<p>
A copy of the GNU General Public License is available as
- <tt>/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL</tt> in the Debian GNU/Linux
+ <file>/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL</file> in the Debian GNU/Linux
distribution or on the World Wide Web at
<url id="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html"
name="The GNU General Public Licence">. You can also
as
<ftppath>/debian/doc/package-developer/policy.txt.gz</ftppath>
(also available from the same directory are several other
- formats: <tt>policy.html.tar.gz</tt>, <tt>policy.pdf.gz</tt>
- and <tt>policy.ps.gz</tt>) or from the <url
+ formats: <file>policy.html.tar.gz</file>, <file>policy.pdf.gz</file>
+ and <file>policy.ps.gz</file>) or from the <url
id="http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/" name="Debian
Policy Manual"> webpage.</p>
<p>
In addition, this manual is distributed via the Debian package
- <tt>debian-policy</tt>.
+ <file>debian-policy</file>.
</p>
<p>
The <tt>debian-policy</tt> package also includes the file
- <tt>upgrading-checklist.txt</tt> which indicates policy
+ <file>upgrading-checklist.txt</file> which indicates policy
changes between versions of this document.
</p>
</sect>
<sect1>
<heading>The non-US sections</heading>
<p>
- Some programs with cryptographic program code need to be
- stored on the <em>non-US</em> server because of United
- States export restrictions. Such programs must be
- distributed in the appropriate <em>non-US</em> section,
- either <em>non-US/main</em>, <em>non-US/contrib</em> or
- <em>non-US/non-free</em>.
+ Non-free programs with cryptographic program code need to
+ be stored on the <em>non-us</em> server because of export
+ restrictions of the U.S.
</p>
<p>
- This applies only to packages which contain cryptographic
- code. A package containing a program with an interface to
- a cryptographic program or a program that's dynamically
- linked against a cryptographic library should not be
- distributed via the <em>non-US</em> server if it is
- capable of running without the cryptographic library or
- program.
+ Programs which use patented algorithms that have a
+ restrictied license also need to be stored on "non-us",
+ since that is located in a country where it is not allowed
+ to patent algorithms.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ A package depends on another package which is distributed
+ via the non-us server has to be stored on the non-us
+ server as well.
</p>
</sect1>
<sect1>
<p>
Every package must be accompanied by a verbatim copy of
its copyright and distribution license in the file
- <tt>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/copyright</tt>
+ <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/copyright</file>
(see <ref id="copyrightfile"> for further details).
</p>
<p>
Package names must consist of lower case letters
(<tt>a-z</tt>), digits (<tt>0-9</tt>), plus (<tt>+</tt>)
and minus (<tt>-</tt>) signs, and periods (<tt>.</tt>).
- They must be at least two characters long and must contain
- at least one letter.
+ They must be at least two characters long and must start
+ with an alphanumeric character.
</p>
<p>
doing that has been reached.</p></sect1>
- <sect1>
+ <sect1 id="virtual_pkg_sect">
<heading>Virtual packages</heading>
<p>
They should not use virtual package names (except privately,
amongst a cooperating group of packages) unless they have
been agreed upon and appear in the list of virtual package
- names.</p>
+ names. (See also <ref id="virtual">)</p>
<p>
The latest version of the authoritative list of virtual
reached.
</p>
</sect1>
+ <sect1>
+ <heading>Tasks</heading>
+
+ <p>
+ The Debian install process allows the user to choose from
+ a number of common tasks which a Debian system can be used to
+ perform. Selecting a task with <prgn>tasksel</prgn> causes
+ a set of packages that are useful in performing that task to be
+ installed.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ This set of packages is all available packages which have the
+ name of the selected task in the <tt>Task</tt> field of their
+ control file. The format of this field is a list of tasks,
+ separated by commas.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ You should not tag any packages as belonging to a task
+ before this has been discussed on the
+ <em>debian-devel</em> mailing list and a consensus about
+ doing that has been reached.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ For third parties (and historical reasons), tasksel also
+ supports constructing tasks based on <em>task
+ packages</em>. These are packages whose names begin with
+ <em>task-</em>. Task packages should not be included in the
+ Debian archive.
