Using HyperGet

HyperGet has been designed to be easy to use from the very beginning, but due to the nature of its application there is a three stage process involved which this tutorial teaches you. Please see the video at the end of the tutorial (if you have a fast internet connection) for a visual representation of the process.

Part 1: Select Packages

This stage involves you selecting the packages you wish to download in Synaptic and exporting this list of packages, which will later be read by HyperGet.

  1. Insert a removable drive (such as a USB flash drive) into the computer
  2. Open the Synaptic Package Manager by going to System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager (or equivalent)
  3. Find the packages you wish to install and Mark them for installation, but do not Apply the changes
  4. Go to the File menu and select the button Generate package download script
  5. Save the script with the name uris.txt and save it directly onto your removable drive
  6. Unmount and eject your removable drive
  7. Take the drive to an internet- and Java-enabled computer (if the Java Runtime Environment is not installed on that computer, download it from Sun's website and install it).

Part 2: Download Packages

This is where HyperGet comes in. HyperGet will read the package list you created in Part 1 (uris.txt) and will download the desired packages to the same directory as the list, on the removable drive.

  1. Insert the removable drive into the internet- and Java-enabled computer
  2. Download the latest version of HyperGet from the HyperGet website and save it to your desktop
  3. Go to your desktop and extract the compressed HyperGet package
  4. In the newly extracted HyperGet folder, double-click on the icon which says Xiro.jar to start HyperGet
  5. Once HyperGet has started, press the Load URI button and find and select the package list (uris.txt) on your removable drive
  6. Press the Start button to initiate the download process
  7. You will be notified by a pop-up when the downloads are completed
  8. Press the Stop button, quit HyperGet, eject the removable drive and take it back to the original, offline Debian-based computer

Part 3: Installing Packages

Now that the packages have been downloaded onto your removable drive, all that remains is to install them with Synaptic.

  1. Insert the removable drive back into the original, offline Debian-based computer
  2. Re-open the Synaptic Package Manager
  3. Go to the File menu and select the button Add downloaded packages
  4. Find the directory on the removable drive which contains the package list (uris.txt) and the newly downloaded packages (.deb files) and press the Open button
  5. Wait for the packages to be installed
  6. Remove the uris.txt file and the .deb package files from your removable drive and you're good to go!

 

Video Tutorial