Using apt

Note, at the beginning of each command given below, is a hash (#) symbol. This represents your terminal & is not part of the command.
All commands below assume you are su root.

Getting the latest list of software - apt-get update

Before you install or search for a new file with the apt function, we must make sure the list of software we are searching is current & up-to-date.
From your terminal, run the following command:

#apt-get update

Now that we have updated our list of packages, we are ready to search for our first application.

Searching for your package

For this example, we are going to install the popular web-server, Apache 2.
First, we will search for the package, as follows:

#apt-cache search apache | grep ^apache

This shows us a list of packages, and from the result, we see the package's name is "apache2".
nb: did you notice the extra command in the example? Because the lists can be so vast, we filtered the output through "grep" to show only the packages beginning with "apache".

Installing your first package

Now that we have found the name of the package, we are ready to install it.
You can replace "apache2" for the package you wish to install.

#apt-get install apache2

The system will then search the locations in it's sources file for the package specified. Once found, it will tell you a little information about the file & ask you to confirm the installation.
Press "y" to continue or "n" to cancel.
Depending on the package, you may be asked to go through a small configuration process to complete the install. Once you are done, the package is installed & ready to configure & use.

For further information on configuring your packages, see their man page* or visit their website for more documentation.
*eg.

#man apache2