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Lab 10.1 - Installation and Use of apt

Lab Objectives​

By the end of this lab, you will be able to:

  • Use apt to install packages
  • Update the Ubuntu 24.04 system
  • Manage repositories
  • Resolve dependency issues
  • Search for and obtain information about packages

Estimated Duration​

30-45 minutes

Prerequisites​

  • Ubuntu 24.04 installed and operational
  • Sudo access
  • Internet connection
  • Open terminal

Exercise 1: System Update​

Step 1: Update the Package List​

# Update the list of available packages
sudo apt update

# See packages to be upgraded
apt list --upgradable

Step 2: Upgrade Packages​

# Upgrade all installed packages
sudo apt upgrade

# Full upgrade (includes dependency changes)
sudo apt full-upgrade

# Upgrade without confirmation
sudo apt upgrade -y

Step 3: Verify Updates​

# See packages to be upgraded
apt list --upgradable

# See update information
apt show package-name

Exercise 2: Package Installation​

Step 1: Simple Installation​

# Install a package
sudo apt install htop

# Install multiple packages
sudo apt install vim git curl

# Install without confirmation
sudo apt install -y package-name

Step 2: Specific Version Installation​

# See available versions
apt-cache madison package-name

# Install a specific version
sudo apt install package-name=version

# Example
sudo apt install nginx=1.18.0-0ubuntu1.4

Step 3: Installation from .deb File​

# Download a .deb
wget https://example.com/package.deb

# Install
sudo apt install ./package.deb

# Or with dpkg
sudo dpkg -i package.deb
sudo apt install -f  # Resolve dependencies

Exercise 3: Search and Information​

Step 1: Search for Packages​

# Search by name
apt search nginx

# Search by description
apt search "web server"

# Exact search
apt search --names-only nginx

Step 2: Package Information​

# Detailed information
apt show nginx

# Dependencies
apt depends nginx

# Packages depending on nginx
apt rdepends nginx

# Content of a package
dpkg -L nginx

Step 3: Package List​

# Installed packages
apt list --installed

# Available packages
apt list --available

# Packages to be upgraded
apt list --upgradable

Exercise 4: Repository Management​

Step 1: View Repositories​

# View sources
cat /etc/apt/sources.list

# View additional sources
ls /etc/apt/sources.list.d/

# View all sources
cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list

Step 2: Add a Repository​

# Method 1: File in sources.list.d/
echo "deb http://repo.example.com/ubuntu noble main" | \
    sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/my-repo.list

# Add the GPG key
wget -qO - http://repo.example.com/key.gpg | sudo apt-key add -

# Update
sudo apt update

Step 3: PPA Repository (Ubuntu)​

# Add a PPA
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:name/ppa

# Remove a PPA
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:name/ppa

# Update
sudo apt update

Exercise 5: Removal and Cleaning​

Step 1: Remove Packages​

# Remove a package (keeps config)
sudo apt remove package-name

# Remove package and configuration
sudo apt purge package-name

# Remove multiple packages
sudo apt remove package1 package2 package3

Step 2: Cleaning​

# Remove unused dependencies
sudo apt autoremove

# Clean the cache
sudo apt clean

# Automatic cleaning
sudo apt autoclean

# Clean everything
sudo apt autoremove -y
sudo apt autoclean

Exercise 6: Troubleshooting​

Step 1: Broken Dependencies​

# Repair dependencies
sudo apt --fix-broken install

# Fully repair
sudo apt --fix-missing install
sudo dpkg --configure -a

Step 2: Corrupted Cache​

# Clean the cache
sudo apt clean
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

# Rebuild the cache
sudo apt update

Step 3: Locked Package​

# See processes using a package
sudo lsof | grep package-name

# Force reinstallation
sudo apt install --reinstall package-name

Exercise 7: Complete Practice​

Step 1: Web Server Installation​

# Install nginx
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y nginx

# Verify installation
systemctl status nginx
nginx -v

# See installed files
dpkg -L nginx | head -20

Step 2: System Update​

# Full update script
cat > update-system.sh << 'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
echo "Updating package list..."
sudo apt update

echo "Upgrading packages..."
sudo apt upgrade -y

echo "Cleaning..."
sudo apt autoremove -y
sudo apt autoclean

echo "Done!"
EOF

chmod +x update-system.sh
./update-system.sh

Verification​

Checklist​

Verify that you can:

  • Update the system (apt update, upgrade)
  • Install packages (apt install)
  • Search for packages (apt search)
  • View information (apt show)
  • Manage repositories
  • Remove packages (apt remove, purge)
  • Clean the system (autoremove, clean)
  • Resolve dependency issues

Reflection Questions​

  1. What is the difference between apt update and apt upgrade?

    • update: Updates the list of available packages
    • upgrade: Upgrades installed packages

  2. Why use apt autoremove?

    • Removes unused dependencies
    • Frees up disk space

  3. When to use apt purge vs apt remove?

    • remove: Removes the package, keeps config
    • purge: Removes the package and config

Next Steps​

  • Lab 10.2: Repository Management
  • Lab 10.3: Compilation from Sources
  • Lab 10.4: Snap and Flatpak
  • Chapter 10.1: apt (Debian/Ubuntu)

Ubuntu 24.04 Resources​

  • Ubuntu Packages
  • man apt - apt Documentation
  • apt-cache search - Advanced search

Lab created on: December 2024 - Tested on Ubuntu 24.04