I would suggest debmirror, it is available using apt. I'ved used it for a long time and it works nicely. The example below is what I have in cron to host an internal mirror for our servers. I do not mirror the security repositories but that is also possible. FYI, if you include sid the repo will receive a lot of and take quite a while to complete and use quite a hit of disk space, with the command below our repo is 338G.
debmirror -a amd64 --keyring=/home/doofas/.gnupg/pubring.kbx -- keyring=/usr/share/keyrings/debian-keyring.gpg -- dist=bookworm,bookworm-updates,trixie,trixie-updates,sid -s main,contrib,non-free,non-free-firmware,main/debian-installer -- getcontents --diff=mirror --nosource --postcleanup --method=ftp -- passive --h ftp-osl.osuosl.org --progress /srv/repo/mirror/debian -- David -----Original Message----- From: Ben Koenig via PLUG <[email protected]> Reply-To: Portland Linux/Unix Group <[email protected]> To: Portland Linux/Unix Group <[email protected]> Cc: Ben Koenig <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [PLUG] Anyone built a .deb repo for offline apt installs? Date: 06/12/2026 09:36:29 AM That is exactly the kind of thing we like to talk about at this kiddie table ;) I would be interested in learning the steps to do this as an educational exercise. At an abstract level I've implemented this type of infrastructure for my Slackware boxen at home. I would imagine that Debian has a wiki/blog article providing the same steps with different tools. I guess the place to start would be to look up any documentation or how-tos for hosting a Debian 'repository mirror'. You could then customize that process according to your needs. As for the general PLUG mindset - Nobody here is going to lynch you for trying to disconnect yourself from corporate monopolies. We might even help :) -Ben On Thursday, June 11th, 2026 at 11:53 PM, George <[email protected]> wrote: > Hey guys. I'm trying to plan against the inevitable apocalypse and > get all > the .deb files i might want onto a local robot. > This way i can reinstall anything i use without internet access (or > roaming > the wasteland searching bombed out universities, hoping this thumb > drive still works ). > I figure it's only a matter of time before everything free isn't. I > guess, > once downloaded, it gets formatted into a readable organization, with > a > Packages file, using reprepro, and then link > nginx over to the pool/ list. > I'm wondering, only recently having wandered in after lurking you > guyses > posts on and off since the 90's, if this is the sort of thing you > like to > talk about? > Or should i head back over to the kiddie table in shame? > Or, likewise, am i gonna get jailed for talking about stuff that's > reserved > to the scripture of paid gurus? > Mostly, i joined cuz i'm looking for someone in Hillsboro to talk to > about > this junk over a beer, without having to drive into PDX to do it. > (I love PDX in that wistful way that i reminisce about how great my > ex-wife > used to be.) > -gbk
