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I live in Ethiopia and the government blocks all urls with the word "proxy" in them. I couldn't use that word in the title above because that would make the url contain the word proxy.

When I apt-get upgrade I get errors because some packages like libproxy1, libproxy1-plugin-gsettings, libproxy1-plugin-networkmanager, python-libproxy all contain the p word.

Therefore, it is all blocked. I tried putting the urls into proxy sites, but they all just returned to their home page.

Are there any other solutions?

Eric Carvalho
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tofurator
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10 Answers10

30

The packages get blocked because your government apparently uses a URL filter. You can circumvent this by using FTP instead of HTTP to upgrade. To do this edit the file /etc/apt/sources.list and replace all occurrences of http with ftp.

You can also do it with these commands in a terminal:

sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list{,.old}
sudo sed -i 's/http/ftp/g' /etc/apt/sources.list

Now try to update your package list and install the updates

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

You will need to repeat the process for additional software sources (i.e. PPAs) that live in the directory /etc/apt/sources.list.d/. (credit goes to reddit user noname-_-)

mniess
  • 10,904
14

Other than getting some unofficial packages you can not really trust if you do not know the source you can download distribution CDs and DVDs as an .iso file directly from Ubuntu:

By browsing there to the version you are using you will also find most recent daily updates from where you may be able to install updated packges (they may not be stable though). This is e.g. a link to the 12.04.2 daily build DVD.

Here also is a list of download mirrors, some of which may be better accessible for your:

Note that you still will not be able to have immediate security updates from packages with a banned word in their names.

Takkat
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13

Use a VPN.

Free VPN -Google

With a VPN you connect to another computer, from there you connect to the mirrors. The connection is encrypted so there's only the URL of the VPN to check, nothing else.

Unless it's illegal in your country, if it is, beware.

Seth
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Mario
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11

These mirrors work with HTTPS with valid certificates

https://ftp.lysator.liu.se/ubuntu/
https://mirrors.bloomu.edu/ubuntu/
https://mirrors.cs.wmich.edu/ubuntu/

These all work with HTTPS but have invalid certificates

https://mirrors.coopvgg.com.ar/ubuntu/
https://ubuntu.xfree.com.ar/ubuntu/
https://ftp.ccc.uba.ar/pub/linux/ubuntu/
https://ubuntu.unc.edu.ar/ubuntu/
https://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/ubuntu/archive/
https://ftp.iinet.net.au/pub/ubuntu/
https://mirror.internode.on.net/pub/ubuntu/ubuntu/
https://mirror.overthewire.com.au/ubuntu/
https://ubuntu.mirror.uber.com.au/archive/
https://gd.tuwien.ac.at/opsys/linux/ubuntu/archive/
https://mirror.dhakacom.com/ubuntu/
https://ftp.byfly.by/ubuntu/
https://mirror.datacenter.by/ubuntu/
https://ftp.belnet.be/ubuntu.com/ubuntu/
https://gaosu.rave.org/ubuntu/
https://ubuntu.mirrors.skynet.be/ubuntu/
https://ubuntu.mirrors.skynet.be/pub/ubuntu.com/ubuntu/
https://archive.ubuntu.com.ba/ubuntu/
https://mirror.globo.com/ubuntu/archive/
https://ubuntu.ufba.br/ubuntu/
https://espelhos.edugraf.ufsc.br/ubuntu/
https://mirror.unesp.br/ubuntu/
https://sft.if.usp.br/ubuntu/
https://www.las.ic.unicamp.br/pub/ubuntu/
https://mirror.its.sfu.ca/mirror/ubuntu/
https://mirror.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/mirror/ubuntu.com/packages/
https://ubuntu.skarta.net/ubuntu/
https://ftp.iitm.ac.in/ubuntu/
https://biruni.upm.my/mirror/ubuntu/
https://cesium.di.uminho.pt/pub/ubuntu-archive/
https://ftp.rnl.ist.utl.pt/pub/ubuntu/archive/
https://free.nchc.org.tw/ubuntu/
https://mirror.umd.edu/ubuntu/
https://mirror.uoregon.edu/ubuntu/
https://www.club.cc.cmu.edu/pub/ubuntu/
https://mirror.clarkson.edu/ubuntu/
https://mirror.vcu.edu/pub/gnu+linux/ubuntu/
user71404
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7

Along the lines of pwnguin's answer but if they are strictly blocking HTTP URL strings then simply using FTP or rsync should get you through the filter. Obviously they aren't inspecting connection content TOO closely or this post wouldn't have made out of the country in the first place since it contains the "p word"

Also, this kind of blocking is silly. But I suppose you already knew that.

ToeBee
  • 71
7

How about this idea:

  1. Browse to a mirror site, such as http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/libp/libproxy/

  2. Ah, you can't, because the URL contains the word "proxy". Change the word "proxy" to "%70%72%6F%78%79": http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/libp/lib%70%72%6F%78%79/

  3. Find the correct link: http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/libp/libproxy/python-libproxy_0.4.7-0ubuntu4_all.deb

  4. (Assuming that this is the correct package...) Change the word "proxy" again to "%70%72%6F%78%79": http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/libp/libproxy/python-lib%70%72%6F%78%79_0.4.7-0ubuntu4_all.deb and download it with wget:

    wget http://nl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/libp/libproxy/python-lib%70%72%6F%78%79_0.4.7-0ubuntu4_all.deb

I haven't tested if this really works, and it's not a 100% explanation, but it could be a starting point... Good luck with this oppressive government!

j0057
  • 171
5

Try TOR.

Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships.

Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. It also enables software developers to create new communication tools with built-in privacy features. Tor provides the foundation for a range of applications that allow organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy.

For more information, and to download TOR, visit their Website. Once downloaded, see How to install a .tar.gz (or .tar.bz2) file.

Source:TOR

Community
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Mitch
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4

As someone cleverly pointed out, the use of ftp:// or https:// to circumvent the url filtering, you can also use rsync:// that comes with the plus of using delta encoding that reduce the bandwidth used. Just set up your sources.list to any of this mirrors that supports rsync and you should be fine.

Example:

deb rsync://mirror.picosecond.org/ubuntu/ quantal main restricted universe multiverse
deb rsync://mirror.picosecond.org/ubuntu/ quantal-security main restricted universe multiverse 
deb rsync://mirror.picosecond.org/ubuntu/ quantal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
Braiam
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3

I fixed it up by downloading the missing package manually and putting it in /var/cache/apt/archives and apt-get sees it as downloaded package and everything worked fine :)

Seth
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OverCoder
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2

Can't you, ironically, set up a SOCKS proxy using a remote webserver and tunnel all of your traffic through it? I do something similar to get around blocking of torrent sites.

Clintonio
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