2

I tried to run

apt-get search virtualbox 

but got this error message:

E: Invalid operation search

What am I doing wrong, which is the correct command to search for package information?

4 Answers 4

10

Depending on your version of Ubuntu, the command is either apt-cache search (all versions) or apt search (14.04 and above), but not apt-get search.

1

You need to drop the get part:

apt search <word>

1
  • No sweat - recommend that you read the other answer, however. Dec 22, 2016 at 14:45
1

You can also use aptitude instead of apt. To search in titles only:

aptitude search virtualbox

To search in descriptions:

aptitude search ~dvirtualbox
0

If you try and install 'virtualbox' via from the command line, it will say there's no installation candidate. When installing via apt, use 'virtualbox-qt'

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