Hi,
After some research I discovered that ftp method is no longer supported
in latest apt.
Here is a history of relevant commits that first disable and then remove
support for ftp method:
apt (2.9.22) unstable; urgency=medium
* Remove leftovers from ftp and rsh/ssh methods removal
https://salsa.debian.org/apt-team/apt/-/commit/213486fc1b9fc0675a35b5c530447b401f9410ff
* Change multi sources.list entry example from FTP to HTTPS
https://salsa.debian.org/apt-team/apt/-/commit/aa4c681f09f06359c0892329b9e39da77e4f9fda
apt (2.9.21) unstable; urgency=medium
* Remove obsolete references to ftp://ftp.debian.org
https://salsa.debian.org/apt-team/apt/-/commit/54cb371c19c71cb4ac319fe7566924303379ce63
* Use deb.debian.org instead of ftp.debian.org URLs
https://salsa.debian.org/apt-team/apt/-/commit/bb67ff79e03eec05429fa4d7562813d18080e829
apt (2.9.11) unstable; urgency=medium
* Remove ftp, rsh, ssh methods (disabled since 1.8)
https://salsa.debian.org/apt-team/apt/-/commit/5fa47ca73fa445056043b097bb9caf537df1f84a
https://salsa.debian.org/apt-team/apt/-/commit/fd3684cdbc165ceaa635ed19fcbd231f509b0179
apt (1.8.0~rc1) unstable; urgency=medium
* Disable deprecated methods (ftp, rsh, ssh) by default
https://salsa.debian.org/apt-team/apt/-/commit/80282d1830fe31d87c1b67437f17df9a9001c633
Here is more information on how ftp method behaves in different versions
of apt when I attempt to download information/packages from ftp server:
apt 1.8.0~beta1, with ftp method still available
apt revision e3664a6178674a009b311cd5a88cc33599efa216
Debian 10
root@debian:~# apt --version
apt 1.8.0~beta1 (amd64)
root@debian:~#
root@debian:~# cat /etc/apt/sources.list
deb [trusted=yes] ftp://192.168.0.50/10 ./
root@debian:~#
root@debian:~# apt install cron --no-install-recommends
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Suggested packages:
anacron checksecurity
Recommended packages:
default-mta | mail-transport-agent
The following NEW packages will be installed:
cron
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 99.0 kB of archives.
After this operation, 269 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 ftp://192.168.0.50/10 ./ cron 3.0pl1-134+deb10u1 [99.0 kB]
Fetched 99.0 kB in 0s (1,572 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package cron.
(Reading database ... 59504 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../cron_3.0pl1-134+deb10u1_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking cron (3.0pl1-134+deb10u1) ...
Setting up cron (3.0pl1-134+deb10u1) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.8.5-2+deb10u1) ...
Processing triggers for systemd (241-7~deb10u10) ...
apt 2.6.1, with ftp method disabled
Debian 12
root@debian:~# apt --version
apt 2.6.1 (amd64)
root@debian:~# apt update
Reading package lists... Done
E: The method 'ftp' is unsupported and disabled by default. Consider
switching to http(s). Set Dir::Bin::Methods::ftp to "ftp" to enable it
again.
E: Failed to fetch ftp://192.168.0.50/12/./InRelease
E: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old
ones used instead.
apt 2.9.21, with ftp method removed
apt revision 213486fc1b9fc0675a35b5c530447b401f9410ff
Debian sid/trixie
root@debian:~# apt --version
apt 2.9.21 (amd64)
root@debian:~#
root@debian:~#
root@debian:~# apt update
Error: The method driver /usr/lib/apt/methods/ftp could not be found.
Notice: Is the package apt-transport-ftp installed?
Error: Failed to fetch ftp://192.168.0.50/12/./InRelease
Error: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or
old ones used instead.
Given the above information, I think that this ticket can be closed with
following note:
Won't do
Package: apt
Version: 2.9.11
Kamil
