Which program updates the database that is used by the locate command?

The program that updates the database that is used by the locate command is updatedb. The updatedb command creates or updates a database of filenames and directories that can be searched by the locate command. The updatedb command is usually run daily by cron to update the default database, which is stored in /var/lib/mlocate/mlocate.db. The updatedb command can also take some options, such as the filesystem type, the prune list, and the output file. For more information, see the updatedb man page1 or the Ubuntu man page2.