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I need to ensure that when I download from Ubuntu Software Centre, I do so on a self-made partition, and not in the HOME folder.

This applies only to applications and games. Is this possible?

[This may be a basic issue, but I found no easily accessible answer for the same.]

Tim
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katya sehgal
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    Are you asking about where the software ultimately is installed, or where the packages are stored while they are being downloaded prior to installation? – Paul May 26 '13 at 16:29
  • I would like to take decisions for both processes. Store it in the drive I have created, and install it from there. Like in Windows, download to D Drive and install it there too. Avoid HOME folder except for updates from Update Manager. – katya sehgal May 26 '13 at 16:34

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The packages are not downloaded to the $HOME folder. And Software Center doesn't do the downloading. You cannot install packages to a separate directory, other than where the package indicates the files are to be put. The packages are installed the same way if you use Software Center, apt-get on the command line, or any other tool, such as synaptic.

However, in the case of For Purchase apps (whether they are for a price, or free), the data is generally stored entirely in /opt, except for a few small files to make the app available to launch in the Unity dash, and similar. In this case, you can simply make an ext4 partition and mount it as /opt on boot by adding the appropriate configuration to a new file in /etc/fstab.d/. You can mount the partition elsewhere first, to copy any data which already exists in /opt over to the new partition.

For the case of games installed via Steam however, they are outside the realm of Ubuntu's package management, and always installed into the Steam application data and profile directories, which default to being a hidden folder within $HOME. It would be possible to mount a partition in this location, with all the Steam data, as well.

If you mean where the packages themselves are downloaded to, prior to installation, they are stored in /var/cache/apt/archives and you can mount a separate partition there, or simply clean out the directory occasionally to free space if necessary.

dobey
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  • It's a game from Software Centre. I have less space in natural partition [Home]; I want to save this space and download game to self-made partition. May I assume this is impossible? – katya sehgal May 26 '13 at 20:36