3 debhelper - the debhelper tool suite
7 B<dh_>I<*> [B<-v>] [B<-a>] [B<-i>] [B<-s>] [B<--no-act>] [B<-p>I<package>] [B<-N>I<package>] [B<-P>I<tmpdir>]
11 Debhelper is used to help you build a Debian package. The philosophy behind
12 debhelper is to provide a collection of small, simple, and easily
13 understood tools that are used in F<debian/rules> to automate various common
14 aspects of building a package. This means less work for you, the packager.
15 It also, to some degree means that these tools can be changed if Debian
16 policy changes, and packages that use them will require only a rebuild to
17 comply with the new policy.
19 A typical F<debian/rules> file that uses debhelper will call several debhelper
20 commands in sequence, or use L<dh(1)> to automate this process. Examples of
21 rules files that use debhelper are in F</usr/share/doc/debhelper/examples/>
23 To create a new Debian package using debhelper, you can just copy one of
24 the sample rules files and edit it by hand. Or you can try the B<dh-make>
25 package, which contains a L<dh_make|dh_make(1)> command that partially
26 automates the process. For a more gentle introduction, the B<maint-guide> Debian
27 package contains a tutorial about making your first package using debhelper.
29 =head1 DEBHELPER COMMANDS
31 Here is the list of debhelper commands you can use. See their man
32 pages for additional documentation.
40 =head2 Deprecated Commands
42 A few debhelper commands are deprecated and should not be used.
52 If a program's name starts with B<dh_>, and the program is not on the above
53 lists, then it is not part of the debhelper package, but it should still
54 work like the other programs described on this page.
56 =head1 DEBHELPER CONFIG FILES
58 Many debhelper commands make use of files in F<debian/> to control what they
59 do. Besides the common F<debian/changelog> and F<debian/control>, which are
60 in all packages, not just those using debhelper, some additional files can
61 be used to configure the behavior of specific debhelper commands. These
62 files are typically named debian/I<package>.foo (where I<package> of course,
63 is replaced with the package that is being acted on).
65 For example, B<dh_installdocs> uses files named F<debian/package.docs> to list
66 the documentation files it will install. See the man pages of individual
67 commands for details about the names and formats of the files they use.
68 Generally, these files will list files to act on, one file per line. Some
69 programs in debhelper use pairs of files and destinations or slightly more
72 Note for the first (or only) binary package listed in
73 F<debian/control>, debhelper will use F<debian/foo> when there's no
74 F<debian/package.foo> file.
76 In some rare cases, you may want to have different versions of these files
77 for different architectures or OSes. If files named debian/I<package>.foo.I<ARCH>
78 or debian/I<package>.foo.I<OS> exist, where I<ARCH> and I<OS> are the same as the
79 output of "B<dpkg-architecture -qDEB_HOST_ARCH>" /
80 "B<dpkg-architecture -qDEB_HOST_ARCH_OS>",
81 then they will be used in preference to other, more general files.
83 Mostly, these config files are used to specify lists of various types of
84 files. Documentation or example files to install, files to move, and so on.
85 When appropriate, in cases like these, you can use standard shell wildcard
86 characters (B<?> and B<*> and B<[>I<..>B<]> character classes) in the files.
87 You can also put comments in these files; lines beginning with B<#> are
90 The syntax of these files is intentionally kept very simple to make them
91 easy to read, understand, and modify. If you prefer power and complexity,
92 you can make the file executable, and write a program that outputs
93 whatever content is appropriate for a given situation. When you do so,
94 the output is not further processed to expand wildcards or strip comments.
96 =head1 SHARED DEBHELPER OPTIONS
98 The following command line options are supported by all debhelper programs.
102 =item B<-v>, B<--verbose>
104 Verbose mode: show all commands that modify the package build directory.
108 Do not really do anything. If used with -v, the result is that the command
109 will output what it would have done.
