Sometimes you need to know which debian package contains a specific file e.g. because you deleted a system file accidently or you try to install a new software that requires this file. The apt package management utility which is used in Debian and Ubuntu comes with a handy tool called apt-file which allows a saerch for filenames in the package database.
Install apt-file
apt-get install apt-file
Update the apt-file database
apt-file update
Search for a specific file name, e.g. "lcrypto"
apt-file search /bin/bash
apt-file search /bin/bash
bash: /bin/bash
bash: /usr/bin/bashbug
bash-minimal: /bin/bash-minimal
bash-static: /bin/bash-static
bashdb: /usr/bin/bashdb
mybashburn: /usr/bin/bashburn
How to use apt-file to find which .deb package contains a specific file
