Where can I find the source code for the apt package manager?

Question

I would like to modify some functionalities in the apt-get package manager, but I can only find the apt-get binaries.

Where is the source code for the package manager?

Answer 1

Enable deb-src type repository in /etc/apt/sources.list:

deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty main

Replace trusty with the codename of the release you are using. You can find the codename by:

lsb_release -c

Now sync the local package lists with remote repositories:

sudo apt-get update

Now you can download the source package of apt in the current directory:

apt-get source apt

From the extracted directory, the file you are looking for is:

cmdline/apt-get.cc