111 =item B<-a>, B<--arch>
113 Act on architecture dependent packages that should be built for the
116 =item B<-i>, B<--indep>
118 Act on all architecture independent packages.
120 =item B<-p>I<package>, B<--package=>I<package>
122 Act on the package named I<package>. This option may be specified multiple
123 times to make debhelper operate on a given set of packages.
125 =item B<-s>, B<--same-arch>
127 This used to be a smarter version of the B<-a> flag, but the B<-a> flag is now
130 =item B<-N>I<package>, B<--no-package=>I<package>
132 Do not act on the specified package even if an B<-a>, B<-i>, or B<-p> option lists
133 the package as one that should be acted on.
135 =item B<--remaining-packages>
137 Do not act on the packages which have already been acted on by this debhelper
138 command earlier (i.e. if the command is present in the package debhelper log).
139 For example, if you need to call the command with special options only for a
140 couple of binary packages, pass this option to the last call of the command to
141 process the rest of packages with default settings.
143 =item B<--ignore=>I<file>
145 Ignore the specified file. This can be used if F<debian/> contains a debhelper
146 config file that a debhelper command should not act on. Note that
147 F<debian/compat>, F<debian/control>, and F<debian/changelog> can't be ignored, but
148 then, there should never be a reason to ignore those files.
150 For example, if upstream ships a F<debian/init> that you don't want
151 B<dh_installinit> to install, use B<--ignore=debian/init>
153 =item B<-P>I<tmpdir>, B<--tmpdir=>I<tmpdir>
155 Use I<tmpdir> for package build directory. The default is debian/I<package>
157 =item B<--mainpackage=>I<package>
159 This little-used option changes the package which debhelper considers the
160 "main package", that is, the first one listed in F<debian/control>, and the
161 one for which F<debian/foo> files can be used instead of the usual
162 F<debian/package.foo> files.
164 =item B<-O=>I<option>|I<bundle>
166 This is used by L<dh(1)> when passing user-specified options to all the
167 commands it runs. If the command supports the specified option or option
168 bundle, it will take effect. If the command does not support the option (or
169 any part of an option bundle), it will be ignored.
173 =head1 COMMON DEBHELPER OPTIONS
175 The following command line options are supported by some debhelper programs.
176 See the man page of each program for a complete explanation of what each
183 Do not modify F<postinst>, F<postrm>, etc. scripts.
185 =item B<-X>I<item>, B<--exclude=>I<item>
187 Exclude an item from processing. This option may be used multiple times,
188 to exclude more than one thing.
190 =item B<-A>, B<--all>
192 Makes files or other items that are specified on the command line take effect
193 in ALL packages acted on, not just the first.
197 =head1 BUILD SYSTEM OPTIONS
199 The following command line options are supported by all of the B<dh_auto_>I<*>
200 debhelper programs. These programs support a variety of build systems,
201 and normally heuristically determine which to use, and how to use them.
202 You can use these command line options to override the default behavior.
203 Typically these are passed to L<dh(1)>, which then passes them to all the
204 B<dh_auto_>I<*> programs.
208 =item B<-S>I<buildsystem>, B<--buildsystem=>I<buildsystem>
210 Force use of the specified I<buildsystem>, instead of trying to auto-select
211 one which might be applicable for the package.
213 =item B<-D>I<directory>, B<--sourcedirectory=>I<directory>
215 Assume that the original package source tree is at the specified
216 I<directory> rather than the top level directory of the Debian
219 =item B<-B>[I<directory>], B<--builddirectory=>[I<directory>]
221 Enable out of source building and use the specified I<directory> as the build
222 directory. If I<directory> parameter is omitted, a default build directory
225 If this option is not specified, building will be done in source by default
226 unless the build system requires or prefers out of source tree building.
227 In such a case, the default build directory will be used even if
228 B<--builddirectory> is not specified.
230 If the build system prefers out of source tree building but still
231 allows in source building, the latter can be re-enabled by passing a build
232 directory path that is the same as the source directory path.
