Package manager

Which Package Manager?

Every distribution family ships its own package manager. Find yours in the table, then use the matching line in the sections below. Most install/remove operations need sudo.

Package manager	Distribution
apt, apt-get, dpkg	Debian, Ubuntu, Mint
dnf, yum, rpm	Fedora, RHEL, CentOS
pacman	Arch, Manjaro
zypper	openSUSE
emerge	Gentoo
apk	Alpine
pkg	FreeBSD, Termux
snap, flatpak	Distribution-independent app formats

apt is the friendlier front end to apt-get/apt-cache and the better choice for interactive use. On Fedora, dnf replaced yum.

Install from repository

$ apt install [packageName]

$ dnf install [packageName]

$ yum install [packageName]

$ pacman -S [packageName]

$ zypper install [packageName]

$ emerge -av [packageName]

$ apk add [packageName]

$ pkg install [packageName]

$ snap install [packageName]

$ flatpak install [remote] [packageName]

Install from file

$ dpkg -i [package.deb]

$ apt install ./[package.deb]

$ dnf install [package.rpm]

$ rpm -i [package.rpm]

$ pacman -U [package.pkg.tar.zst]

$ flatpak install [package.flatpakref]

$ pkg add [package.txz]

Prefer apt install ./package.deb over dpkg -i: apt resolves and installs missing dependencies, dpkg does not.

Remove/Uninstall

$ apt remove [packageName]

$ dnf remove [packageName]

$ yum remove [packageName]

$ pacman -Rs [packageName]

$ zypper remove [packageName]

$ emerge --depclean [packageName]

$ apk del [packageName]

$ pkg delete [packageName]

$ snap remove [packageName]

$ flatpak uninstall [packageName]

apt purge also deletes the package's system-wide configuration files; pacman -Rs removes the package together with dependencies nothing else needs.

Clean up dependencies that are no longer needed by anything.

$ apt autoremove

$ dnf autoremove

$ pacman -Qdtq

Find a package

$ apt search [query]

$ apt-cache search [query]

$ dnf search [query]

$ yum search [query]

$ pacman -Ss [query]

$ zypper search [query]

$ emerge -S [query]

$ apk search [query]

$ pkg search [query]

$ snap find [query]

$ flatpak search [query]

View package info

$ apt show [packageName]

$ apt-cache show [packageName]

$ dpkg -s [packageName]

$ dnf info [packageName]

$ yum info [packageName]

$ pacman -Si [packageName]

$ zypper info [packageName]

$ apk info [packageName]

$ pkg info [packageName]

$ snap info [packageName]

$ pip show [packageName]

Update package lists

Refresh the list of available packages and versions without installing anything.

$ apt update

$ dnf check-update

$ yum check-update

$ zypper refresh

$ emerge --sync

$ apk update

$ pkg update

Upgrade installed packages

$ apt upgrade

$ dnf upgrade

$ yum update

$ pacman -Syu

$ zypper update

$ emerge -avuDN @world

$ apk upgrade

$ pkg upgrade

$ snap refresh

$ flatpak update

On Arch, always sync and upgrade together with pacman -Syu. Refreshing the database with -Sy and then installing single packages can break the system (partial upgrade).