Apt-cacher performs caching of files requested by apt-get (or other APT clients
such as aptitude or synaptic). Apt-cacher can also proxy Debian Bugs SOAP
requests for apt-listbugs. It is most useful for local area networks with
limited network bandwidth or to reduce multiple large downloads.
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When a file or package is requested, apt-cacher checks whether it already has
the requested version, in which case it fulfils the request immediately. If
not, it downloads the package while streaming it to the client at the same
time. A local copy is then kept for any subsequent requests.
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Apt-cacher has been optimized for best utilization of network bandwidth and is
efficient even on slow or low-memory servers. Multiple ways of installation
are possible: as a stand-alone proxy, as a daemon executed by inetd or as
a CGI program (deprecated). Client machines are configured by changing APT's
proxy configuration or modification of access URLs in sources.list.
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The package includes utilities to clean the cache (removing obsolete package
files), generate usage reports and import existing package files. Optional
features include a file checksum verification framework, IPv6 support, FTP and
HTTPS (proxying only) support as well as the simultaneous caching of
repositories from different distributions.
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Apt-cacher can be used as a replacement for apt-proxy, with no need to modify
client's /etc/apt/sources.list files (and even reusing its config and cached
data), or as an alternative to approx.

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