Welcome to the Linux Foundation Forum!

Searching for packages on Debian/Ubuntu - "sar" example

Posts: 5
edited August 2021 in Cloud Engineer IT Professional Program

Hi,
I'm trying to understand how to look for programs and packages using Debian/Ubuntu apt/apt-get/apt-file/apt-cache and dpkg utilities and I have stumbled upon an example (and possible derivatives) that I do not quite know how to solve.

To get to the bottom of things. When I'm trying to install e.g., iostat, I type:

apt-cache search iostat

and get a short list of packages from which it is quite easy to figure out that it is probably sysstat that I am looking for; I can double check that by typing:

apt-cache show sysstat

to see that in fact there is iostat that I am looking for.

But what about e.g., sar?

When I type:

apt-cache search sar,
apt-file search sar
or
dpkg -S sar

I get hundreds of answers that I could of course filter out, but it seems that on those lists of names of files/packages I am not able to find the correct package at all.

And here are my questions:
1) is this just a specific program (and there may be more of these) that is simply not indexed in apt-cache/apt-file/dpkg databases?
2) If so, should I just go back to the web and try to look for it using Google? Or, there is maybe a better way to handle this?

I know that I can be lucky and find the program I am looking for while searching for another one, as was with the case of iostat and sar being in the same package, but I am looking here for a more solid solution.

I would appreciate any help.

Thanks, and best,
Adam

Welcome!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.
Sign In

Comments

  • Posts: 368

    https://www.digitalocean.com/community/questions/how-to-install-and-configure-sar-sysstat-on-ubuntu ?

  • Posts: 5

    Thanks! But I am actually asking how to find out that sar is hidden in sysstat package from the outset (or any other program that is not indexed by apt-cache).

  • Posts: 368

    "I can double check that by typing:

    apt-cache show sysstat

    to see that in fact there is iostat that I am looking for.

    But what about e.g., sar? "

    ...But sar is on the list

  • Posts: 5

    This is 1) luck; or 2) the case that I know the program is in this packages. Then, it's trivial, that's true. How to find packages without apt-cache search or if they are not listed in the APT database. That's the question. It's only Google that can help?

  • Posts: 368

    The package is sysstat. Sar is a "tool" in the package. Sar does not exist as a separate package.

  • Posts: 5

    Of course, it is. The same with iostat; it's just the "tool" in the package, as you call it. But when you look for iostat using apt-cache, you will find the relevant package (as I wrote about it earlier; it's indexed in a database); but when you look for sar, you won't. And, I will say it again, of course, I know that sar is in sysstat, but this is the knowledge "upfront", so to say. The question is about something else: is there a way to look for packages with "tools" if apt-cache can't help much.

  • Posts: 1,273

    Hi @apuchejda ,

    If you don't know the package name that contains the specific binary, it can be complicated to find the package name without googling for it.

    As a trick, you can use the 'apt-file' tool. If you do 'apt-file sar' you will get tons of outputs. But if you include a part of the firectory, let's say /bin/sar - because it's a binary and it should be somewhere in */bin/sar, you can do the following:

    luis@ubuntu20:~$ apt-file search '/bin/sar'
    pcp-import-sar2pcp: /usr/bin/sar2pcp
    python3-sardana: /usr/bin/sardanatestsuite
    sarg: /usr/bin/sarg
    sysstat: /usr/bin/sar.sysstat

    And you got it :)

    I hope that helps,
    Luis.

  • Posts: 5

    Hi @luisviveropena ,
    Thank you! Yes, that clarifies a lot. If not Google, then apt-file with more details; I used the latter with just the name which gives too many answers.
    Best and more,
    Adam

  • Posts: 1,273

    Hi @apuchejda , it's a pleasure!

    Many regards :)

    Luis.

Welcome!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.
Sign In

Welcome!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.
Sign In

Quick Links

Categories

Upcoming Training