Re: Using ISO image of installer DVD as repository - How?

[Richard Owlett <rowlett@cloud85.net>]

On 06/01/2019 05:11 PM, David Wright wrote:
> On Sat 01 Jun 2019 at 09:12:16 (-0500), Richard Owlett wrote:
> > [snip]
> >
> > I suspect I'm running up against two things:
> > 1. Documentation (esp man pages) authors assume *ALL* readers have
> >     the same background they do. I don't. {I was on the other side
> >     ~50 years ago as an Engineering Co-op student writing the
> >     inspection manual for a new oscilloscope ;}
> > 2. Changes in what apt identifies acceptable repositories.
> >
> > I'm reading or re-reading:
> >     https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-handbook/index.en.html
> >
> >     https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/aptitude/index.en.html
> >
> >     https://manpages.debian.org/stretch/apt/apt.8.en.html
> >
> >     https://manpages.debian.org/jessie/apt/apt.8.en.html
> >
> >     https://wiki.debian.org/SecureApt/TufDerivedImprovements
> >
> >     https://manpages.debian.org/stretch/apt/apt-secure.8.en.html
> >
> >     https://manpages.debian.org/stretch/apt/sources.list.5.en.html
> > with special focus on
> >     https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/aptitude/index.en.html
> >     https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-handbook/apt.en.html
> >      "Chapter 6. Maintenance and Updates: The APT Tools"
> >
> > I intend to experiment with modifying files in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d
> > rather than modifying sources.list. This will require I dedicate a
> > separate machine to the experiment. I will also use that machine to
> > compare stretch to earlier releases.
>
> If you have multiple machines, then there's a method I haven't seen
> mentioned, which might be worth a try. It doesn't require any unusual
> configuration parameters.
>
> Install apt-cacher-ng on one of the systems, then copy all the .debs
> into /var/cache/apt-cacher-ng/_import and let it place them all into
> a repository. You control the package by pointing your browser at
> http://localhost:3142/acng-report.html on the caching machine, and
> use the cache by inserting into /etc/apt/apt.conf a line like
> Acquire::http::Proxy "http://192.168.1.NNN:3142/";
> depending on your network configuration.

For idiosyncratic reasons I do not have a network.
However, when I purchased the second machine, it was with the intention 
of occasionally erasing the disk for new experiments. IIRC a single 
machine can physically have both a server and a client. More reading to do.

You addresses a related issue, download bandwidth.
My current project is explicitly focused on using installation DVDs, or 
preferably their ISO images, as a 'repository'.

Why that is my goal is long and involved.
Part of my motivation is self-education.
What I want "should just work" <chuckle>
"Why doesn't it?" is my current assignment {essay}.