apt-get update only for a specific repository

Question

When I add a PPA and I want to install some of its content, it is quite annoying to re-update all my apt list using apt-get update.

Is it instead possible to only sync the content of a given repository?

Solution 1

yes, apt-get can do that, and can do it in a nice way.

1. Append following to ~/.bash_funcs

   update-repo() {
       for source in "$@"; do
           sudo apt-get update -o Dir::Etc::sourcelist="sources.list.d/${source}" \
           -o Dir::Etc::sourceparts="-" -o APT::Get::List-Cleanup="0"    
       done
   }
   

2. Append following to ~/.bashrc

   if [ -f $HOME/.bash_funcs ]; then
   .  $HOME/.bash_funcs
   fi
   

3. Append following to ~/.bash_completion

   # Debian user-defined completion                             -*- shell-script -*-
   
   _ppa_lists(){
       local cur
       _init_completion || return
   
       COMPREPLY=( $( find /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ -name "*$cur*.list" \
   -exec basename {} \; 2> /dev/null ) )
       return 0
   } &&
   complete -F _ppa_lists update-repo
   

4. Then source the files

   . ~/.bashrc
   . ~/.bash_completion
   

5. Done and start to fire it

   update-repo <tab> <tab>
   

You can update a single ppa repository without having to update whole apt source, with implement of bash-completion.

Solution 2

If the repository is configured in a specific file in the directory /etc/apt/sources.list.d/, say myrepo.list, you can update that single repository with the command:

sudo apt-get update -o Dir::Etc::sourcelist="sources.list.d/myrepo.list" \
    -o Dir::Etc::sourceparts="-" -o APT::Get::List-Cleanup="0"

Nevertheless this is not very convenient.
This can be simplified defining a bash function

update_repo() {
    sudo apt-get update -o Dir::Etc::sourcelist="sources.list.d/$1.list" \
        -o Dir::Etc::sourceparts="-" -o APT::Get::List-Cleanup="0"
}

so that you can simply run

update_repo myrepo

Solution 3

Y PPA Manager comes with a command line tool called update-ppa that lets you update a single PPA.

For example:

sudo update-ppa ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8

Also, when adding a PPA through Y PPA Manager, the PPA source is automatically updated (only for that PPA). In a future version, there's going to be a GUI to manually update single PPAs as well.

More information about Y PPA Manager, HERE.

Solution 4

To update a specific repository, use -o, e.g.:

apt-get update -o Dir::Etc::sourcelist=/path/to/repo.list

Here is a one-liner updating only recently added apt repository

find /etc/apt/sources.list.d -type f -name '*.list' -exec sudo apt-get update -o Dir::Etc::sourcelist="{}" ';'

It's much quicker than updating all repositories, especially during VM provisioning after adding new.

Solution 5

The -u option was added in 15.10. From 15.10 to 17.10, you could use -u to automatically update only the specific repo you are adding:

add-apt-repository -u my-ppa

The silly thing is that this option was not added to man until 18.04 (it was documented in add-apt-repository --help, however). But in 18.04, this functionality was removed! (Again, not in man, but you can see in add-apt-repository --help).

In 18.04, the update functionality was changed to always do a full apt-get update after add-apt-repository. The -u option was effectively removed. It remains there for legacy syntax, but it is always set to options.update = False. In 18.04, you do have the option of -n, --no-update, which is like the old behavior. But it's all or nothing, you cannot update a single repo since 18.04.

View more solutions

Comments

[kenorb]

There is no -u on Ubuntu (15.x) Vivid as far as I can tell.

[muru]

@Treviño It isn't mentioned in the Wily manpage: manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/wily/en/man1/… Is it documented elsewhere?

[Treviño]

@muru I think that has to be fixed, it's only mentioned on add-apt-repository --help. Please open a bug asking to fix the manpage.

[wisbucky]

@Treviño @muru FYI, the -u functionality was removed since 18.04. See askubuntu.com/questions/65245/…

[Treviño]

I've checked this again, but it doesn't work if then you want to install a package that has some unresolved dependency on another repository (also in the main archive)

[krlmlr]

Is it possible to use two sourcelist files in one apt-get update run?

[WitchCraft]

In Ubuntu, ~/.bash_completion resides in /etc/.bash_completion which points to /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion and ~/.bash_funcs resides in /usr/share/bash-completion/completions/function.

[PyRulez]

You should package this.

[sivaprakash]

Are you sure the autocompletion script is working?

[Hunsu]

What does to source the files (. ~/.bashrc)? . is a command?

[mchid]

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/y-ppa-manager then sudo apt-get update and finally sudo apt-get install y-ppa-manager

[vp_arth]

@user230137, yes . is an alias for source command

[Anwar]

Ah! This is great!!

[kevy]

When I hit Tab it shows update-repo _init_completion: command not found

[Jay _silly_evarlast_ Wren]

FYI: I've used the knowledge I gained from this post to propose an option to add-apt-repository to do this automatically. code.launchpad.net/~evarlast/software-properties/support-upd‌​ate/…

[Ciprian Tomoiagă]

@Jay_silly_evarlast_Wren Great intentions! Thank you! Unfortunately the link you showed no longer works

[Jay _silly_evarlast_ Wren]

@CiprianTomoiaga It got merged, but the source is here: bazaar.launchpad.net/~evarlast/software-properties/… I'm hoping it will be in wily.

[K. Norbert]

I had something different in mind when I read "yes, in a nice way"

[John Bachir]

I think this updates everything found in /path/to

[Roman]

@JohnBachir Exactly.

[Szczepan Hołyszewski]

Downvoted this answer for being a ten times overkill.

[Sajuuk]

can you explain what does '-' mean in sourceparts config?

[randomness2077]

I think '-' just a dummy way to tell sourceparts should not be used. See github.com/Debian/apt/blob/master/apt-pkg/sourcelist.cc#L313 . I could be wrong though, couldn't find a proper doc explaining the '-'.

[dw8547]

@funicorn, what does setting the configuration item Dir::Etc::SourceParts to "-" do/mean?