Installing packages (via cabal) from "local hacking"

Question

Is it possible to get cabal for

• Download a specific package source, including all dependency package sources.
• At a later stage (when you can no longer rely on the Internet connection), install these packages through cabal, from locally downloaded files, automatically in the correct order to create the necessary package.

I know that you can use cabal unpack to view the source of a specific package, but I'm not sure how to achieve the above. Also note that in this message it’s not possible to get a cable update for working inside the corporate network, it was mentioned that this can be done, but the instructions for me were not specific enough.

Answer 1

cabal help | grep fetch cabal help | grep fetch :

 fetch Downloads packages for later installation. 

Example:

 $ cabal fetch unbound Resolving dependencies... Downloading RepLib-0.5.3.1... Downloading type-equality-0.1.1... Downloading unbound-0.4.1.1... 

Running cabal install unbound at a later stage will not require internet access.