How can I find out if a specific program is installed? [duplicate]
I want to find out if a program - Chromium for example - is installed on Ubuntu or not. Manually or as a package.
How do I know if a program is installed via command line?
Solution 1:
And there's always apt-cache policy <package-name> (no sudo needed).
Not installed:
oli@bert:/$ apt-cache policy gnuift
gnuift:
Installed: (none)
Candidate: 0.1.14-11
Version table:
0.1.14-11 0
500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric/universe amd64 Packages
Installed:
oli@bert:/$ apt-cache policy firefox
firefox:
Installed: 8.0+build1-0ubuntu0.11.10.3
Candidate: 8.0+build1-0ubuntu0.11.10.3
Version table:
*** 8.0+build1-0ubuntu0.11.10.3 0
500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-updates/main amd64 Packages
500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric-security/main amd64 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
7.0.1+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu2 0
500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric/main amd64 Packages
Or dpkg: dpkg -l | grep -E '^ii' | grep <package name>. When it's not installed it won't show output. When it is, it'll show something like:
oli@bert:~$ dpkg -l | grep -E '^ii' | grep firefox
ii firefox 8.0+build1-0ubuntu0.11.10.3 Safe and easy web browser from Mozilla
ii firefox-branding 8.0+build1-0ubuntu0.11.10.3 Safe and easy web browser from Mozilla - transitional package
ii firefox-globalmenu 8.0+build1-0ubuntu0.11.10.3 Unity appmenu integration for Firefox
ii firefox-gnome-support 8.0+build1-0ubuntu0.11.10.3 Safe and easy web browser from Mozilla - GNOME support
ii firefox-locale-en 8.0+build1-0ubuntu0.11.10.3 English language pack for Firefox
It's obviously a fuzzier search but handy if you're not sure which package you're looking for.
For manually installed things...
A bit harder but if they're on the current path, you could just run them. That's a bit of mission so I'd rather just run:
oli@bert:/$ which chromium-browser
/usr/bin/chromium-browser
And:
oli@bert:/$ which gnuift
# returns nothing
Which is better?
That depends on the sanity of user. There's nothing to stop somebody installing something called chromium-browser that isn't Chromium. They could even package it up incorrectly and install that. Neither method can be 100% certain.
But assuming the owner is sane - packages should be good enough for most people.
Solution 2:
e,g, Chromium, Run in terminal chromium-browser if it's install, it will be open. If it's not you will get
chromium-browser: command not found
To check whether a package is install also
dpkg -l | grep chromium-browser
You will get like this if it is installed:
To listing all installed packages, just use
dpkg -l
OR
Use Ubuntu Software Center type chromium
If you see the green icon like this:
That means it is installed :)
Solution 3:
For a graphical view, open the Software Centre, and click on the Installed button at the top:
You may want to click the Show X technical items button if you're interested in system stuff, but Chromium would be there on the list anyway.
If you want a command line solution, then dpkg is your friend:
$ dpkg -l
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
|/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name Version Description
+++-==============-==============-============================================
ii accountsservic 0.6.14-1git1ub query and manipulate user account informatio
ii acl 2.2.51-3 Access control list utilities
ii acpi-support 0.138 scripts for handling many ACPI events
ii acpid 1:2.0.10-1ubun Advanced Configuration and Power Interface e
ii acroread 9.4.6~enu-0one Adobe Reader
ii acroread-commo 9.4.6~enu-0one Adobe Reader - Common Files
ii adduser 3.112+nmu1ubun add and remove users and groups
ii adium-theme-ub 0.3.1-0ubuntu1 Adium message style for Ubuntu
ii aisleriot 1:3.2.1-0ubunt Solitaire card games
ii alacarte 0.13.2-2ubuntu easy GNOME menu editing tool
ii alsa-base 1.0.24+dfsg-0u ALSA driver configuration files
ii alsa-utils 1.0.24.2-0ubun Utilities for configuring and using ALSA
..........