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#1 2023-09-22 19:34:00

dick_freebird
Member
Registered: 2023-07-22
Posts: 2  

Archiving it -all-

Hello,

I am after something unusual. That is, I want to create a CAD
suite (IC design) comprising various point tools, and archive
a complete chain from tools down through OS dependencies,
such that it could be installed at any time in the future, with
no need to pull data. So if it was practical, I want to pull every
single Linux package that a cold start install would require
and have that archive in hand, for the "time capsule".

Because distros come and go, and stuff gets broken or buried.

I design parts that last longer than the foundries that make 'em.
And then they have to be moved. Meanwhile the commercial tools
have gone through major platform changes that make old design
database formats obsolete, and the designs can't be retrieved.
Therefore I have moved to open source tools which can be
archived right along with the designs, and no hostage taking.

So my question is, is there a way to "pull every damn thing in
the apt repository" that is proper, here and now, for daedalus_5.0.1?
And again next time a stable release pops up?   Assume I have
the drive space, the bandwidth and the patience, but not the clue.
In the end I want a USB hard drive filled (or less than) with an
"air drop" IC design system that can install with no internet and
a blank internal HDD. How can I get that "full load" into a local
archive (and then point apt at it, but I'd bet that's documented)?

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#2 2023-09-22 21:28:15

Gregors
Member
From: Freiburg, Germany
Registered: 2018-08-09
Posts: 40  
Website

Re: Archiving it -all-

To me this sounds like you want to build something like a single-purpose-distro. I'd dive into the docs on distribution-building.

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#3 2023-09-23 08:50:46

Camtaf
Member
Registered: 2019-11-19
Posts: 408  

Re: Archiving it -all-

If it's your own personal system that you want to duplicate, use a 'snapshot', these can be installed to bare metal - otherwise it sounds like you want to 'mirror' the repos.

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#4 2023-09-23 09:13:00

ralph.ronnquist
Administrator
From: Battery Point, Tasmania, AUS
Registered: 2016-11-30
Posts: 1,131  

Re: Archiving it -all-

Everything that is available for a sources.list point is described in its "Packages" file that is downloaded to your computer with the "apt-get update" command. All the Packages files are held in /var/lib/apt/lists/. To download all daedalus packages you could do something like the following:

awk '$1=="Package:"{P=$2}$1=="Version:"{print P "=" $2}' \
    /var/lib/apt/lists/deb.devuan.org_merged_dists_daedalus_*_binary-amd64_Packages | \
   xargs -n1 apt-get download 

It's a lot.

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#5 2023-09-23 12:31:50

fsmithred
Administrator
Registered: 2016-11-25
Posts: 2,427  

Re: Archiving it -all-

Instead of archiving the packages to install, you could just archive the installation itself with all the tools you need already installed and working. Install the system in a virtual machine made with open source tools and you have the entire system inside a single file that you can move around and keep in a safe place.

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#6 2023-09-23 12:48:06

boughtonp
Member
From: UK
Registered: 2023-01-19
Posts: 206  
Website

Re: Archiving it -all-

ralph.ronnquist wrote:

It's a lot.

And to get an idea of how much a lot...

awk '$1=="Size:" {qty+=1;size+=$2}
   ENDFILE {print "qty: "qty,"size: "size,"(~"int(1+size/1024^3) "G)","file:" FILENAME}
   ' /var/lib/apt/lists/*Packages

No point downloading an entire repository when the most common stuff is in the 4GB "desktop" ISO, and that can be supplemented with other necessary packages in various different ways.

I would possibly start with reading //blends.debian.org/blends

Last edited by boughtonp (2023-09-23 13:05:38)


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