How to Install apt-file package on Ubuntu?

Apt-file is a software program that indexes the contents of packages in your accessible repositories and allows you to search for a certain file among all available packages. Apt-file is a command-line utility for searching files in APT packages. You may search for which package a file is in or show the contents of a package without installing or downloading it.

How To Install apt-file on Ubuntu

On Ubuntu 20.04, there are three options for installing abs-guide. Apt-get, apt, and aptitude are all available. Each strategy of installation will be described in detail in the following sections. You may select any of them.

• Using apt-get to install  
• Using aptitude to install  
• Using apt to install 

Method 1: Using the apt-get command

Step 1: Using the following command, update the apt database using apt-get.

sudo apt-get update

Step 2: After upgrading the apt database, we can use apt-get to install abs-guide by performing the following command:

sudo apt-get -y install apt-file

Method 2: Using apt

Step 1: The apt database will be updated with the command below.

sudo apt update

Step 2: After upgrading the apt database, we can use apt to install abs-guide by performing the following command:

sudo apt -y install apt-file

Method 3: Using aptitude

Step 1: If you want to use this method, you may need to install aptitude first because it is not normally installed by default on Ubuntu. Use the following command to update the apt database with aptitude.

sudo aptitude update

Step 2: After upgrading the apt database, we can use aptitude to install abs-guide by performing the following command:

sudo aptitiude -y install apt-file

Examples of Apt-File on Ubuntu

Example 1: Display all Files 

Display every file in every APT package that has the word “gimp” in its name.

apt-file search gimp

Example 2: Matched Package Only

Carry out the same search as before, but this time simply list the names of matched packages.

apt-file –package-only search gimp

Example 3: List Every Package

List every file with “gimp” in its name that is included in every package.

apt-file list gimp