APPROX(8)

✨ APPROX ✨

okay bestie so approx is a manual page from section 8 — that's the System Manager's Manual, aka the sysadmin zone 💅 — and it's literally the proxy server for Debian archive files. group chat icon behavior, fr fr. 🎀

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🌸 NAME 🌸

approx — proxy server for Debian archive files 🦋

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⭐ SYNOPSIS ⭐

approx [OPTION]...

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

okay so approx responds to HTTP requests made by apt-get(8). periodt. 💅

it maintains a cache of Debian archive files that have been previously downloaded, so that it can respond with a local copy when possible. the way that it just... hands you the file from its own stash?? iconic. 👑

and if a file that is not in the cache is requested, approx will download it from a remote Debian repository and deliver the contents to the client, simultaneously caching it for future use. like a multitasking queen. 🧚✨

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🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

• -c file, --config file — specify an additional configuration file. may be used multiple times. (yes bestie, stack them up, no cap 📚)

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💜 USAGE 💜

approx is invoked by inetd(8). that's the whole vibe. 🙈

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🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

suppose that a client machine's /etc/apt/sources.list file contains the following lines:

deb     http://apt:9999/debian    testing main
deb     http://apt:9999/debian-security  testing-security main
deb-src http://apt:9999/debian    unstable main

in this example, apt is the hostname of the approx server machine on the local network. each distribution, such as "debian" or "debian-security", is mapped to a remote repository in the approx server's configuration file. 🗺️

for example, the approx.conf file on the approx server might contain the lines

debian   http://ftp.debian.org/debian
debian-security http://security.debian.org/debian-security

the mapping scheme is very simple. if the approx.conf file contains the line

repository     http://remote-host/initial/path

then any request to the approx server of the form

http://approx-server/repository/rest/of/URL

is rewritten to

http://remote-host/initial/path/rest/of/URL

when there is a "cache miss", and that file is cached as

/var/cache/approx/repository/rest/of/URL

💀 note bestie: the repository name on the left-hand side is not included in the rewritten URL unless it is explicitly mentioned in the right-hand side's initial path. read it twice, iykyk. 🔥

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🍓 FILES 🍓

• /etc/approx/approx.conf — configuration file for approx and related programs.
• /var/cache/approx — default cache directory for archive files. 💾

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🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

approx.conf(5), inetd(8), approx-import(8), apt-get(8), sources.list(5)

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

Eric Cooper <ecc@cmu.edu> 💌

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and that's the whole page, bestie!! 🫶✨ this was the System Manager's Manual version, dated May 2011, and honestly? slay. go forth and proxy responsibly. 💅🎀🦋