comply with the new policy.
A typical debian/rules file that uses debhelper will call several debhelper
-commands in sequence. Debhelper commands are all named with a "dh_" prefix.
-Examples of rules files that use debhelper are in
-F</usr/share/doc/debhelper/examples/>
+commands in sequence, or use L<dh(1)> to automate this process. Examples of
+rules files that use debhelper are in F</usr/share/doc/debhelper/examples/>
To create a new debian package using debhelper, you can just copy one of
the sample rules files and edit it by hand. Or you can try the dh-make
file can be found.
In some rare cases, you may want to have different versions of these files
-for different architectures. If files named debian/package.foo.arch
-exist, where "arch" is the same as the output of "dpkg --print-architecture",
+for different architectures or OSes. If files named debian/package.foo.ARCH
+or debian/package.foo.OS exist, where "ARCH" and "OS" are the same as the
+output of "dpkg-architecture -qDEB_HOST_ARCH" /
+"dpkg-architecture -qDEB_HOST_ARCH_OS",
then they will be used in preference to other, more general files.
In many cases, these config files are used to specify various types of
When appropriate, in cases like these, you can use standard shell wildcard
characters ('?' and '*' and '[..]' character classes) in the files.
+You can also put comments in these files; lines beginning with "#" are
+ignored.
+
=head1 SHARED DEBHELPER OPTIONS
The following command line options are supported by all debhelper programs.
this flag makes the command act on all "Architecture: any" packages, as well
as on any packages that have the current architecture explicitly specified.
Contrast to the -a flag, which makes the command work on all packages that
-are not architecture independant.
+are not architecture independent.
=item B<-N>I<package>, B<--no-package=>I<package>
Do not act on the specified package even if an -a, -i, or -p option lists
the package as one that should be acted on.
+=item B<--remaining-packages>
+
+Do not act on the packages which have already been acted on by this debhelper
+command earlier (i.e. if the command is present in the package debhelper log).
+For example, if you need to call the command with special options only for a
+couple of binary packages, pass this option to the last call of the command to
+process the rest of packages with default settings.
+
+=item B<--ignore=>I<file>
+
+Ignore the specified file. This can be used if debian/ contains a debhelper
+config file that a debhelper command should not act on. Note that
+debian/compat, debian/control, and debian/changelog can't be ignored, but
+then, there should never be a reason to ignore those files.
+
+For example, if upstream ships a debian/init that you don't want
+dh_installinit to install, use --ignore=debian/init
+
=item B<-P>I<tmpdir>, B<--tmpdir=>I<tmpdir>
Use "tmpdir" for package build directory. The default is debian/<package>
Exclude an item from processing. This option may be used multiple times,
to exclude more than one thing.
-=item B<-A>, B<-all>
+=item B<-A>, B<--all>
Makes files or other items that are specified on the command line take effect
in ALL packages acted on, not just the first.
=back
+=head1 BUILD SYSTEM OPTIONS
+
+The following command line options are supported by all of the dh_auto_*
+debhelper programs. These programs support a variety of build systems,
+and normally heuristically determine which to use, and how to use them.
+You can use these command line options to override the default behavior.
+
+=over 4
+
+=item B<-S>I<buildsystem>, B<--buildsystem=>I<buildsystem>
+
+Force use of the specified I<buildsystem>, instead of trying to auto-select
+one which might be applicable for the package.
+
+=item B<-D>I<directory>, B<--sourcedirectory=>I<directory>
+
+Assume that the original package source tree is at the specified
+I<directory> rather than the top level directory of the Debian
+source package tree.
+
+=item B<-B>[I<directory>], B<--builddirectory>=[I<directory>]
+
+Enable out of source building and use the specified I<directory> as the build
+directory. If I<directory> parameter is omitted, a default build directory
+will chosen.
+
+If this option is not specified, building will be done in source by default
+unless the build system requires or prefers out of source tree building.
+In such a case, the default build directory will be used even if
+L<--builddirectory> is not specified.
+
+If the build system prefers out of source tree building but still
+allows in source building, the latter can be re-enabled by passing a build
+directory path that is the same as the source directory path.
+
+=item B<--list>, B<-l>
+
+List all build systems supported by debhelper on this system. The list
+includes both default and third party build systems (marked as such). Also
+shows which build system would be automatically selected, or which one
+is manually specified with the I<--buildsystem> option.
+
+=back
+
=head1 NOTES
=head2 Multiple binary package support
If none are given, debhelper programs default to acting on all packages listed
in the control file.
-See F</usr/share/doc/debhelper/examples/rules.multi> for an example of how to
-use this in a package that generates multiple binary packages.
-
=head2 Automatic generation of debian install scripts
Some debhelper commands will automatically generate parts of debian
From time to time, major non-backwards-compatible changes need to be made
to debhelper, to keep it clean and well-designed as needs change and its
author gains more experience. To prevent such major changes from breaking
-existing packages, the concept of debhelper compatability levels was
-introduced. You tell debhelper which compatability level it should use, and
+existing packages, the concept of debhelper compatibility levels was
+introduced. You tell debhelper which compatibility level it should use, and
it modifies its behavior in various ways.
-You tell debhelper what compatability level to use by writing a number to
-debian/compat. For example, to turn on V4 mode:
+Tell debhelper what compatibility level to use by writing a number to
+debian/compat. For example, to turn on V7 mode:
- % echo 4 > debian/compat
+ % echo 7 > debian/compat
-These are the available compatablity levels:
+Unless otherwise indicated, all debhelper documentation assumes that you
+are using the most recent compatibility level, and in most cases does not
+indicate if the behavior is different in an earlier compatibility level, so
+if you are not using the most recent compatibility level, you're advised to
+read below for notes about what is different in earlier compatibility
+levels.
