Mirrors for users in Russia

sysadmin

@gpatel-fr
Thank you very much for the detailed reply and advice!
I will definitely raise this topic at the Q&A this Saturday — I'll talk about the unstable access from Russia to system-image.ubports.com, cdimage.ubports.com and the Installer, and ask about the possibility of official or community mirrors.
If you or anyone else has any additional thoughts on this before Saturday, I’d be glad to read them.

domubpkm

@sysadmin is changing dns improve things ?

sysadmin

@domubpkm
No, changing DNS unfortunately does not help at all.
The problem is not at the DNS level — it's deeper (routing, Cloudflare, or regional filtering). Only a VPN actually fixes access to UBports resources.
On a PC or laptop it's easy to use any VPN (WireGuard, OpenVPN, Amnezia, etc.).
But on Ubuntu Touch there is currently no reliable working VPN client.
For example, Amnezia works perfectly on my Android phone.
On Ubuntu Touch I’ve already ported a WireGuard fork (it was my first test application when I was learning how to develop for UT). Now I’m finishing it because I need it for my corporate work VPN.
If anyone knows of any working VPN solution on Ubuntu Touch right now, please share — it would help a lot of people.

MrT10001

@sysadmin You could route wifi on the UT device through phone (ahem, Android or Apple) running a VPN as a workround. I know it will be difficult in Russia at the moment, those in charge may even block mirrors, official or community to get you using their apps...

sysadmin

@MrT10001
You do realize that these are just workarounds, right?
We really want it to simply work without any VPNs, proxies, tethering or other complicated schemes.

idonthatevests

Patches that implement repository switching mechanism for system updates have been suggested a few months ago but gained no attention. Same with mirror hosting proposals.

MrT10001

@sysadmin I know, but we all know the situation is complicated at the moment. I hope it gets better for all in the future. Work around have to do...

gpatel-fr

@idonthatevests said:

Patches that implement repository switching mechanism for system updates have been suggested a few months ago but gained no attention. Same with mirror hosting proposals.

strictly speaking no patch is really necessary to switch repos, since none of the systems involved (ubport.com, gitlab.com, github.com) has dnssec enabled, so if the device is tricked into following a different server, it will work just as well. By definition if the server don't use dnssec, there is no way for the client to test it.

Lying DNS servers are evil only if the users don't know. Many Linux users already use fully knowingly lying DNS servers (PiHole for example)

Concretly, the lying DNS server could be setup at local Wifi level by each user wanting to use a mirror.

So the only hard requirement is an agreement for mirroring since this consumes bandwidth, and possibly some Api for the store (not sure about that).

Where are the mirror hosting proposals you are mentioning ? I follow this forum since nov 2025 and I don't recall having seen something like it.

shcarl276

@sysadmin
Well, actually VPN doesn't fix access to UBports resources. I tried three different ones - doesn't help at all. And by the way, original WireGuard has been successfully blocked in Russia for quite a while - the protocol is too obvious for DPI. Will have to make do with Android for now, not Ubuntu Touch. :))))))
And you obviously don't quite understand what you're saying: "But on Ubuntu Touch there is currently no reliable working VPN client." IN ORDER TO HAVE UBUNTU TOUCH ON ONE'S PHONE, ONE HAS TO INSTALL IT ON THE PHONE USING UBPORTS INSTALLER ON PC WITH THE PHONE CONNECTED TO PC. AND THE INSTALLER (ON THE PC) CAN'T DOWNLOAD ANY FILES FOR WHATEVER REASON! EITHER WITH VPN OR WITHOUT IT! :))))))

nbdynl

@shcarl276 they are working on a solution, been discussed by the developers in the latest questions and answers video on youtube. from what i understood, all they need is a host