Repository sun-setting (shutdown)

[emmatyping]

It is with a heavy heart that I write that I am going to be sun-setting (eventually shutting down) https://apt.cli.rs.

I originally set up this APT repository 4 years ago as a means of giving back to the community and to make it easier to install Rust CLI tools on my own home-lab.

More recently, I've had other priorities take up my time, and haven't really used the APT repository too much. Maintaining the repository has become a chore more than something I enjoy due to changes in my interests and priorities. I had thought about closing down the repository a few times over the past two months, but did not.

The straw that broke the camel's back was that recently (2025-08-03), the database associated with the APT repository became corrupted in an unrecoverable manner. Shame on me, it was also omitted from backups since it existed on a different disk. I could go and rebuild the APT repository database from scratch, but I have instead taken it as a sign to close down the repository.

In the interest of making people's lives easier, I will continue serving the repository as-is (see FAQ). I am so glad that a number of people found the repository useful, that was my hope when I initially set out to create it. I hope folks are able to find alternatives that work reasonably well.

Best, Emma

FAQ

What happens now?

The repository at https://apt.cli.rs will be frozen, no new packages will be uploaded. However, to make the migration easier and not break people right away, I'll be leaving the APT repository up for 3 months as-is. Once the APT repository is brought offline this GitHub repository will be archived.

How do I remove the repository?

You can run the following two commands:

sudo rm -f /usr/share/keyrings/rust-tools.asc

sudo rm -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/rust-tools.list

To verify the repo has been removed you can run an update:

sudo apt-get update

You will also probably want to remove installed packages (see next FAQ entry)

How do I remove any installed pages?

The following one-liner should uninstall any packages that you could install for your architecture from apt.cli.rs:

sudo apt-get purge $(curl -sSL https://apt.cli.rs/dists/all/main/binary-$(dpkg --print-architecture)/Packages | grep 'Package:' | uniq | awk -F ': ' '{printf $2" "}')

Explanation

First, get the architecture of the machine via dpkg --print-architecture. Then, download the package list for that architecture. Finally, parse the package file into a list of package names to be passed to apt-get purge.

What happens to already installed packages?

Nothing. They should continue to be installed and function. However, they will not receive updates. I would recommend looking at installing these packages through alternative channels (see next FAQ)

What are the alternatives to apt.cli.rs?

There are a couple of options:

• cargo binstall: https://github.com/cargo-bins/cargo-binstall. This downloads the binaries from releases and sets them up for you, but requires Rust to be installed already.

• The manual route is to download the .deb files directly from the releases of a GitHub Release, e.g. https://github.com/bootandy/dust/releases. Then you can run dpkg -i ./<local-file>.deb to install the package.

• cargo binstall: https://github.com/cargo-bins/cargo-binstall. This downloads binaries from releases and sets them up for you, but requires Rust to be installed already.

• The manual route is to download the .deb files directly from the releases of a GitHub Release, e.g. https://github.com/bootandy/dust/releases. Then you can run dpkg -i ./<local-file>.deb to install the package.

What happens to the code/scripts backing apt.cli.rs?

In the interest of helping anyone who would like to run their own APT repository like apt.cli.rs, I will be adding the NGINX configurations and (redacted) systemd unit files used to generate the index. Please also see the existing script https://github.com/emmatyping/apt.cli.rs/blob/main/main.py, which is the main tool used to manage the repository.

[jace]

I've only been using this repository for a week, so this has gone from joy to sorrow real quick. Thank you for all the work put into this. I hope others pick up from here.

[emmatyping]

~~There will be some downtime today but the repo will be restored later today.~~

Downtime is over.

[Arzaroth]

Just to let you know in case you weren't aware, the GPG key of the repository has expired. Since it's sun-setting, would it be fair to assume you're not planning on updating it?

Thanks anyway for what you provided to the community over the years.

[emmatyping]

@Arzaroth thanks for letting me know. Yes, I believe I will probably not update the gpg key. Going through a rotation just doesn't make sense to me if it's just for a month or two.

[sanyer]

@Arzaroth thanks for letting me know. Yes, I believe I will probably not update the gpg key. Going through a rotation just doesn't make sense to me if it's just for a month or two.

It helps to find this issue and uninstall the repo. Thanks for your effort! This repo served me good and also I've learned about a bunch of awesome cli tools.

[mnovozhylov]

Thank you for all your effort and contribution to the community!

p.s. alternatively, you can try topgrade, which allows updating from cargo, and more