+
+These are the available compatibility levels:
=over 4
=item V1
-This is the original debhelper compatability level, and so it is the default
+This is the original debhelper compatibility level, and so it is the default
one. In this mode, debhelper will use debian/tmp as the package tree
directory for the first binary package listed in the control file, while using
debian/<package> for all other packages listed in the control file.
+
This mode is deprecated.
=item V2
In this mode, debhelper will consistently use debian/<package>
as the package tree directory for every package that is built.
+This mode is deprecated.
+
=item V3
This mode works like V2, with the following additions:
=back
+This mode is deprecated.
+
=item V4
-This is the reccommended mode of operation. It does everything V3 does,
-plus:
+Changes from V3 are:
=over 8
=item -
dh_makeshlibs -V will not include the debian part of the version number in
-the generated dependancy line in the shlibs file.
+the generated dependency line in the shlibs file.
=item -
You are encouraged to put the new ${misc:Depends} into debian/control to
-suppliment the ${shlibs:Depends} field.
+supplement the ${shlibs:Depends} field.
=item -
=back
+This mode is deprecated.
+
+=item V5
+
+Changes from V4 are:
+
+=over 8
+
+=item -
+
+Comments are ignored in debhelper config files.
+
+=item -
+
+dh_strip --dbg-package now specifies the name of a package to put debugging
+symbols in, not the packages to take the symbols from.
+
+=item -
+
+dh_installdocs skips installing empty files.
+
+=item -
+
+dh_install errors out if wildcards expand to nothing.
+
+=back
+
+=item V6
+
+Changes from V5 are:
+
+=over 8
+
+=item -
+
+Commands that generate maintainer script fragments will order the
+fragments in reverse order for the prerm and postrm scripts.
+
+=item -
+
+dh_installwm will install a slave manpage link for x-window-manager.1.gz,
+if it sees the man page in usr/share/man/man1 in the package build
+directory.
+
+=item -
+
+dh_builddeb did not previously delete everything matching
+DH_ALWAYS_EXCLUDE, if it was set to a list of things to exclude, such as
+"CVS:.svn:.git". Now it does.
+
+=item -
+
+dh_installman allows overwriting existing man pages in the package build
+directory. In previous compatibility levels it silently refuses to do this.
+
+=back
+
+=item V7
+
+This is the recommended mode of operation.
+
+Changes from V6 are:
+
+=over 8
+
+=item -
+
+dh_install, will fall back to looking for files in debian/tmp if it doesn't
+find them in the current directory (or wherever you tell it look using
+--sourcedir). This allows dh_install to interoperate with dh_auto_install,
+which installs to debian/tmp, without needing any special parameters.
+
+=item -
+
+dh_clean will read debian/clean and delete files listed there.
+
+=item -
+
+dh_clean will delete toplevel *-stamp files.
+
+=item -
+
+dh_installchangelogs will guess at what file is the upstream changelog if
+none is specified.
+
+=back
+
=back
=head2 Doc directory symlinks
hand), and debhelper should do the right thing: notice it is a dangling
symlink and not try to install a copyright file or changelog.
+=head2 udebs
+
+Debhelper includes support for udebs. To create a udeb with debhelper,
+add "XC-Package-Type: udeb" to the package's stanza in debian/control, and
+build-depend on debhelper (>= 4.2). Debhelper will try to create udebs that
+comply with debian-installer policy, by making the generated package files
+end in ".udeb", not installing any documentation into a udeb, skipping over
+preinst, postrm, prerm, and config scripts, etc.
+
=head2 Other notes
In general, if any debhelper program needs a directory to exist under
debian/, it will create it. I haven't bothered to document this in all the
man pages, but for example, dh_installdeb knows to make debian/<package>/DEBIAN/
before trying to put files there, dh_installmenu knows you need a
-debian/<package>/usr/lib/menu/ before installing the menu files, etc.
+debian/<package>/usr/share/menu/ before installing the menu files, etc.
Once your package uses debhelper to build, be sure to add
debhelper to your Build-Depends line in debian/control. You should
-build-depend on a verson of debhelper equal to (or greater than) the
-debhelper compatability level your package uses. So if your package used
-compatability level 4:
+build-depend on a version of debhelper equal to (or greater than) the
+debhelper compatibility level your package uses. So if your package used
+compatibility level 7:
- Build-Depends: debhelper (>= 4)
+ Build-Depends: debhelper (>= 7)
=head1 ENVIRONMENT
=item DH_OPTIONS
-Anything in this variable will be prepended to the command line
-arguments of all debhelper commands. This is useful in some situations,
-for example, if you need to pass -p to all debhelper commands that will be
-run. If you use DH_OPTIONS, be sure to build depend on "debhelper >= 1.1.17" --
-older debhelpers will ignore it and do things you don't want them to. One very
-good way to set DH_OPTIONS is by using "Target-specific Variable Values" in
-your debian/rules file. See the make documentation for details on doing this.
+Anything in this variable will be prepended to the command line arguments
+of all debhelper commands. Command-specific options will be ignored by
+commands that do not support them.
+
+This is useful in some situations, for example, if you need to pass -p to
+all debhelper commands that will be run. One good way to set DH_OPTIONS is
+by using "Target-specific Variable Values" in your debian/rules file. See
+the make documentation for details on doing this.
=item DH_ALWAYS_EXCLUDE
A set of example debian/rules files that use debhelper.
-=item L<http://kitenet.net/programs/debhelper/>
+=item L<http://kitenet.net/~joey/code/debhelper/>
Debhelper web site.
projects / debhelper.git / blobdiff