This image creates an APT repository and serves it over HTTP. There's also a simple means of adding new packages to the repository, which takes care of all the fiddly details around GPG keys etc.

Use case

I want to serve up Debian packages so that others can install them.

Environment Variables

• NAME - name for the GPG key.
• EMAIL - Email address for the GPG key
• CODENAME - APT repo codebase. For example "jessie" for Deian Jessie, or just use "all"
• ARCHITECTURES - e.g. "386 amd64 armhf". These are the supported architectures

Volumes and Directories

• /var/www/html - this is where the apt files (including packages) are kept
• /packages - this is where packages are uploaded
• /root/.gnupg - the GPG keys. This may be important to you if you set up third party trusts

Ports

The Apt repository is served on port 80

Example Use (With Docker)

docker run                                  \
    -e NAME='Douglas Gibbons'               \
    -e EMAIL=doug@ something dot com        \
    -e CODENAME=all                         \
    -e ARCHITECTURES='386 amd64 armhf'      \
    -p 8088:80                              \
    dougg/secure-apt-repository

Example Use (With Docker Compose)

version: '2'

services:

  apt:
    image: dougg/secure-apt-repository
    restart: "no"
    ports:
      - "8088:80"
    volumes:
      - repo:/var/www/html
      - key:/root/.gnupg
      - packages:/packages
    environment:
      - NAME="Douglas Gibbons"
      - EMAIL="doug@ something dot com"
      - CODENAME=all
      - ARCHITECTURES=386 amd64 armhf

volumes:
  repo:
    driver: local
  key:
    driver: local
  packages:
    driver: local

Adding a Package to the Repository

Copy it over to the /packages directory. For example:

docker cp my_debian_package.deb <container>:/packages/.

Update the APT repository with the new package:

docker exec <container> /update.sh

Installing Packages From the Repository

Install wget if it not already there:

which wget || apt update && apt install -y wget

Then add the GPG public key and add the repository:

wget -O - http://<host>:<port>/keyFile | apt-key add -
add-apt-repository "deb http://<host>:<port>/ <CODENAME> main"
apt update

If you don't have add-apt-repository installed, use this instead:

echo "deb http://<host>:<port>/ <CODENAME> main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list

In this example we've bound to port 8006 on the docker host, and used "all" as the CODENAME variable:

wget -O - http://172.17.0.1:8006/keyFile | apt-key add -
add-apt-repository "deb http://172.17.0.1:8006/ all main"
apt update

Solutions to Problems

GPG key creation takes ages, with "Not enough random bytes available"

Check that there's enough entropy on the docker host:

cat /proc/sys/kernel/random/entropy_avail
42

That's not much, so can create some more on the docker host:

sudo apt install rng-tools
sudo rngd -r /dev/urandom

/update.sh is taking ages to run

Clear out the /packages directory.