When debugging an mmdebstrap build, I occasionally want an interactive aptitude GUI.
Using $MMDEBSTRAP_APT_CONFIG, I can do this without bothering to install aptitude inside the built environment.

This works with minor issues:

    mmdebstrap forky /dev/null --customize-hook='APT_CONFIG=$MMDEBSTRAP_APT_CONFIG aptitude'

This works with no issues:

    mmdebstrap forky /dev/null --customize-hook='APT_CONFIG=$MMDEBSTRAP_APT_CONFIG HOME=$1/root aptitude -oDir::Aptitude::State=var/lib/aptitude' --essential-hook='mkdir -p $1/var/lib/aptitude'

    or

    mmdebstrap forky /dev/null --customize-hook='APT_CONFIG=$MMDEBSTRAP_APT_CONFIG HOME=$1/root aptitude -oDir::Aptitude::State=var/lib/aptitude' --include=aptitude

Should mmdebstrap set Dir::Aptitude::State "var/lib/aptitude" in MMDEBSTRAP_APT_CONFIG?

mmdebstrap already sets Dir in MMDEBSTRAP_APT_CONFIG.
Should aptitude default Dir::Aptitude::State be relative to Dir (not absolute) by default?
i.e. remove leading / from the path here:
https://sources.debian.org/src/aptitude/0.8.13-8.1/configure.ac?hl=636#L636

You can see an example with relative paths here:

https://sources.debian.org/src/apt/3.3.0/test/libapt/configuration_test.cc?hl=95#L90-L95

Hi,

Quoting Trent W. Buck (2026-05-05 04:00:02)

did you consider running aptitude inside a --chrooted-customize-hook? THen you
don't need neither APT_CONFIG nor Dir::Aptitude::State. The way you are running
mmdebstrap above means that you install aptitude inside the chroot but then you
are running aptitude from *outside* the chroot. If you have aptitude inside the
chroot anyways, why not run that one? It would also be a bit shorter:

mmdebstrap forky /dev/null --chrooted-customize-hook=aptitude

Thanks!

cheers, josch

Hi,

Quoting Trent W. Buck (2026-10-12 00:14:59)

you know that chdist exists? And chdist even has support for "chdist aptitude".

Thanks!

cheers, josch

In the other examples, I'm not installing aptitude in the chroot.

My goal is to browse around a different release than my host system,
as quickly as possible (i.e. installing as little as possible).

[Update: I was doing --variant=apt --essential-hook, but while writing
this I realized --variant=extract --extract-hook is even faster.]

This is what I'm currently doing (in my ~/.shrc):

    D_aptitude () {
         mmdebstrap "$@" /dev/null http://localhost:3142/debian \
         --dpkgopt=force-unsafe-io \
         --variant=extract \
         --components=main,contrib,non-free,non-free-firmware \
         '--aptopt=Acquire::Languages "en"' \
         --extract-hook='APT_CONFIG=$MMDEBSTRAP_APT_CONFIG HOME=$1/root
    aptitude -s -oDir::Aptitude::State=var/lib/aptitude
    -oaptitude::UI::Package-Display-Format="%c%a%M%S %p %e %Z %t %v %V";
    false';
    }

    D_aptitude forky

Compared to --include=aptitude --chrooted-customize-hook,
--essential-hook is ~30% faster, and --variant=extract --extract-hook is 
~80% faster:

    bash5$ time mmdebstrap forky /dev/null http://localhost:3142/debian
    --dpkgopt=force-unsafe-io *--variant=extract* '--components=main,cont\
    rib,non-free,non-free-firmware' '--aptopt=Acquire::Languages "en"'
    *--extract-hook=*'APT_CONFIG=$MMDEBSTRAP_APT_CONFIG HOME=$1/root aptit\
    ude -s -oDir::Aptitude::State=var/lib/aptitude
    -oaptitude::UI::Package-Display-Format="%c%a%M%S %p %e %Z %t %v %V";
    false'
    aptitude cannot run in ncurses mode with terminal type "dumb"
    real    0m5.536s
    user    0m4.557s
    sys     0m1.052s

    bash5$ time mmdebstrap forky /dev/null http://localhost:3142/debian
    --dpkgopt=force-unsafe-io *--variant=apt* '--components=main,contrib,\
    non-free,non-free-firmware' '--aptopt=Acquire::Languages "en"'
    *--essential-hook=*'APT_CONFIG=$MMDEBSTRAP_APT_CONFIG HOME=$1/root
    aptitud\
    e -s -oDir::Aptitude::State=var/lib/aptitude
    -oaptitude::UI::Package-Display-Format="%c%a%M%S %p %e %Z %t %v %V";
    false'
    aptitude cannot run in ncurses mode with terminal type "dumb"
    real    0m18.913s
    user    0m16.201s
    sys     0m5.051s

    bash5$ time mmdebstrap forky /dev/null http://localhost:3142/debian
    --dpkgopt=force-unsafe-io *--variant=apt* '--components=main,contrib,\
    non-free,non-free-firmware' '--aptopt=Acquire::Languages "en"'
    *--chrooted-customize-hook=*'aptitude -s
    -oaptitude::UI::Package-Display-F\
    ormat="%c%a%M%S %p %e %Z %t %v %V"; false' *--include=aptitude*
    aptitude cannot run in ncurses mode with terminal type "dumb"
    real    0m27.016s
    user    0m19.160s
    sys     0m5.958s

I guess the actual issue here is that Dir::Aptitude::State is not
relative to Dir::State by default.
I can see a case for either way.

When mmdebstrap runs host's aptitude in an unshared hook,
a Dir::Aptitude::State outside the build root (aptitude's default) will
always fail...
hrm, although I guess that is not true for --mode=root.

This has more edge cases than I thought.
I guess if no one else is asking for this, it can go on living in my
~/.shrc instead of in /bin/mmdebstrap.

PS: similar command but for apt-file not aptitude (~40% faster than
--variant=apt --include=apt-file --chrooted-customize-hook, which would 
still need the --aptopt to make apt download the Contents.xz files):

    mmdebstrap forky /dev/null http://localhost:3142/debian --quiet
    --components=main,contrib,non-free,non-free-firmware
    --aptopt=/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50apt-file.conf --variant=custom
    --extract-hook='APT_CONFIG=$MMDEBSTRAP_APT_CONFIG apt-file search
    bdic | grep -een.AU -een.US -een.GB'

My problem with it is the same problem I had with sbuild/cowdancer:
it wants me to create state directories in advance, and then maintain them.

So inevitably that ends up consuming 200-300MB of nvram permanently (per
release, per arch), and
I then forget where I left the state directories, or
I get stale answers because I haven't run "apt update" there recently
enough, and
nothing warns me "hey watch out, last apt update of this chdist was 22
months ago".

(I just re-checked and as at chdist=2.26.11~bpo13+1,
"chdist forky aptitude -u" wrongly demands root privileges, so
it'd have to be "chdist forky apt update && chdist forky aptitude".
I think hitting that last time was when I said "I give up, chdist is not
for me".)

When building OS images, when building debs, and when just looking at
aptitude,
it is a much better fit for me to say "mmdebstrap, create exactly what I
need, ab initio, no stale/old baggage".
Usually on a single line of bash history.
(And yes I often have an apt-cacher-ng somewhere on the network, but it
auto-expires stuff, at its own cadence, and mmdebstrap still works if I
omit it.)
I could create a wrapper script around chdist to do this, but it'd be
uglier and involve more steps than using mmdebstrap.