Install package from a specific distribution with private apt repository?

Question

So I'm hosting a private apt repository.

The hierarchy looks like this:

├── stable
│   ├── main
│   │   └── binary-all
│   │       ├── Packages
│   │       └── mypackage_2.3.1_all.deb
│   ├── Release
│   └── Release.gpg
└── unstable
    ├── main
    │   └── binary-all
    │       ├── Packages
    │       └── mypackage_2.3.2_all.deb
    ├── rc
    │   └── binary-all
    │       ├── Packages
    │       └── mypackage_2.3.2_all.deb
    ├── Release
    └── Release.gpg

My source file looks like this:

deb [arch=all] https://user:pass@my.apt-server.com/ stable main
deb [arch=all] https://user:pass@my.apt-server.com/ unstable main rc

apt-cache policy mypackage

mypackage:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.3.2
  Version table:
     2.3.2 500
        500 https://my.apt-server.com unstable/main all Packages
        500 https://my.apt-server.com unstable/rc all Packages
     2.3.1 500
        500 https://my.apt-server.com stable/main all Packages

stable release file content (without the hashes):

Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2016 09:29:19 UTC
MD5Sum:
                 0 Release
               707 main/binary-all/Packages
SHA1:
                 0 Release
               707 main/binary-all/Packages
SHA256:
                 0 Release
               707 main/binary-all/Packages
SHA512:
                 0 Release
               707 main/binary-all/Packages

unstable release file content (without the hashes):

Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2016 09:29:27 UTC
MD5Sum:
                 0 Release
               709 main/binary-all/Packages
               705 rc/binary-all/Packages
SHA1:
                 0 Release
               709 main/binary-all/Packages
               705 rc/binary-all/Packages
SHA256:
                 0 Release
               709 main/binary-all/Packages
               705 rc/binary-all/Packages
SHA512:
                 0 Release
               709 main/binary-all/Packages
               705 rc/binary-all/Packages

The problem is, when I try to install from stable by running the command:

sudo apt-get install -t stable mypackage

it still installs the latest package from unstable/main

mypackage_2.3.2_all.deb

and not the package from stable/main

mypackage_2.3.1_all.deb

I also tried pinning (from this answer) by creating a file under /etc/apt/preferences.d with:

Package: *
Pin: release n=unstable
Pin-Priority: 50

but still a higher version from unstable is installed.

What am I doing wrong?

2.3.2 is higher than 2.3.1, and you don't define an apt policy anywhere on your computer for which repository is higher priority than the other. Without a priority policy defined it will use whichever is the higher version number. (I am on mobile but will write an answer when I am at a computer, if nobody else does) — Thomas Ward, Oct 12 '16 at 10:17
@ThomasWard but i thought `-t` option sets a high priority. (apt-get manual) "it creates a default pin at priority 990" — Urban48, Oct 12 '16 at 12:02
If you look at the `apt-cache policy` output it directly contradicts the manual. While it may be true it will *not* respect that for updates and upgrade processes unless you update the pinning priorities to specify specific origin repos and such are a low priority. I still don't have a computer right now to write up an answer though. — Thomas Ward, Oct 12 '16 at 12:37
@Urban48 Both should work... What are the contents of your `Release` files? (Just the headers, the MD5 sums are not important here.) — fkraiem, Oct 12 '16 at 13:39

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 12 '16 at 13:51

Your Release files should contain a Codename header to allow pinning by release name. From man apt_preferences:

The Release file is normally found in the directory .../dists/dist-name: for
example, .../dists/stable/Release, or .../dists/wheezy/Release. It consists of a
single multi-line record which applies to all of the packages in the directory
tree below its parent. Unlike the Packages file, nearly all of the lines in a
Release file are relevant for setting APT priorities:

[...]

the Codename: line
    names the codename to which all the packages in the directory tree belong.
    For example, the line "Codename: jessie" specifies that all of the packages
    in the directory tree below the parent of the Release file belong to a
    version named jessie. Specifying this value in the APT preferences file would
    require the line:

        Pin: release n=jessie

See for reference the Release file of the official Xenial repository.

it worked, i created a config files for unstable and stable for with a content: `APT::FTPArchive::Release { Codename "stable"; Components "main"; };` (and Codename "unstable" for the unstable config), and ran `apt-ftparchive` with `-c` to generate the `Release` file with the Codename. after that `apt-get install -t stable ...` worked — Urban48, Oct 12 '16 at 14:08

Install package from a specific distribution with private apt repository?

1 Answers1