For awhile I was looking for some bundled CD/DVDs that contained the main, contrib and non-free packages for Debian Sarge 3.1 r0a, but I can't find any, and no one seems to know any either. So I decided to download them one package at a time from the us dot debian dot org (i have less than 5 posts so I cant post url). But I don't want to download them all one at a time from ftp or something...

Is there any way I can download every single .deb package all in one step? I don't care how I do it, I just want the package files.

I want the 'i386' & 'all' packages so I can add them to my personal server. I run a personal server that my apt-get can download the packages from, but I set it up from the packages I have from my 14 cd set which does not contain all the contrib, and none of the non-free packages.

I looked at there site and ftp to see how I can download them all at once using a wildcard * or something, but all the types and distros are mixed in the pool/ dir.

Can someone please help me? Thanks!

Take a look at rsync. It can do what you are talking about over time. I think the last time that I did an rsync of the entire debian install base it took around 100gb or so, but that includes the other architectures aside from x86. There is documentation on the debian website on how to do this. Read about it here: http://www.debian.org/CD/mirroring/

Another thing to look at is apt-move: http://linux.com.hk/PenguinWeb/manpa...&name=apt-move

Thanks for the info! But I'm not wanting to get this info over time. I currently do not have the internet at home, but this weekend I am going to a friend's house for a day or two and he has internet. So that's my download window. a few days. He has a very nicce connection, Road Runner at about 5.5mbps down. My server currently has a 17 gb and 8 gb hd. I have a 16 gb partition that already has about 1gb of data on it, so I have to cram the rest onto about 14 gb to ensure I still have SOME free space on this drive. I know the main is about 8.4 gb from my cds, and I believe it to be the same from debian.org - I have no idea how much space contrib and non-free use.

I also don't understand the whole rsync thing. From the looks of it from the link you posted, it is to help me with iso files or something. But I am most probably wrong.

I'm not a beginner to linux or Debian. I started my linux learning with Woody almost 3 years ago. But I mainly have stuck with running such servers as apache2, proftpd, ssh, and ircd. I know my way around the commands. I have installed Debian probably over 50 times, and reconfigured many more than that. I have run a few desktops using KDE and multiple servers from command line. I know the basics pretty good about the networking of files using NFS. I used to be a major windows geek and knew everything about it, but I got bored I guess and fell in love with linux. Specifically Debian. I've tried other distros like Red Hat 7.2, Mandrake 9.0, Storm 2000, but one day my friend brought me a few floppies and installed Debian Woody on my server. Love at first sight some would say... Been a Deb guy ever since. But like everyone else, I'm still learning new things everyday. ok ok ok, sorry for the boring talk...

Lets just say... I'm a newbie to this type of thing. Just one day I got tired of having to switch out 14 CDs all the time when I want to instll soething new to explore, or I decide to install debian on a new computer (a friends or whatever that comes over). I don't have internet, so there was no quick way to get it done. Then I just figured why not copy my entire CDs to my HTTP server, and just config /etc/apt/sources.list to use that. After a few tries, I got it to work! This was a major accomplishment for me at the time (thinking i done something revolutional), but I have been missing a lot of apps that are offered in contrib and/or non-free. So I figured I could find some CDs with those files already included... Nope... I cant find anything like that in english. So I figured I would look around for something else... Nope... My searching is either getting weaker, or this subject is a tough/unheard of one... So I came here asking where to get bundled cds with contrib & non-free. Still didnt get anything. But I did learn about reprepro and how to make your own apt repository. So I played with it, and it works great! I built me a pretty good repository that works using all the .deb files from my cd set. But yet again... I have failed to progress in the direction I want. I am still missing my contrib and non-free packages.

I don't have 100gb on my server, so I can't download everything. I just want everything that runs on the x86 (i386 as I know it by) architecture. I think this includes only the 'i386' and 'all' files. I have estimated a guess at around 14 gb of data for all of that. If more is needed I have an 80 gb sitting in my kid's machine that they dont use (they have a 200 gb and a 80 gb). I just want to ensure I have every single debian sarge (stable version 3.1r0a) package for the x86 architecture (including 'all').

I don't mean to sound like an idiot if I keep repeating myself.. It's just I'm new to this side of things I guess. I don't do anything remotely like this usually. So treat me like a newbie or something and speel out the words for me on how to get all the packages I want easily, hehe.

Oh, another side note - I do not need to keep te pool directory structure, my reprepro will do that for me in the end. I am just trying to dump all the .deb package files into a deb-files/ folder on my desktop. From there, it gets easy. I'm just having a hard time getting all the files.

Sorry this is so long and Thanks again for ya'lls help!

ok - a few days ago i broke down and started downloading from ftp - took too long, so i got frustrated again and i started looking for more answers... I ended up back tracking and actually reading full documents on programs and reading full topics on various forums. I was just moving way too danmed fast to actually find an answer.

apt-mirror

its a program that wasnt in my apt so i didnt know about it. I stumbled across it on a funky forum. I read the guys statements and followed the responses thoroughly and found out apt-mirror was exactly what I was looking for. He was wanting a full repository, like myself, instead of a partial one. I found apt-mirror at sourceforge - they had a .deb package file. I installed it and started looking for tutorials and configuration help docs. after a few minutes with minor configuration i started up apt-mirror and it is currently downloading every single debian package for my architecture, and only my architecture i requested. Its really quite nice.

So some personal advice for others out there that are moving way to fast... Just slow down, and actually read what you find before you move on to something else.