diff --git a/tools/offline/README.md b/tools/offline/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b8a6f3bcd2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/offline/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+# Building LAMMPS and its documentation on offline systems
+
+In some situations it might be necessary to build LAMMPS on a system without
+internet. The scripts in this folder allow you to preload external dependencies
+for both the documentation build for building with CMake into a folder and then
+use that folder on an offline system.
+
+It does so by
+
+1.) Downloading necessary pip packages
+2.) Cloning git repositories
+3.) Downloading tarballs
+
+As of April 2021, all of these downloads make up around 600MB.  By
+default, it will download everything into $HOME/.cache/lammps, but this can be
+changed with the ``LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR`` environment variable.
+
+Once the caches have been initialized, they can be used for building
+LAMMPS documentation or compiling using CMake on an offline system.
+
+The ``use_caches.sh`` must be sourced into the current shell to initialize the
+offline build environment. Note that it must use the same ``LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR``.
+This script does the following:
+
+1.) Sets up environment variables that modify the behavior of both pip and git
+2.) Starts a simple local HTTP server to host files for CMake
+
+Afterwards, it will print out instruction on how to modify the CMake command
+line to make sure it uses the local HTTP server.
+
+To undo the environment changes and shutdown the HTTP server, run the
+``deactivate_caches`` command.
+
+## Examples
+
+For all of the examples below, you first need to create the cache (which requires internet).
+
+```bash
+./tools/offline/init_caches.sh
+```
+
+Afterwards, you can disconnect or copy the contents of the
+``LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR`` folder to an offline system.
+
+### Documentation
+
+```bash
+# if LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR is different from default, make sure to set it first
+# export LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR=path/to/folder
+source tools/offline/use_caches.sh
+cd doc/
+make html
+
+deactivate_caches
+```
+
+### CMake Build
+
+```bash
+# if LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR is different from default, make sure to set it first
+# export LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR=path/to/folder
+source tools/offline/use_caches.sh
+
+mkdir build
+cd build
+cmake -D LAMMPS_DOWNLOADS_URL=${HTTP_CACHE_URL} -C ${LAMMPS_HTTP_CACHE_CONFIG} -C ../cmake/presets/most.cmake ../cmake
+make -j 8
+
+deactivate_caches
+```
diff --git a/tools/offline/init_caches.sh b/tools/offline/init_caches.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..692ebc257a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/offline/init_caches.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+echo "##############################################################################"
+echo "Initializing LAMMPS offline compilation environment"
+echo "##############################################################################"
+
+if [ -z "${LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR}" ]
+then
+    export LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR=$HOME/.cache/lammps
+    echo "environment variable LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR not set"
+    echo "Using default $LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR as cache directory..."
+else
+    echo "Using $LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR as cache directory..."
+fi
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(dirname "$(realpath "$0")")"
+CACHE_SCRIPTS_DIR=${SCRIPT_DIR}/scripts
+
+if [ -z "${LAMMPS_DIR}" ]
+then
+    export LAMMPS_DIR=$(realpath $SCRIPT_DIR/../../)
+    echo "environment variable LAMMPS_DIR not set"
+    echo "Using default $LAMMPS_DIR as LAMMPS distribution base directory..."
+else
+    echo "Using $LAMMPS_DIR as LAMMPS distribution base directory..."
