Managing Packages with apt on Ubuntu: apt vs apt-get vs dpkg — Which One Should You Use? – ITFROMZERO

When I first switched from CentOS to Ubuntu, it took me about a week to get comfortable with the package management system. Not because apt is hard — but because there are so many commands that look similar: apt, apt-get, apt-cache, dpkg… I never knew which one was the “right” one, or which was just an alias for another.

This article gets straight to the point. It’s not an A-Z beginner’s guide — it’s about helping you understand the big picture so you can use the right tool at the right time.

Table of Contents

Comparing Package Management Tools on Ubuntu

Ubuntu doesn’t just have one — it has four main tools. Each exists for a reason:

1. dpkg — the Foundation of Everything

dpkg is the lowest layer, working directly with .deb files. It installs, removes, and queries installed packages. Its biggest limitation: no automatic dependency resolution. Try installing package A that requires B — dpkg throws an error and stops, unlike apt which goes out and fetches B automatically.

2. apt-get — the Old Wrapper, Rock-Solid Reliable

apt-get was created to solve exactly that limitation — automatically pulling dependencies from repositories. The reason it still survives in scripts to this day: its output format is extremely stable, and Canonical has committed to not changing it between versions. Dockerfiles from 2015 using apt-get still build fine today.

3. apt — the Modern Interface, More User-Friendly

Introduced in Ubuntu 16.04, apt was designed to replace apt-get for everyday use. It offers a progress bar, clearer color output, and combines many commands from apt-get + apt-cache in one place. Great for interactive use, but don’t rely on it in scripts since its output format isn’t guaranteed to stay stable.

4. snap — a Completely Different Approach

snap is Canonical’s own system. Each package bundles its entire dependency tree into a self-contained unit, runs in a sandbox, and updates automatically. Sounds great, but the tradeoff is size: the chromium snap weighs around 170MB, while installing via apt uses only ~80MB. On production servers I generally avoid snap for both reasons — it’s heavier and noticeably slower to start.

Pros and Cons of Each Tool

Tool	Pros	Cons
`dpkg`	Install local .deb files directly, fast package info queries	No dependency resolution, cannot pull from repos
`apt-get`	Stable output, backward-compatible, ideal for scripts/CI	Output is harder to read interactively
`apt`	Progress bar, combines multiple commands, convenient for interactive use	Output format is not guaranteed to be stable
`snap`	Sandboxed, auto-updates, runs across many distros	Packages are ~2x larger, slower startup

When I started out, I thought tutorials using apt-get meant apt was wrong. That’s not the case — both are correct, just for different contexts.

Choosing the Right Tool for Each Situation

Here’s the simple principle I follow:

Everyday terminal use → apt: Convenient, clean output, does everything you need.
Shell scripts, cron jobs, CI/CD → apt-get: Stable output, no worries about Canonical changing the format.
Installing a manually downloaded .deb file → dpkg -i: Then run apt-get install -f to fix any dependency issues.
Installing GUI apps, needing the latest version, or sandboxing → snap: But avoid it on servers.

The Most Commonly Used apt Commands

Updating the Package List

Before installing anything, always run this first:

sudo apt update

Note: apt update only syncs the package list — it doesn’t upgrade any packages. To upgrade, use:

# Upgrade all installed packages
sudo apt upgrade

# Upgrade and handle adding/removing dependencies as needed
sudo apt full-upgrade

Installing and Removing Packages

# Install a single package
sudo apt install nginx

# Install multiple packages at once
sudo apt install git curl wget build-essential

# Remove package but keep config files
sudo apt remove nginx

# Remove package AND delete config — use when you want a clean reset
sudo apt purge nginx

# Remove leftover dependencies no longer needed
sudo apt autoremove

I tend to use purge instead of remove when uninstalling services like nginx or mysql. The reason: if I reinstall later, I don’t want old leftover config files to interfere.

Searching and Viewing Package Information

# Search for a package by name or description
apt search "web server"

# View detailed info about a package
apt show nginx

# Find which package provides a specific file/command
dpkg -S /usr/bin/curl

# List all installed packages
dpkg -l

# Check if a specific package is installed and its version
dpkg -l | grep nginx

Installing Local .deb Files

Most common when downloading .deb files from official sites — Google Chrome, VS Code, Slack…:

# Install a .deb file
sudo dpkg -i google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb

# If dependency errors occur, apt can fix them with this command
sudo apt-get install -f

Managing Repositories

# View the list of currently configured repositories
cat /etc/apt/sources.list
ls /etc/apt/sources.list.d/

# Add a PPA (Personal Package Archive)
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php
sudo apt update

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

Other Useful Commands

# View package install/remove history
cat /var/log/apt/history.log

# Pin version, prevent automatic upgrades
sudo apt-mark hold nginx

# Remove the hold
sudo apt-mark unhold nginx

# List packages currently on hold
apt-mark showhold

# Clean the apt cache — typically frees up several hundred MB
sudo apt clean

Practical Tips from Real-World Experience

After running Ubuntu on both servers and dev machines, here are a few things I wish I’d known earlier:

Always run apt update before apt install — skipping this step often results in installing outdated packages or getting “package not found” errors even when the package exists in the repo.
Seeing the message “The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required”? Run sudo apt autoremove to clean them up — nothing to worry about.
In automation scripts, add -y and DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive to suppress all interactive prompts:

DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive sudo apt-get install -y nginx

Want to know which packages are taking up the most disk space:

dpkg-query -Wf '${Installed-Size}\t${Package}\n' | sort -n | tail -20

If you’re coming from CentOS/RHEL, switching to Ubuntu isn’t that hard. Just remember one rule: yum/dnf ≈ apt, and rpm ≈ dpkg. Same logic, different command names.