On Tue 13 Jun 2017 at 12:28:41 (-0500), Richard Owlett wrote: > On 06/13/2017 11:48 AM, Brian wrote: > >On Tue 13 Jun 2017 at 09:20:43 -0500, Richard Owlett wrote: > > > >>I am running Stretch that was fully updated/upgraded less than > >>a week ago. I have the flash drive used to do the original > >>install of Stretch. I have not _intentionally_ purged any files > >>from cache. > > > >The cache will contain those files the installer got for you when > >you selected and installed software, plus anything else you obtained > >after the first reboot. For the sake of example let us suppose you > >installed the mate desktop and the standard utilities. > > That is my intention. I don't recall all of what I chose during the > original install, but what I intend is guaranteed to be no more than > the original. > > > > >The cache will not contain files from the base system, but that > >doesn't matter because they are in the installer image, as is GRUB. > >The standard system utilities are also in the image; no bandwidth > >penalty there. > > > >>I wish to install Stretch on two additional machines. I am near > >>my internet data cap and wish to make *ABSOLUTE MINIMAL* usage > >>of available bandwidth.
Then take one of those large USB sticks that you have, and copy the contents of /var/cache/apt/archives/ (omit partial/ and lock) onto it before you lose them. In future, when you install from scratch, you can make this copy before you finish the installation with the following: When the "Select and install software" step finishes, switch to VC2 for a shell. Insert the USB stick and mount it somewhere (like /mnt or /instmnt). # cp /target/var/cache/apt/archives/*deb /<your USB stick>/ Unmount the stick and remove after copying has finished. Switch back to VC1 and continue. > >I've not completely thought this through but you definitely would not > >want to use the select and install software option, apart from leaving > >standard utiliites ticked. You also would not want a network mirror > >but, unless you are going to use sneakernet, you will want networking > >in order to be able to connect to your primary machine. > > I generally favor sneakernet whenever possible. I neglected to > mention that I do not currently have a LAN. The time may have come. Regardless, on the next installation, during the "Configure the package manager" step where you are asked whether you want to use a network mirror, switch to VC2 for a shell. Insert the USB stick and mount it somewhere (like /mnt or /instmnt). # cp /<your USB stick>/*deb /target/var/cache/apt/archives/ Unmount the stick and remove after copying has finished. Switch back to VC1 and continue. > >>The purpose of this is to test the _installation process_ itself. > >>That eliminates anything resembling cloning. A secondary benefit > >>will be learning more about how Debian does things. These two steps will get you started, and help preserve your precious bandwidth while you get to learn about LANs, apt-cacher-ng and so on. Cheers, David.