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Package Management Cheatsheet

A package management reference card for Linux distributions and FreeBSD

Introduction
Package management is probably the most distinctive feature of any Linux distribution. While the current trend among most of the major projects is to offer some sort of a clickable interface where users can select a package and install it with a mouse click (e.g. Debian's Synaptic or Mandriva's Drakrpm), these types of programs are generally just graphical front-ends to the low-level utilities that manage the tasks associated with installing packages on a Linux system. And even though many desktop Linux users feel much more comfortable installing packages through these intuitive graphical tools, there is no denying that command-line package management offers two excellent features not available in any graphical package management utility: power and speed. One problem that many distro-hoppers and operating system enthusiasts encounter is having to master (or relearn) a set of package management commands each time they switch from one distribution group to another. Additionally, the package management tools tend to evolve, with new features and even new commands added to every new version. This is why we created this package management cheatsheet - an easy reference card covering most frequently used package management tasks in Linux distributions and FreeBSD. As always, we welcome corrections, updates and suggestions - if you spot any error or wish to have another package management utility added to this page, feel free to contact us (email address at the bottom of this page).

Introduction

Package management is probably the most distinctive feature of any Linux distribution. While the current trend among most of the major projects is to offer some sort of a clickable interface where users can select a package and install it with a mouse click (e.g. Debian's Synaptic or Mandriva's Drakrpm), these types of programs are generally just graphical front-ends to the low-level utilities that manage the tasks associated with installing packages on a Linux system. And even though many desktop Linux users feel much more comfortable installing packages through these intuitive graphical tools, there is no denying that command-line package management offers two excellent features not available in any graphical package management utility: power and speed.

One problem that many distro-hoppers and operating system enthusiasts encounter is having to master (or relearn) a set of package management commands each time they switch from one distribution group to another. Additionally, the package management tools tend to evolve, with new features and even new commands added to every new version. This is why we created this package management cheatsheet - an easy reference card covering most frequently used package management tasks in Linux distributions and FreeBSD. As always, we welcome corrections, updates and suggestions - if you spot any error or wish to have another package management utility added to this page, feel free to contact us (email address at the bottom of this page).

Main distributions

The first table lists package management tasks in the four most popular distribution groups - Debian (including Ubuntu, Linux Mint, elementary OS, Zorin OS and other Debian derivatives), openSUSE, Solus, Fedora (including Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, Scientific Linux and other Fedora-based distributions), Mageia, OpenMandriva, and FreeBSD. We also cover distributions such as Slackware, Alpine Linux, Arch Linux, Gentoo, NixOS, and Void in the tables below. In Fedora-based distribution the yum package manager is set to be replaced with dnf at some point in 2015 (starting with Fedora 22), but it looks like most of the dnf package management commands will remain mostly identical to the yum commands (the exceptions being "localinstall" which is not yet implemented in dnf, and "update" which has been deprecated in favour of "upgrade"). Please note: current versions of Ubuntu use apt to manipulate deb packages. However, experimental versions of Ubuntu use the new snap package manager.

Task	apt (deb) Debian, Ubuntu	zypp (rpm) openSUSE	yum/dnf (rpm) Fedora, CentOS	urpmi (rpm) Mandriva, Mageia
Managing software
Install new software from package repository	apt-get install pkg	zypper install pkg	dnf install pkg	urpmi pkg
Install new software from package file	dpkg -i pkg	zypper install pkg	dnf localinstall pkg	urpmi pkg
Update existing software	apt-get install pkg	zypper update -t package pkg	dnf update pkg	urpmi pkg
Remove unwanted software	apt-get remove pkg	zypper remove pkg	dnf erase pkg	urpme pkg
Updating the system
Update package list	apt-get update aptitude update	zypper refresh	dnf check-update	urpmi.update -a
Update system	apt-get upgrade aptitude safe-upgrade	zypper update	dnf update	urpmi --auto-select
Searching for packages
Search by package name	apt-cache search pkg	zypper search pkg	dnf list pkg	urpmq pkg
Search by pattern	apt-cache search pattern	zypper search -t pattern pattern	dnf search pattern	urpmq --fuzzy pkg
Search by file name	apt-file search path	zypper wp file	dnf provides file	urpmf file
List installed packages	dpkg -l	zypper search -is	rpm -qa	rpm -qa
Configuring access to software repositories
List repositories	cat /etc/apt/sources.list	zypper repos	dnf repolist	urpmq --list-media
Add repository	(edit /etc/apt/sources.list)	zypper addrepo path name	(add repo to /etc/yum.repos.d/)	urpmi.addmedia name path
Remove repository	(edit /etc/apt/sources.list)	zypper removerepo name	(remove repo from /etc/yum.repos.d/)	urpmi.removemedia media

Slackware and Slackware Based Distributions

The table below lists package management utilities found in Slackware Linux and other Slackware-based distributions. As stated by Patrick Volkerding on several occasions, Slackware is unlikely to ever have any advanced (i.e. dependency-resolving) package management tool, so all installation, upgrade and removal tasks continue to be performed with pkgtools, a set of very simple scripts that haven't changed much in years. Nevertheless, slackpkg, an advanced package management tool which for years had been relegated to the unsupported "extra" repository, was finally made part of Slackware Linux 12.2. It's worth noting that some popular Slackware derivatives, such as VectorLinux, have standardised on slapt-get, another third-party utility imitating the behaviour of Debian's APT, while Zenwalk Linux has introduced its own package management tool called netpkg.

