<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?>
-<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"
- "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd" [
+<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
+ "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd" [
<!ENTITY % aptent SYSTEM "apt.ent">
%aptent;
+<!ENTITY % aptverbatiment SYSTEM "apt-verbatim.ent">
+%aptverbatiment;
+
]>
<refentry>
&apt-email;
&apt-product;
<!-- The last update date -->
- <date>29 February 2004</date>
+ <date>2012-06-09T00:00:00Z</date>
</refentryinfo>
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>sources.list</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
+ <refmiscinfo class="manual">APT</refmiscinfo>
</refmeta>
<!-- Man page title -->
<refnamediv>
<refname>sources.list</refname>
- <refpurpose>Package resource list for APT</refpurpose>
+ <refpurpose>List of configured APT data sources</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
<refsect1><title>Description</title>
- <para>The package resource list is used to locate archives of the package
- distribution system in use on the system. At this time, this manual page
- documents only the packaging system used by the Debian GNU/Linux system.
- This control file is located in <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename></para>
-
- <para>The source list is designed to support any number of active sources and a
- variety of source media. The file lists one source per line, with the
- most preferred source listed first. The format of each line is:
- <literal>type uri args</literal> The first item, <literal>type</literal>
- determines the format for <literal>args</literal> <literal>uri</literal> is
- a Universal Resource Identifier
- (URI), which is a superset of the more specific and well-known Universal
- Resource Locator, or URL. The rest of the line can be marked as a comment
- by using a #.</para>
+ <para>
+ The source list <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename> is designed to support
+ any number of active sources and a variety of source media. The file lists one
+ source per line, with the most preferred source listed first. The information available
+ from the configured sources is acquired by <command>apt-get update</command>
+ (or by an equivalent command from another APT front-end).
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Each line specifying a source starts with type (e.g. <literal>deb-src</literal>)
+ followed by options and arguments for this type.
+ Individual entries cannot be continued onto a following line. Empty lines
+ are ignored, and a <literal>#</literal> character anywhere on a line marks
+ the remainder of that line as a comment.
+ </para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1><title>sources.list.d</title>
<para>The <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list.d</filename> directory provides
- a way to add sources.list entries in seperate files that end with
- <literal>.list</literal>. The format is the same as for the regular
- <filename>sources.list</filename> file. </para>
+ a way to add sources.list entries in separate files.
+ The format is the same as for the regular <filename>sources.list</filename> file.
+ File names need to end with
+ <filename>.list</filename> and may only contain letters (a-z and A-Z),
+ digits (0-9), underscore (_), hyphen (-) and period (.) characters.
+ Otherwise APT will print a notice that it has ignored a file, unless that
+ file matches a pattern in the <literal>Dir::Ignore-Files-Silently</literal>
+ configuration list - in which case it will be silently ignored.</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1><title>The deb and deb-src types</title>
- <para>The <literal>deb</literal> type describes a typical two-level Debian
- archive, <filename>distribution/component</filename>. Typically,
- <literal>distribution</literal> is generally one of
- <literal>stable</literal> <literal>unstable</literal> or
- <literal>testing</literal> while component is one of <literal>main</literal>
- <literal>contrib</literal> <literal>non-free</literal> or
- <literal>non-us</literal> The
- <literal>deb-src</literal> type describes a debian distribution's source
+ <para>The <literal>deb</literal> type references a typical two-level Debian
+ archive, <filename>distribution/component</filename>. The
+ <literal>distribution</literal> is generally an archive name like
+ <literal>stable</literal> or <literal>testing</literal> or a codename like
+ <literal>&stable-codename;</literal> or <literal>&testing-codename;</literal>
+ while component is one of <literal>main</literal>, <literal>contrib</literal> or
+ <literal>non-free</literal>. The
+ <literal>deb-src</literal> type references a Debian distribution's source
code in the same form as the <literal>deb</literal> type.
A <literal>deb-src</literal> line is required to fetch source indexes.</para>
<para>The format for a <filename>sources.list</filename> entry using the
- <literal>deb</literal> and <literal>deb-src</literal> types are:</para>
+ <literal>deb</literal> and <literal>deb-src</literal> types is:</para>
- <literallayout>deb uri distribution [component1] [component2] [...]</literallayout>
+ <literallayout>deb [ options ] uri distribution [component1] [component2] [...]</literallayout>
<para>The URI for the <literal>deb</literal> type must specify the base of the
Debian distribution, from which APT will find the information it needs.
