Expiration mechanism is needed to delete files from the local cache when they are removed on the servers, e.g. when the software versions of the package is updated and the package files are replaced. This is rarely needed when Stable system distribution is used by the clients, but use of unstable branches with high fluctuation requires to clean up the local cache from time to time. ACNG includes helper code to identify unreferenced files automatically (executed with the button below). Warning: this operation may redownload all index files. The current implementation does not support delta-based reconstruction of index files ("pdiff" mechanism).
Importing package files from foreign sources works in following case:
Files can be assigned to known download locations. The locations become known when they are found in index files. However, this index files must exist in the package cache, therefore at least one client needs to download them, i.e. running "apt-get update" on a client system which is configured for use with ACNG. See ACNG manual for more details.
When all conditions are met put your files into the "_import" directory, e.g. /var/cache/apt-cacher-ng/_import/. Subdirectories and symlinks are ok. Then run import.
Apt-Cacher NG supports a massive download of package files referenced in a specified set of index files. This is configured with the PrecacheFor configuration option (see config examples and manual for details).
In special cases this feature can be used to create a local partial mirror where the cache internal structure of packages mostly represents the contents of the remote package archive and includes everything apt might want to download.
Calculate and display download size Download package files Restrict to packages related to previously cached files Don't update index files Use Debdelta if possible (experimental)