Which of the following commands is used to update the list of available packages when...

The command that is used to update the list of available packages when using dpkg based package management is apt-get update12. The apt-get command is a high-level tool that works with dpkg and provides a user-friendly interface for managing packages3. The apt-get update command is used to synchronize the package index files from the sources specified in the /etc/apt/sources.list file12. This command does not install or upgrade any packages, but only downloads the information about the latest versions and dependencies of the packages12. The apt-get update command is usually run before the apt-get upgrade or apt-get install commands, which are used to upgrade or install packages respectively12.

The other options in the question are not correct because:

B. apt-get upgrade: This command is used to upgrade the installed packages to the latest versions, not to update the list of available packages12.

C. apt-cache update: There is no such command in Linux. The apt-cache command is used to query and display information about the packages, not to update them4.

D. apt-get refresh: There is no such command in Linux. The closest command is apt-get update, which is the correct answer.

E. apt-cache upgrade: There is no such command in Linux. The closest command is apt-get upgrade, which is not the correct answer.

References:

1: How To Manage Packages Using apt-get, apt-cache, apt-file and dpkg Commands In Debian Based Systems 2: Ubuntu Manpage: apt-get - APT package handling utility – command-line interface 3: dpkg - Debian Wiki 4: Ubuntu Manpage: apt-cache - query the APT cache