236 Enable parallel builds if underlying build system supports them.
237 The number of parallel jobs is controlled by the
238 B<DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS> environment variable (L<Debian Policy, section 4.9.1>) at
239 build time. It might also be subject to a build system specific limit.
241 If this option is not specified, debhelper currently defaults to not
242 allowing parallel package builds.
244 =item B<--max-parallel=>I<maximum>
246 This option implies B<--parallel> and allows further limiting the number of
247 jobs that can be used in a parallel build. If the package build is known to
248 only work with certain levels of concurrency, you can set this to the maximum
249 level that is known to work, or that you wish to support.
251 =item B<--list>, B<-l>
253 List all build systems supported by debhelper on this system. The list
254 includes both default and third party build systems (marked as such). Also
255 shows which build system would be automatically selected, or which one
256 is manually specified with the B<--buildsystem> option.
260 =head1 COMPATIBILITY LEVELS
262 From time to time, major non-backwards-compatible changes need to be made
263 to debhelper, to keep it clean and well-designed as needs change and its
264 author gains more experience. To prevent such major changes from breaking
265 existing packages, the concept of debhelper compatibility levels was
266 introduced. You tell debhelper which compatibility level it should use, and
267 it modifies its behavior in various ways.
269 Tell debhelper what compatibility level to use by writing a number to
270 F<debian/compat>. For example, to turn on v9 mode:
272 % echo 9 > debian/compat
274 Your package will also need a versioned build dependency on a version of
275 debhelper equal to (or greater than) the compatibility level your package
276 uses. So for compatibility level 9, ensure debian/control has:
278 Build-Depends: debhelper (>= 9)
280 Unless otherwise indicated, all debhelper documentation assumes that you
281 are using the most recent compatibility level, and in most cases does not
282 indicate if the behavior is different in an earlier compatibility level, so
283 if you are not using the most recent compatibility level, you're advised to
284 read below for notes about what is different in earlier compatibility
287 These are the available compatibility levels:
293 This is the original debhelper compatibility level, and so it is the default
294 one. In this mode, debhelper will use F<debian/tmp> as the package tree
295 directory for the first binary package listed in the control file, while using
296 debian/I<package> for all other packages listed in the F<control> file.
298 This mode is deprecated.
302 In this mode, debhelper will consistently use debian/I<package>
303 as the package tree directory for every package that is built.
305 This mode is deprecated.
309 This mode works like v2, with the following additions:
315 Debhelper config files support globbing via B<*> and B<?>, when appropriate. To
316 turn this off and use those characters raw, just prefix with a backslash.
320 B<dh_makeshlibs> makes the F<postinst> and F<postrm> scripts call B<ldconfig>.
324 Every file in F<etc/> is automatically flagged as a conffile by B<dh_installdeb>.
328 This mode is deprecated.
338 B<dh_makeshlibs -V> will not include the Debian part of the version number in
339 the generated dependency line in the shlibs file.
343 You are encouraged to put the new B<${misc:Depends}> into F<debian/control> to
344 supplement the B<${shlibs:Depends}> field.
348 B<dh_fixperms> will make all files in F<bin/> directories and in F<etc/init.d>
353 B<dh_link> will correct existing links to conform with policy.
357 This mode is deprecated.
367 Comments are ignored in debhelper config files.
371 B<dh_strip --dbg-package> now specifies the name of a package to put debugging
372 symbols in, not the packages to take the symbols from.
376 B<dh_installdocs> skips installing empty files.
380 B<dh_install> errors out if wildcards expand to nothing.
392 Commands that generate maintainer script fragments will order the
393 fragments in reverse order for the F<prerm> and F<postrm> scripts.
