dpkg --get-selections | grep apache It lists all installed packages that contain "apache" in their name. For example: apache2 install apache2-doc install apache2-mpm-prefork install apache2-utils install apache2.2-bin install apache2.2-common install libapache2-mod-php5 install libapache2-svn install It indicates that the package apache2 is installed on the system. Another approach, to find any running HTTP daemon on the default port would be: sudo lsof -nPi | grep ":80 (LISTEN)" Which lists something like: apache2 1026 root 4u IPv6 3739 0t0 TCP *:80 (LISTEN) apache2 3966 www-data 4u IPv6 3739 0t0 TCP *:80 (LISTEN) apache2 4014 www-data 4u IPv6