+ </p>
+ </sect1>
<sect1 id="maintscripts">
- <heading>Maintainer scripts</heading>
+ <heading>Maintainer Scripts</heading>
<p>
The package installation scripts should avoid producing
</p>
<p>
- You should not use <tt>dpkg-divert</tt> on a file
+ You should not use <prgn>dpkg-divert</prgn> on a file
belonging to another package without consulting the
maintainer of that package first.
</p>
<prgn>debconf</prgn>, which conforms to the Debian
Configuration management specification, version 2 or
higher. These are included in the
- <tt>debconf_specification</tt> files in the
+ <file>debconf_specification</file> files in the
<package>debian-policy</package> package.
You may also find this file on the FTP site
<ftpsite>ftp.debian.org</ftpsite> in
<package>debconf</package>, plus the existance of a
nascent second implementation of the Debian
configuration management system
- (<package>cdebconf</package>), and the stabalization
+ (<package>cdebconf</package>), and the stabilization
of the protocol these things use, the time has
finally come to reflect the use of these things in
policy.
they need to do, and they should ensure that the user
will only ever be asked each question once. This means
that packages should try to use appropriate shared
- configuration files (such as <tt>/etc/papersize</tt> and
- <tt>/etc/news/server</tt>), and shared
+ configuration files (such as <file>/etc/papersize</file> and
+ <file>/etc/news/server</file>), and shared
<package>debconf</package> variables rather than each
prompting for their own list of required pieces of
information.
questions again, unless the user has used <tt>dpkg
--purge</tt> to remove the package's configuration. The
answers to configuration questions should be stored in an
- appropriate place in <tt>/etc</tt> so that the user can
+ appropriate place in <file>/etc</file> so that the user can
modify them, and how this has been done should be
documented.</p>
prompt the user to hit return to acknowledge the
message. Copyright messages do not count as vitally
important (they belong in
- <tt>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/copyright</tt>);
+ <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/copyright</file>);
neither do instructions on how to use a program (these
should be in on-line documentation, where all the users
can see them).</p>
<tt>Standards-Version</tt> source package field and
release it.<footnote>
<p>
- See the file <tt>upgrading-checklist</tt> for
+ See the file <file>upgrading-checklist</file> for
information about policy which has changed between
different versions of this document.
</p>
standard "Hello World!" program written in C or C++. The
required packages are called <em>build-essential</em>, and
an informational list can be found in
- <tt>/usr/share/doc/build-essential/list</tt> (which is
+ <file>/usr/share/doc/build-essential/list</file> (which is
contained in the <tt>build-essential</tt>
package).<footnote>
<p>Rationale:
<p>
Having a separate package allows one to install
the build-essential packages on a machine, as
- well as allowing other packages such as task
- packages to require installation of the
- build-essential packages using the depends
- relation.
+ well as allowing other packages such as tasks to
+ require installation of the build-essential
+ packages using the depends relation.