397 B<dh_installwm> will install a slave manpage link for F<x-window-manager.1.gz>,
398 if it sees the man page in F<usr/share/man/man1> in the package build
403 B<dh_builddeb> did not previously delete everything matching
404 B<DH_ALWAYS_EXCLUDE>, if it was set to a list of things to exclude, such as
405 B<CVS:.svn:.git>. Now it does.
409 B<dh_installman> allows overwriting existing man pages in the package build
410 directory. In previous compatibility levels it silently refuses to do this.
422 B<dh_install>, will fall back to looking for files in F<debian/tmp> if it doesn't
423 find them in the current directory (or wherever you tell it look using
424 B<--sourcedir>). This allows B<dh_install> to interoperate with B<dh_auto_install>,
425 which installs to F<debian/tmp>, without needing any special parameters.
429 B<dh_clean> will read F<debian/clean> and delete files listed there.
433 B<dh_clean> will delete toplevel F<*-stamp> files.
437 B<dh_installchangelogs> will guess at what file is the upstream changelog if
450 Commands will fail rather than warning when they are passed unknown options.
454 B<dh_makeshlibs> will run B<dpkg-gensymbols> on all shared libraries that it
455 generates shlibs files for. So B<-X> can be used to exclude libraries.
456 Also, libraries in unusual locations that B<dpkg-gensymbols> would not
457 have processed before will be passed to it, a behavior change that
458 can cause some packages to fail to build.
462 B<dh> requires the sequence to run be specified as the first parameter, and
463 any switches come after it. Ie, use "B<dh $@ --foo>", not "B<dh --foo $@>".
467 B<dh_auto_>I<*> prefer to use Perl's B<Module::Build> in preference to F<Makefile.PL>.
473 This is the recommended mode of operation.
481 Multiarch support. In particular, B<dh_auto_configure> passes
482 multiarch directories to autoconf in --libdir and --libexecdir.
486 dh is aware of the usual dependencies between targets in debian/rules.
487 So, "dh binary" will run any build, build-arch, build-indep, install,
488 etc targets that exist in the rules file. There's no need to define an
489 explicit binary target with explicit dependencies on the other targets.
493 B<dh_strip> compresses debugging symbol files to reduce the installed
494 size of -dbg packages.
498 B<dh_auto_configure> does not include the source package name
499 in --libexecdir when using autoconf.
503 B<dh> does not default to enabling --with=python-support
507 All of the B<dh_auto_>I<*> debhelper programs and B<dh> set
508 environment variables listed by B<dpkg-buildflags>, unless
509 they are already set.
513 B<dh_auto_configure> passes B<dpkg-buildflags> CFLAGS, CPPFLAGS, and
514 LDFLAGS to perl F<Makefile.PL> and F<Build.PL>
518 B<dh_strip> puts separated debug symbols in a location based on their
523 Executable debhelper config files are run and their output used as the
530 This compatibility level is still open for development; use with caution.
546 =head2 Multiple binary package support
548 If your source package generates more than one binary package, debhelper
549 programs will default to acting on all binary packages when run. If your
550 source package happens to generate one architecture dependent package, and
551 another architecture independent package, this is not the correct behavior,
552 because you need to generate the architecture dependent packages in the
553 binary-arch F<debian/rules> target, and the architecture independent packages
554 in the binary-indep F<debian/rules> target.
556 To facilitate this, as well as give you more control over which packages
557 are acted on by debhelper programs, all debhelper programs accept the
558 B<-a>, B<-i>, B<-p>, and B<-s> parameters. These parameters are cumulative.
559 If none are given, debhelper programs default to acting on all packages listed
562 =head2 Automatic generation of Debian install scripts
564 Some debhelper commands will automatically generate parts of Debian
565 maintainer scripts. If you want these automatically generated things
566 included in your existing Debian maintainer scripts, then you need to add
567 B<#DEBHELPER#> to your scripts, in the place the code should be added.
568 B<#DEBHELPER#> will be replaced by any auto-generated code when you run
571 If a script does not exist at all and debhelper needs to add something to
572 it, then debhelper will create the complete script.
574 All debhelper commands that automatically generate code in this way let it
575 be disabled by the -n parameter (see above).
