offline software installation

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sean536

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is there a way to download packages on one computer, save them on usb stick and install in the same version of os (ubuntu) at another offline computer?
keryx cant be installed on my system; can i copy var...archives directory on a usb stick?
 


12/30/2018.....
Michael Crenshaw, programmer

Keryx is an offline package manager for Debian-based operating systems.

On my previous blog, I wrote "Reviving Keryx" announcing my intention to refactor and bring the project back to life.

But then life happened. I haven't pulled up the Keryx source code in a long time.

Keryx provided a huge service for the Linux community, impacting people around the world. I wish I were in a position to continue development.

If you've landed on this page and need something like Keryx in your life, please hit me up @m4c9416 on Twitter and let me know. If there's enough continued interest, I might carve out enough time to update the code base.
 

I have been trying to find ways to collect all the programs I like in CLEAN DEB files or whatever I need to so I can have a single flashdrive, dvd, whatever to back up all of the programs I know and love and install them OFFLINE

I don't seem to be able to find a way to install the required software index/respository from zip file or whatever OFFLINE.

There are plenty of programs you can install once you HAVE the software index and many of them allow you to install programs without internet connection but that is ONLY after you have updated ONLINE!!!

It's like a zen riddle written by somone that was hit in the head ten too many times with a hammer !!!

I want the ability to install ANYTHING I want to from previously backed up files without an internet connection because not everyone has the internet any time they want.

Setting up a computer on the internet is like asking everyone in the neighborhood to "Please don't rob the bank that is upgrading it's security system and cannot use the cameras at the moment".
 
PhantomShadow said:

I have been trying to find ways to collect all the programs I like in CLEAN DEB files or whatever I need to so I can have a single flashdrive, dvd, whatever to back up all of the programs I know and love and install them OFFLINE

I don't seem to be able to find a way to install the required software index/respository from zip file or whatever OFFLINE.

There are plenty of programs you can install once you HAVE the software index and many of them allow you to install programs without internet connection but that is ONLY after you have updated ONLINE!!!

It's like a zen riddle written by somone that was hit in the head ten too many times with a hammer !!!

I want the ability to install ANYTHING I want to from previously backed up files without an internet connection because not everyone has the internet any time they want.

Setting up a computer on the internet is like asking everyone in the neighborhood to "Please don't rob the bank that is upgrading it's security system and cannot use the cameras at the moment".
Click to expand...
You could sync a mirror to a local machine, than adjust the sources of the machines on your local network to that local mirror to be able to install things locally without an internet connection.
 
An interesting idea although the ENTIRE POINT was that I wanted to have a way to set up the system WITHOUT a network connection or internet connection. I was also hoping to set up a system that was CLEAN a mirror transfer would be "bugs and flaws" incluided.

Mirroring the system is not a solution as much as a " alternative if I have no choice" and it would require me setting up a second system.
 
PhantomShadow said:
An interesting idea although the ENTIRE POINT was that I wanted to have a way to set up the system WITHOUT a network connection or internet connection. I was also hoping to set up a system that was CLEAN a mirror transfer would be "bugs and flaws" incluided.

Mirroring the system is not a solution as much as a " alternative if I have no choice" and it would require me setting up a second system.
Click to expand...
I'm sure could could sync debian/ubuntu repositories to an external hard disk, instead of a http location you would have to change the sources to a location on your local file system where the external hard disk is mount. Something like this: deb file:///extdrive/repository SuiteCodename main restricted universe multiverse . I have never tried it but it's worth trying out.
 
The key is the software repository "index" that all linux systems require before they allow you to install programs.

With a internet connected system or when you go through the "software manager" or "app store" while connected to the internet if you will, the software dependencies and required code are downloaded in real time as the program installs.

But although that design makes it harder for people to create malicious code hidden in popular programs and spreading them around the internet it also keeps anyone that wants to re-install the OS offline from being able to do it conveniantly.

If there is a way to update that without doing it manually in a text editor or serious code-wizardry we would be golden.

I know you could MANUALLY copy or back up the sofware index from an already set up system, I am looking for a zip file or "offline updater" so I can set up my computer without messing with another already set up system or going online to set one up.

I have a hacker problem and I have had the setup glitch or get corrupted while installing from the flashdrive. I want a way to set up my system 100% OFFLINE WITHOUT NETWORK CONNECTION OF ANY KIND.
 
I see what you mean now, seems like you can't sync an entire Ubuntu package repository from any mirror. You could try running CentOS or Fedora, I know with Centos You can sync the entire package repository:

Serverion Public Mirror

Serverion Public Mirror, mirror.serverion.com
mirror.serverion.com mirror.serverion.com

Install from the iso, then have the package mirrors sync on an external disk, then after installed from iso you can adjust the repositories to local location as needed.
 
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Call me crazy but why doesn't linux come with all the things you need to open MOST file formats "in the box" like anything else?

I understand that most file formats are considered "proprietary" or even "patented" in some cases requiring you to agree to a "usage agreement" to "use" or "create" media in those formats but what is the difference between installing it from a folder and using sudo-apt-get-whatever?

what about the people that live in the jungles of Africa or the mountains of Afghanistan? linux has made a long way from the tweak-tool alternative to dos/windows to the (almost)fully functional OS it is today but offline install SHOULD be an option..

A perfect example is my dad lives in China and the Chinese government has a VERY VERY SERIOUS problem with any kind of OS that can be personalized or secured against spying to such a degree they can actually accuse you of BEING a SPY if you encrypt your hard drive or use any kind of RCS or secure messaging.

he said every time he tried to update anything or upgrade or even install things they would either stonewall him or trash the system.

