Introduction[edit]

apt-file an be used to show which files are being included by a package.

Quote Debian package apt-file ^[archive]:

search for files within Debian packages (command-line interface) apt-file is a command line tool for searching files contained in packages for the APT packaging system. You can search in which package a file is included or list the contents of a package without installing or fetching it.

Installation[edit]

The order in which these commands are run matter, ^[1] but the process is idempotent. This means it is possible to re-apply all of the following steps.

1. Delete /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/30usability-misc ^[archive] because it contains settings that speed up APT ^[archive] but break apt-file and command-not-found. ^[2]

sudo rm -f /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/30usability-misc

sudo rm -f /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/30usability-misc

2. Install apt-file.

Install apt-file.

1. Update the package lists.

sudo apt update

sudo apt update

2. Upgrade the system.

sudo apt full-upgrade

sudo apt full-upgrade

3. Install the apt-file package.

Using apt command line parameter --no-install-recommends is in most cases optional.

sudo apt install --no-install-recommends apt-file

sudo apt install --no-install-recommends apt-file

4. Done.

The procedure of installing apt-file is complete.

3. Run apt-file update with root rights.

sudo apt-file update

sudo apt-file update

4. Done.

Setup of apt-file has been completed.

Usage[edit]

Syntax:

sudo apt-file package-name

sudo apt-file package-name

Example:

sudo apt-file nano

sudo apt-file nano

Footnotes[edit]

↑ Also apt update cannot be skipped since package contents files need to be downloaded.
↑
```
Acquire::IndexTargets::deb::Contents-deb::DefaultEnabled false;
```
breaks apt-file because it requires /var/lib/apt/lists/*Contents* to exist.
See: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=857090 ^[archive]