+fi
+
+export GITHUB_PROXY_DIR=$LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR/github
+export LOGGING_DIR=$LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR/logs
+export PIP_CACHE_DIR=$LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR/pip
+export HTTP_CACHE_DIR=$LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR/http
+
+mkdir -p $GITHUB_PROXY_DIR
+mkdir -p $LOGGING_DIR
+mkdir -p $PIP_CACHE_DIR
+mkdir -p $HTTP_CACHE_DIR
+
+${CACHE_SCRIPTS_DIR}/init_pip_cache.sh
+${CACHE_SCRIPTS_DIR}/init_git_cache.sh
+${CACHE_SCRIPTS_DIR}/init_http_cache.sh  
+echo "##############################################################################"
+echo
+echo "To activate:"
+echo "source ${SCRIPT_DIR}/use_caches.sh"
+echo
+echo "##############################################################################"
diff --git a/tools/offline/scripts/init_git_cache.sh b/tools/offline/scripts/init_git_cache.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..d33c4276df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/offline/scripts/init_git_cache.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+if [ -z "${GITHUB_PROXY_DIR}" ]
+then
+    echo "Must set GITHUB_PROXY_DIR environment variable"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+mkdir -p $GITHUB_PROXY_DIR
+cd $GITHUB_PROXY_DIR
+
+PROJECTS=(
+    akohlmey/sphinx-fortran
+    mathjax/MathJax
+)
+
+for project in ${PROJECTS[@]}
+do
+    GH_NAMESPACE=$(dirname $project)
+    GH_PROJECT=$(basename $project)
+    mkdir -p $GH_NAMESPACE
+    git clone --bare https://github.com/$GH_NAMESPACE/$GH_PROJECT.git $GH_NAMESPACE/$GH_PROJECT.git
+done
diff --git a/tools/offline/scripts/init_http_cache.sh b/tools/offline/scripts/init_http_cache.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..c5e4d3dde7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/offline/scripts/init_http_cache.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+if [ -z "${HTTP_CACHE_DIR}" ]
+then
+    echo "Must set HTTP_CACHE_DIR environment variable"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+mkdir -p $HTTP_CACHE_DIR
+mkdir -p $HTTP_CACHE_DIR/potentials
+mkdir -p $HTTP_CACHE_DIR/thirdparty
+cd $HTTP_CACHE_DIR
+
+LAMMPS_DOWNLOADS_URL="https://download.lammps.org"
+LAMMPS_POTENTIALS_URL="${LAMMPS_DOWNLOADS_URL}/potentials"
+LAMMPS_THIRDPARTY_URL="${LAMMPS_DOWNLOADS_URL}/thirdparty"
+
+###############################################################################
+# potentials
+POTENTIALS=(
+    C_10_10.mesocnt.028de73ec828b7830d762702eda571c1
+    TABTP_10_10.mesont.744a739da49ad5e78492c1fc9fd9f8c1
+    C_10_10.mesocnt
+    TABTP_10_10.mesont
+)
+
+echo "Dowloading potentials..."
+for p in ${POTENTIALS[@]}
+do
+    if [ ! -f $HTTP_CACHE_DIR/potentials/$p ]
+    then
+        wget -O $HTTP_CACHE_DIR/potentials/$p $LAMMPS_POTENTIALS_URL/$p
+    fi
+done
+
+###############################################################################
+# thirdparty code
+echo "Dowloading thirdparty tarballs..."
+
+MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL="${LAMMPS_THIRDPARTY_URL}/mpich2-win64-devel.tar.gz"
+MPICH2_WIN32_DEVEL_URL="${LAMMPS_THIRDPARTY_URL}/mpich2-win32-devel.tar.gz"
+VORO_URL="${LAMMPS_THIRDPARTY_URL}/voro++-0.4.6.tar.gz"
+OPENCL_LOADER_URL="${LAMMPS_THIRDPARTY_URL}/opencl-loader-2020.12.18.tar.gz"
+SCAFACOS_FIX_URL="${LAMMPS_THIRDPARTY_URL}/scafacos-1.0.1-fix.diff"
+GTEST_URL="https://github.com/google/googletest/archive/release-1.10.0.tar.gz"
+YAML_URL="https://pyyaml.org/download/libyaml/yaml-0.2.5.tar.gz"
+MATHJAX_URL="https://github.com/mathjax/MathJax/archive/3.1.2.tar.gz"
+EIGEN3_URL="https://gitlab.com/libeigen/eigen/-/archive/3.3.7/eigen-3.3.7.tar.gz"
+CUB_URL="https://github.com/NVlabs/cub/archive/1.12.0.tar.gz"
+KOKKOS_URL="https://github.com/kokkos/kokkos/archive/3.3.01.tar.gz"