Task	pkgtools Slackware	slackpkg Slackware	slapt-get Vector	netpkg Zenwalk
Managing software
Install new software from package repository	--	slackpkg install pkg	slapt-get --install pkg	netpkg pkg
Install new software from package file	installpkg pkg	slackpkg install pkg	slapt-get --install pkg	netpkg pkg
Update existing software	upgradepkg pkg	slackpkg upgrade pkg	slapt-get --install pkg	netpkg pkg
Remove unwanted software	removepkg pkg	slackpkg remove pkg	slapt-get --remove pkg	netpkg remove pkg
Updating the system
Update package list	--	slackpkg update	slapt-get --update	(automatic)
Update system	--	slackpkg upgrade-all	slapt-get --upgrade	netpkg upgrade
Searching for packages
Search by package name	--	slackpkg search pkg	slapt-get --search pkg	netpkg pkg repo
Search by pattern	--	slackpkg search pattern	slapt-get --search pattern	netpkg list \| grep pattern
Search by file name	--	--	--	netpkg file repo
List installed packages	ls /var/log/packages/	ls /var/log/packages/	slapt-get --installed	netpk list I
Configuring access to software repositories
List repositories	--	cat /etc/slackpkg/mirrors	cat /etc/slapt-get/slapt-getrc	netpkg mirror
Add repository	--	(edit /etc/slackpkg/mirrors)	(edit /etc/slapt-get/slapt-getrc)	(edit /etc/netpkg.conf)
Remove repository	--	(edit /etc/slackpkg/mirrors)	(edit /etc/slapt-get/slapt-getrc)	(edit /etc/netpkg.conf)

Independent Linux Distributions

In the next group we have a few (mostly) independent distributions that have been gaining popularity in recent years. NuTyX developed its own package management utility called cards. Arch Linux's Pacman has been around for a long time and it's often considered one of the fastest package management utilities around. PiSi, originally developed by Pardus Linux, is a relatively new utility which has been reworked into the eopkg utility, used by Solus.

Task	cards NuTyX	pacman Arch	eopkg Solus	apk Alpine
Managing software
Install new software from package repository	cards install pkg	pacman -S pkg	eopkg install pkg	apk add pkg
Install new software from package file	pkgadd pkg	pacman -U pkg	--	apk add --force pkg
Update existing software	cards upgrade	pacman -S pkg	eopkg upgrade pkg	apk add --upgrade pkg
Remove unwanted software	cards remove pkg	pacman -R pkg	eopkg remove pkg	apk del pkg
Updating the system
Update package list	cards sync	pacman -Sy		apk update
Update system	cards upgrade	pacman -Su	eopkg upgrade	apk upgrade
Searching for packages
Search by package name	cards search pkg	pacman -Ss pkg	eopkg search pkg	apk search pkg
Search by pattern	cards search pattern	pacman -Ss pattern	eopkg search pattern	apk search pattern
Search by file name	--	pacman -Qo file	--	--
List installed packages	cards list	pacman -Q	--	apk info
Configuring access to software repositories
List repositories	cat /etc/cards.conf \| grep url	cat /etc/pacman.conf	eopkg list-repo	cat /etc/apk/repositories
Add repository		(edit /etc/pacman.conf)	eopkg add-repo Name URL	setup-apkrepos
Remove repository		(edit /etc/pacman.conf)	eopkg remove-repo Name	(edit /etc/apk/repositories)

Distribution Agnostic Package Management

Besides standard package management utilities that most distributions use as part of their systems, there are also some distro-agnostic ones that have been deployed with various levels of success in certain distributions. Smart, originally developed by Conectiva, hasn't been in the news lately, but some users seem to prefer it over Mandriva's urpmi or openSUSE's zypper (it also supports Debian and Slackware-based systems). More recently it is Fedora's PackageKit that has been gaining momentum as a way to manage packages across distributions and architectures. Now included in many other distributions, PackageKit's pkgcon command-line utility is effectively a unified front-end to the native package management tools of Fedora, Ubuntu, openSUSE, Mandriva and other distributions.

