How to install your favorite applications on many machines very easy

Alejandro (a.k.a KZKG^Gaara)

2 minutes

 If you have several machines (for example, your laptop + one or two PCs) and you have Ubuntu installed on all of them, then this post can help you ... a lot. Suppose we just installed Lucid on all of them. In each one of them you have to install Ubuntu Tweak, codecs, fonts and all your favorite programs. Well, here we show you a method to make your life easy, thanks to the people of OMG! Ubuntu.

Method 1

We will use a little program called Dpkg-Repack to put together all the packages that we install on our "source" machine into just 1 deb, which we will then copy onto a pendrive and install on the other machines.

We open a terminal and write:

sudo apt-get install dpkg-repack fakeroot mkdir ~ / dpkg-repack; cd ~ / dpkg-repack fakeroot -u dpkg-repack `dpkg --get-selections | grep install | cut -f1`

The first command installs Dpkg-Repack and fakeroot, allowing you to choose packages without permission conflicts. The second command creates a directory to store the DEB super package. The last command stores all the packages that you have installed on that machine and puts them inside the super DEB.

What remains to be done is copy this DEB to a pendrive, go to another machine and execute:

sudo dpkg -i * .deb

This will install everything for you, even if you don't have an internet connection!

Method 2

This method does not create a super DEB but a list of packages to download. This method requires that each and every one of the machines have an internet connection.

We open a terminal and write:

sudo dpkg --get-selections> installedsoftware

All we will have to do is copy that folder to our HOME on the other machines and execute:

sudo dpkg --set-selections <installedsoftware

Method 3 (the easiest)

Go to the / var / cache / apt / archives folder, copy the debs to a pendrive or cd and install them on the other pc using:

sudo dpkg -i * .deb

or from Synaptic in File> Add downloaded packages

Thanks to Tutomechanical x pass us this last method!


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  1.   Martin said
    ago 11 years

    I'm testing METHOD 2, but I don't see where the folder in question is generated ...

    Could you clarify what is the name of the folder, and where should I look for it to copy it to the home of the other PC's?

    Thank you

    Reply to Martin
  2.   Let's use Linux said
    ago 11 years

    It's true ... I'm going to add it! Thank you!

    Respond to Let's Use Linux
  3.   crescentio said
    ago 11 years

    Good methods, another that can be useful is to go to the / var / cache / apt / archives folder, copy the debs to a pendrive or cd and install them on the other pc using:
    # dpkg -i * .deb
    or from synaptic in File> Add downloaded packages
    I hope it helps you too

    Reply to Crescentio