Managing a local APT packages mirror with custom tags using aptly

[fti-sfuke]

I'm looking for some advice and best practices on managing a local APT package mirror with custom tags. Here’s the scenario I’m working with:

The Goal I need to organize the packages on my local APT mirror with custom tags, allowing client machines to install packages based on these tags.

My Current Setup :

1. Set Up the Local APT Mirror: I'm using the apt-mirror package to prepare a local APT Debian packages mirror. It has very simple configuration and is working
   fine for me By using this local mirror, we are saving a lot of Internet bandwidth while installing multiple Debian clients in our network.

The Need for Tags Now, we're looking to implement a Debian packages tagging approach. The idea is to assign tags to each Debian package and install them based on these tags. This would help streamline our installation process even further.

Exploring Aptly I came across the aptly tool and it seems like it might solve this problem. However, I am not entirely sure how to best implement this with Aptly, or if there are better approaches.

Questions :

• What are the best practices for managing and distributing package tags with Aptly?
• Are there any specific features in Aptly that support tagging and installing packages based on these tags?

I appreciate any insights, experiences, or recommendations you can share.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[iofq]

@fti-sfuke have you evaluated a config management tool like Ansible? You could create different roles and install packages on client machines based on one or more roles assigned to it.

while deb tags do exist, it does not seem like they are well defined for the use case of grouping and installing packages.