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<sect2 id="configure-apt">
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<title>Configuring APT</title>
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The main means that people use to install packages on their system is
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via a program called <command>apt-get</command>, from the
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<classname>apt</classname> package.<footnote>
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Note that the actual program that installs packages is called
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<command>dpkg</command>. However, this package is more of a low-level
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tool. <command>apt-get</command> will invoke <command>dpkg</command>
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as appropriate; it is a higher-level too, however, because it knows to
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install other packages which are required for the package you're
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trying to install, as well as how to retrieve the package from your
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CD, the network, or wherever.
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APT must be configured, however, so that it knows where to retrieve
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packages from. The helper application which assists in this task is
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called <command>apt-setup</command>.
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The next step in your configuration process is to tell APT where other
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Debian packages can be found. Note that you can re-run this tool at
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any point after installation by running <command>apt-setup</command>,
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or by manually editing <filename>/etc/apt/sources.list</filename>.
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If an official CD-ROM is in the drive at this point, then that CD-ROM
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should automatically be configured as an apt source without prompting.
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You will notice this because you will see the CD-ROM being scanned.
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For users without an official CD-ROM, you will be offered an array of
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choices for how Debian packages are accessed: FTP, HTTP, CD-ROM, or
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You should know that it's perfectly acceptable to have a number of
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different APT sources, even for the same Debian archive.
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<command>apt-get</command> will automatically pick the package with
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the highest version number given all the available versions. Or, for
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instance, if you have both an HTTP and a CD-ROM APT source,
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<command>apt-get</command> should automatically use the local CD-ROM
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when possible, and only resort to HTTP if a newer version is available
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there. However, it is not a good idea to add unnecessary APT sources,
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since this will tend to slow down the process of checking the network
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archives for new versions.
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<sect3 id="configure-apt-net">
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<title>Configuring Network Package Sources</title>
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If you plan on installing the rest of your system via the network, the
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most common option is to select the <userinput>http</userinput>
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source. The <userinput>ftp</userinput> source is also acceptable, but
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tends to be a little slower making connections.
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The next step during the configuration of network packages sources is
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to tell <command>apt-setup</command> which country you live in. This
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configures which of the official Debian Internet mirror network you
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connect to. Depending on which country you select, you will be given
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a list of possible machines. Its generally fine to pick the one on
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the top of the list, but any of them should work.
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If you are installing via HTTP, you will be asked to configure your
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proxy server. This is sometimes required by people behind firewalls,
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on corporate networks, etc.
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Finally, your new network package source will be tested. If all goes
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well, you will be prompted whether you want to do it all over again
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with another network source.