Hey, how are you? i need to install gnome for debian, and i have all .debs in a cd. I don´t have an internet connection. i copy the .debs in a folder and I need to tell apt-get to get the .deb from that forlder in my hard drive ,and i use dpkg-scanpackages, but i have a problem. This are the step i´ve done:

i´ve done it first with a few .deb just to try with something easier, in stead of all of .deb gnome needs.

cd /var/
mkdir debian
mv *.deb /var/debian
cd /var/debian
ls

tcl8.4_8.4.9-1_i386.deb
tcltls_1.5.0-2_i386.deb
tcptraceroute_1.5beta5-2_i386.deb
tk8.4_8.4.9-1_i386.deb
totem_0.100-1_all.deb
totem-xine_0.100-1_i386.deb
ttf-bitstream-vera_1.10-3_all.deb
twm_4.3.0.dfsg.1-10_i386.deb

cd /var
dpkg-scanpackage debian /dev/null > Packages

**Packages in archive but missing from override file: **
tcl8.4 tcltls tcptraceroute tk8.4 totem totem-xine ttf-bitstream-vera twm
Wrote 8 entries to output Packages File.


This creates the Packages file in /var. I think it´s ok, this is the start of the file:

Package: tcl8.4
Version: 8.4.9-1
Priority: optional
Section: interpreters
Maintainer: Chris Waters <xtifr@debian.org>
Depends: libc6 (>= 2.3.2.ds1-4)
Suggests: tclreadline
Conflicts: tcl, tcl74 (<= 7.4p3-2)
Provides: tclsh
Architecture: i386
Filename: debian/tcl8.4_8.4.9-1_i386.deb
Size: 1115730
Installed-Size: 3132
MD5sum: 26586dad04cb13279a27d1540994b1ba
Description: Tcl (the Tool Command Language) v8.4 - run-time files
Tcl is a powerful, easy to use, embeddable, cross-platform interpreted
scripting language. This package contains everything you need to run
Tcl scripts and Tcl-enabled apps. This version includes thread support.
.
Homepage: http://www.tcl.tk/

Package: tcltls
Version: 1.5.0-2
Priority: optional
Section: libs
Maintainer: Søren Boll Overgaard <boll@debian.org>
Depends: libc6 (>= 2.3.2.ds1-4), libssl0.9.7, tcl8.3 | tcl8.4
Architecture: i386
Filename: debian/tcltls_1.5.0-2_i386.deb
Size: 66332
Installed-Size: 280
MD5sum: 73cc521e14f62949b17322ffae356467
Description: The TLS OpenSSL extension to Tcl
This package enables communication over SSL-encrypted channels in Tcl.
.
Both client and server-side sockets are possible. Additionally, full
filevent semantics should be intact.

Package: tcptraceroute
Version: 1.5beta5-2
Priority: optional
....

then i add this line to the sources.list

deb file:/var/ debian/

but when i run apt-get update, i get this error:

apt-get update
Ign file: ./ Release
Leyendo lista de paquetes... Hecho

sorry for the spanish, the 3rd line means it has read the packages file

Does anyone know how to fix this? thanks

I believe you just got the format wrong for the entry in your /etc/apt/sources.list file.

The following procedure worked fine for me on stable/woody:

If you're not interested in possible errors, the more simple version is:

This command should work from whereever you are. An alternative formulation is:

You should now have the file Packages.gz in your /var/debian directory. Then, add:

to your /etc/apt/sources.list file. Then try

That should do it. Note I used the g'ziped version!

I use the following script to create my Packages.gz archive:
What should I use for a Packages.bz2 archive?