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🚀 Linux Caching System

License: MIT Ubuntu Vagrant WireGuard

A high-performance, secure caching infrastructure for APT packages in Debian-based environments

Developed as part of my thesis project at the University of Bologna (2023/2024), this system optimizes package management in corporate environments through intelligent caching and secure VPN connectivity.

📋 Table of Contents

🎯 Overview

In modern corporate environments, managing software packages across multiple machines can be challenging. Repeatedly downloading the same packages from remote repositories leads to:

  • ⚠️ Excessive bandwidth consumption
  • 🐌 Slow download speeds
  • 💸 Increased operational costs
  • 🔄 Network congestion

This project addresses these challenges by implementing a centralized caching proxy that stores downloaded packages locally and serves them to multiple clients through a secure VPN tunnel.

✨ Key Features

🎯 Performance

  • Smart Caching: First download caches the package; subsequent requests served instantly
  • Bandwidth Optimization: Reduces redundant downloads by up to 80%
  • Speed Improvement: Significantly faster package installation across the network

🔒 Security

  • WireGuard VPN: Modern, lightweight VPN with state-of-the-art cryptography
  • Encrypted Communications: All traffic between clients and server is protected
  • Network Isolation: Secure tunnel prevents unauthorized access

🛠️ Infrastructure

  • Automated Deployment: Complete setup via Vagrant provisioning scripts
  • Reproducible Environments: Consistent configuration across all instances
  • Scalable Architecture: Easy to add new clients to the network

🏗️ Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Corporate Network                    │
│                                                         │
│  ┌──────────────┐         ┌──────────────┐            │
│  │   Client 1   │         │   Client 2   │            │
│  │  (Ubuntu)    │         │  (Ubuntu)    │            │
│  └──────┬───────┘         └──────┬───────┘            │
│         │                        │                     │
│         │   WireGuard VPN        │                     │
│         └────────┬───────────────┘                     │
│                  │                                      │
│         ┌────────▼─────────┐                           │
│         │  Cache Server    │                           │
│         │  apt-cacher-ng   │                           │
│         │  + WireGuard     │                           │
│         └────────┬─────────┘                           │
│                  │                                      │
└──────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────┘
                   │
                   ▼
          Internet / APT Repositories

Component Overview

Component Technology Purpose
Virtualization Vagrant + VirtualBox Automated VM management
Cache Server apt-cacher-ng Package caching proxy
VPN WireGuard Secure client-server communication
OS Ubuntu 18.04 (Bionic) Base system for all machines

💻 Technologies

Core Stack

Why These Technologies?

Vagrant over Docker/Multipass:

  • Complete OS-level isolation
  • Better network control for VPN configuration
  • Easier filesystem management for caching
  • Reproducible environments with simple configuration

apt-cacher-ng over Squid/Approx:

  • Optimized specifically for APT packages
  • Native support for package signatures and dependencies
  • Automatic cache management
  • Simpler configuration for Debian-based systems

WireGuard over OpenVPN/IPsec:

  • Superior performance (lower latency, faster speeds)
  • Modern cryptography
  • Minimal configuration complexity
  • Smaller codebase = reduced attack surface

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

Ensure you have the following installed:

Installation

  1. Clone the repository

    git clone https://github.com/yourusername/linux-package-caching.git
cd linux-package-caching

  2. Configure the environment

    Edit the Vagrantfile if you need to customize:

    • Number of clients
    • Network configuration
    • Resource allocation (RAM, CPU)

  3. Deploy the infrastructure

    vagrant up

    This command will:

    • Create and configure the cache server
    • Set up WireGuard VPN
    • Deploy client VMs
    • Run all provisioning scripts automatically

  4. Verify the setup

    vagrant status

⚙️ Configuration

Server Configuration

The server is automatically configured via setup_apt_cacher.sh:

  • apt-cacher-ng: Listens on VPN interface (10.0.0.1:3142)
  • WireGuard: Creates secure tunnel on UDP port 51820
  • Firewall: Configured with iptables for proper routing

Client Configuration

Clients are provisioned using setup_client.sh:

# APT proxy configuration is automatically set to:
Acquire::http::Proxy "http://10.0.0.1:3142";

Adding New Clients

To connect external Debian-based machines:

  1. Copy the client setup script

    scp setup_client.sh user@external-machine:~/

  2. Update the server endpoint in the script:

    SERVER_ENDPOINT="<server-ip>:51820"

  3. Run the setup

    chmod +x setup_client.sh
./setup_client.sh

  4. Add peer to server (/etc/wireguard/wg0.conf):

    [Peer]
PublicKey = <client-public-key>
AllowedIPs = 10.0.0.X/32

  5. Restart WireGuard on server:

    sudo wg-quick down wg0
sudo wg-quick up wg0

📊 Results

The implementation demonstrated significant improvements:

Performance Metrics

  • ✅ Bandwidth Reduction: ~80% decrease in external bandwidth usage
  • ✅ Speed Improvement: 3-5x faster package installation for cached packages
  • ✅ Network Efficiency: Reduced load on upstream repositories

Security

  • 🔒 All client-server communications encrypted via WireGuard
  • 🔒 Zero-trust network architecture
  • 🔒 Protected against man-in-the-middle attacks

Operational Benefits

  • 🔄 Fully automated deployment and configuration
  • 📦 Reproducible infrastructure as code
  • 🎯 Easy scalability for additional clients

🧪 Testing

Test with Vagrant Clients

  1. SSH into a client

    vagrant ssh client-1

  2. Update package lists

    sudo apt update

  3. Install a package

    sudo apt install -y htop

  4. Verify caching (install same package on client-2 - should be much faster)

    vagrant ssh client-2
sudo apt install -y htop

Monitor Cache Performance

Access the apt-cacher-ng web interface:

http://10.0.0.1:3142/acng-report.html

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here's how you can help:

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
  3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
  4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
  5. Open a Pull Request

Ideas for Contributions

  • Support for additional Linux distributions (Fedora, CentOS)
  • Docker-based implementation
  • Monitoring and metrics dashboard
  • Automated testing suite
  • Cloud deployment guides (AWS, Azure, GCP)

📝 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

👨‍💻 Author

Samite Mounir

Bachelor's Thesis in Computer Science and Engineering
Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna
Academic Year 2023/2024

Advisor: Prof. Vittorio Ghini

🙏 Acknowledgments

Special thanks to:

  • Prof. Vittorio Ghini for supervision and guidance
  • The University of Bologna, School of Engineering
  • The open-source community behind Vagrant, WireGuard, and apt-cacher-ng

📚 Additional Resources

⭐ If you find this project useful, please consider giving it a star! ⭐

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