Updating and Installing Software with apt

Keeping the system current and installing new software, using Raspberry Pi OS's built-in package manager.

You'll need: an internet-connected Pi and a terminal session.

Raspberry Pi OS is built on Debian Linux, which manages installed software through a package manager called apt — a system that downloads, installs, updates, and removes software along with whatever else it depends on, automatically.

sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade -y
sudo apt install git -y

sudo apt update refreshes apt's local list of what software versions are currently available — it doesn't install or change anything yet, just checks. sudo apt full-upgrade -y then actually installs any newer versions of your currently-installed software (the -y flag auto-confirms the prompt it would otherwise ask). Running both together, in that order, right after any fresh setup and periodically afterward, is standard practice and closes known security issues in older package versions.

sudo apt install packagename -y installs new software you don't already have — the example above installs git, a version-control tool you'll likely want eventually for managing your own project code, but the same pattern installs anything else you'll need later in this course, just by swapping the package name.

A quick way to search for a package if you don't know its exact name: apt search keyword lists anything matching, along with a short description of each.