approx - proxy server for Debian archive files

approx [OPTION]...

approx listens for 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.

Over time, the approx server cache will grow to contain multiple, unneeded versions of Debian packages. The gc_approx(8) program removes these from the cache.

-f, --foreground

Run in the foreground instead of detaching as a daemon, and print messages to standard error instead of the system log.

-v, --version

Display approx version information and exit.

By default, approx listens on port 9999 (for compatibility with apt-cache(8)). Suppose that a client machine's /etc/apt/sources.list file contains the following lines:

deb http://apt:9999/debian testing main contrib

deb http://apt:9999/misc testing main

deb-src http://apt:9999/debian unstable main contrib

In this example, apt is the hostname of the approx server machine on the local network. Each distribution, such as "debian" or "misc", 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://debian.mirrors.pair.com

misc ftp://ftp.nerim.net/debian-marillat

/etc/approx/approx.conf

Configuration file for approx and gc_approx.

/var/cache/approx

Cache directory for archive files.

approx.conf(5), gc_approx(8), apt-get(8), sources.list(5)

Eric Cooper <ecc@cmu.edu>