[](https://github.com/awalsh128/cache-apt-pkgs-action-ci/actions/workflows/master_test.yml)
[](https://github.com/awalsh128/cache-apt-pkgs-action-ci/actions/workflows/staging_test.yml)
This action allows caching of Advanced Package Tool (APT) package dependencies to improve workflow execution time instead of installing the packages on every run.
> Looking for co-maintainers to help review changes, and investigate issues. I haven't had as much time to stay on top of this action as I would like to and want to make sure it is still responsive and reliable for the community. If you are interested, please reach out.
This action is a composition of [actions/cache](https://github.com/actions/cache/) and the `apt` utility. Some actions require additional APT based packages to be installed in order for other steps to be executed. Packages can be installed when ran but can consume much of the execution workflow time.
Create a workflow `.yml` file in your repositories `.github/workflows` directory. An [example workflow](#example-workflow) is available below. For more information, reference the GitHub Help Documentation for [Creating a workflow file](https://help.github.com/en/articles/configuring-a-workflow#creating-a-workflow-file).
-`packages` - Space delimited list of packages to install.
-`version` - Version of cache to load. Each version will have its own cache. Note, all characters except spaces are allowed.
-`execute_install_scripts` - Execute Debian package pre and post install script upon restore. See [Caveats / Non-file Dependencies](#non-file-dependencies) for more information.
-`cache-hit` - A boolean value to indicate a cache was found for the packages requested.
-`package-version-list` - The main requested packages and versions that are installed. Represented as a comma delimited list with equals delimit on the package version (i.e. \<package1>=<version1\>,\<package2>=\<version2>,...).
-`all-package-version-list` - All the pulled in packages and versions, including dependencies, that are installed. Represented as a comma delimited list with equals delimit on the package version (i.e. \<package1>=<version1\>,\<package2>=\<version2>,...).
The `execute_install_scripts` argument can be used to attempt to execute the install scripts but they are no guaranteed to resolve the issue.
```yaml
- uses: awalsh128/cache-apt-pkgs-action@latest
with:
packages: mypackage
version: 1.0
execute_install_scripts: true
```
If this does not solve your issue, you will need to run `apt-get install` as a separate step for that particular package unfortunately.
```yaml
run: apt-get install mypackage
shell: bash
```
Please reach out if you have found a workaround for your scenario and it can be generalized. There is only so much this action can do and can't get into the area of reverse engineering Debian package manager. It would be beyond the scope of this action and may result in a lot of extended support and brittleness. Also, it would be better to contribute to Debian packager instead at that point.
For more context and information see [issue #57](https://github.com/awalsh128/cache-apt-pkgs-action/issues/57#issuecomment-1321024283) which contains the investigation and conclusion.
A repository can have up to 5GB of caches. Once the 5GB limit is reached, older caches will be evicted based on when the cache was last accessed. Caches that are not accessed within the last week will also be evicted. To get more information on how to access and manage your actions's caches, see [GitHub Actions / Using workflows / Cache dependencies](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-workflows/caching-dependencies-to-speed-up-workflows#viewing-cache-entries).
