I am a new Debian Linux v.7.x / Ubuntu Linux LTS user. How do I reinstall a package using apt-get command line?

 

The Advanced Packaging Tool (APT) works on both Debian / Ubuntu and it can handle the installation and removal of software. You need use apt-get command as follows to forcefully reinstall package. The syntax is:

apt-get –reinstall install PackageNameHere

OR

apt-get –reinstall install Package1 Package2

The –reinstall option re-install packages that are already installed and at the newest version.

Pro tip: Backup configuration files before you reinstall packages. For example, if you are reinstalling nginx web server package, backup /etc/nginx/ with cp command i.e. mkdir /root/nginx.mmddyyyy/; cp -avr /etc/nginx/* /root/nginx.mmddyyy/

Examples

The following command will reinstall rsync package. Open a terminal and then type:

$ sudo apt-get –reinstall install rsync

 

OR

# apt-get –reinstall install rsync

 

Sample outputs:

Fig.01: Debian / Ubuntu Linux reinstall a package using apt-get command

If above method failed for you, try the following syntax. Make sure you backup config file before typing the following commands. Please note that the –purge option is identical to remove except that packages are removed and purged including any configuration files are deleted too.

sudo apt-get –purge remove package1

sudo apt-get install package1

See also

See man pages for more info – apt-get(8),dpkg(1),cp(1)