SysLinuxOS Official APT Repository Now Live

I am excited to announce that the official SysLinuxOS AP  is now live and publicly accessible. All SysLinuxOS tools and packages are now installable and upgradable directly via apt, with GPG signature verification and automatic updates.

What it is

The SysLinuxOS-Tools repository is a GPG-signed APT repository hosted on GitHub Pages and managed with reprepro. It distributes the packages developed for SysLinuxOS: tools that extend Debian with snapshot management, live ISO creation, system monitoring and more.

Repository URL: https://fconidi.github.io/SysLinuxOS-Tools

Source code and metadata on GitHub: https://github.com/fconidi/SysLinuxOS-Tools

Available packages (repo constantly updated)

• distroclone — builds a bootable live ISO directly from your running Debian system
• distroclone-backup — automatic Btrfs snapshot integration for distroClone
• grub-btrfs — Btrfs snapshots in the GRUB menu (SysLinuxOS build)
• syslinuxos-ring-conky — ring-style Conky theme with auto-scaling
• syslinuxos-snapshots — Btrfs snapshot management with GRUB integration
• conky-window — minimal Conky window theme for SysLinuxOS

Tip

After installing SysLinuxOS 13.2, I recommend reinstalling the packages, to update configuration files, and align all packages with apt.

Installation

A single command sets up the repository, imports the GPG key and configures the APT source:

curl -fsSL https://fconidi.github.io/SysLinuxOS-Tools/client/install-repo.sh | sudo bash

After that, install any package as usual:

sudo apt install syslinuxos-snapshots
sudo apt install syslinuxos-ring-conky
sudo apt install distroclone

Updates will be delivered automatically via apt upgrade, like any standard Debian package.

Manual setup

If you prefer to configure the repository by hand:

# Import the signing key
curl -fsSL https://fconidi.github.io/SysLinuxOS-Tools/syslinuxos-archive-keyring.asc \
  | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/syslinuxos-archive-keyring.gpg

# Add the APT source (deb822 format)
sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/syslinuxos-tools.sources >/dev/null <<'EOF'
Types: deb
URIs: https://fconidi.github.io/SysLinuxOS-Tools
Suites: tirreno
Components: main
Architectures: amd64
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/syslinuxos-archive-keyring.gpg
EOF

sudo apt update

Technical details

• Hosting: GitHub Pages (branch main)
• Signing: GPG RSA-4096, key ID 5FADCAF45BC3FA1D
• Suite: tirreno — Component: main — Architecture: amd64
• Package management: reprepro — one version per package, index rebuilt and re-signed on each update

The grub-btrfs package is a customized build for SysLinuxOS. To ensure it always takes precedence over any Debian-provided version, the install script configures an APT pin at priority 1001 in /etc/apt/preferences.d/99-syslinuxos-tools.pref. No other packages are pinned.

Why a dedicated repository

Managing SysLinuxOS packages individually — downloading .deb files, tracking versions, running dpkg -i manually — is error-prone and does not scale. A proper APT repository means:

• Packages are installed and upgraded with standard apt commands
• GPG signature verification on every apt update
• Correct dependency resolution handled by APT
• No manual intervention needed when new versions are released

The repository is already used in the SysLinuxOS ISO build process and on all active SysLinuxOS installations.

Franco Conidi aka edmond — francoconidi.it — syslinuxos.com