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Marco Ceppi
Asked: 2010-11-24 17:54:49 +0800 CST

How can I find the name of a Package?

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I want to create links to software within Software Center using the APTURL - However, I'm not sure how to find out the true "package name". What is the easiest way to discover a package's name for use with the APTURL or apt-get command?

package-management apt naming

5 Answers

  1. You can search for package names using the command line and the apt-cache command. For example, enter the following command to find out what the package name is for firefox

    apt-cache search firefox

    If you get a long list of results, you can view (pipe) the results in a viewer or a text file

    apt-cache search firefox | less

    apt-cache search firefox > ~/firefox-list.txt

    The command apt-cache search searchstring performs a full text search over all the software sources registered on your Ubuntu system. It will search the package names and the descriptions for an occurrence of the searchstring and prints out the package name and the short description, including virtual package names.

    if --names-only is given then the long description is not searched, only the package name is. This option usually gives a smaller set of results.

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  2. To create an APT link, open up Ubuntu Software Center ( Applications -> Ubuntu Software Center ), search for and find a package:

    alt text

    Now click Edit -> Copy Web Link or hit Shift+Ctrl+C:

    alt text

    You should now have an APT link in your clipboard, like this: http://apt.ubuntu.com/p/moovida

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  3. Best Answer

    You can find the name of a package through the Ubuntu Software Center:

    alt text

    Once launched type the name of the software you wish to find the package name for in the top right search box.

    alt text

    Once you find the software you are looking for select "More Info"

    alt text

    At the bottom of the additional information page you'll find Version information which contains, in parentheses, the name of the package

    alt text

    This is the package name you'll want to use in either apt-get commands or in APTURL links. Also - as demonstrated in the above picture - the package names of available add-ons are listed in parentheses next to each respective add-on.

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  4. How about just using: 

    aptitude search <search_terms>

    And then you will have some info to use.

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  5. Use apt-cache search to find the package name of a package in the default Ubuntu repositories that is installable by apt. For example search for an Nvidia proprietary graphics driver that has the '455' version number somewhere in its package name (including in the middle of the package name).

    apt-cache search 455

    Search for a package with a name that includes '455-generic' (including the hyphen character in the package name).

    apt-cache search 455-generic

    Search for a package with a name that starts with 'postgresql-12-'.

    apt-cache search "^postgresql-12-"

    The caret character ^ in "^postgresql-12-" indicates that the package name starts with postgresql-12-

    Search for a package with a name that ends with '455'.

    apt-cache search 455$

    The $ character in 455$ indicates that the package name ends with 455

    Search for a package with a name that contains both 'docker' and 'client'.

    apt-cache search docker | grep client
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