approx - proxy server for Debian archive files
approx [
OPTION]...
approx responds to HTTP requests made by
apt-get(8). It maintains
a cache of Debian archive files that have been previously downloaded, so that
it can respond with a local copy when possible. If a file not in the cache is
requested,
approx will download it from a remote Debian repository and
deliver the contents to the client, simultaneously caching it for future use.
-
-c file, --config file
- Specify an additional configuration file. May be used
multiple times.
approx is invoked by
inetd(8).
Suppose that a client machine's
/etc/apt/sources.list file contains the
following lines:
- deb http://apt:9999/debian testing main
deb http://apt:9999/security testing/updates main
deb-src http://apt:9999/debian unstable main
In this example,
apt is the hostname of the
approx server machine
on the local network. Each distribution, such as "debian" or
"security", is mapped to a remote repository in the
approx
server's configuration file.
For example, the
approx.conf file on the
approx server might
contain the lines
- debian http://ftp.debian.org/debian
security http://security.debian.org
The mapping scheme is very simple. If the
approx.conf file contains the
line
- repository http://remote-host/initial/path
then any request to the
approx server of the form
- http://approx-server/repository/rest/of/URL
is rewritten to
- http://remote-host/initial/path/rest/of/URL
when there is a "cache miss", and that file is cached as
- /var/cache/approx/repository/rest/of/URL
(Note that the repository name on the left-hand side is not included in the
rewritten URL unless it is explicitly mentioned in the right-hand side's
initial path.)
- /etc/approx/approx.conf
-
Configuration file for approx and related programs.
- /var/cache/approx
-
Default cache directory for archive files.
approx.conf(5),
inetd(8),
approx-import(8),
apt-get(8),
sources.list(5)
Eric Cooper <
[email protected]>