Where Are Linux Package Install Logs?
dpkg logs every package action and apt logs every transaction, giving two complementary histories of system changes.
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Debian systems narrate their own maintenance in two logs. Dpkg.log records each package install, upgrade, and removal with timestamps. History.log records the apt commands that caused them, with the full package lists per run.
Together they answer what changed and when, the first question of every broken system investigation. Both rotate with compressed archives beside them, so older history survives under .1 and .gz suffixes. Grep is the whole interface: no special tooling required.
Where Linux stores this, by platform
/var/log/dpkg.log
Per package actions with timestamps live here. history.log beside it records the apt commands. Rotated archives keep older months under .gz names.
/var/log/apt/history.log
Full transaction records per apt run. Pair it with dpkg.log: this file says why, dpkg.log says exactly what changed.
Frequently asked questions
When was this package installed?
Grep dpkg.log for the package name with status installed entries. The timestamps show exactly when each version landed, which settles arguments about what changed before a breakage.
Can I roll back using these logs?
No true undo exists. History.log records the commands for reference, and apt can remove what was installed, but config changes and removals of dependencies need manual review first.
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