Task	smart Mandriva, openSUSE	pkgcon Fedora, Ubuntu, openSUSE, Mandriva
Managing software
Install new software from package repository	smart install pkg	pkcon install pkg
Install new software from package file	smart install pkg	pkcon install-file pkg
Update existing software	smart install pkg	pkcon update pkg
Remove unwanted software	smart remove pkg	pkcon remove pkg
Updating the system
Update package list	smart update	pkcon refresh
Update system	smart upgrade	pkcon upgrade
Searching for packages
Search by package name	smart search pkg	pkcon search name pkg
Search by pattern	smart search pattern	pkcon search details pattern
Search by file name	smart query file	pkcon what-provides file
List installed packages	smart query --installed	pkcon search name pkg \| grep Installed
Configuring access to software repositories
List repositories	smart channel --show	pkcon repo-list
Add repository	smart channel --add name path
Remove repository	smart channel --remove name

Source Based Distributions

Next, a table for source-based distributions. Gentoo's Portage is well-documented and widely used, but other distributions that are designed to be built from scratch don't often feature in the Linux media, so their package management systems are not particularly well-known. Sorcerer, which existed even before Gentoo Linux was conceived, uses Bash scripts to "cast spells" or download, install and compile packages. Sorcerer was later forked into Lunar Linux and Source Mage GNU/Linux, both of which are included in the table below. Unfortunately, Sorcerer doesn't offer much in terms of online documentation so it has been omitted for now.

Task	portage Gentoo	lunar Lunar	sorcery Source Mage
Managing software
Install new software from package repository	emerge pkg	lin pkg	cast pkg
Install new software from package file
Update existing software	emerge pkg	lin pkg	cast pkg
Remove unwanted software	emerge -aC pkg	lrm pkg	dispel pkg
Updating the system
Update package list	emerge --sync	lin moonbase	scribe update
Update system	emerge -NuDa world	lunar update	sorcery upgrade
Searching for packages
Search by package name	emerge --search pkg	lvu search pkg	gaze search -name pkg
Search by pattern	emerge --search pattern	lvu search pattern	gaze search pattern
Search by file name	equery belongs pkg		gaze from file
List installed packages	qlist -Iv	lvu installed	gaze installed
Configuring access to software repositories
List repositories	layman -L	--	scribe index
Add repository	layman -a repo	--	scribe add repo
Remove repository	layman -d repo	--	scribe remove repo

Nix OS (nix), Void (xbps) and Ubuntu (snap)

Some distributions, e.g. NixOS, Void and Ubuntu have been developing their own binary package management systems with some interesting and innovative features. Here is a summary of useful commands as used by these projects for managing packages.

Task	nix NixOS	xbps Void	snap Ubuntu
Managing software
Install new software from package repository	nix-env -i pkg	xbps-install pkg	snap install pkg
Install new software from package file	--	--	--
Update existing software	nix-env -u pkg	xbps-install -u pkg	snap refresh pkg
Remove unwanted software	nix-env -e pkg	xbps-remove pkg	snap remove pkg
Updating the system
Update package list	nix-channel --update	xbps-install -S	--
Update system	nix-env -u	xbps-install -u	--
Searching for packages
Search by package name	nix-env -qa pkg	xbps-query -Rs pkg	snap find pkg
Search by pattern	nix-env -qa pattern	xbps-query -Rs pattern	snap find \| grep pattern
Search by file name	--	xbps-query -o file	--
List installed packages	nix-env -q	xbps-query -l	snap list
Configuring access to software repositories
List repositories	nix-channel --list	xbps-query -L	--
Add repository	nix-channel --add url name	(add to /etc/xbps/repo.d/ or /usr/share/xbps/repo.d/)	--
Remove repository	nix-channel --remove name	(edit /etc/xbps/repo.d/ and /usr/share/xbps/repo.d/)	--

FreeBSD

Finally, a table for FreeBSD, a popular operating system offering both binary and source package management.

Task	packages FreeBSD 10.0	packages FreeBSD 10.0+	ports FreeBSD
Managing software
Install new software from package repository	pkg_add -r package	pkg install package	cd port_dir && make && make install
Install new software from package file	pkg_add path_to_package	pkg add path_to_package	--
Update existing software	pkg_add path_to_package	pkg install path_to_package	portupgrade -R pkg
Remove unwanted software	pkg_delete pkg	pkg remove pkg	pkg_delete pkg
Updating the system	freebsd-update fetch install	freebsd-update fetch install	portsnap fetch install
Update package list		pkg update	csup -L 2 -h cvsup.FreeBSD.org path_to_supfile portsnap update
Update system		pkg upgrade	portupgrade -a portmanager -u portmaster -a
Searching for packages
Search by package name		pkg search package	cd /usr/ports && make search pkg
Search by pattern		pkg search pattern	cd /usr/ports && make search pattern
Search by file name
List installed packages	pkg info	pkg info	pkg_info
Configuring access to software repositories
List repositories	--	--	--
Add repository	--	--	--
Remove repository	--	--	--

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