apt-cacher-ng
Caching is perfect for those that consistently use the same packages in
their builds or for those who have to update many systems and do not
want to use lots of bandwidth. One package that I have been using for
sometime and am a big fan of is apt-cacher. I have mentioned it to
several people on this list and have I helped a lot of people setup and
configure it. Today, I discovered apt-cacher-ng in Lenny.
The about section describes it as: "Apt-Cacher NG is a caching HTTP
download proxy for software packages, primarily for Debian/Ubuntu
clients. It's partially based on concepts of Apt-Cacher but is rewritten
with a main focus on performance and low resource usage."
I thought I had used most of the cacher/mirrors that Debian provided for
apt, but this one was new to me. So I gave it a shot. Apt-get installed
it with no problems. I added my own local repository to
/etc/apt-cacher-ng/backends_debian (just because I don't mind hammering
my own servers for testing purposes). I updated
/etc/apt-cacher-ng/acng.conf with the port and directories that I
wanted, and started it up.
I opened Firefox and went to localhost:9999 (default is 3142) to be
greeted by page describing what I need to do to configure apt to use
apt-cacher-ng. It also provides a link to a usage report.
It was a really simple setup. So far I see only one major difference
between apt-cacher-ng and apt-cacher: the fact that the reports are
generated on page load (apt-cacher-ng) and not once a day by a cron job
(apt-cacher). Other then that one detail I have not noticed a huge
difference in the two programs.
I have attached a few systems to it and am planning on letting it run
for a while to see if any problems show up. Even though it doesn't
appear that different to me now the updated reports are worth giving it
a longer test run. I use those reports often and it is nice to have them
auto updated.
Here is the link to the main webpage if anyone is interested:
http://www.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/~bloch/acng/
I am very interested in others experiences with apt-cacher-ng. If there
is a feature that makes it stand out over the other cachers that I
missed, please let me know. Thanks!
Have Fun!
~S~
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