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In this editorial, we take a look at a great and powerful utility called apt-fast that you can use to speed up downloading packages by APT or Aptitude.
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apt-fast is an open-source shell script wrapper for the popular APT and Aptitude package managing tools that helps to speed the downloading of packages on Debian systems.
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It’s main function is to remarkably speed up the downloading of packages by apt-get or aptitude by downloading packages in parallel, with numerous connections per package.
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Read some of the following articles, that discusses about APT and Aptitude along with their usage with examples:
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- What’s Difference Between APT and Aptitude
- 25 Useful Commands of apt-get for Package Management
- 15 Useful APT Commands for Package Management
- Learn Package Management with Aptitude in Ubuntu
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Requirement for running apt-fast utility, is to have aria2c or axel download managers.
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- How to Install Aria2 Command-Line Download Manager
- How to Install Axel to Speed Up FTP/HTTP Downloads
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How to Install apt-fast on Ubuntu 16.04-14.04 and Linux Mint 18/17.x
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Firstly add the the PPA for apt-fast package as follows and then update your system.
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$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:saiarcot895/mypparn$ sudo apt-get updatern
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Thereafter, run the command below to install apt-fast tool:
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$ sudo apt-get -y install apt-fastrn
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During the apt-fast installation process, you will be prompted to perform some package configuration as follows.
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In the screen below, you can set the number of connections allowed, remember, you can also configure it later in the apt-fast configuration file using the _MAXNUM directive.
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Next, you can also choose to suppress the apt-fast confirmation message every time you want to install a package. But leaving the default value is okay, therefore, choose <No> and hit Enter to advance.
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How to Use apt-fast?
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After successfully installing apt-fast, simply use it the same way you run apt or aptitude commands.
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The apt-fast configuration file is: /etc/apt-fast.conf, you can further increase your download speeds by adding multiple mirrors and distribute load, make sure to add nearest mirrors.
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Official mirror lists for Debian and Ubuntu/Linux Mint:
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- Debian: http://www.debian.org/mirror/list
- Ubuntu: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archivemirrors
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You can add them to whitespace and comma separated mirrors in the configuration file as follows:
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For Debian
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MIRRORS=( 'http://ftp.debian.org/debian, http://ftp2.de.debian.org/debian, http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian, ftp://ftp.uni-kl.de/debian' )rn
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For Ubuntu/Linux Mint
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MIRRORS=( 'http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu, http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu, http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/ubuntu, http://ftp.uni-kl.de/pub/linux/ubuntu, http://mirror.informatik.uni-mannheim.de/pub/linux/distributions/ubuntu/' )rn
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Important: To use mirrors in /etc/apt/sources.list or /etc/apt/sources.list.d/, you also need to add them to /etc/apt-fast.conf as well.
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$ sudo vi /etc/apt-fast.confrn
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You also view the man page for apt-fast and apt-fast.conf as follows:
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$ man apt-fastrn$ man apt-fast.confrn
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Let us dive into how apt-fast works by installing git package as follows:
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$ sudo apt-fast install gitrn
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You will be asked to confirm whether to download package or not, enter Yes/Y to continue. The image below shows apt-fast working – downloading git package using several connections.
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After downloading the git package, you will again be asked to install it by entering Yes/Y and press Enter to proceed with the installation process.
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Some important apt-fast commands:
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$ sudo apt-fast updatern$ sudo apt-fast upgrade rnORrn$ sudo apt-fast dist-updatern
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In case a downloading process stops or breaks, run the command below:
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$ sudo apt-fast clean rn
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For more information, visit the apt-fast Github repository.
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Conclusion
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Here, we reviewed a powerful shell-script front-end for apt and aptitude that helps you to boost download speeds while installing packages on your Debian-based systems such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint and many more.
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What is you experience with apt-fast? Do you think it works well for you? Then give us your thoughts plus any other questions you would like to ask, via the feedback form below.
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