**[apt-fast][1]** is a “**shell script wrapper**” for **apt-get** and **aptitude** that can drastically improve APT download times by downloading packages with multiple connections per package. apt-fast uses **aria2c** or **axel** download managers to speed up the APT download time. Just like the traditional apt-get package manager, apt-fast supports almost all apt-get functions such as **install, remove, update, upgrade, dist-upgrade** etc. And one more notable feature is it supports proxy too.
**Install apt-fast On Ubuntu**
Use the following PPA to install apt-fast. apt-fast developer says “**Some distros, such as PCLinuxOS include apt-fast in their default repos**”. I expect the same in Ubuntu/Debian default repositories.
To Add apt-fast PPA, enter the following command in Terminal.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:apt-fast/stable
Update the sources list with command:
sudo apt-get update
Now install it using command:
sudo apt-get install apt-fast
During installation it will ask you to select the maximum number connections to download packages.
Edit **~/.bashrc** file and add the following line at the end.
alias apt-get='apt-fast'
Or simply run the following command to add it in your **~/.bashrc** file.
sudo echo "alias apt-get='apt-fast'" >> ~/.bashrc
From now whenever you run apt-get command to install, remove, update and upgrade packages, it will use apt-fast automatically in the background. Sounds cool? Yes it should.
During testing i found it very fast compared to apt-get when downloading packages. Give it a try, you will agree with me. Cheers!!
