THE PROBLEM: Debian 8.10 Jessie repositories not online since mid 2024
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root@unibone:~# apt-get install socat
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  socat
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 28 not upgraded.
Need to get 314 kB of archives.
After this operation, 796 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Err http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ jessie/main socat armhf 1.7.2.4-2
  404  Not Found [IP: 2a04:4e42:8e::644 80]
E: Failed to fetch http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/pool/main/s/socat/socat_1.7.2.4-2_armhf.deb 404  Not Found [IP: 2a04:4e42:8e::644 80]

E: Unable to fetch some archives, maybe run apt-get update or try with --fix-missing?
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FIX: Put archived mirror online and make apt to use it
1) Set outdated debian archives online again

See also: https://packages.debian.org/stable/debmirror, https://www.debian.org/mirror/ftpmirror.en.html


1.1) Which Debian version?
cat /etc/debian_version
8.10

1.2) Download debian
https://cdimage.debian.org/mirror/cdimage/archive/8.10.0/armhf/iso-dvd/debian-8.10.0-armhf-DVD-1.iso

1.3) Unpack and copy to own URL
Unpack content of .iso to http://files.retrocmp.com/qunibone-misc/debian-8.10.0-armhf-DVD-1/
See "winiso", "mount -o loop <isofile> <mountpoint>" , or "7z"

Regular directory structure of Debian mirror:
/debian/                        <<< "jessie" for 8.10
|-- dists/
|   |-- stable/
|   |   |-- main/
|   |   |-- contrib/
|   |   |-- non-free/           <<< missing
|-- pool/
|   |-- main/
|   |-- contrib/
|   |-- non-free/              <<< missing

1.3) Modify /etc/apt/sources.list to point to new URL
Comments removed:
deb http://files.retrocmp.com/qunibone-misc/debian-8.10.0-armhf-DVD-1 jessie main contrib
#deb http://files.retrocmp.com/qunibone-misc/debian-8.10.0-armhf-DVD-1 jessie-updates main contrib
deb [arch=armhf] http://repos.rcn-ee.com/debian/ jessie main



1.4) apt update to use new packet sources
First install apt-transport-https_1.0.9.8.4_armhf.deb
wget http://files.retrocmp.com/qunibone-misc/debian-8.10.0-armhf-DVD-1/pool/main/a/apt/apt-transport-https_1.0.9.8.4_armhf.deb
dpkg -i apt-transport-https_1.0.9.8.4_armhf.deb
apt-get update


1.5) Test
Try a big install like
 apt-get install --simulate emacs
 or
 apt-get install --simulate postgresql