I have to use a proxy server which requires authentication. So, I need to update the apt.conf file to include my proxy settings. All fine. What I need is to check that the configuration is correct so that when I try apt-get update, I'll connect to the relevant repositories, etc.
Is there a way to check this without downloading anything to the PC (without update, install, upgrade, etc.)? In short: I'm looking for a way to just ping the repositories without any actual download happening.
Any other ways to validate the apt proxy settings is also welcome...
Edit: I read the manual but I couldn't see the functionality to be available by a simple option/flag. Maybe there is a hack?
Update: So, far the only solution I have is to apt-get install a tiny package and then remove it afterwards. But, I don't really like this approach. What if the package is already installed on the machine? Will apt-get still connect to the repositories (to check if the package is up-to-date)?
Update2: Apparently there is no solution to all the requirements I put in the question. I'll pick the answer with the closest to what I want.