apt-config

Show APT configuration

$ apt-config dump

$ apt-config dump | grep [Dir::Cache]

$ apt-config shell VAR [Dir::Cache]

apt-config [-o option] [-c config] command

apt-config displays APT's configuration values. It shows the effective configuration from all sources including /etc/apt/apt.conf, /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/, and command-line options.
This is useful for debugging APT behavior, understanding which settings are active, and scripting with APT configuration values.

dump

Show entire configuration

Output shell-compatible variable assignment

Set configuration option

Read additional configuration file

/etc/apt/apt.conf

Main APT configuration file.

Directory for drop-in configuration fragments, processed in alphanumeric order.

Configuration is hierarchical; lower-level options override higher ones. Command-line options override file settings. Some options require specific APT versions.

apt-config has been part of APT since early versions, providing programmatic access to APT's configuration system.

apt.conf(5), apt(8), apt-get(8)