apt

8 APT

apt

command-line interface

&synopsis-command-apt;

## Description

`apt` (Advanced Package Tool) is the command-line tool for handling packages. It provides a commandline interface for the package management of the system. See also &apt-get; and &apt-cache; for more low-level command options.

`list`

- `list` is used to display a list of packages. It supports shell pattern for matching package names and the following options: `--installed`, `--upgradable`, `--all-versions` are supported.

`search`

- `search` searches for the given term(s) and display matching packages.

`show`

- `show` shows the package information for the given package(s).

`install`

- `install` is followed by one or more package names desired for installation or upgrading.

  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. This will cause that version to be located and selected for install. Alternatively a specific distribution can be selected by following the package name with a slash and the version of the distribution or the Archive name (stable, testing, unstable).

`remove`

- `remove` is identical to `install` except that packages are removed instead of installed. Note that removing a package leaves its configuration files on the system. If a plus sign is appended to the package name (with no intervening space), the identified package will be installed instead of removed.

`edit-sources`

- `edit-sources` lets you edit your sources.list file and provides basic sanity checks.

`update`

- `update` is used to resynchronize the package index files from their sources.

`upgrade`

- `upgrade` is used to install the newest versions of all packages currently installed on the system from the sources enumerated in `/etc/apt/sources.list`. New packages will be installed, but existing packages will never be removed.

`full-upgrade`

- `full-upgrade` performs the function of upgrade but may also remove installed packages if that is required in order to resolve a package conflict.

## options

&apt-cmdblurb;
&apt-commonoptions;

## Script usage

The &apt; commandline is designed as a end-user tool and it may change the output between versions. While it tries to not break backward compatibility there is no guarantee for it either. All features of &apt; are available in &apt-cache; and &apt-get; via APT options. Please prefer using these commands in your scripts.

## Differences to &apt-get;

The `apt` command is meant to be pleasant for end users and does not need to be backward compatible like &apt-get;. Therefore some options are different:

- The option `DPkg::Progress-Fancy` is enabled.

- The option `APT::Color` is enabled.

- A new `list` command is available similar to `dpkg --list`.

- The option `upgrade` has `--with-new-pkgs` enabled by default.

## See Also

&apt-get;, &apt-cache;, &sources-list;, &apt-conf;, &apt-config;, The APT User's guide in &guidesdir;, &apt-preferences;, the APT Howto.

## Diagnostics

`apt` returns zero on normal operation, decimal 100 on error.

&manbugs;