#+TITLE:
#+AUTHOR: Bob Mottram
#+EMAIL: bob@robotics.uk.to
#+KEYWORDS: freedombox, debian, beaglebone, red matrix, email, web server, home server, internet, censorship, surveillance, social network, irc, jabber
#+DESCRIPTION: Mirroring git repositories
#+OPTIONS: ^:nil toc:nil
#+HTML_HEAD: <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="solarized-light.css" />

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<h1>Mirrors</h1>
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| [[What are mirrors and why do they exist?]]                         |
| [[What security do mirrors have?]]                                  |
| [[How do I set up mirrors?]]                                        |
| [[Do mirrors include debian package repositories?]]                 |
| [[What do I need to do to keep the mirrored repositories updated?]] |

* What are mirrors and why do they exist?
It would be nice if all of the applications used by this project were packaged for Debian, but currently they're not. This means that various upstream git repositories are used and these mostly reside on Github. What if Github were to go away, become paying only or be censored in some manner which was difficult to work around? To guard against this possibility the repositories are mirrored on each install and can then be made available to other users so that new installations or updates could still occur without the original default repos.
* What security do mirrors have?
On each install you have a /mirrors/ user created, whose only purpose is to mirror upstream repositories. A random password is generated for the /mirrors/ user which can be seen within the control panel and so given to other users who may need it.
* How do I set up mirrors?
The interactive installer will ask whether you want to configure the main respositories. Enter the URL, which will typically be an onion address, the ssh port number and the password for the mirrors on that system.
* Do mirrors include debian package repositories?
No. Packages for Debian will still be accessed in the conventional manner.
* Can I change mirrors after the system has been installed
Yes. From the control panel select "/Set the main repository/"

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* What do I need to do to keep the mirrored repositories updated?
Nothing. That happens as part of regular automatic updates.

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