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Apt

Cache Debian and Ubuntu packages between builds so they are not re-downloaded every time.

MANAGE_ACNG

string · default: no

Controls use of apt-cacher-ng, a caching proxy for Debian/Ubuntu apt repositories that speeds up repeated builds by serving already-downloaded packages from disk. Off by default. It accepts either a plain yes/no or a full URL, as described below; anything that is not yes, no or empty must be a valid http/https URL, or the build aborts.

  • yes sets up an automatically managed apt-cacher-ng instance on the build host. This mode is incompatible with container builds.
  • but you can provide a URL for a self-managed apt-cacher-ng instance, e.g. "http://apt-cacher.example.com:3142"

APT_PROXY_ADDR

string · default: empty

Address of an external apt caching proxy to route package downloads through during the rootfs bootstrap and chroot apt operations. Empty by default — no proxy is used unless you set it. When set (and MANAGE_ACNG is not managing its own instance), debootstrap and the chroot apt operations are pointed at this proxy. CI runners commonly export it to reuse a shared package cache. The managed apt-cacher-ng path (MANAGE_ACNG=yes) assumes the standard localhost:3142 when this is unset.

APT_CACHER_NG_CACHE_DIR

string · default: /var/cache/apt-cacher-ng

Filesystem directory where the managed apt-cacher-ng instance (MANAGE_ACNG=yes) stores its cached packages. Defaults to /var/cache/apt-cacher-ng; point it at a larger or faster volume when the default location lacks space, or to keep the cache on persistent storage across builds.

USE_LOCAL_APT_DEB_CACHE

string · default: yes

Keeps a local cache of downloaded .deb packages under $SRC/cache/aptcache and reuses it across builds, so unchanged packages are not fetched again. On by default because it noticeably speeds up repeated builds; set no to always download fresh packages, at the cost of build time and bandwidth — the build warns that this is generally not a good idea.

ORAS_REPO

string · default: oras-project

GitHub organisation the build downloads the ORAS OCI client binary from, ORAS being the tool used to push and pull OCI-cached artifacts. Defaults to oras-project, the upstream releases; override it to pull the binary from a fork or mirror. The build already switches this automatically for architectures without an official upstream binary (such as loong64), so you rarely set it by hand.