Apt-Get Packages

This page lists the apt-get commands to install various packages.
For general information about apt-get usage, see Apt-Get.

System Utilities

Gparted

A helpful hard drive management tool, with a user-friendly GUI.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install gparted

Extra Hard Drive Utils

Used, for example, in network share mounting.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install cifs-utils

Compiz Config

For managing detailed desktop settings Ubuntu 16.04.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install compizconfig-settings-manager

Gnome Tweaks

For managing detailed desktop settings of Ubuntu 18.04.

sudo add-apt-repository universe
sudo apt install gnome-tweak-tool

Gnome Extensions

For generally customizing the gnome desktop.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install gnome-shell-extensions

System Other

Build Essential

A package that essentially contains references to other packages.
Generally common to install for software development.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential

DKMS

A package used to rebuild system kernels after a kernel update.
Generally needed if you manually upgrade kernels on your machine, or if running as a VM.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install dkms

OpenConnect

Allows easy VPN connections through the terminal.

sudo apt install openconnect

General

Chrome

Installs the standard Google Chrome web browser.

wget -q -O - https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add -
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list'
sudo apt update
sudo apt install google-chrome-stable

Gimp

Gimp is a free image editor tool.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:otto-kesselgulasch/gimp
sudo apt update
sudo apt install gimp

VLC

VLC is an all-encompassing media player. It can handle just about any standardized media format you could throw at it.

VLC is not available directly via apt. However, it can be installed with the snap manager:

sudo apt install snapd
sudo snap install vlc

LaTeX

For creating and editing pdf files.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install texlive-full texmaker

KeePass

For storing passwords securely.

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:jtaylor/keepass
sudo apt update
sudo apt install keepass2

Communication

Slack

Slack is not available directly via apt. However, it can be installed with the snap manager:

sudo apt install snapd
sudo snap install slack --classic

Discord

Discord is not available directly via apt. However, it can be installed with the snap manager:

sudo apt install snapd
sudo snap install discord

General Programming

Git and Gitk

Installed on most distro's by default, but not always. Pretty essential for anything programming. If not present, can be installed with:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install git gitk

VirtualBox

VirtualBox is a free way to create and run Virtual Machines.

Since this seems to be updated frequently, see https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads for up to date details.
It's recommended to specifically choose the newest version, as the base command seems to generally install an out-of-date version.

Docker

Docker does to software what VirtualMachines do to operating systems.
Essentially, docker creates individual, stand-alone environments (or containers) that allow a set of software to run.

sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl gnupg-agent software-properties-common
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo apt-key add -
sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) stable"
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io

MySQL Workbench

A useful and easy interface for interacting with MySQL servers.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install mysql-workbench

Programming Languages

Php

Note: As of summer 2020, these packages seem to work with the current version of Laravel and Php.

sudo apt install php php-all-dev php-common php-dev php-bcmath php-bz2 php-cli php-curl php-gd php-imap php-json php-intl php-ldap php-mbstring php-mysql php-xml php-zip

To install an older version of Php, specify the number. Ex:

sudo apt install php7.4 php7.4-common php7.4-dev php7.4-bcmath php7.4-bz2 php7.4-cli php7.4-curl php7.4-gd php7.4-imap php7.4-json php7.4-intl php7.4-ldap php7.4-mbstring php7.4-mysql php7.4-xml php7.4-zip

If trying to install really old versions of php, you may first need:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php

Laravel

Laravel is a Php based web framework.

To install Laravel:

• First install the desired Php version, using the above steps.
• Download composer from https://getcomposer.org/download/
• Add execution permissions sudo chmod +x <path_to_composer_file>
• Move composer file with sudo mv <path_to_composer_file> /usr/local/bin/composer
• Restart terminal
• Run composer global require laravel/installer

(Optional) To update what version of php that composer uses, run:

 php<version> /usr/local/bin/composer update

Where <version> corresponds to the version of Php you'd like composer to use. Note that this version of Php must be installed on your system for the command to work.

Python

Depending on your version of Ubuntu, you might only have certain Python versions available for install. To correct this, run:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deadsnakes/ppa
sudo apt update

Then you can install the desired Python version. As of writing this, versions are python3.6, python3.7, or python3.8.

sudo apt install python<version>
sudo apt install python<version>-dev
sudo apt install python<version>-venv

If you get an error when trying to use Pip or run the python -m venv command, you might also need to run the following:

sudo apt install python3-pip

Programming IDEs

Sublime Text

A text editor that, by itself, isn't very impressive. But it has a lot of support for extensions and customization, which make it as good as most standard IDE's.

wget -qO - https://download.sublimetext.com/sublimehq-pub.gpg | sudo apt-key add -
echo "deb https://download.sublimetext.com/ apt/stable/" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/sublime-text.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install sublime-text

Pycharm

An IDE created specifically for Python. Made by the JetBrains people.

First install umake:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-desktop/ubuntu-make
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ubuntu-make

Then install your desired version:

• Community

umake ide pycharm

• Professional

umake ide pycharm-professional

VsCode

A lightweight version of VisualStudio. Has support for many different languages.

VsCode is not available directly via apt. However, it can be installed with the snap manager:

sudo apt install snapd
sudo snap install code --classic

R Studio

An interface for programming with the R language.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install r-base

Then follow the steps at https://rstudio.com/products/rstudio/download-server/debian-ubuntu/