How to restrict access to an Arch package repository?

Question

I have created a custom package repository for Arch Linux that holds packages that for various proprietary licensing reasons cannot be shared widely. Ideally I would like to make the repository available over the internet, but restrict access based on a password (or keys). I have found some instructions for Debian that provide a number of ways to restrict access to a repository but still allow apt to function fairly normally.

The Arch wiki documentation is pretty thin. Is there a way to create a password (pubic/private key) protected repository for Arch that will work with pacman? I do not want the user to have to mount the package repository prior to updating the machine. I would like pacman to simply take care of everything. It is fine if the user needs to enter a password for the upgrade to work.

Answer 1

I think your best bet is probably to wrap a script (shell script for example) around pacman that takes care of setting things up.

There's some details missing from your question, but I'm going to assume your repository is not accessible from the internet and only your local LAN but the software is licensed per user (rather than for your entire site) so you need to limit which packages can be installed by different users.