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Debian

Get started with Debian packages in Harness Artifact Registry.

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Use a Debian registry to host, proxy, and distribute .deb packages compatible with Debian and Ubuntu systems. Harness Artifact Registry supports APT-based package installation, source uploads, and upstream proxying from external Debian repositories.

Before you begin

  • APT package manager: Available on any Debian or Ubuntu system by default.

  • Harness permissions: Registry-create access in the target project. Go to RBAC in Harness to configure roles.

Create a Debian Artifact Registry

  1. Go to the Artifact Registry module in your Harness project.

  2. Select New Artifact Registry.

  3. In the Registry Type list, select Debian.

  4. Provide a Registry Name.

    REGISTRY NAME REQUIREMENTS

    This registry name must start with a letter and can only contain lowercase alphanumerics, _, . and -, and must be unique to your Harness Account.

  5. Optionally, add a Description and Labels for better organization.

  6. In the Debian Config section, set Indexed Remote Architectures. The default values are amd64, i386, and arm64. Select from these defaults or add any additional architectures that need to be indexed from remote repositories.

    INDEXED REMOTE ARCHITECTURES

    Indexed Remote Architectures lists the architectures Harness indexes from remote repositories on this registry.

    If you leave the field empty, Harness caches all available architectures that results in increased cold-start index generation time and costs.

    If you select values (amd64, i386, arm64) or enter a custom architecture name, Harness indexes only those architectures.

  7. Harness generates a .gz index by default. In Optional Index Compression Formats, you can also select XZ (.xz extension), that increases the cold-start index generation time and cost.

  8. Choose visibility between Public and Private.

  9. Select Create Registry to finalize.

PRIVATE DEBIAN REGISTRY

This registry will serve as your private Debian registry within Harness.

Edit Debian configuration

Debian Config appears on the registry Configuration tab, after Artifact Registry Definition (name, description, and labels).

  1. Open the Debian artifact registry.

  2. Select the Configuration tab.

  3. In the Debian Config, update Indexed Remote Architectures.

  4. Optionally, specify the Optional Index Compression Formats.

  5. Click Save.

Configure an upstream proxy (optional)

An upstream proxy allows your registry to fetch Debian packages from external repositories (such as official Debian or Ubuntu mirrors) if they are not available locally.

Create the upstream proxy

Configure the upstream proxy in your registry

Create an upstream proxy

  1. In the Artifact Registry module, select the dropdown next to New Artifact Registry and select Upstream Proxy.

  2. Choose Debian Registry as the proxy type.

  3. Enter an upstream proxy name.

  4. Enter your remote repository URL. The URL must point to the parent directory of the /dists folder for that repository (for example, http://deb.debian.org/debian, where http://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/ contains the release metadata). If you use another Debian mirror or private repository, verify the path ends at that parent level, not at a distribution or component subdirectory.

  5. Choose your Authentication method (Anonymous by default).

  6. Select Create Proxy to establish the connection.

Configure the upstream proxy in your registry

  1. In the Artifact Registry module, select an existing Artifact Registry.

  2. Select the Configuration tab.

  3. Under Advanced (Optional), select Configure Upstream.

  4. Select from the list of compatible proxies to add them to your registry.

  5. Select Save to save the configuration.

UPSTREAM PROXY BEHAVIOR

When you install a package through the upstream proxy, it fetches the package from the configured external repository and caches it locally. Subsequent installs for the same package version are served from the local cache.

DEBIAN REGISTRY METADATA

Harness regenerates Debian registry metadata when you upload or delete an artifact, or when you add or remove an upstream proxy from a registry. This operation can take a couple of minutes, so your changes might not appear in APT metadata immediately.

Set up the client

With your Debian registry created, you can now configure APT to install packages from your Harness registry.

1. Configure authentication

In your Harness Debian Artifact Registry, select Setup Client and then Generate Token to generate an identity token for authentication.

2. Add the repository to APT sources

3. Configure authentication for APT

Create or edit the auth config file:

Add the following content:

4. Update APT cache

5. Install a package

6. Upload a .deb package

7. Upload Debian sources (optional)

Upload a .dsc file:

Upload a source tarball (for upstream source tarballs, specify the upstream version):

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