You can check the version of a Debian package (dpkg) on a Linux system using the command dpkg -s pkgName where pkgName is the name of the package. If you wish to check on whether an upgrade is available for the package, you should first update your local package index to ensure your system knows about the latest versions available in the repositories with the sudo apt update command. If updates are available you will see something like 19 packages can be upgraded. Run 'apt list --upgradable' to see them.
If you want to see whether an update is available for a particular dpkg package, e.g., winetricks, you can use the command apt-cache policy pkgName. Because dpkg manages local .deb files and doesn't directly check remote repositories, you need to use APT, which is the frontend for dpkg to compare the installed version against what is available in the repositories.
alice@Wonderland:~$ apt-cache policy winetricks winetricks: Installed: 20250102-1build1 Candidate: 20250102-1build1 Version table: *** 20250102-1build1 500 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu resolute/universe amd64 Packages 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu resolute/universe i386 Packages 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status alice@Wonderland:~$
The Installed and Candidate lines indicate whether an update is available.
- Installed: The version currently running on your system.
- Candidate: The highest version available in the repositories that your system is ready to install.
If the Candidate version is newer (higher) than the Installed version, an update is available. If the version is the same then a newer version is not available.
Alternatively, you can use the command apt list --upgradable pkgName to check on whether an update is available for a single package. If it returns the package name, an update is available. If it returns nothing, the package is already up-to-date.
alice@Wonderland:~$ apt list --upgradable winetricks alice@Wonderland:~$
To see a list of all packages that you can upgrade, you can use apt list --upgradable.
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