+KIM_URL="https://s3.openkim.org/kim-api/kim-api-2.2.1.txz"
+MSCG_URL="https://github.com/uchicago-voth/MSCG-release/archive/1.7.3.1.tar.gz"
+PLUMED_URL="https://github.com/plumed/plumed2/releases/download/v2.7.0/plumed-src-2.7.0.tgz"
+LATTE_URL="https://github.com/lanl/LATTE/archive/v1.2.2.tar.gz"
+SCAFACOS_URL="https://github.com/scafacos/scafacos/releases/download/v1.0.1/scafacos-1.0.1.tar.gz"
+
+GTEST_FILENAME="gtest-1.10.0.tar.gz"
+MATHJAX_FILENAME="mathjax-3.1.2.tar.gz"
+CUB_FILENAME="cub-1.12.0.tar.gz"
+KOKKOS_FILENAME="kokkos-3.3.01.tar.gz"
+MSCG_FILENAME="mscg-1.7.3.1.tar.gz"
+LATTE_FILENAME="latte-1.2.2.tar.gz"
+
+TARBALLS=(
+    MPICH2_WIN64_DEVEL_URL
+    MPICH2_WIN32_DEVEL_URL
+    VORO_URL
+    OPENCL_LOADER_URL
+    SCAFACOS_FIX_URL
+    GTEST_URL
+    YAML_URL
+    MATHJAX_URL
+    EIGEN3_URL
+    CUB_URL
+    KOKKOS_URL
+    KIM_URL
+    MSCG_URL
+    PLUMED_URL
+    LATTE_URL
+    SCAFACOS_URL
+)
+
+###############################################################################
+# generate proxy cmake file to trick CMake to download from local HTTP server
+echo "# auto-generated proxy preset file" > $HTTP_CACHE_DIR/proxy.cmake
+
+for t in ${TARBALLS[@]}
+do
+    FILENAME_VAR=${t/_URL/_FILENAME}
+    if [ -z ${!FILENAME_VAR} ]
+    then
+        filename=$(basename ${!t})
+    else
+        filename=${!FILENAME_VAR}
+    fi
+
+    if [ ! -f $HTTP_CACHE_DIR/thirdparty/$filename ]
+    then
+        wget -O $HTTP_CACHE_DIR/thirdparty/$filename ${!t}
+    fi
+
+    echo "set(${t} \"\${LAMMPS_DOWNLOADS_URL}/thirdparty/$filename\" CACHE STRING \"\" FORCE)" >> $HTTP_CACHE_DIR/proxy.cmake
+done
diff --git a/tools/offline/scripts/init_pip_cache.sh b/tools/offline/scripts/init_pip_cache.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..56160489cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/offline/scripts/init_pip_cache.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+if [ -z "${LOGGING_DIR}" ]
+then
+    echo "Must set LOGGING_DIR environment variable"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ -z "${PIP_CACHE_DIR}" ]
+then
+    echo "Must set PIP_CACHE_DIR environment variable"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+set -x
+
+mkdir -p $PIP_CACHE_DIR
+
+# download packages that might be needed
+cd $PIP_CACHE_DIR
+pip3 download pip setuptools wheel
+pip3 download -r $LAMMPS_DIR/doc/utils/requirements.txt
diff --git a/tools/offline/scripts/use_git_cache.sh b/tools/offline/scripts/use_git_cache.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..049637725a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/offline/scripts/use_git_cache.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# needs to be sourced
+if [ -z "${GITHUB_PROXY_DIR}" ]
+then
+    echo "Must set GITHUB_PROXY_DIR environment variable"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+export GIT_CONFIG_COUNT=1
+export GIT_CONFIG_KEY_0=url.$GITHUB_PROXY_DIR/.insteadOf
+export GIT_CONFIG_VALUE_0=git://github.com/
+
+echo "Redirecting git://github.com urls to local cache..."
+
+function deactivate_git_cache {
+    echo "Removing git://github.com redirect..."
+    unset GIT_CONFIG_COUNT
+    unset GIT_CONFIG_KEY_0
+    unset GIT_CONFIG_VALUE_0
+}
diff --git a/tools/offline/scripts/use_http_cache.sh b/tools/offline/scripts/use_http_cache.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..717ab9f8b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/offline/scripts/use_http_cache.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+if [ -z "${HTTP_CACHE_DIR}" ]
+then
+    echo "Must set HTTP_CACHE_DIR environment variable"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ -z "${HTTP_CACHE_PORT}" ]
+then
+    HTTP_CACHE_PORT=8080
+fi
+
+until ! lsof -Pi :$HTTP_CACHE_PORT -sTCP:LISTEN -t >/dev/null
+do
+    echo "Port ${HTTP_CACHE_PORT} already in use, trying another..."
