Apt, Software and Package Basic

Here is some basic information on how to use the Apt package management tools.

• Installing packages

       sudo aptitude install 

Examples:

       sudo aptitude install mpd sbackup

• Removing packages

       sudo aptitude remove 

Examples:

       sudo aptitude remove mpd sbackup

• Searching for packages

       sudo aptitude search 

Examples:

       sudo aptitude search Music MP3
      sudo aptitude search "Text Editor"

• Updating Apt database (used after adding/removing Apt repositories)

       sudo aptitude update

• Upgrading packages

       sudo aptitude upgrade

• Upgrade entire distribution

       sudo aptitude dist-upgrade

• Install downloaded Ubuntu (Debian) package (.deb)

       sudo dpkg -i package.deb

• Remove Ubuntu (Debian) package

       sudo dpkg -r package

• Reconfigure/Repair installed package

       sudo dpkg-reconfigure package

Examples:

       sudo dpkg-reconfigure mpd

• Handling ".tar.gz" (Tar/GZip) Archives

To extract:

       tar xvzf package.tar.gz

Command explained: tar is an application which can extract files from and archive. It cannot decompress them. -x means extract. -v means verbose (list what it is extracting). -z means filter through gzip. gzip is what compresses the archive (tar cannot compress them remember?). -f specifies the file to use. You could extract this package by first using the command gzip, then you would be left with a .tar file. You would then not have to specify the -z switch as it would no longer be compressed.

To create:

      tar cvfz package.tar.gz folder

• Handling ".tar.bz" (Tar/BZip) Archives

To extract:

      tar xvjf package.tar.bz

To create:

      tar cvjf package.tar.bz folder

• Extracting ".bz" Archives

      bunzip2 file.bz

• Extracting ".gz" Archives

      gunzip file.gz

• Building from Source

Make sure you have all the neccesary development tools (i.e. libraries, compilers, headers)

      sudo aptitude install build-essential
     sudo aptitude install linux-headers-`uname -r`

"uname -r" lists the current kernel you are using.

Extract your package (as detailed above)

      tar xvzf package.tar.gz

Commence the build process

      cd /path/to/extracted/package
     ./configure
     make
     make install

Note - typing ./ before a filename tells unix to try and execute the file as an application.

If build is successful, consider making an Ubuntu (Debian) package (.deb) for future use:

Install package tools:

     sudo aptitude install checkinstall

Rebuild package using "checkinstall":

     cd /path/to/extracted/package
    ./configure
    make
    checkinstall

Keep the resulting ".deb" file for future use. It can be installed using:

     sudo dpkg -i package.deb

Note: These are basic instructions that may not always work. Some packages require additional dependencies and optional parameters to be specified in order to build them successfully.