apt: Advanced Package Tool
APT is the standard package manager for Debian-based systems like Ubuntu and Kali. It handles updating your package list, installing software, and resolving dependencies.
Update your package list
Start with this. It fetches the latest list of available packages from the repos:
sudo apt update
Search for a package
To search for available packages related to a keyword:
apt search <term>
Or, to get details on a specific package:
apt show <package>
Install packages
Installing something is simple:
sudo apt install <package>
Some commonly used packages:
# Gives you 'ip', 'ss', 'tc', etc.
sudo apt install iproute2
# netcat (nc), (the good one) flexible networking tool
sudo apt install netcat-openbsd
# Network scanner
sudo apt install nmap
# Terminal multiplexer
sudo apt install tmux
# A great text editor
sudo apt install vim
# Transfer data with URLs
sudo apt install curl
# Version control
sudo apt install git
# pip for Python 3
sudo apt install python3-pip
# For extracting zip files
sudo apt install unzip
# GCC, make, and other build tools
sudo apt install build-essential
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You can install multiple packages at the same time:
```bash
sudo apt install tmux git curl
If you're ever unsure about what a package gives you, check apt show
Upgrade installed packages
To upgrade everything you've already got installed, not typically something you bother doing in a short lived VM from a recent image:
sudo apt upgrade