Lite Sources – Easily switch Linux Lite Repository Mirrors

It seems to happen time and time again; some users report issues when checking for new updates in Linux Lite. There is an array of events that could cause issues when checking for updates, including but not limited to routing issues, temporary networks breakages, congestion and so on. Irrespective, a little education and guidance could make a big difference when it comes to updating your Linux Lite OS. Here I share few things you can do to improve your experience and reduce the chances for failures, thus I give you a simple tool to switch Linux Lite Repository mirrors.

As explained in the Linux Lite Help Manual (Change your Software Updates Country Location section) , to ensure that you get updates and software downloaded as fast as possible, you should select servers from locations closer to you. That’s not only beneficial in terms of speed but it also helps tremendously in terms of connection reliability. What the manual doesn’t seem to explain clearly is how updates are fetched or where they come from.

The option refers to the server(s) that will be used to receive Ubuntu based updates. As you may be aware, Linux Lite is based on Ubuntu.

The option refers to the server(s) that will be used to receive Linux Lite specific updates.

Both options can be (and should be) manually configured after installing Linux Lite for optimal speed and reliability, which in turn can reduce the chances for updates failures. Let’s change them then!

Change your Software Updates Country Location

To Change your Software Updates Country Location, open Menu => All => Software & Updates

From the Download from: drop down box, select Other. Then select your country and finally a server (preferably an Ubuntu server if listed) or another server if an Ubuntu server is not available in the list. If no Ubuntu mirror is listed, I recommend for you to use the Select Best Server button and a server will be selected for you after some automated tests.

Lite Software – Change Repository Location

To change Lite Software Repository Location there wasn’t an easy GUI tool to do so until now. I have coded Lite Sources for that purpose. Lite Sources is expected to be released with Linux Lite 3.6 but until then, here is an early release for you all

Lite Sources allows users to switch to a different Linux Lite repository mirror with easy and makes it simple to check the repository mirrors status.

Linux Lite main repository server is hosted in US, which is good for users located in US but no so much for the rest. Lite Sources should help revert that trend. 😛

To install Lite Sources, from Terminal:

Add Unlockforus repository to if you haven’t done so yet:

~$ echo "deb https://unlockforus.com/repository/dists/xenial/ /" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/unlockforus-xenial.list
# And add the PGP key:
~$ curl -s https://unlockforus.com/repository/keyFile | sudo apt-key add -

Then install Lite Sources:

~$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install litesources-lite -y

To launch Lite Sources, browse to Menu => All => Lite Sources and choose a server close to your location as your preferred Linux Lite repository mirror.

If you wish to just check repository mirrors status, you can launch it from Terminal as follows:

~$ litesources-repos-check &

Cheers!