If the people behind the "alternative OS movement" truely believe in freedom don't you think that people should have the "freedom" to install a fully functional version of linux after agreeing to all the necessary legal agrements?

hotfixes and bugfixes are all fine and dandy but many people want to use their computer when they are not tweaking/modding/tampering with it.............around 50% of the world population in third world countries do not have access to reliable internet and you can forget about downloading a gif let alone a ISO.

Internet users - The World Factbook

www.cia.gov www.cia.gov
 
There are methods [particular for Debian] where you can download the FULL installation packages on one machine and either write to disc or USB for use on other machines,
this is one method
unix.stackexchange.com

Fully offline instalable distribution

My quite limited knowledge says that only major Linux distribution that offered ALL packages from distro repositories to be downloaded offline for non network install was CentOS. Are there any other
unix.stackexchange.com unix.stackexchange.com
 
NErDy wrote:
why doesn't linux come with all the things you need to open MOST file formats "in the box" like anything else?
Click to expand...
Linux comes with what volunteer developers contribute freely. If something is not there, one is free to create it and make it available, preferably with a free and open source licence.

I understand that most file formats are considered "proprietary" or even "patented"
Click to expand...
There's not really a lack of file formats in Linux. Those generally used are free and fully functional and used on machines ranging from the small embedded systems to super computers. These include ext4, XFS, Btrfs, but there are numerous others.

If the people behind the "alternative OS movement" truely believe in freedom don't you think that people should have the "freedom" to install a fully functional version of linux after agreeing to all the necessary legal agrements?
Click to expand...
This is difficult to understand. One is entirely free to install a Linux system and use it. If they wish to develop it and sell it, they have the freedom to do that. In most free open source applications and distros the licences have no requirements of the user unless they wish to re-distribute the system in which case they are generally obliged to supply the source code with what they provide if asked.

I have a hacker problem and I have had the setup glitch or get corrupted while installing from the flashdrive. I want a way to set up my system 100% OFFLINE WITHOUT NETWORK CONNECTION OF ANY KIND.
Click to expand...
There are a number of linux distros that specialise in being secure. They may be worth looking at because their susceptibility to hackers ranges from small to virtually non-existent e.g. Tails, Qubes, Alpine, among others. Of course, being on the internet will have some risk, so none of that may be suitable if one wants 100% riskfree computing.

To install offline, a simple solution is to acquire disks or usbs with the iso files for installation, run all the checksums to verify the data on the disks or usbs is valid, and install off line. A distro such as debian stable, can last for 2 years without modification once installed. One likely wouldn't even need the updates because they are mainly security fixes, and since security is virtually ensured by not being online, they may be able to be ignored. When a new release is offered up, a new installation can be made, and since it would be about once every two years, it's perhaps not such an onerous task.

If a new application is needed, it can be downloaded and installed from a medium like a usb, and as long as it's an application that was included in the same release version, its dependencies should either be present already, or easily found and installed in the same way. This can become slightly onerous, but it's entirely possible as long as it's all in the same release.

For applications not in the debian repos, then the upstream source tarball is likely available so that virtually any application can be at the user's service. Just run the checksums to verify the data on the media. One would need to have installed the build-essential toolchain to do these sorts of things.
 
I'd run Puppy inside a VM, connect to the internet using only Puppy, not the host.
 
it is possible to download packages on one computer, save them on a USB stick, and install them on another offline computer running the same version of Ubuntu. Here are the steps you can follow:

  1. On the computer with internet access, download the packages you need using the command line. For example, if you want to download the package package_name, you can use the command sudo apt-get install -y package_name.
  2. Copy the downloaded packages to the USB stick using a file manager or the command line. For example, you can use the command sudo tar -czvf packages.tar.gz /path/to/packages to create a compressed tarball of the packages.
  3. Insert the USB stick into the offline computer and mount it. For example, if the USB stick is named "MyUSBStick", you can use the command sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt to mount it to the "/mnt" directory.
  4. Navigate to the directory where the packages are stored on the USB stick. For example, if the packages are stored in the "Downloads" directory on the USB stick, you can use the command cd /mnt/Downloads.
  5. Install the packages using the command line. For example, if you want to install the package "package_name", you can use the command sudo apt-get install -y package_name.
  6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each package you want to install.
Note that some packages may require dependencies that are not included in the package itself. In this case, you may need to install the dependencies separately using the same steps.
 
PhantomShadow said:
An interesting idea although the ENTIRE POINT was that I wanted to have a way to set up the system WITHOUT a network connection or internet connection. I was also hoping to set up a system that was CLEAN a mirror transfer would be "bugs and flaws" incluided.
Click to expand...

Chicken and Egg, how do you get stuff from the internet, without the internet?

I run a few reposync sites. ( Mostly fedora/redhat ) To download every package in every repo for those distro's is about
72GB. Now of course you can get USB drives that big, but the download process takes several hours. ( Even with Gig
Fiber connection )

Problem number 2, is that those file get updated fairly frequently ( something gets updated almost every day ).
So if you want the latest and greatest you have to re-run this every day.

Problem number 3. "Most" distros I have used do not have a "install everything" option during the initial OS install.
They have recommended packages, and usually enough to get you going. But after that, they expect some kind of
network access in order to install/add more packages.

Back to the reposync USB drive idea. Once you have the OS installed, you can mount your USB drive locally
and install whatever you want, no network required.
 
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