Getting started with Linux software package management

Getting started with Linux software package management

Most modern Unix-like operating systems provide a centralized software package management mechanism to help users search, install and manage software. Software is usually stored in the repository "repository" in the form of "packages". The use and management of software packages is called package management. The basic components of a Linux package include shared libraries, applications, services, and documents.

Package management is generally not limited to one-time installation of software, but also includes tools for upgrading installed software packages. The package repository helps ensure that the code has been reviewed on the system you are using and managed by software developers or package maintainers.

When configuring a Linux server or development environment, it is generally not limited to official sources. Compared with the current fast update iteration of software versions, although the stable version software package used by official sources may be outdated, for system administrators and developers, mastering the basic operations of common Linux package management is still a required common skill.

This article describes the basic methods and quick reference for package management such as search, installation, and upgrade in common Linux distributions. It helps you quickly learn the basic operations and skills of Linux package management.

Software Package Management System: Brief Introduction

Most package management systems are built on a collection of package files. Package files usually contain compiled binary files and other resources: software, installation scripts, metadata, and the list of dependencies required.

Although most popular Linux distributions share similar package management tools, methods, and forms, there are still platform differences:

System	Format	Tools
Debian	. Deb	Apt, apt-cache, apt-get, and dpkg
Ubuntu	. Deb	Apt, apt-cache, apt-get, dpkg
CentOS	. Rpm	Yum
Fedora	. Rpm	Dnf

The package formats of Debian and its derivatives such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and Raspbian are. deb files. APT is the most common package Operation Command and can be searched for libraries, installation packages, dependencies, and management upgrades. To directly install the ready-made. deb package, run the dpkg command.

CentOS, Fedora, and Red Hat Linux use RPM package files and yum commands to manage package files and interact with software libraries.

In the latest Fedora version, the yum command has been replaced by dnf for package management.

Update the local package database list

Most Linux systems use local databases to store the list of remote available package repositories. Therefore, you are advised to update the database before installing or upgrading the package.

System	Command
Debian/Ubuntu	Sudo apt-get update
CentOS	Yum check-update
Fedora	Dnf check-update

Upgrade installed packages

When there is no package management method, you need to upgrade and keep the installed software in Linux to the latest version, which is a huge project. Administrators and Users have to manually track upstream software version changes and security warnings. With the package management system, you only need a few commands to keep the software up to date.

System	Command	Remarks
Debian/Ubuntu	Sudo apt-get upgrade	Upgrade only installed software packages
	Sudo apt-get dist-upgrade	You can add or delete packages to meet new dependencies.
CentOS	Sudo yum update
Fedora	Sudo dnf upgrade

Search for software packages

Most Linux Desktop versions provide interfaces for users to search for and install software packages. This is the best way to find and install software. However, for efficiency and server administrators, using the command line tool to find/search for software packages is the right path.

System	Command	Remarks
Debian/Ubuntu	Apt-cache search content
CentOS	Yum search content
	Yum search all search content	Search for all content, including the package description.
Fedora	Dnf search content
	Dnf search all search content	Search for all content, including the package description.

View information about a software package

Before deciding which package to install, we usually need to view the detailed description of the package. The package description file usually contains metadata such as the package name, version number, and dependency list. You can run the following command to view the metadata.

System	Command	Remarks
Debian/Ubuntu	Apt-cache show package name	Displays local cache information about the software package
	Dpkg-s package name	Displays the package's current installation status
CentOS	Yum info package name
	Yum deplist package name	Since the package is listed
Fedora	Dnf info package name
	Dnf repoquery-requires package name	Since the package is listed

Install the package from the software warehouse

Once we know the name of a software package, we can use the following command to install the package from the software repository.

Debian/Ubuntu	Sudo apt-get install package name
	Sudo apt-get install Package 1 package 2...	Install all listed packages
	Sudo apt-get install-y package name	Installation Without prompt
CentOS	Sudo yum install package name
	Sudo yum install Package 1 package 2...	Install all listed packages
	Sudo yum install-y package name	Installation Without prompt
Fedora	Sudo dnf install package name
	Sudo dnf install Package 1 package 2...	Install all listed packages
	Sudo dnf install-y package name	Installation Without prompt

Directly install the installation package from the local file system

Most of the time, we need to directly install the package from the local file system after testing or getting the software package from somewhere. Debian and derivative systems can be installed using dpkg, and CentOS and Fedora systems can be installed using yum and dnf commands.

System	Command	Remarks
Debian/Ubuntu	Sudo dpkg-I package name. deb
	Sudo apt-get install-y gdebi & sudo gdebi package name. deb	Use gdebi to retrieve missing Dependencies
CentOS	Sudo yum install package name. rpm
Fedora	Sudo dnf install package name. rpm

Remove installed packages

Because the package manager knows which files are provided by which package, a clean system can be obtained after uninstalling unnecessary software packages.

System	Command	Remarks
Debian/Ubuntu	Sudo apt-get remove package name
	Sudo apt-get autoremove	Automatically remove unnecessary packages
CentOS	Sudo yum remove package name
Fedora	Sudo dnf erase package name

Now, this article introduces the common basic operations of Linux release package management to help new users get started faster and get started faster when switching to the Linux release version.

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