Re: Using ISO images as a repository
On Fri 03 Jan 2020 at 14:22:46 (-0600), Richard Owlett wrote:
> On 01/03/2020 10:51 AM, David Wright wrote:
> > On Fri 03 Jan 2020 at 10:30:24 (-0600), Richard Owlett wrote:
> > > I have a large hard disk but a low data cap on my internet connection.
> > >
> > > I have all the distribution DVDs stored as *.ISO files in a single
> > > directory on my hard disk.
> > >
> > > It would *SEEM* to be logical to use the "file option" of sources.list .
> > > HOWEVER, all I've ever seen is the kludge of individually loop
> > > mounting all the ISO files.
> > >
> > > Is that my only option?
> > > TIA
> >
> > Is this a rerun of the thread
> > https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2019/05/msg01463.html
> > https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2019/06/msg00040.html
> > https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2019/06/msg00042.html
> >
>
> Overly simplistic answer: No
> Better answer:
> No. That thread had a different starting point and a different goal.
> However, when viewed as multidimensional surfaces, they intersect.
Well the starting point appears to be ISOs stored on hard drives
rather than on the original DVDs, and the goal appears to be
installing packages, and perhaps systems, from them using the usual
Debian tools like apt and synaptic. Perhaps you could point out
the differences.
My suggestion obviously remains the same, which is to feed the debs
to apt-cacher-ng for it to sort out into a repository, and install
packages from there. For installing packages, the client and server
can be the same machine, but obviously not when you're installing
systems, which, on past form, you intend to do.
apt-cacher-ng should be able to meld not only multiple DVDs from the
same Debian release, but also cope with a number of releases,
though I would always recommend that apt-cacher-ng be run on a
release no older than those it's caching for. It usually works
(my wheezy one served wheezy, jessie and stretch systems), but can
get tripped up occasionally by things like new compression formats.
Despite the many threads in this place that concern how you might
connect two of your machines to form a network, I have no idea whether
you ever achieved this feat, but it would be required for performing
installing systems.
> Brian pointed to https://wiki.debian.org/ManipulatingISOs .
> Section 4. "Loopmount an ISO Without Administrative Privileges" may
> hint at a solution to my *current* problem.
>
> I'll have to re-read some posts in thread you referenced.
I was under the impression that the appropriate line in sources.list
had been revealed by Brian during a series of soliloquies in the
thread referred to above. But again, that might work with installing
packages rather than systems. (Both threads only said "*using* ISO
images as repositories".)
> Part of the problem revolves around how Linux is documented. Although
> I've flunked a number of college composition courses over last
> decades, I do recall a dictum "Who is your audience?"
I presume that's some sort of veiled criticism of the fact that the
Debian and linux documentation doesn't in general address your
specific and unusual problems. There do exist *books*, and I've
previously posted links for free downloads of older editions of
some of them.
Cheers,
David.
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