10
February
2026
18:48

Distribution-independent package manager "pkcon"

10 February 2026 18:48

There is a distribution-independent package manager called pkcon.

The name of the pkcon utility is easy to remember, because... it comes from two words:
pk - package;
con - console.

This pkcon utility is designed to manage packages from the command line (Terminal).

Action Syntax Debain/Ubuntu/Linux Mint Syntax pkcon
Search package by keyword apt-cache search word
apt-cache search xlog		 sudo pkcon search name word
pkcon search xlog
Finding a package by the name of one of its files apt-cache show package_name
dpkg -S /usr/bin/dot		 sudo pkcon search file filename
pkcon search file /usr/bin/dot
Installing an application from a repository on the Internet sudo apt install package_name
sudo apt install quisk		 sudo pkcon install package_name
pkcon install quisk
Installing an application from a local package file sudo dpkg -i file.deb
sudo dpkg -i mysql-connector-odbc_8.2.0-1ubuntu22.04_amd64.deb		 sudo pkcon install-local file.deb
sudo pkcon install-local mysql-connector-odbc_8.2.0-1ubuntu22.04_amd64.deb
Updating Application/Package Cache from the Internet sudo apt update sudo pkcon refresh
Updating all applications/packages in the system by issuing Y/n queries sudo apt upgrade sudo pkcon update
Automatic update of all applications/packages in the system sudo apt upgrade -y sudo pkcon update -y
Automatic update of one package sudo apt upgrade package_name -y
sudo apt upgrade firefox -y		 sudo pkcon update package_name -y
sudo pkcon update firefox -y
Removing a package by name sudo apt remove packagename
sudo apt remove librewolf		 sudo pkcon remove package_name
sudo pkcon remove librewolf
Displaying package version information in the repository apt-cache show package_name | grep ^Version*
apt-cache show librewolf | grep ^Version\		 pkcon get-details package_name
pkcon get-details librewolf
View a summary of "what's new" for all package updates in the repository. - pkcon get-updates
View a summary of "what's new" for one update package named package_name - pkcon get-updates | grep package_name
pkcon get-updates | grep python3
Listing available filters for package types - pkcon get-filters
(output - filter names:
installed
devel
gui
free
supported
arch
application
downloaded)
View brief information using filter - pkcon --filter=filter_name get-updates
pkcon --filter=free get-updates
Installing updates taking into account the package filter (for example, only -devel) - sudo pkcon update --filter=filter_name
sudo pkcon update --filter=devel
Display a list of packages available in all connected repositories - pkcon get-packages
Displays a list of all repositories marked "Enabled" and "Disabled" - sudo pkcon repo-list
View installation log - pkcon get-transactions
Download the package from the repository and save it as a file in the current folder - pkcon download. package_name
pkcon download . zipmerge

A special feature of the pkcon package manager is that it is cross-platform: it works the same on any Linux distribution.

Example of running pkcon from a batch file:

#!/bin/bash
pkcon refresh
pkcon update -y

This batch file will also work with distributions that use the dnf package manager, such as CentOS or ALT Linux.

Useful link: [Practical examples of using the pkcon command in Linux](https://mundobytes.com/ru/%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%82%D0%B8%D1 %87%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B5-%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%80%D1 %8B-%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%B7%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0 %B8%D1%8F-%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%8B-pkcon-%D0%B2-Linux/)



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