Download .deb package in automated fashion?

Bugs and issues Linux
#1

Hello,

Is there a reliable way to get the URL of the .deb package file? I am running
Ubuntu but I try to avoid adding any additional repositories for a number of
reasons. I’d like to be able to download the .deb package file via wget/curl in
an automated fashion.

On the Insync Downloads page, I tried selecting Ubuntu 18.10 in the dropdowns,
clicking the Download button, and monitoring network traffic to see where the
package is coming from and was able to identify it’s URL:

https://d2t3ff60b2tol4.cloudfront.net/builds/insync_1.5.5.37367-artful_amd64.deb

That said, trying to build this URL in a shell script seems worrisome for two
reasons:

  • The cloudfront sub-domain doesn’t seem reliable (I.E. It could change)
  • Despite selecting 18.10, which should be cosmic, the package is named artful

Is there a more reliable way to get the URL of the .deb package file that
corresponds to my distrobution and version? And if not, would it be possible to
make the download URLs of these deb package files more reliable?

Thanks,
Paul Ewing

#2

Hi @Paul_Ewing,

Really sorry for any hassle this has caused. I’ve brought this up to our engineering team and they said they can try working on improving the reliability of the download URLs. I can’t promise you a specific timeframe for the implementation of this though :sweat_smile:

Just curious though, as to why you’re avoiding additional repos. Would love to hear more about your workflow and use case.

#3

There are a few reasons, the main two being that:

  • For every apt repo that is added, other apt commands such as ‘update’ are slowed down
  • From a security perspective, I prefer not having non-standard repositories that could be an attack vector if I ever run an ‘apt-get upgrade’, especially when the repository contains proprietary closed source software

This isn’t a big deal for 1 or two pieces of software, but there are several proprietary applications I use and if I have to add a repository for all of them, it becomes more of a nuisance. I’ve worked around it by simply removing the repositories after I use them to install software, but it would be easier to just install from the .deb files directly and never deal with cluttering up my APT keys or repositories at all.

#4

thanks for sharing the information.
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