<literal>distribution</literal> can specify an exact path, in which case the
components must be omitted and <literal>distribution</literal> must end with
- a slash (/). This is useful for when only a particular sub-section of the
- archive denoted by the URI is of interest.
+ a slash (<literal>/</literal>). This is useful for the case when only a
+ particular sub-section of the archive denoted by the URI is of interest.
If <literal>distribution</literal> does not specify an exact path, at least
one <literal>component</literal> must be present.</para>
<para><literal>distribution</literal> may also contain a variable,
<literal>$(ARCH)</literal>
- which expands to the Debian architecture (i386, m68k, powerpc, ...)
- used on the system. This permits architecture-independent
+ which expands to the Debian architecture (such as <literal>amd64</literal> or
+ <literal>armel</literal>) used on the system. This permits architecture-independent
<filename>sources.list</filename> files to be used. In general this is only
of interest when specifying an exact path, <literal>APT</literal> will
automatically generate a URI with the current architecture otherwise.</para>
simultaneous anonymous users. APT also parallelizes connections to
different hosts to more effectively deal with sites with low bandwidth.</para>
+ <para><literal>options</literal> is always optional and needs to be surrounded by
+ square brackets. It can consist of multiple settings in the form
+ <literal><replaceable>setting</replaceable>=<replaceable>value</replaceable></literal>.
+ Multiple settings are separated by spaces. The following settings are supported by APT
+ (note however that unsupported settings will be ignored silently):
+ <itemizedlist><listitem><para><literal>arch=<replaceable>arch1</replaceable>,<replaceable>arch2</replaceable>,…</literal>
+ can be used to specify for which architectures information should
+ be downloaded. If this option is not set all architectures defined by the
+ <literal>APT::Architectures</literal> option will be downloaded.</para></listitem>
+ <listitem><para><literal>trusted=yes</literal> can be set to indicate that packages
+ from this source are always authenticated even if the <filename>Release</filename> file
+ is not signed or the signature can't be checked. This disables parts of &apt-secure;
+ and should therefore only be used in a local and trusted context. <literal>trusted=no</literal>
+ is the opposite which handles even correctly authenticated sources as not authenticated.</para></listitem>
+ </itemizedlist></para>
+
<para>It is important to list sources in order of preference, with the most
preferred source listed first. Typically this will result in sorting
by speed from fastest to slowest (CD-ROM followed by hosts on a local
<para>Some examples:</para>
<literallayout>
-deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian stable main contrib non-free
-deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian dists/stable-updates/
+deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian &stable-codename; main contrib non-free
+deb http://security.debian.org/ &stable-codename;/updates main contrib non-free
</literallayout>
</refsect1>
<refsect1><title>URI specification</title>
- <para>The currently recognized URI types are cdrom, file, http, and ftp.
+ <para>The currently recognized URI types are:
<variablelist>
- <varlistentry><term>file</term>
+ <varlistentry><term><command>file</command></term>
<listitem><para>
The file scheme allows an arbitrary directory in the file system to be
considered an archive. This is useful for NFS mounts and local mirrors or
archives.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry><term>cdrom</term>
+ <varlistentry><term><command>cdrom</command></term>
<listitem><para>
- The cdrom scheme allows APT to use a local CDROM drive with media
+ The cdrom scheme allows APT to use a local CD-ROM drive with media
swapping. Use the &apt-cdrom; program to create cdrom entries in the
source list.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry><term>http</term>
+ <varlistentry><term><command>http</command></term>
<listitem><para>
The http scheme specifies an HTTP server for the archive. If an environment
variable <envar>http_proxy</envar> is set with the format
http://server:port/, the proxy server specified in
<envar>http_proxy</envar> will be used. Users of authenticated
HTTP/1.1 proxies may use a string of the format
- http://user:pass@server:port/
+ http://user:pass@server:port/.
Note that this is an insecure method of authentication.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry><term>ftp</term>
+ <varlistentry><term><command>ftp</command></term>
<listitem><para>
The ftp scheme specifies an FTP server for the archive. APT's FTP behavior
is highly configurable; for more information see the
- &apt-conf; manual page. Please note that a ftp proxy can be specified
+ &apt-conf; manual page. Please note that an FTP proxy can be specified
by using the <envar>ftp_proxy</envar> environment variable. It is possible
- to specify a http proxy (http proxy servers often understand ftp urls)
- using this method and ONLY this method. ftp proxies using http specified in
+ to specify an HTTP proxy (HTTP proxy servers often understand FTP URLs)
+ using this environment variable and <emphasis>only</emphasis> this
+ environment variable. Proxies using HTTP specified in
the configuration file will be ignored.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry><term>copy</term>
+ <varlistentry><term><command>copy</command></term>
<listitem><para>
The copy scheme is identical to the file scheme except that packages are
copied into the cache directory instead of used directly at their location.
