Commands for package management

To uninstall a package, keeping configuration files:

apt-get remove <packageName>

To uninstall a package and associated configuration files:

apt-get remove --purge <packageName>

To remove orphaned packages:

apt-get autoremove

To check state of a given package:

dpkg -s <packageName>

To download a package without installing it:

aptitude download <packageName>

To extract contents of a package, use the ar command (binutils package):

ar x <packageFileName>

To search for a package:

apt-cache search <regex>

Some reference information:

• the Debian package management tools
• Debian package management