apt-file update doesn't get Contents-i386.gz from my own apt repository

[Peter Michaux <petermichaux@gmail.com>]

Hi,

I have created my own apt simple repository

  # ls -1 /home/code/apt
  Contents
  Contents-i386.gz
  Packages
  Packages.gz
  db
  libconfig-properties-perl_1.70-1_all.deb

I can install the package from that apt repository

  # cat <<EOF >> /etc/apt/sources.list
  deb file:///home/code/apt ./
  EOF
  # apt-get update
  Ign file: ./ Release.gpg
  Ign file: ./ Release
  Ign file: ./ Packages
  ...
  # apt-get install libconfig-properties-perl
  ...
  # perl -MConfig::Properties -e 'print($Config::Properties::VERSION."\n");'
  1.70

Great. That works.

I cannot seem to get apt-file to download the Contents-i386.gz file.

  # apt-file update
  Can't get http://security.debian.org/dists/lenny/updates/Contents-i386.gz

Even if I delete the /home/code/apt/Contents-i386.gz file, "apt-file
update" doesn't complain that the file is missing. It is as if
"apt-file update" isn't even trying to get that file.

  # apt-file search Config::Properties
  liblog-handler-perl:
/usr/share/man/man3/Log::Handler::Plugin::Config::Properties.3pm.gz

My package libconfig-properties-perl_1.70-1_all.deb is not in the
search results, of course.

What to do to get "apt-file update" behaving properly?

(I'm using dh-make-perl which uses apt-file to locate prerequisite
packages and that is how I ran into this problem.)

Thanks,
Peter