To prevent timeouts on a Debian, Ubuntu, or Mint Linux, you can set the ForceIPv4 and ForceIPv6 variables to true, which will force the APT or APT-GET command to use either IPv4 or IPv6 network transport IP address. This can be done through the CLI, and we will now explain how to do so on Ubuntu or Debian Linux.
You need to configure the acquire group option on a Debian or Ubuntu Linux to force IPv4 or IPv6 option. The Acquire group of options controls the download of packages as well as the various “acquire methods” responsible for the download itself as follows:
-
ForceIPv4 : When downloading APT packages, force to use only the IPv4 protocol and must set to true.
-
ForceIPv6 : When downloading APT-GET packages, force to use only the IPv6 protocol and must set to true.
Of course you need properly configured IPv6 based system with support from your router and ISP too otherwise you might see or have to wait for a some timeout whenever you are try downloading updates:
Fig.01: How to force apt-get to use IPv4 or IPv6 on Ubuntu or Debian Linux to avoid timeouts
My apt-get session hangs out as I am unable to reach to IPv6 address of security.ubuntu.com (2001:67c:1560:8001::14). In this quick tutorial,
you will learn how to use apt-get command IPv4 instead of IPv6 address.
Tutorial details Difficulty level
Easy Root privileges
Yes Requirements Linux terminal Category Package Manager Prerequisites apt, apt-get command OS compatibility
Debian • Mint • Pop!_OS •
Ubuntu Est. reading time 4 minutes
Syntax to force apt-get with IPv4/IPv6 Transport
The apt-get syntax for the Acquire group is:
apt-get -o Acquire::option command apt-get -o Acquire::option=value command apt-get -o Acquire::option=value install pkg1 apt-get -o Acquire::option=value update apt-get -o Acquire::option=value upgrade apt-get -o Acquire::option=value dist-upgrade
Forcing IPv4 transport with apt-get
In this example, force IPv4 transport:
sudo apt-get -o Acquire::ForceIPv4=true install pkg sudo apt-get -o Acquire::ForceIPv4=true update sudo apt-get -o Acquire::ForceIPv4=true upgrade sudo apt-get -o Acquire::ForceIPv4=true dist-upgrade sudo apt-get -o Acquire::ForceIPv4=true install ksh
Forcing IPv6 transport with apt-get
In this example, force IPv6 transport for apt-get:
sudo apt-get -o Acquire::ForceIPv6=true install pkg sudo apt-get -o Acquire::ForceIPv6=true update sudo apt-get -o Acquire::ForceIPv6=true upgrade sudo apt-get -o Acquire::ForceIPv6=true dist-upgrade sudo apt-get -o Acquire::ForceIPv6=true install ksh
Persistent option with bash shell aliases
Add the following bash shell aliases option to your ~/.bashrc file:
## Always use IPv6 ## alias apt-get='sudo apt-get -o Acquire::ForceIPv6=true' ## Example for IPv4 transport # alias apt-get='sudo apt-get -o Acquire::ForceIPv4=true'
Persistent IPv6 transport option with apt-get config file
Create the following file /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/1000-force-ipv6-transport using vi text editor:
Save and close the file.
Create the following file /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/1000-force-ipv4-transport using vi text editor:
Save and close the file.
Hit:1 http://mirrors.linode.com/ubuntu xenial InRelease Hit:2 http://mirrors.linode.com/ubuntu xenial-updates InRelease Hit:3 http://mirrors.linode.com/ubuntu xenial-backports InRelease Hit:4 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security InRelease Reading package lists... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done The following packages will be upgraded: accountsservice apparmor apt apt-transport-https apt-utils base-files bind9-host curl dbus distro-info-data dnsutils gcc-5-base grub-common grub-pc grub-pc-bin grub2-common ifupdown init init-system-helpers initramfs-tools initramfs-tools-bin initramfs-tools-core isc-dhcp-client isc-dhcp-common kbd klibc-utils language-pack-en language-pack-gnome-en libaccountsservice0 libapparmor-perl libapparmor1 libapt-inst2.0 libapt-pkg5.0 libbind9-140 libc-bin libc6 libcurl3-gnutls libdbus-1-3 libdns-export162 libdns162 libisc-export160 libisc160 libisccc140 libisccfg140 libklibc liblwres141 libpam-systemd libprocps4 libpython2.7-minimal libpython2.7-stdlib libpython3.5-minimal libpython3.5-stdlib libssl1.0.0 libstdc++6 libsystemd0 libudev1 locales multiarch-support openssl procps python2.7 python2.7-minimal python3-distupgrade python3-update-manager python3.5 python3.5-minimal systemd systemd-sysv tar tzdata ubuntu-release-upgrader-core udev update-manager-core vim-common vim-tiny 75 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded. Need to get 32.9 MB of archives. After this operation, 2,193 kB of additional disk space will be used. Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y Get:1 http://mirrors.linode.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 base-files amd64 9.4ubuntu4.3 [67.7 kB] Get:2 http://mirrors.linode.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 init-system-helpers all 1.29ubuntu3 [32.4 kB] .... .. ... Setting up ubuntu-release-upgrader-core (1:16.04.20) ... Setting up update-manager-core (1:16.04.5) ... Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.23-0ubuntu5) ... Processing triggers for initramfs-tools (0.122ubuntu8.8) ... update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.4.0-36-generic Processing triggers for systemd (229-4ubuntu13) ... Processing triggers for ureadahead (0.100.0-19) ...
