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Chapter 4
Using apt to Handle Software
In Debian-based Linux distributions, which include Kali and Ubuntu, the
default software manager is the Advanced Packaging Tool, or apt, whose
primary command is
apt-get
. In its simplest and most common form, you
can use
apt-get
to download and install new software packages, but you can
also update and upgrade software with it.
N O T E
Many Linux users prefer to use the
apt
command over
apt-get
. They are in many ways
similar, but
apt-get
has more functionality and I think it’s worth learning early on.
Searching for a Package
Before downloading a software package, you can check whether the pack-
age you need is available from your
repository, which is a place where your
operating system stores information. The apt tool has a search function that
can check whether the package is available. The syntax is straightforward:
apt-cache search
keyword
Note that we use the
apt-cache
command to search the apt cache, or the
place it stores the package names. So if you were searching for the intrusion
detection system Snort, for example, you would enter the command shown
in Listing 4-1.
kali >
