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lamcro
Asked: 2010-10-14 03:27:56 +0800 CST

How to update Ubuntu when not connected to internet

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When I install Ubuntu to a set of computers that are not connected to the internet, and I need to get the lastest software updates, do I still need to connect them so they download the latest updates? Or is there a better way?

  • Download the updates in one connected PC, then copy them to a pen drive and intall it on the others (How?)
  • Find an image of the installation CD with the latest updates (possible?)

I installed Xubuntu 10.04 on a couple of PC's with no connection.

Update (10/15/2010)

I made a Xubuntu 10.04 VM on my own PC, and I'm downloading all updates and necessary software. I will then use one of the below mentioned alternatives to upgrade the computers. Hopefuly I'll update them next Monday.

updates installation internet

4 Answers

  1. Download the CD/DVD of choice and then:

    sudo apt-cdrom add
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

    This will treat the CD as a repository and let you grab packages from it. However if you have non-standard packages that aren't on the CD, you might run into issues. There is (I believe this is still true) a DVD that has lots more packages on it that might help... But for general purpose upgrades, apt-cdrom should do fine.

    If you're dealing with a network of computers (or something that could be hammered into a network) you could perhaps look at apt-proxy or another similar setup where you can host the repository locally for other computers to access. This may well be faster than taking a CD from computer to computer.

    Similarly, you could share an ISO over the network and use apt-cdrom

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  2. You will have to download the packages and package lists to one computer (apt-get update && apt-get upgrade, and then you can install them easily by copying /var/lib/apt/lists/ and /var/lib/apt/archives across to the other computers in question. They would have to have identical packages installed, though.

    This way, you will only download the updates that you need, and no CDs or DVDs that would be somewhat a waste. The disks also will not include any packages that come from PPAs that you added manually.

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  3. Aptoncd: http://aptoncd.sourceforge.net/

    APTonCD is a tool with a graphical interface which allows you to create one or more CDs or DVDs (you choose the type of media) with all of the packages you've downloaded via APT-GET or APTITUDE, creating a removable repository that you can use on other computers

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  4. Keryx (meaning 'messenger') is a program which can be used in order to update systems which are not connected to the internet.

    Basically you need a system which is connected to the internet which will download the packages, and another system which you intend to install the applications and updates. We create a 'project' in the offline system, put it in a Removable Media and take it to the online system and use Keryx to download the packages. Keryx will solve dependencies issues itself, then we can carry the Removable device back to the offline system and install the packages.

    Project Web Site - http://keryxproject.org/

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