apt-bundle

A declarative package manager for apt, inspired by Homebrew’s brew bundle.

Overview

apt-bundle provides a simple, declarative, and shareable way to manage apt packages and repositories on Debian-based systems. Define your system dependencies in an Aptfile and install them with a single command.

Features

  • Declarative Package Management: Define packages in a simple text file
  • Idempotent Operations: Safe to run multiple times
  • Repository & Key Management: Add PPAs, custom repositories, and GPG keys
  • Version Pinning: Install specific package versions
  • Simple CLI: Easy-to-use command-line interface

Quick Start 

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/apt-bundle/apt-bundle.git
cd apt-bundle

# Build and install
make build
sudo make install

# Create an Aptfile
cat > Aptfile <<EOF
apt vim
apt curl
apt git
EOF

# Install packages
sudo apt-bundle

Use Cases

Developer Onboarding

A new developer joins a project, clones the repo, and runs sudo apt-bundle to get all required system dependencies.

Dockerfile Build

Replace long, unmaintainable RUN apt-get install -y ... lines with a simple Aptfile and apt-bundle command.

System Sync

Use apt-bundle dump > Aptfile on your primary workstation and then sudo apt-bundle on a new laptop to sync your tools.

CI/CD

Use apt-bundle check to validate that the build environment has the necessary dependencies.

Documentation

Released under the MIT License