Synaptic proxy

[Bill Chivers]

I am attempting to use Ubuntu in a university computer lab (I am the lecturer). The lab is, of course, behind our proxy. Apart from the consequent username and password issues, in our installation port 3128 is closed. Problems with Ubuntu:

1. The installer cannot find the repository sites and therefore does not set up package repositories.
2. Synaptic ignores changes to proxy settings, even if made within Synaptic itself. It therefore cannot be used in the lab.

I have searched various sites and bugzilla, etc, but there does not appear to be a solution. The course I teach does not intend to create Linux gurus; rather to have people USE Linux. Unfortunately, I will have to use another distro such as Fedora or Debian Sarge until this very significant Ubuntu problem is fixed.

Does this mean that Ubuntu is NOT used anywhere there is a proxy? I find it hard to believe that there is no simple solution...what am I missing here?

The reason I find it hard to believe is that Ubuntu is so good at everything else. Surely this is a very major issue?

Bill Chivers

[William Grant (wgrant)]

I can use Synaptic's proxy settings fine where I am.

[Phil Bull (philbull)]

Thanks for the report.

Could you provide some more information, please? What version of synaptic are you using? What have you tried so far for the proxy settings? Do you get any error messages? Do other applications work through the proxy?

[Bill Chivers (billchivers)]

Thanks for the quick replies. I have used Ubuntu since April 2005 (I waited for 5.04) on my notebook. I am now using 5.10 and, as Synaptic works fine at home, all packages are up to date. Synaptic V0.57.4. At home I have a simple direct broadband connection.

CORRECTION: Synaptic now does not work at home! After trying to change proxy settings yesterday at work, and getting messages such as "Could not download all repository indexes", I am now getting these messages at home for the first time! I have changed the Proxy Server setting in Synaptic back to "Direct connection to the Internet" which has always worked at home, and I get the following messages:

When I click "Reload":
----------------------
Could not download all repository indexes

The repository might be no longer available or could not be contacted because of network problems. If available an older version of the failed index will be used. Otherwise the repository will be ignored. Check your network connection and the correct writing of the repository address in the preferences.

http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/breezy-updates/main/binary-i386/Packages.gz: MD5Sum mismatch
http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/breezy-updates/main/source/Sources.gz: MD5Sum mismatch
http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/breezy/restricted/binary-i386/Packages.gz: Sub-process gzip returned an error code (1)

Then when I click close
-----------------------
The following problems were found on your system:

W: Couldn't stat source package list http://au.archive.ubuntu.com breezy/restricted Packages (/var/lib/apt/lists/au.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_breezy_restricted_binary-i386_Packages) - stat (2 No such file or directory)
W: Couldn't stat source package list http://au.archive.ubuntu.com breezy-updates/main Packages (/var/lib/apt/lists/au.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_breezy-updates_main_binary-i386_Packages) - stat (2 No such file or directory)

HELP! I am not a Linux guru, just a Linux user. I really need a computer that works, so that I can get on with my teaching and research. The place where I work is a committed Microsoft shop, very Linux-phobic. Whenever I contact the help desk, they tell me that I should not be using Linux, even if I ask simple questions about proxy settings.

To answer the other questions, the proxy settings I used were the proxy URL at work with port numbers 8080 and 3128. All other applications, such as Firefox, work though the proxy. Firefox auto-detects the proxy so I do not have to change settings at home.

Sorry if I sound stressed, but I am This problem is a real killer for my use of Ubuntu at work.
Many thanks,

Bill Chivers

[Huygens (huygens-25)]

So I am using Ubuntu Dapper Flight 5 with all updates as of 26th of March 2006.
I have set up my proxy settings for the whole system, via the menu System->Preferences->Network proxy.

Synaptic was unable to connect to the remote repository. However, after modifying the Synaptic preferences (tab Network) with my correct proxy settings, Synaptic was able to connect to the remote repositories.

My request is that I understand that Synaptics should be able to override the system proxy settings. However, there should be a third options (now there are only 2: "Direct connection..." and "Manual proxy configuration"). This third option should be something similar to "Use system network settings" and should be the default option.

Thus, Synaptic could use either the system settings, or define and override its own network settings.

Cheers,
Huygens