HowTo: Migrate an Apt-Mirror-generated Ubuntu archive to another mirror source or merge a foreign Apt-Mirror archive into yours
So, you’ve gone and created your very own local Ubuntu mirror using Apt-Mirror, and you’ve come across a situation similar to:
- You’ve decided to change where you update your Apt-Mirror archive from (eg: you’ve changed ISP’s or feel that another source is more reliable than your current one to update from)
- You’re adding another large repository to your Apt-Mirror archive (such as the next version of Ubuntu) and don’t have the quota to download it, so you’re getting a friend to download it for you from their free server using Apt-Mirror (eg: iiNet and Internode customers can access their respective Ubuntu mirrors for free), so you need to be able to merge it with your own Apt-Mirror archive and have it update from your preferred source afterwards.
So how do you do this? Read on.
HowTo: Make use of Ubuntu PPA repositories
What is a PPA repository?
A PPA is a Personal Package Archive hosted by the ubuntu.com servers that contains binaries and/or source related to a project. The project can be anything from a new application to a backport of an existing one. A good example is the easy availability of OpenOffice.org 3.0.1 to Intrepid users before Jaunty came out rather than having to deal with the mess of packages from Sun’s own website.
PPA’s can be wholly personal to you or may be open to the public. In particular it is very useful for providing Ubuntu packaged versions of a given application instead of dealing with tarballs or converting RPM packages.
So how does one make use of a pre-defined PPA and are there any things to be wary about? Read on.
HowTo: Install OpenOffice.org 3.0.1 in Ubuntu Intrepid 8.10 right NOW rather than wait for Ubuntu Jaunty 9.04
OpenOffice.org 3.0.x has been out for awhile now, but unfortunately did not get released in time to be included with Ubuntu Intrepid 8.10 back in October 2008, so Intrepid shipped with OpenOffice.org 2.4.1 instead. Bummer.
OpenOffice.org 3.0.x will be included in Ubuntu Jaunty 9.04 in April 2009, but as some people have noticed, there are some useful features in OpenOffice.org 3.0.x (such as much improved Word doc importing) that can make waiting another four months seem like a bloody long time to upgrade. You want 3.0 now, not in four months!
So for the impatient among you, here’s the most painless and easiest way to upgrade your OpenOffice.org to 3.0.1 without having to deal with downloading individual packages or TAR archives from the OpenOffice.org website, or manually having to satisfy the extra dependencies that OpenOffice.org 3.0.1 requires.
HowTo: Setup your own local Ubuntu repository mirror.
While Ubuntu’s updates are nowhere near as bad as dealing with Windows updates, it can still be annoying to do a fresh install of Ubuntu and then have to download 300MB’s worth of updates, especially if you have a slow connection, or perhaps you’re in a remote location and don’t have an Internet connection. How do you update machines then??
Why not setup your own personal local Ubuntu Repository? Here’s how to make one to use either on a personal web server or carry with you on a portable USB (or similar) hard-drive.
