How to create a Ubuntu repository server - LinuxConfig.org

fabek · March 22, 2019, 3:00am

This guide will show how to configure a local repository server based on Ubuntu Bionic, but it can be adapted to a previous version of Ubuntu or even to any distribution using Aptitude as the main package management system, like Debian or Mint. You might typically want to setup a local repository to save Internet bandwidth.

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-create-a-ubuntu-repository-server

pcpaulh · December 22, 2019, 7:26pm

HI, excellent guide. I’m having trouble with what web page to go to after all is installed. Apache is up and running but I can’t locate what the web address should be to get to the packages that have been downloaded. I’ve tried using the one have (changed the IP of course) but I’m getting a 404 error. Do i need to edit an Apache file?
Thanks in advance.

sandmann · December 23, 2019, 2:48pm

Hi Pcpaulh,

Welcome to our forums.

If you followed the guide, you only have to change the following in your sources.list:

http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu

To:

http://<your-repository-IP-address>/ubuntu/mirror/archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu

You can also use DNS name if you have name resolution set up. In this case you don’t need to change the webserver’s configuration. The above changes are only needed on the actual repositories you mirrored.

Sandmann

Adam_Moericke · March 23, 2020, 10:36pm

“In case you don’t have much space on disk you can choose to not mirror src packages”

What are the implications of that? What is the downside?

Thanks!

Adam_Moericke · March 23, 2020, 10:41pm

Another question… The partition my mirror is configured on is full. I have mounted a new partition, but I don’t see a way to configure mirror.list to use both partitions. I am mirroring multiple repositories, and I’d like to “move” one to the new partition. Is that possible?

sandmann · March 24, 2020, 11:05am

Hi Adam_Moericke,

Welcome to our forums.

The downside of not mirroring the src packages is that you will not be able to install the sources from your mirror, only the compiled packages that are meant for installation.

About more partitions under the mirror: the simplest way would be to symlink directories from your new partition to paths on the original one, which would hold the repositories you plan to store on the 2nd partition.

Adam_Moericke · March 25, 2020, 2:06pm

Thanks so much for your suggestion, the symlink did the trick!

Mahesh_Cherukuru · June 3, 2020, 7:10pm

Hi

first, thank you very much for the detailed document.

I have fallow the document and created the repo server locally but when I am trying to do security updates, I am not getting any results, Could you please suggest me on this, below are screenshot

I tried to run Unattended-Upgrade But I am not getting the proper result.

sandmann · June 6, 2020, 12:35pm

Hi Mahesh_Cherukuru,

Welcome to our forums.

You may want to test your local repository with apt which will provide some output by default. Or you could add the -v (verbose) switch to unattended-upgrade to get some output about the upgrade process. From there it is much easier to determine the cause of the issue.

Hugo_Lia · July 24, 2020, 2:15pm

I follow this guide, but could not get the clients to update.
I receive the following message:

E: The repository ‘http:///ubuntu focal Release’ does not have a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can’t be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.

What is the problem?

sandmann · July 27, 2020, 6:16pm

Hi Hugo_Lia,

The error message indicates an invalid http URL. The can be no white spaces in an URL, and also there is no host in it (if your repository server doesn’t called “ubuntu”, that is). Most likely your sed command did mess up the client’s soures.list file. Restore it from backup, and double-check you execute the command with the right values. You can also post it here for us to see, if the address is not an Internet-facing one.

tuhin_ghosh · August 3, 2020, 8:43am

Typo in

sudo cp /etc/atp/mirror.list /etc/apt/mirror.list.org

thanks

Lubos · August 3, 2020, 8:43am

Thank you. This typo will be updated shortly.

tamilehacker · August 10, 2020, 2:00pm

Thanks for the simple article.

But I do not see the CNF directory in the apt-mirror server.
How can synchronize CNF folder

ACME_Computer · August 12, 2020, 12:42am

Thanks for the tutorial but I can’t get it to work. Somebody on another forum pointed out that having the FQDN in the middle of the path won’t resolve and after spending hours troubleshooting the problem, I believe him.
Here’s the path of the local repository I created: “repo/ubuntu/mirror/archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/”
I ran your sed commands but that didn’t help. Perhaps I overlooked something. Your assistance will be greatly appreciated!

sandmann · August 12, 2020, 7:48pm

Hi ACME_Computer,

Welcome to our forums.

Having the FQDN in the middle of the path wouldn’t really matter as long as the path is valid and published, and your repository server’s name can be resolved by the clients.

Are you trying to reach your mirror from one of your clients? Can you show us some error messages?

ACME_Computer · August 12, 2020, 11:45pm

Thanks for the reply I agree with you about the FQDN but just in case, I created a symlink named
ubuntu-archive that hides the FQDN. It doesn’t work on the repository host or clients. Here’s a line from my sources.list file.
deb [arch=amd64 trusted=yes] repo/ubuntu-archive/ focal main restricted

The link resolves to 192.168.46.130/ubuntu/mirror/archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/
Here are some of the errors (I left out 85 lines but can include them if you wish). NOTE: one thing
that’s wrong is with one of the files named icons-64x64@2.tar because it doesn’t exist at that location.
I am able to browse the repository and the structure looks correct. And I’m able to pull files with wget.

Ign:85 repo/ubuntu-archive focal-security/main amd64 c-n-f Metadata
Ign:86 repo/ubuntu-archive focal-security/restricted amd64 c-n-f Metadata
Ign:91 repo/ubuntu-archive focal-security/universe DEP-11 64x64@2 Icons
Ign:92 repo/ubuntu-archive focal-security/universe amd64 c-n-f Metadata
Fetched 582 kB in 1s (748 kB/s)
Reading package lists… Done
E: Failed to fetch repo/uubuntu-archive/dists/focal-security/multiverse/binary-amd64/Packages 404 Not Found [IP: 192.168.46.130 80]
E: Failed to fetch repo/ubuntu-archive/dists/focal/main/dep11/icons-64x64@2.tar 404 Not Found [IP: 192.168.46.130 80]
E: Failed to fetch repo/ubuntu-archive/dists/focal-updates/main/dep11/icons-64x64@2.tar 404 Not Found [IP: 192.168.46.130 80]
E: Failed to fetch repo/ubuntu-archive/dists/focal-backports/main/cnf/Commands-amd64 404 Not Found [IP: 192.168.46.130 80]
E: Failed to fetch repo/ubuntu-archive/dists/focal-security/main/dep11/icons-64x64@2.tar 404 Not Found [IP: 192.168.46.130 80]
E: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

sandmann · August 14, 2020, 12:49pm

Your sources file should contain something like this:

deb [arch=amd64 trusted=yes] http://192.168.46.130/ubuntu/mirror/archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted

Try adding the above instead of the line you posted, and see if apt finds the metadata correctly.

GutoPQD · August 14, 2020, 1:15pm

Hi!

How could I have different versions of Ubuntu (12, 13, 14, 15, 16…) and architectures (32 and 64 bits) in the same repository?

GutoPQD · August 14, 2020, 2:40pm

Complementing the question above, is it possible to keep versions of Ubuntu, Debian and Windows in the same repository?