Offline Install Stata Packages

[Warren Frame]

Hi all!

I'd like to install Stata packages offline. Why?

• This is for a secure lab with no Internet connection
• I would like to avoid maintaining another Internet connected system with Stata (I don't use Stata, helping some other folks who do)

Is there no way to obtain appropriate stata files (e.g. .ado and .hlp files), along with

net install, from ('path')

?

I've had luck with some well-packaged tools (i.e. they include everything they need, and a stata.toc, like https://github.com/sergiocorreia/ftools). Unfortuntely, some don't include a stata.toc - unless there's a way to build or extract this from ideas.repec.org. For example, no luck with https://ideas.repec.org/c/boc/bocode/s457147.html.

Do I really need to deal with setting up a separate system, and mirroring the plus folder over this isolated lab every time we make a change?

Thanks for any help!

Warren

PS: I've referred to this and this, among other sources already.

[Doug Hemken]

The issue is that you have multiple lab machines to maintain? Do you put the downloaded files on a network drive and run a script (a "do" file) to do the final step of installing the package?

[Warren Frame]

Hi Doug!

Single no-Internet connection machine. Currently I've been bringing files across manually, using the `net install, from ("some_path")` command to install.

This works for things that include a stata.toc. Some don't (not sure if we can extract or build this from data in ideas.repec.org) - e.g. https://ideas.repec.org/c/boc/bocode/s457147.html. Trying to install from these paths results in the usual missing stata.toc error:

net install geodist, from("D:\blah\geodist")
file D:\blah\geodist\stata.toc not found
D:\blah\geodist\ either
1) does not exist or
2) is not a Stata download directory (has no stata.toc file)
r(601);

Is there a way to cleanly obtain files from ideas.repect.org, outside of a separate, online Stata install?

Cheers!

[Nick Cox]

ssc describe geodist, saving(geodist.toc)

copies the .toc file. If you don't do this at some point, the .toc is left behind uncopied.

[Doug Hemken]

It may be sufficient to have an empty stata.toc.
I think you'll want to copy, for example

ssc copy geodist.pkg

Depending on how accounts are set up on this coldroom machine, you could conceivably just dump all the package files in the PERSONAL folder, too.
Props for wanting to do a tidy job with software you don't use!

[Robert Picard]

Never mind, I misread the thread.