Get a list of most recently installed packages? MXLinux, Ubuntu

If you want to get a list of most recenty installed packages on MXLinux or Ubuntu, or Debian based OS, you can do it easily with the help of these notes that I wrote down here.

These notes and commands will show you the packages you recently installed whether you used apt or the software installer.

To get a list of most recently installed package open the Terminal and run:

grep " install " /var/log/dpkg.log

Here’s how it looks for me (example output):

2023-01-20 21:27:39 install libusbredirparser1:amd64 <none> 0.8.0-1+b1
2023-01-20 21:27:39 install libusbredirhost1:amd64 <none> 0.8.0-1+b1
2023-01-20 21:27:39 install libspice-client-glib-2.0-8:amd64 <none> 0.39-1
2023-01-20 21:27:40 install libspice-client-gtk-3.0-5:amd64 <none> 0.39-1
2023-01-20 21:27:40 install libvirt-glib-1.0-0:amd64 <none> 3.0.0-1
2023-01-20 21:27:40 install gnome-boxes:amd64 <none> 3.38.2-1
2023-01-20 21:31:46 install simplescreenrecorder-lib:amd64 <none> 0.4.3-2~mx21+1
2023-01-20 21:31:46 install simplescreenrecorder:amd64 <none> 0.4.3-2~mx21+1
2023-01-20 21:49:56 install python-pip-whl:all <none> 20.3.4-4+deb11u1
2023-01-20 21:49:57 install python3-setuptools:all <none> 52.0.0-4
2023-01-20 21:49:57 install python3-wheel:all <none> 0.34.2-1
2023-01-20 21:49:57 install python3-pip:all <none> 20.3.4-4+deb11u1

The most recent results are at the bottom.

Show package names only of recently installed package

You can easily display only the names of the most recently installed packages on MXLinux or Ubuntu by typing:

awk '$3~/^install$/ {print $4;}' /var/log/dpkg.log

Here’s how it looks for me (example output):

spice-client-glib-usb-acl-helper:amd64
libcacard0:amd64
libphodav-2.0-common:all
libphodav-2.0-0:amd64
libusbredirparser1:amd64
libusbredirhost1:amd64
libspice-client-glib-2.0-8:amd64
libspice-client-gtk-3.0-5:amd64
libvirt-glib-1.0-0:amd64
gnome-boxes:amd64
simplescreenrecorder-lib:amd64
simplescreenrecorder:amd64
python-pip-whl:all
python3-setuptools:all
python3-wheel:all
python3-pip:all

Why do I need a list of the most recently installed packages?

It often happens that we installed something we don’t need or we changed our mind and want to delete all these packages. However, we forgot what exactly we installed.

These commands above will help you find out which packages you have installed on MXLinux or Ubuntu.