</p>
</item>
<item>
you should list all those packages, and <em>only</em>
those packages that <em>you</em> need directly. What
others need is their business. For example, if you
- only link against <tt>libimlib</tt>, you will need to
+ only link against <file>libimlib</file>, you will need to
build-depend on <package>libimlib2-dev</package> but
not against any <tt>libjpeg*</tt> packages, even
though <tt>libimlib2-dev</tt> currently depends on
or <tt>#define</tt>) and send the patch to the upstream
authors, with the default set to the way they originally
had it. You can then easily override the default in your
- <tt>debian/rules</tt> or wherever is appropriate.</p>
+ <file>debian/rules</file> or wherever is appropriate.</p>
<p>
You should make sure that the <prgn>configure</prgn> utility
<p>
If you need to edit a <prgn>Makefile</prgn> where
GNU-style <prgn>configure</prgn> scripts are used, you
- should edit the <tt>.in</tt> files rather than editing the
+ should edit the <file>.in</file> files rather than editing the
<prgn>Makefile</prgn> directly. This allows the user to
reconfigure the package if necessary. You should
<em>not</em> configure the package and edit the generated
<p>
You should document your changes and updates to the source
- package properly in the <tt>debian/changelog</tt> file. (Note
+ package properly in the <file>debian/changelog</file> file. (Note
that mistakes in changelogs are usually best rectified by
making a new changelog entry rather than "rewriting history"
by editing old changelog entries.)</p>
<p>
In non-experimental packages you must use a format for
- <tt>debian/changelog</tt> which is supported by the most
+ <file>debian/changelog</file> which is supported by the most
recent released version of <prgn>dpkg</prgn>.<footnote>
<p>
If you wish to use an alternative format, you may do
<p>
When <prgn>make</prgn> invokes a command in a makefile
(including your package's upstream makefiles and
- <tt>debian/rules</tt>), it does so using <tt>sh</tt>. This
- means that <tt>sh</tt>'s usual bad error handling
+ <file>debian/rules</file>), it does so using <prgn>sh</prgn>. This
+ means that <prgn>sh</prgn>'s usual bad error handling
properties apply: if you include a miniature script as one
of the commands in your makefile you'll find that if you
don't do anything about it then errors are not detected
data represented in a common format, known as <em>control
data</em>. The data is often stored in <em>control
files</em>. Binary and source packages have control files,
- and the <tt>.changes</tt> files which control the installation
+ and the <file>.changes</file> files which control the installation
of uploaded files are also in control file format.
<prgn>Dpkg</prgn>'s internal databases are in a similar
format.
<p>
The name of the binary package. Package names consist of
- the alphanumerics and <tt>+</tt> <tt>-</tt> <tt>.</tt>
- (plus, minus and full stop).
+ lower case letters (<tt>a-z</tt>), digits (<tt>0-9</tt>),
+ plus (<tt>+</tt>) and minus (<tt>-</tt>) signs, and
+ periods (<tt>.</tt>).
</p>
<p>
They must be at least two characters long and must start
- with an alphanumeric character and not be all digits. The
- use of lowercase package names is strongly recommended
- unless the package you're building (or referring to, in
- other fields) is already using uppercase.</p>
+ with an alphanumeric character. The use of lowercase
+ package names is required unless the package you're
+ building (or referring to, in other fields) is already
+ using uppercase characters.</p>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="f-Version"><heading><tt>Version</tt>
</heading>
<p>
- In a <tt>.changes</tt> file or parsed changelog output
+ In a <file>.changes</file> file or parsed changelog output
this contains the (space-separated) name(s) of the
distribution(s) where this version of the package should
be installed. Valid distributions are determined by the
<p>
This is the main part of the version number. It is
usually the version number of the original (`upstream')
- package from which the <tt>.deb</tt> file has been made,
+ package from which the <file>.deb</file> file has been made,
if this is applicable. Usually this will be in the same
format as that specified by the upstream author(s);
however, it may need to be reformatted to fit into the
</p>
</sect>
- <sect id="debianrules"><heading><tt>debian/rules</tt> - the
+ <sect id="debianrules"><heading><file>debian/rules</file> - the
main building script</heading>
<p>
</p>
<p>
- Since an interactive <tt>debian/rules</tt> script makes it
+ Since an interactive <file>debian/rules</file> script makes it
impossible to auto-compile that package and also makes it
hard for other people to reproduce the same binary
package, all <em>required targets</em> MUST be
<tt>build-arch</tt> or <tt>build-indep</tt> target, if
provided, so that the package is built if it has not
been already. It should then create the relevant
- binary package(s), using <tt>dpkg-gencontrol</tt> to
- make their control files and <tt>dpkg-deb</tt> to
+ binary package(s), using <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> to
+ make their control files and <prgn>dpkg-deb</prgn> to
build them and place them in the parent of the top
level directory.
</p>
<p>
- Additional targets may exist in <tt>debian/rules</tt>,
+ Additional targets may exist in <file>debian/rules</file>,
either as published or undocumented interfaces or for the
package's internal use.