577 Note that the inserted code will be shell code, so you cannot directly use
578 it in a Perl script. If you would like to embed it into a Perl script, here
579 is one way to do that (note that I made sure that $1, $2, etc are set with
582 my $temp="set -e\nset -- @ARGV\n" . << 'EOF';
585 system ($temp) / 256 == 0
586 or die "Problem with debhelper scripts: $!";
588 =head2 Automatic generation of miscellaneous dependencies.
590 Some debhelper commands may make the generated package need to depend on
591 some other packages. For example, if you use L<dh_installdebconf(1)>, your
592 package will generally need to depend on debconf. Or if you use
593 L<dh_installxfonts(1)>, your package will generally need to depend on a
594 particular version of xutils. Keeping track of these miscellaneous
595 dependencies can be annoying since they are dependent on how debhelper does
596 things, so debhelper offers a way to automate it.
598 All commands of this type, besides documenting what dependencies may be
599 needed on their man pages, will automatically generate a substvar called
600 B<${misc:Depends}>. If you put that token into your F<debian/control> file, it
601 will be expanded to the dependencies debhelper figures you need.
603 This is entirely independent of the standard B<${shlibs:Depends}> generated by
604 L<dh_makeshlibs(1)>, and the B<${perl:Depends}> generated by L<dh_perl(1)>.
605 You can choose not to use any of these, if debhelper's guesses don't match
608 =head2 Package build directories
610 By default, all debhelper programs assume that the temporary directory used
611 for assembling the tree of files in a package is debian/I<package>.
613 Sometimes, you might want to use some other temporary directory. This is
614 supported by the B<-P> flag. For example, "B<dh_installdocs -Pdebian/tmp>", will
615 use B<debian/tmp> as the temporary directory. Note that if you use B<-P>, the
616 debhelper programs can only be acting on a single package at a time. So if
617 you have a package that builds many binary packages, you will need to also
618 use the B<-p> flag to specify which binary package the debhelper program will
623 Debhelper includes support for udebs. To create a udeb with debhelper,
624 add "B<Package-Type: udeb>" to the package's stanza in F<debian/control>.
625 Debhelper will try to create udebs that comply with debian-installer
626 policy, by making the generated package files end in F<.udeb>, not
627 installing any documentation into a udeb, skipping over
628 F<preinst>, F<postrm>, F<prerm>, and F<config> scripts, etc.
636 Set to B<1> to enable verbose mode. Debhelper will output every command it runs
637 that modifies files on the build system.
641 Temporarily specifies what compatibility level debhelper should run at,
642 overriding any value in F<debian/compat>.
646 Set to B<1> to enable no-act mode.
650 Anything in this variable will be prepended to the command line arguments
651 of all debhelper commands.
653 When using L<dh(1)>, it can be passed options that will be passed on to each
654 debhelper command, which is generally better than using DH_OPTIONS.
656 =item B<DH_ALWAYS_EXCLUDE>
658 If set, this adds the value the variable is set to to the B<-X> options of all
659 commands that support the B<-X> option. Moreover, B<dh_builddeb> will B<rm -rf>
660 anything that matches the value in your package build tree.
662 This can be useful if you are doing a build from a CVS source tree, in
663 which case setting B<DH_ALWAYS_EXCLUDE=CVS> will prevent any CVS directories
664 from sneaking into the package you build. Or, if a package has a source
665 tarball that (unwisely) includes CVS directories, you might want to export
666 B<DH_ALWAYS_EXCLUDE=CVS> in F<debian/rules>, to make it take effect wherever
667 your package is built.
669 Multiple things to exclude can be separated with colons, as in
670 B<DH_ALWAYS_EXCLUDE=CVS:.svn>
678 =item F</usr/share/doc/debhelper/examples/>
680 A set of example F<debian/rules> files that use debhelper.
682 =item L<http://kitenet.net/~joey/code/debhelper/>
690 Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>