What flag is utilized with dpkg to install a package?

The flag used with the dpkg command to install a package is the -i option. When you want to install a Debian package file (usually with a .deb extension), the -i flag tells dpkg to perform the installation from the specified package file. For example, using the command dpkg -i package_name.deb will install the package named package_name.deb.

The --install option is actually an equivalent long-form option to -i, but it is less commonly used. The --add and -a options do not correspond to any valid functionalities of the dpkg command related to installing packages. Instead, dpkg utilizes -i as its standard shorthand for the installation process. Familiarity with the command options can help with efficient package management in a Debian-based Linux environment.