With the previous setup, Ubuntu or Debian will download install packages straight over the internet. If you prefer to run your network installs over a private network and use your own Ubuntu or Debian mirror you can do the following:
sudo apt-get install apt-mirror
Then write an /etc/apt/mirror.list configuration file, eg.:
Example for Ubuntu dapper:
set base_path /var/spool/apt-mirror/
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper main restricted
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper main/debian-installer
deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ dapper main restricted/debian-installer
Example for Debian Etch:
set base_path /var/spool/apt-mirror/
deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian etch main contrib non-free
deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security etch/updates main contrib non-free
deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian etch main/debian-installer
Then:
mkdir -p /var/spool/apt-mirror/{mirror,var,skel}
apt-mirror
This will replicate the mirror to your chosen base path. You will need to create the soft links to the dists and pool directories yourself, eg.:
~$ ls -al /var/spool/apt-mirror/mirror/
total 24
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4096 May 18 12:46 .
drwxrwxrwx 11 root root 4096 May 18 12:27 ..
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 34 May 18 12:46 dists -> gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 May 18 12:46 gb.archive.ubuntu.com
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 33 May 18 12:46 pool -> gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 May 18 10:53 skel
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 8192 May 18 13:27 var
Serve the /var/spool/apt-mirror/ directory out with apache
When you boot the ubuntu/debian network installer, point it at the IP address and the 'mirror' directory.