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How can I recognise in ubuntu from which package was command installed?

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dpkg -S filename will find the package that filename came from. Use the full path. Searching for /usr/sbin/apache2 will find just that file, but searching for apache2 will give a long list.

To find the full path of a command use which as in which apache2.

You can also search the .list files in /var/lib/dpkg/info. This directory also lists the confiration files in the .confiles files. File names consist of the package name with a extension indicating the contents. This is likely the directory that the dpkg searches.

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Now that's the way to do it. I realize now that I should probably learn APT a bit more even though I seldom need to use it for more advanced purposes. –  cmbrnt Jan 15 '11 at 16:15
@cmbrnt I usually just search the directory, as it saves me running man dpkg to find the right switch. –  BillThor Jan 15 '11 at 16:21
If it's a file that's not in the path, which won't find it. You could use locate (or find) to find it in that case. –  Dennis Williamson Jan 15 '11 at 18:13
dpkg -S $(which filename) should work if you only know the short filename and not the full path, at least for an executable program. –  frabjous Jan 15 '11 at 18:14

One way of doing this (sometimes) is to run "apt-cache search <command>", which sometimes displays the package name. Don't quote me on this, but I think this depends on the information given in the verbose description of the package in the APT-repository. It might be the names of the files in the .deb-package, but that's less likely.

This is the method I use at least, and it works most of the time. Otherwise, Google usually helps.

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