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Possible Duplicate:
the size of apt-get update lists is too big

After clean installing 12.04 (Release Candidate), and accepting all updates and upgrades till today, I find that sudo apt-get update invariably fetches information in the MB range, about 12 MB, whereas sudo apt-get upgrade mostly has nothing to download.

The biggest three fetches I see are:

http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe Sources [5,019 kB]
http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/main i386 Packages [1,274 KB]
http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe i386 Packages [4,796 KB]

I'm pretty sure the sudo apt-get update fetches weren't anywhere as large with 11.10 and rarely crossed even 1 MB.

My question is this: are these large fetches just because 12.04 is recent or will these large updates be the norm?

Edit: in response to Mike's answer, I'm posting a couple of screenshots: Ubuntu Software Others

Second edit: I'm including my present /etc/apt/sources.list. This is after I unticked the "source code" entry which was previously ticked in the "other software" image.

# deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 12.04 LTS _Precise Pangolin_ - Beta i386 (20120421)]/ precise main restricted

# See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
# newer versions of the distribution.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise main restricted
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise main restricted

## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
## distribution.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-updates main restricted
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-updates main restricted

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team. Also, please note that software in universe WILL NOT receive any
## review or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise universe
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise universe
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-updates universe
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-updates universe

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu 
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to 
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in 
## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
## security team.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-updates multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-updates multiverse

## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-backports main restricted universe multiverse

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-security main restricted
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-security main restricted
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-security universe
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-security universe
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-security multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise-security multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository.
## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by Canonical and the
## respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.
# deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu precise partner
# deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu precise partner

## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by third-party
## developers who want to ship their latest software.
deb http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise main
# deb-src http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise main

Third edit: For the record, lsb_release -a shows

No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
Release:    12.04
Codename:   precise

Fourth edit (20120512): Here is the output of apt-get update I saw today:

Inspiron-1545:~$ fast

Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com precise InRelease                                                                                    
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates InRelease                                                                            
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-security InRelease             
Ign http://archive.canonical.com precise InRelease                   
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com precise InRelease                       
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net precise InRelease                       
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net precise InRelease                       
Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com precise Release.gpg [198 B]          
Get:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates Release.gpg [198 B]  
Hit http://archive.canonical.com precise Release.gpg                 
Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com precise Release.gpg                     
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net precise Release.gpg                     
Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-security Release.gpg [198 B] 
Get:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com precise Release [49.6 kB]                                             
Hit http://archive.canonical.com precise Release                                                   
Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com precise Release                                                          
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net precise Release.gpg                                                      
Hit http://archive.canonical.com precise/partner i386 Packages                 
Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com precise/main i386 Packages                        
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net precise Release                                   
Get:5 http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates Release [49.6 kB]                                                           
Ign http://archive.canonical.com precise/partner TranslationIndex                                                        
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com precise/main TranslationIndex                                           
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net precise Release                                   
Get:6 http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-security Release [49.6 kB]                                                          
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main i386 Packages                                              
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main TranslationIndex                                           
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main i386 Packages                                              
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main TranslationIndex                                           
Ign http://archive.canonical.com precise/partner Translation-en_IN                                   
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com precise/main Translation-en_IN                                                                        
Ign http://archive.canonical.com precise/partner Translation-en                                                                    
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com precise/main Translation-en                                                                           
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main Translation-en_IN                                                                        
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main Translation-en                                                                           
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main Translation-en_IN                                                                        
Get:7 http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/main i386 Packages [1,274 kB]                                                              
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main Translation-en                                                                           
Get:8 http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted i386 Packages [8,431 B]                                                         
Get:9 http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe i386 Packages [4,796 kB]                                                          
Get:10 http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse i386 Packages [121 kB]                                                         
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/main TranslationIndex                                                                        
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse TranslationIndex                                                                  
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted TranslationIndex                                                                  
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe TranslationIndex                                                                    
Get:11 http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/main i386 Packages [96.5 kB]                                                      
Get:12 http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/main i386 Packages [96.5 kB]                                                      
Get:13 http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/restricted i386 Packages [770 B]                                                  
Get:14 http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/universe i386 Packages [27.7 kB]                                                  
Get:15 http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/multiverse i386 Packages [1,393 B]                                                
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/main TranslationIndex                                                                
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/multiverse TranslationIndex                                                          
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/restricted TranslationIndex                                                          
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/universe TranslationIndex                                                            
Get:16 http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-security/main i386 Packages [32.9 kB]                                                     
Get:17 http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-security/restricted i386 Packages [14 B]                                                  
Get:18 http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-security/universe i386 Packages [8,594 B]                                                 
Get:19 http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-security/multiverse i386 Packages [1,393 B]                                               
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-security/main TranslationIndex                                                               
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-security/multiverse TranslationIndex                                                         
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-security/restricted TranslationIndex                                                         
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-security/universe TranslationIndex                                                           
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/main Translation-en                                                                          
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/multiverse Translation-en                                                                    
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/restricted Translation-en                                                                    
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise/universe Translation-en                                                                      
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/main Translation-en                                                                  
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/multiverse Translation-en                                                            
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/restricted Translation-en                                                            
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-updates/universe Translation-en                                                              
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-security/main Translation-en                                                                 
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-security/multiverse Translation-en                                                           
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-security/restricted Translation-en                                                           
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com precise-security/universe Translation-en                                                             
Fetched 6,494 kB in 2min 51s (37.9 kB/s)                                                                                           
Reading package lists... Done
Working...
No files to download.
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
-e 
Done! Verify that all packages were installed successfully. If errors are found, run apt-get clean as root and try again using apt-get directly.