+    ((HTTP_CACHE_PORT=HTTP_CACHE_PORT+1))
+    sleep 1
+done
+
+if [ -z "${LOGGING_DIR}" ]
+then
+    echo "Must set LOGGING_DIR environment variable"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+python3 -m http.server $HTTP_CACHE_PORT --directory $HTTP_CACHE_DIR 2>&1 > ${LOGGING_DIR}/http.log &
+export HTTP_CACHE_PID=$!
+
+export HTTP_CACHE_URL=http://localhost:$HTTP_CACHE_PORT
+export LAMMPS_HTTP_CACHE_CONFIG=$HTTP_CACHE_DIR/proxy.cmake
+echo "Running local HTTP cache server on $HTTP_CACHE_URL (pid: $HTTP_CACHE_PID)"
+
+function deactivate_http_cache {
+    echo "Shutting down HTTP cache server..."
+    kill $HTTP_CACHE_PID
+    unset HTTP_CACHE_PID
+    unset LAMMPS_HTTP_CACHE_CONFIG
+}
diff --git a/tools/offline/scripts/use_pip_cache.sh b/tools/offline/scripts/use_pip_cache.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f122aacd33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/offline/scripts/use_pip_cache.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# needs to be sourced
+
+if [ -z "${PIP_CACHE_DIR}" ]
+then
+    echo "Must set PIP_CACHE_DIR environment variable"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+export PIP_NO_INDEX=1
+export PIP_FIND_LINKS=$PIP_CACHE_DIR
+
+echo "Disabling pip index and use local cache directory..."
+
+function deactivate_pip_cache {
+    echo "Removing local pip cache configuration..."
+    unset PIP_NO_INDEX
+    unset PIP_FIND_LINKS
+}
diff --git a/tools/offline/use_caches.sh b/tools/offline/use_caches.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..64e7d7a875
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/offline/use_caches.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+if [ -z "${LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR}" ]
+then
+    export LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR=$HOME/.cache/lammps
+    echo "environment variable LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR not set"
+    echo "Using default $LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR as cache directory..."
+else
+    echo "Using $LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR as cache directory..."
+fi
+
+if test -n "$BASH" ; then script=$BASH_SOURCE
+else script=$0
+fi
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(dirname "$(realpath "$script")")"
+CACHE_SCRIPTS_DIR=${SCRIPT_DIR}/scripts
+
+export GITHUB_PROXY_DIR=$LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR/github
+export LOGGING_DIR=$LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR/logs
+export PIP_CACHE_DIR=$LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR/pip
+export HTTP_CACHE_DIR=$LAMMPS_CACHING_DIR/http
+
+if [ ! -d $GITHUB_PROXY_DIR ]
+then
+    echo "GitHub proxy directory missing"
+    return
+fi
+
+if [ ! -d $LOGGING_DIR ]
+then
+    echo "Logging directory missing"
+    return
+fi
+
+if [ ! -d $PIP_CACHE_DIR ]
+then
+    echo "pip cache directory missing"
+    return
+fi
+
+if [ ! -d $HTTP_CACHE_DIR ]
+then
+    echo "HTTP cache directory missing"
+    return
+fi
+
+echo "##############################################################################"
+echo "Setting up LAMMPS offline compilation environment"
+echo "##############################################################################"
+
+source ${CACHE_SCRIPTS_DIR}/use_git_cache.sh
+source ${CACHE_SCRIPTS_DIR}/use_pip_cache.sh
+source ${CACHE_SCRIPTS_DIR}/use_http_cache.sh  
+
+echo "##############################################################################"
+echo
+echo "Prepend the following CMake options to your builds:"
+echo
+echo "-D LAMMPS_DOWNLOADS_URL=\${HTTP_CACHE_URL} -C \${LAMMPS_HTTP_CACHE_CONFIG}"
+echo
+echo "or"
+echo
+echo "-D LAMMPS_DOWNLOADS_URL=${HTTP_CACHE_URL} -C ${LAMMPS_HTTP_CACHE_CONFIG}"
+echo
+echo "pip installations and git clones (from git://) are automatically redirected"
+echo
+echo Use 'deactivate_caches' to revert changes
+echo
+echo "##############################################################################"
+
+function deactivate_caches {
+    deactivate_http_cache
+    deactivate_pip_cache
+    deactivate_git_cache
+    unset -f deactivate_http_cache
+    unset -f deactivate_pip_cache
+    unset -f deactivate_git_cache
+}