APT-ZIP(8)																APT-ZIP(8)

NAME

       apt-zip-list, apt-zip-inst - Use apt with removable media

SYNOPSIS

       apt-zip-list  [ --help ] [ --version ] [ --medium=mountpoint ] [ --aptgetaction=action ] [ --packages=package[,package...] ] [ --fix-broken
       ] [ --skip-mount ] [ --method=method ] [ --options=opt[,opt...] ] [ --accept=accept[,accept...] | --reject=reject[,reject...] ]

       apt-zip-inst [ --help ] [ --version ] [ --medium=mountpoint ] [ --aptgetaction=action ] [ --packages=package[,package...] ] [  --fix-broken
       ] [ --skip-mount ]

DESCRIPTION

       This manpage should be up-to-date with version 0.17 of the programs.

       The  apt-zip-list  and apt-zip-inst commands simplify the upgrade process of a non-networked Debian host using apt(8), by using (preferably
       high-capacity) removable media, like a ZIP drive.

       apt-zip-list produces two files. One is a script that can be used on another host (maybe not running a Debian  system)  to  fetch  packages
       previously  selected  in  dselect(8)  or indicated in the command line, the other apt-zip.options saves the options used by apt-zip-list to
       indicate to apt-zip-inst what action to perform and/or which packages to install.  Various types of scripts can be generated, by specifying
       a fetch method supported by the host that will fetch the packages.  If you prefer, the script may generate a tarball containing the fetched
       packages.  Note that apt-zip-list can be called as a non-root user.

       The name of the script (as well as the name of the tarfile when using the tar option) contains the name of the Debian host  for	which  the
       packages are to be fetched.  Thus you can, using the same medium, upgrade several hosts at the same time, provided you have enough space on
       this disk.  This should work with or without the tar option.

       The script is written to the removable medium, which is mounted if necessary, and then restored to the original unmounted state when appli-
       cable.  It is the responsibility of the user then to run the script on a host that will fetch the packages, and to have them (or the gener-
       ated archive) copied to the removable medium.

       When back on your Debian host, you just run apt-zip-inst, which will take care of the script-produced files, and call apt(8) to install the
       packages on your disk.

OPTIONS

   COMMON OPTIONS
       --help, -h
	      Show summary of options.

       --version, -V
	      Show version of program.

       --medium, -m
	      Select a removable medium other than the site default.  See also --skip-mount.

       --aptgetaction, -a
	      Select the action done by apt-get. Possible actions are dselect-upgrade,upgrade and dist-upgrade.

	      If --packages is not set the default is dselect-upgrade (See also apt-zip.conf), if it is set none is selected.

       --packages, -p
	      Comma-separated list of extra packages to install.

       --fix-broken, -f
	      Run apt-get with the --fix-broken option.  See apt-get(8) for more details.

       --skip-mount, -s
	      Allow specifying a non-mountpoint directory to the --medium option.  This may help on laptops only getting point-to-point networking
	      without being routed to.	This is also useful while testing the program, as it allows sending the script into /tmp.

       --use-sleep=SEC, -S
	      Introduces waiting times between downloaded files.  Allows the genearation of a fetch script  that  will	wait  some  time  (config-
	      urable).	The  number  parameter represents the delay between consecutive dowloads.  Note that this option is safe: even if the con-
	      nected machine does not have a wait command, the script will not fail.

       --no-checksum, --no-md5, -5
	      This option will command to apt-zip-list to create a script which does not make any sha256sum checks.  Note that if this	option	is
	      not  given  at script generation time, the sha256sum command will be called only after it has been found in the system. (--no-md5 is
	      maintained for script compatibility, but there is only sha256)

   OPTIONS FOR APT-ZIP-LIST
       --method, -M
	      Select a method other than the default one. The wget and wget-dos methods are currently supported.

       --options, -o
	      Specifies a set of options to be used while generating the script.  A warning is issued only if an option is unkown to apt-zip-list,
	      but all known options may not be supported by all methods.  Options may be given a value, with the option=value syntax.

	      Currently available options include:

	      tar[=gnutarprogram]
		     causes the dowloaded files to be grouped into a tarball.  The name of a tar program on the download machine can be specified,
		     if different from tar.  Example: tar=gtar.

		     When used in conjunction with the restart option, a GNU tar must be specified, so that 2 tarballs man be concatenated -  this
		     is only needed on the 3rd and subsequent runs of the fetch script.

	      restart
		     causes the downloaded files to be grouped into a tarball.

       --accept , -A / --reject , -R
	      Comma-separated list of accepted/rejected protocols for download. By default are only accepted http and ftp.

CONFIG FILE

       The  /etc/apt/apt-zip.conf file can be used to set defaults: method, removable medium, options, apt-get action and accepted/rejected proto-
       cols.  It is a self-explainatory bourne-shell script snippet.  It allows to provide site defaults for command-line options.

METHOD API

       A method is handled by an executable object (usually a script) placed in the /usr/share/apt-zip/methods/ directory.  This executable is fed
       on standard input with the output of apt-get --print-uris.

       It is communicated the state of requested options using for each option an environment variables named OPTION_OPTNAME, where OPTNAME is the
       uppercased name of an option.

       Additional environment variables are also set, such as APTZIPVERSION, APTZIPTARFILE, APTZIPINSFILE, and OPTIONS.

LIMITATIONS

       o Only one disk can be used.  If your packages do not fit on one, you have to deselect some packages using dselect(8) or you have to select
	 a suitable list of package.

       o The  files  on  an  Internet  distribution site can change rather frequently.	It is up to the user to make sure the site was not updated
	 between the build of the fetch script by apt-zip-list and the fetch itself, otherwise some required files may not be possible to fetch.

FILES

       /etc/apt/apt-zip.conf

       /usr/share/apt-zip/methods/

BUGS

       o The restart feature is really slow.  The tar command on Solaris(tm) has an option to seek in the file instead of assuming a  non-seekable
	 device, which greatly improves performance.  GNU tar does not seem to be able to do that.

       o Virtually  no	error-checking is done.  Examples of such error conditions include: - out-of-diskspace on both the removable medium and in
	 apt archive cache when using tar option.

       o Somewhat consequently, error-recovery also nears non-existence.  As examples, an interrupted fetch in tar mode has to be  restarted  from
	 zero; changes in status file between runs of apt-zip-list and apt-zip-inst are not detected and may lead to failure.

AUTHOR

       The  programs  were  written by YannDirson <dirson@debian.org>. It was maintained previously by SantiBejar <tiarda@yahoo.es>, and currently
       maintained by GiacomoCatenazzi <cate@debian.org>  for the Debian GNU/Linux system.

       The source for this reference page is an SGML file, which can be converted to UNIX manpages using docbook2man(1)

SEE ALSO

       apt(8), apt-get(8), dselect(8).

Debian GNU/Linux						 01 February 2008							APT-ZIP(8)