(fast in the first line is because I'm using apt-fast instead of apt-get)

Community
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    See @JohnSGruber's answer to [the apt-get update cache size is too big](http://askubuntu.com/a/138129/8724). This is the most convincing explanation I have found. There's also a bug link in the comments where you can add yourself as affected. – zpletan May 20 '12 at 18:30

2 Answers2

1

I disabled apt.conf's deb-src lines per mikewhatever's answer. This brought it down, as with you, to ~6MB.

Then I noticed that when apt was getting the package info, it was going through 192.168.1.3—my squid-deb-proxy server (which runs 11.10; I haven't gotten around to upgrading it yet). Uninstalling squid-deb-proxy-client from the client brought the information download size back to normal.

EDIT: Aaand it went back to its old behaviour. I also checked the virtual machine on my Mac (fresh install of stable release the day it came out) which I boot up every now and again; package update information is a big download on it as well. I'll leave this answer up simply to document that this solution doesn't work. Beyond that, I'm stuck.

zpletan
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  • Hmmm... I don't have anything `squid` in my list of installed software. I do see an IP address flash by during `sudo apt-get update` but it doesn't show in the final output and I don't know how to capture the transient screen output. Also, doesn't the [IP address](http://compnetworking.about.com/od/wirelessterms/g/192-168-1-3_ip_address.htm) you put up appear **after** most of the data has been fetched? I'm going to try once again and see if I can at least get a screenshot. –  May 14 '12 at 13:14
  • Do you have any sort of proxy or cacher? (Try `dpkg -l *apt* | grep ii` and look for anything like a proxy or cache.) For me, the IP address appeared while downloading almost every info file. – zpletan May 14 '12 at 15:13
  • This is what I got: apt, apt-transport-https, apt-utils, apt-xapian-index, aptdaemon, aptdaemon-data, apturl, apturl-common, laptop-detect, libapt-inst1.4, libapt-pkg4.12, libatk-adaptor, libatk-adaptor-schemas, libraptor2-0, python-apt, python-apt-common, python-aptdaemon, python-aptdaemon.gtk3widgets, python-aptdaemon.pkcompat, software-center-aptdaemon-plugins, synaptic, xserver-xorg-input-synaptics. .... I may see an IP address occasionally. I'd say rarely. –  May 14 '12 at 15:55
  • All your packages look normal—I don't really know how to help you beyond this. Sorry. – zpletan May 14 '12 at 16:55
0

Perhaps the difference is the source packages. Try disabling them in the Software Sources window, or else, edit /etc/apt/sources.list, and comment out lines that start with deb-src, ...that is, if you don't need the source code.

mikewhatever
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  • Mike, please take a look at the two images I've added. In the first, "Source Code" is **unticked**. In the second, "Source Code" is **ticked**. These are, I am pretty sure, default settings because I didn't make them. Perhaps, they're a consequence of installing the RC instead of the released version? I think it will be safe to untick the "Source Code" in Other Software. (I don't need to look at source code.) As for editing the sources.list by hand, I can do it but my understanding is that these things are more safely done via a GUI. Let me see. I'll do the easy one first and see. –  Apr 29 '12 at 06:33
  • The very first line of my /etc/apt/sources.list has `# deb cdrom:[Ubuntu 12.04 LTS _Precise Pangolin_ - Beta i386 (20120421)]/ precise main restricted `. Is the presence of **beta** normal? –  Apr 29 '12 at 07:15
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    Okay, I used `gksudo gedit` to comment out all the `deb-src` entries and that brought the update size down to ~6 MB. –  Apr 29 '12 at 08:11
  • Glad it worked, cause I wasn't quite sure. – mikewhatever Apr 29 '12 at 13:11
  • Mike, I'm reopening the question in the light of [this](http://askubuntu.com/questions/135818/ubuntu-update-cache-too-big), its answer and my comment there. –  May 12 '12 at 07:32
  • @vasa1 the `beta` is from your CD-ROM (which was beta when you installed), not part of your installation if it's up-to-date. I'm having this problem from an installation with the stable release. – zpletan May 14 '12 at 03:23
  • @zpletan, I installed the RC of 21st April, not the beta. That line begins with a single `#`. So is it commented out? –  May 14 '12 at 06:32
  • @vasa1, OK, sorry. In any case, yes, the `#` does comment out the line. – zpletan May 14 '12 at 11:48