upgrade multiple clients with 6.5FinalCD or master Client
Posts: 8
1.
I could use synaptic but i have a number of computers
can i use the Final CD
synaptic says no debs on the cd or not a debian CD
and after looking on the CD the debs are in one huge file called mepis
2.
if i have to use synaptic/internet to upgrade ...
my squid proxy caches debs under 4mb
is there a squid setting to cache any size deb
1.thanks, i get it
Posts: 8
1.
thanks, i get it now
2.
thanks, 174M x n I don't have to d/l
stanagle@2[~]$ du -hs /var/cache/apt/archives
174M /var/cache/apt/archives
now to work on some scripts
jump in if you have clues 
-a script to upload archives/*.deb to the server after an update, would be nice to removes old duplicate debs, and preferably automated
-a script in ~/.kde/Autostart to download the updates from the server
-rsync based
apt-cache
Posts: 4864
there is a program called apt-cache or something like that which will sit on your server and do all this for you. i have never got it configured so can't tell all about it really
thanks, that would be the
Posts: 8
thanks, that would be the 'correct way'
but my server is rpm based,
this option would be difficult to implement
unless i turn one client into an apt server
but it wouldn't always be on
the simplest method was to
Posts: 8
the simplest method was to copy all the .deb files from the updated archive directory to the outdated archive directory
when synaptic ran again it only had to download 2mb instead of 100, great !
cache locations
Posts: 959
/var/cache/apt/archives contains all the downloaded debs
/var/lib/apt/lists contains all the package lists
Copy all of the contents minus the partial folder and the lock file from both of these folders to the same location on each PC you want to upgrade after successfully upgrading your first machine.
You might also find it useful to copy the contents of your /root/.synaptic/log from the first machine to a flash drive for future reference or to make the creation of a package installer script much easier. These are just text files of the synaptic history.
Your Synaptic package list will be synchronized during this process and so will the downloaded packages. You can then upgrade and or install with tremendous ease and speed.
I do this for dial-up users for our LUG and for my family, copying the above from my laptop to a thumb drive or across a LAN to the same location on their PC after a fresh install, then they have a huge repository of packages to install as they need to.
You can select a stupendous amount of packages to install, but opt not to install and download only the packages. This is useful for saving bandwidth when setting up multiple machines that are used for differing purposes like where one is used for content creation, another for DTP, another for web development, another for general office duties, another for games et al.
I do this when a new version of Mepis is released, including the different kernels for AMD, SMP, ATI's fglrx, games, required packages for vmware and virtualbox, lots of DVD support and multimedia of all varieties including codecs, photo tools and toys, a selection games, wireless tools, all sorts of pdf support, DTP programs, security testing tools, apache, php, you name it, if I think it could be useful without being excessive, I grab it. Sometimes I kill a system by downloading conflicting packages but all I'm after is the debs to make it installable on most systems when a high speed internet connection is not available.
I know I could download the extras CD, but I found them missing some of the things that would be used by many of the people I come across as I promote linux and Mepis at every opportunity. Having a toolbox like this and the speed with which I can get somebody up and running without an internet connection shows how versatile and easy linux and especially Mepis really is.
Sorry for my rant, but at the very least, this may help many other users to achieve lots more than they ever thought possible.
Some of this material may be better placed in the tips and tricks section of the docs project. Anyone care to comment
Mike P
--------------------
Life may not be the party we thought, but while we're here, we may as well dance.
Break M$'s shackles from your feet and free yourself with Mepis
debs
Posts: 4864
option1
the final cd doesn't contain debs, it contains fully expanded and installed material.
option 2
update and upgrade one computer
copy the packages from /var/cache/apt/packages onto the other computers.
I can't recall where the list of debs is - if someone chimes in with that you won't have to run update on the others either
then just run synaptic, when it calculates the downloads you will get 0Mb.