name”

To list all packages already installed

apt list

These are just a few basic commands to help you manage your packages on Ubuntu using apt.