- This is useful for people using a zip disk to copy files around with APT.</para></listitem>
+ This is useful for people using removable media to copy files around with APT.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry><term>rsh</term><term>ssh</term>
+ <varlistentry><term><command>rsh</command></term><term><command>ssh</command></term>
<listitem><para>
- The rsh/ssh method invokes rsh/ssh to connect to a remote host
- as a given user and access the files. No password authentication is
- possible, prior arrangements with RSA keys or rhosts must have been made.
- Access to files on the remote uses standard <command>find</command> and
- <command>dd</command>
- commands to perform the file transfers from the remote.</para></listitem>
+ The rsh/ssh method invokes RSH/SSH to connect to a remote host and
+ access the files as a given user. Prior configuration of rhosts or RSA keys
+ is recommended. The standard <command>find</command> and <command>dd</command>
+ commands are used to perform the file transfers from the remote host.
+ </para></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry><term>adding more recognizable URI types</term>
+ <listitem><para>
+ APT can be extended with more methods shipped in other optional packages, which should
+ follow the naming scheme <package>apt-transport-<replaceable>method</replaceable></package>.
+ For instance, the APT team also maintains the package <package>apt-transport-https</package>,
+ which provides access methods for HTTPS URIs with features similar to the http method.
+ Methods for using e.g. debtorrent are also available - see &apt-transport-debtorrent;.
+ </para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>
<para>Source line for the above</para>
<literallayout>deb-src file:/home/jason/debian unstable main contrib non-free</literallayout>
+ <para>The first line gets package information for the architectures in <literal>APT::Architectures</literal>
+ while the second always retrieves <literal>amd64</literal> and <literal>armel</literal>.</para>
+ <literallayout>deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian &stable-codename; main
+deb [ arch=amd64,armel ] http://ftp.debian.org/debian &stable-codename; main</literallayout>
+
<para>Uses HTTP to access the archive at archive.debian.org, and uses only
the hamm/main area.</para>
<literallayout>deb http://archive.debian.org/debian-archive hamm main</literallayout>
<para>Uses FTP to access the archive at ftp.debian.org, under the debian
- directory, and uses only the stable/contrib area.</para>
- <literallayout>deb ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian stable contrib</literallayout>
+ directory, and uses only the &stable-codename;/contrib area.</para>
+ <literallayout>deb ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian &stable-codename; contrib</literallayout>
<para>Uses FTP to access the archive at ftp.debian.org, under the debian
directory, and uses only the unstable/contrib area. If this line appears as
- well as the one in the previous example in <filename>sources.list</filename>.
+ well as the one in the previous example in <filename>sources.list</filename>
a single FTP session will be used for both resource lines.</para>
<literallayout>deb ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian unstable contrib</literallayout>
- <para>Uses HTTP to access the archive at nonus.debian.org, under the
- debian-non-US directory.</para>
- <literallayout>deb http://nonus.debian.org/debian-non-US stable/non-US main contrib non-free</literallayout>
-
- <para>Uses HTTP to access the archive at nonus.debian.org, under the
- debian-non-US directory, and uses only files found under
- <filename>unstable/binary-i3866</filename> on i386 machines,
- <filename>unstable/binary-m68k</filename> on m68k, and so
- forth for other supported architectures. [Note this example only
- illustrates how to use the substitution variable; non-us is no longer
- structured like this]
- <literallayout>deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian-non-US unstable/binary-$(ARCH)/</literallayout>
+ <para>Uses HTTP to access the archive at ftp.tlh.debian.org, under the
+ universe directory, and uses only files found under
+ <filename>unstable/binary-i386</filename> on i386 machines,
+ <filename>unstable/binary-amd64</filename> on amd64, and so
+ forth for other supported architectures. [Note this example only
+ illustrates how to use the substitution variable; official debian
+ archives are not structured like this]
+ <literallayout>deb http://ftp.tlh.debian.org/universe unstable/binary-$(ARCH)/</literallayout>
</para>
</refsect1>