How to update your Ubuntu packages for Ubuntu 18.04 from the command line?

April 12, 2020    |    Terminal    |    Ubuntu

A common task you need to perform to maintain your Ubuntu installation is keeping your software up-to-date with the latest security and feature patches. There easiest way I have found to update Ubuntu is from the command line.

Update Ubuntu 18.04 from Terminal

To update Ubuntu, you must have sudo privileges. You need to run the following commands in order to update Ubuntu packages:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

apt list –upgradable

If you are nervous about upgrading all your packages, it would be wise to list the packages before updating to see what you are getting yourself into.

The following command will list all the packages that are upgradeable:

sudo apt list --upgradable

Other helpful commands for Ubuntu

A general overview of system status as pertains to package management:

ubuntu-support-status

List all aptitude packages:

sudo apt list

Conclusion

Ubuntu makes it easy to update packages from the terminal. While there is a way to update the packages via the guy, this is my preferred method.

I hope you have found this useful. Happy Ubuntu-ing!