Linux offline install apt-get

I'm new the Linux world and I have what is probably a very basic question but I can't seem to find out how to do it.

I trying to find a way to make offline installs of applications I get from apt-get.

I have a machine that is strictly off-network but I need to install some things on it. From apt-get it installs it on the host system but I really want to make an install to take to my offline machine.

So my question boils down to how do I make an offline install of things I get from apt-get?

2 Answers

Yes, that is common-enough problem so there are packages (!!) for it as e.g. apt-offline.

The most basic way to do is to just copy the *.deb files onto your target machine and then install them with dpkg.

You could do something like this:

host# apt-get clean
host# apt-get install -d fnord baz bar

apt-get clean will remove any existing cached files from /var/cache/apt/archives; apt-get install -d will download packages but not install them. Once done, /var/cache/apt/archives will contain the set of .deb files that apt-get was going to install. (Beware --- only if the host doesn't already have the packages installed. You need to keep the host and target states in sync.) Now copy the .deb files onto your target in /tmp or something, and then do:

target# dpkg -i /tmp/*.deb

That'll install them. If there's an unmet dependency, it'll complain and refuse to do anything.

The other option is to just to download the appropriate Debian/Ubuntu DVD set and install from there...