apt-url

A debian package to fetch direct download links for .deb packages specified by name.

This package is used in combination with LastVersion as part of the system for the Proteus Apt Repository; which is a custom package repository for ZorinOS and Ubuntu. It is used to fetch the direct URL to a package and then is downloaded and added to the repository automatically.

---

• apt-url
  • Usage
    • --package
    • --fileOnly
    • --urlOnly
    • --aptOnly
    • --pretty
    • --help
  • Install
  • Build

---

Usage

The following are commands you can execute with apt-url:

--package

This option specifies the package you want to search for.

$ apt-url --package reprepro

reprepro_5.4.7-1_amd64.deb
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Aetherinox/proteus-apt-repo/main/pool/main/r/reprepro/reprepro_5.4.7-1_amd64.deb

Alternatively, if you do not specify any options, and only want to provide a package name, you can do so without --package by using:

$ apt-url reprepro

reprepro_5.4.7-1_amd64.deb
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Aetherinox/proteus-apt-repo/main/pool/main/r/reprepro/reprepro_5.4.7-1_amd64.deb

--fileOnly

This returns only the filename of the package

$ apt-url --fileOnly --package reprepro
reprepro_5.4.7-1_amd64.deb

--urlOnly

This returns only the url of the package

$ apt-url --urlOnly --package reprepro
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Aetherinox/proteus-apt-repo/main/pool/main/r/reprepro/reprepro_5.4.7-1_amd64.deb

--aptOnly

This option allows you to use apt-get to list information about a package, instead of apt-move / fetch:

$ apt-url --aptOnly --urlOnly --package reprepro

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Aetherinox/proteus-apt-repo/main/pool/main/r/reprepro/reprepro_5.4.7-1_amd64.deb

--pretty

This allows you to display the results for a package with color and formatting.

$ apt-url --pretty --package reprepro

          File         reprepro_5.4.7-1_amd64.deb                          
          URL          https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Aetherinox/proteus-apt-repo/main/pool/main/r/reprepro/reprepro_5.4.7-1_amd64.deb

$ apt-url --pretty --package repbad

        ERROR        💡 Could not find package repbad            

--help

Lists all of the available commands for this package; and examples that you can try.

$ apt-url --help

  apt-url
  A package which allows you to fetch information about a package, including the url of where it is hosted
  last update: 2025-23-05
  apt-url --package package-name 


  Syntax:                                         
        Command                           apt-url [ -option [ arg ] ]
        Options                           apt-url [ -h | --help ]
            -A                            required                                
            -A...                         required; multiple can be specified     
            [ -A ]                        optional                                
            [ -A... ]                     optional; multiple can be specified     
            { -A | -B }                   one or the other; do not use both       
        Arguments                         apt-url [ -p package-name | --package package-name ] arg
        Examples                          apt-url package-name
                                          apt-url --package package-name
                                          apt-url --aptOnly --pretty --package package-name

  Options:                                         
        -p,  --package <string>           package name to search for          
        -a,  --aptOnly                    use apt-get to search for packages instead of apt-fetch
        -f,  --fileOnly                   only return url for package         
        -u,  --urlOnly                    only return filename for package    
        -P,  --pretty                     show results in formatted layout    
        -v,  --version                    current version of this app         
        -x,  --dev                        developer mode; verbose logging     
        -h,  --help                       show this help menu             

---

Install

If you do not wish to manually install or build your own copy; you can add it via our Proteus Apt Repository.

Download the GPG key utilized with the repository:

wget -qO - https://github.com/Aetherinox.gpg | \
  sudo gpg --batch --yes --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/aetherinox-proteus-archive.gpg

Add the Proteus Apt repo to your Linux sources:

echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/aetherinox-proteus-archive.gpg] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Aetherinox/proteus-apt-repo/main $(lsb_release -cs) main" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/aetherinox-proteus-archive.list

Now update your packages so that the new repo is added:

sudo apt update

==(Optional)== To test if the correct GPG key was added:

gpg -n -q --import --import-options import-show \
    /usr/share/keyrings/aetherinox-proteus-archive.gpg | \
    awk -v val=BCA07641EE3FCD7BC5585281488D518ABD3DC629 '/pub/{getline; gsub(/^ +| +$/,"");
    if($0 == val)
        print "("$0") Found match for Proteus Apt Repo."
    else
        print "("$0") No match for Proteus Apt Repo."}'

You can then install apt-url with:

sudo apt install apt-url

==(Optional)== You can test to make sure you are getting the package from the correct source. The URL returned should be the one to the proteus apt repo.

$ apt-get download --print-uris apt-url

'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Aetherinox/proteus-apt-repo/main/pool/main/a/apt-url/apt-url_1.0.0-2_all.deb' apt-url_1.0.0-2_all.deb 2310 SHA512:5d04d99e636b897e39c7b7b834e845cd7bc98ed82e5ebb7657fc035819e05d585ddc3c7a8c6e2c9c3c47e56d4529d7b2b185addceb1c2115b6ea32982d6f6de6

---

Build

To build, you must have the following structure. In the tree below, the folder share/lintian is optional and only contains Lintian overrides.

📁 src
    📁 apt-url_1.1.0-1_amd64
        📁 DEBIAN
            📄 control
        📁 usr
            📁 bin
                📄 apt-url
        📁 share
            📁 doc
                📁 apt-url
                    📄 changelog.gz
                    📄 copyright
            📁 lintian
                📁 overrides
                    📄 apt-url

    📁 apt-url_1.1.0-1_arm64
        📁 DEBIAN
            📄 control
        📁 usr
            📁 bin
                📄 apt-url
        📁 share
            📁 doc
                📁 apt-url
                    📄 changelog.gz
                    📄 copyright
            📁 lintian
                📁 overrides
                    📄 apt-url

Compress the changelog:

cd src
gzip --best -n apt-url_1.1.0-1_amd64/usr/share/doc/apt-url/changelog.Debian
gzip --best -n apt-url_1.1.0-1_arm64/usr/share/doc/apt-url/changelog.Debian

Generate the .deb packages:

cd src
dpkg-deb --root-owner-group --build apt-url_1.1.0-1_amd64
dpkg-deb --root-owner-group --build apt-url_1.1.0-1_arm64

Run Lintian:

cd src
lintian apt-url_1.1.0-1_amd64.deb --tag-display-limit 0
lintian apt-url_1.1.0-1_arm64.deb --tag-display-limit 0