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Stormlord
Asked: 2024-01-06 02:32:23 +0800 CST

Multiple packages installation using bash

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As we all know, the command we use in order to install multiple packages is:

apt install package1 package2 package3`

Using the following method in a Bash script:

packages="package1 package2 package3"
apt install "$packages"

produces an error saying that the package cannot be located. Therefore it's incorrect.

Does the following command run apt once for each package or does it work differently?

apt install $(cat $packageFile)

assuming that packageFile is a text file containing the package names one per line.

I know that I can use an array and place all package names in it and then use a for loop to run apt once for each package, but I'm wondering if there's a way to install all of them, using a Bash script, running apt only once.

Thank you.

command-line

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    The approach of using an array is correct, but you need to define properly the array. This means that you need to use a compound statement (i.e. round brackets) instead of double quotes. In fact, the reason why your command does not work in the first place is because $packages gets expanded by the shell to package1 package2 package3 which is then read as a single string by apt, not separately as package1, package2, package3.

    Therefore, define an array using a compound assignment in the following form:

    packages=(package1 package2 package3)

    and then install all the packages using the following command:

    sudo apt install "${packages[@]}"

    In fact, any element of an array may be referenced using ${array_name[index]}, and when the index is @, the word expands to all members of the array name. The use of braces is required to avoid conflicts with the shell’s filename expansion operators.

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