Setup apt-fast

A GitHub Action to install and configure apt-fast on Ubuntu/Debian runners. apt-fast is a shell script wrapper for apt-get that dramatically speeds up package downloads by using parallel connections.

What is apt-fast?

apt-fast accelerates apt package downloads by leveraging aria2c to download packages in parallel with multiple connections per package. This can significantly reduce CI/CD build times when installing dependencies.

Quick Start

Add this step to your workflow before installing packages:

- name: Setup apt-fast
  uses: elijahr/setup-apt-fast@v1

- name: Install dependencies
  run: |
    sudo apt-fast update
    sudo apt-fast install -y <all the things>

Configuration

All inputs are optional. The action uses sensible defaults optimized for GitHub Actions runners.

Inputs

Input	Description	Default
apt-manager	Package manager to use (apt-get, aptitude, or apt)	apt-get
max-downloads	Maximum number of parallel downloads	16
max-connections-per-server	Maximum connections per server	10
split-connections	Maximum connections per file	16
min-split-size	Size of each split piece (e.g., 1M, 5M, 10M)	1M
piece-algorithm	Piece selection algorithm (default, inorder, geom)	default
download-before	Skip confirmation dialog (true/false)	true
mirrors	Comma or space-separated list of mirror URLs	(empty)
verbose-output	Display detailed aria2 download information (true/false)	false
apt-auth	Enable authentication for sources requiring login (true/false)	true

Example: Basic Usage

- name: Setup apt-fast
  uses: elijahr/setup-apt-fast@v1

Example: Custom Configuration

- name: Setup apt-fast with custom settings
  uses: elijahr/setup-apt-fast@v1
  with:
    max-downloads: 20
    max-connections-per-server: 16
    split-connections: 20
    min-split-size: 5M
    verbose-output: true

Example: With Custom Mirrors

- name: Setup apt-fast with mirrors
  uses: elijahr/setup-apt-fast@v1
  with:
    mirrors: 'http://mirror1.example.com/ubuntu, http://mirror2.example.com/ubuntu'

Examples

Example: Before

Standard apt-get installation:

name: CI
on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          sudo apt-get update
          sudo apt-get install -y build-essential cmake libssl-dev

      - name: Build project
        run: make

Example: After

With apt-fast for faster downloads:

name: CI
on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup apt-fast
        uses: elijahr/setup-apt-fast@v1

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          sudo apt-fast update
          sudo apt-fast install -y build-essential cmake libssl-dev

      - name: Build project
        run: make

Example: High-Performance Setup

For maximum speed when installing many packages:

name: CI
on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup apt-fast (high performance)
        uses: elijahr/setup-apt-fast@v1
        with:
          max-downloads: 30
          max-connections-per-server: 16
          split-connections: 30
          min-split-size: 10M

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          sudo apt-fast update
          sudo apt-fast install -y build-essential cmake libssl-dev libboost-all-dev

      - name: Build project
        run: make

Requirements

• Ubuntu or Debian-based GitHub Actions runners
• Works with: ubuntu-latest, ubuntu-22.04, ubuntu-20.04, etc.

How it works

This action:

1. Verifies the runner is Ubuntu/Debian-based
2. Installs required prerequisites
3. Adds the official apt-fast PPA
4. Installs apt-fast with your specified configuration
5. Configures all apt-fast settings according to your inputs
6. Displays a configuration summary for verification

After installation, use apt-fast instead of apt-get in your workflow commands.

Performance

apt-fast can significantly reduce package installation time, especially when installing many or large packages. The actual speedup depends on:

• Network bandwidth
• Mirror availability
• Number and size of packages being installed

Typical improvements range from 2-5x faster download speeds.

Development

Pre-commit Hooks

This repository uses pre-commit to ensure code quality and consistency. The hooks run automatically before each commit to check:

• YAML linting (yamllint)
• GitHub Actions linting (actionlint)
• Shell script linting (shellcheck)
• Shell script formatting (shfmt)
• Basic file checks (trailing whitespace, end-of-file, etc.)

Setup

Install pre-commit:

# Using pip
pip install pre-commit

# Or using homebrew (macOS)
brew install pre-commit

Install the git hooks:

pre-commit install

Usage

The hooks will run automatically on git commit. To run manually:

# Run on all files
pre-commit run --all-files

# Run on specific files
pre-commit run --files action.yml

To skip hooks (not recommended):

git commit --no-verify

Hook Configuration

• .pre-commit-config.yaml - Pre-commit hook configuration
• .yamllint - YAML linting rules
• .shellcheckrc - Shell script linting configuration

License

MIT

Related Links

• apt-fast repository
• apt-fast PPA