On Thu, 9 Aug 2018, gregrwm wrote:

>>> The issue is that the machine that needs those programs has no 
>>> networking, so if I run this...
>>>
>>> sudo apt install dkms
>>>
>>> ...for example, it just tells me that the network is unreachable.  So I
>>> have to somehow run it on another machine and move the files over.  The
>>> question is, how do I do that?
>>>
>>
>> Maybe the key is to use apt-get with the -d option:
>>
>>   -d, --download-only
>>       Download only; package files are only retrieved, not unpacked or
>>       installed. Configuration Item: APT::Get::Download-Only.
>>
>> Apparently, "apt-get -d install will download the given package and all
>> missing dependencies to the system packages directory
>> (/var/cache/apt/archives)." And this is best for use of "if you want to
>> 'pre-download' a set of packages for later installation."  Or so I'm told...
>>
>> https://askubuntu.com/questions/463380/difference-between-
>> apt-get-d-install-apt-get-download
>>
>> So, maybe I can do that on the USB stick, then copy the downloaded files
>> over to the laptop, putting them in /var/cache/apt/archives.  If that
>> works, then I just need to know the command to install the "pre-downloaded"
>> files.  Any ideas?
>
>
>
> if you get that far, just repeat the apt command on the box with the 
> infused packages, it should see and use them.

Do you mean that if the .deb files are all copied into 
/var/cache/apt/archives and I run this command...

sudo apt install dkms

...then it will find and install that package and dependencies from the 
files without trying to look to the internet repositories?

Mike