</p>
</p>
</sect>
- <sect id="dpkgchangelog"><heading><tt>debian/changelog</tt>
+ <sect id="dpkgchangelog"><heading><file>debian/changelog</file>
</heading>
<p>
<var>distribution(s)</var> lists the distributions where
this version should be installed when it is uploaded - it
is copied to the <tt>Distribution</tt> field in the
- <tt>.changes</tt> file. See <ref id="f-Distribution">.
+ <file>.changes</file> file. See <ref id="f-Distribution">.
</p>
<p>
<var>urgency</var> is the value for the <tt>Urgency</tt>
- field in the <tt>.changes</tt> file for the upload. It is
+ field in the <file>.changes</file> file for the upload. It is
not possible to specify an urgency containing commas; commas
are used to separate
<tt><var>keyword</var>=<var>value</var></tt> settings in the
</sect1>
</sect>
- <sect id="srcsubstvars"><heading><tt>debian/substvars</tt>
+ <sect id="srcsubstvars"><heading><file>debian/substvars</file>
and variable substitutions </heading>
<p>
generate control files they perform variable substitutions
on their output just before writing it. Variable
substitutions have the form <tt>${<var>variable</var>}</tt>.
- The optional file <tt>debian/substvars</tt> contains
+ The optional file <file>debian/substvars</file> contains
variable substitutions to be used; variables can also be set
- directly from <tt>debian/rules</tt> using the <tt>-V</tt>
+ directly from <file>debian/rules</file> using the <tt>-V</tt>
option to the source packaging commands, and certain
predefined variables are also available.
</p>
<p>
- The <tt>debian/substvars</tt> file is usually generated and
- modified dynamically by <tt>debian/rules</tt> targets; in
+ The <file>debian/substvars</file> file is usually generated and
+ modified dynamically by <file>debian/rules</file> targets; in
this case it must be removed by the <tt>clean</tt>
target.
</p>
<p>
See <manref name="dpkg-source" section="1"> for full
details about source variable substitutions, including the
- format of <tt>debian/substvars</tt>.</p>
+ format of <file>debian/substvars</file>.</p>
</sect>
- <sect id="debianfiles"><heading><tt>debian/files</tt>
+ <sect id="debianfiles"><heading><file>debian/files</file>
</heading>
<p>
This file is not a permanent part of the source tree; it
is used while building packages to record which files are
being generated. <prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> uses it
- when it generates a <tt>.changes</tt> file.
+ when it generates a <file>.changes</file> file.
</p>
<p>
It should not exist in a shipped source package, and so it
(and any backup files or temporary files such as
- <tt>files.new</tt><footnote>
+ <file>files.new</file><footnote>
<p>
- <tt>files.new</tt> is used as a temporary file by
+ <file>files.new</file> is used as a temporary file by
<prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> and
<prgn>dpkg-distaddfile</prgn> - they write a new
version of <tt>files</tt> here before renaming it,
<p>
When <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> is run for a binary
- package, it adds an entry to <tt>debian/files</tt> for the
- <tt>.deb</tt> file that will be created when <tt>dpkg-deb
+ package, it adds an entry to <file>debian/files</file> for the
+ <file>.deb</file> file that will be created when <tt>dpkg-deb
--build</tt> is run for that binary package. So for most
packages all that needs to be done with this file is to
delete it in the <tt>clean</tt> target.
made with <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> then they should be
placed in the parent of the package's top-level directory
and <prgn>dpkg-distaddfile</prgn> should be called to add
- the file to the list in <tt>debian/files</tt>.</p>
+ the file to the list in <file>debian/files</file>.</p>
</sect>
<sect id="restrictions"><heading>Restrictions on objects in source packages
aborted half way through for some reason, the second call
should merely do the things that were left undone the first
time, if any, and exit with a success status if everything
- is OK.<footnote>
+ is OK.<footnote>
<p>
This is so that if an error occurs, the user interrupts
<prgn>dpkg</prgn> or some other unforeseen circumstance
controlling terminal and can interact with the user.
If they need to prompt for passwords, do full-screen
interaction or something similar you should do these
- things to and from <tt>/dev/tty</tt>, since
+ things to and from <file>/dev/tty</file>, since
<prgn>dpkg</prgn> will at some point redirect scripts'
standard input and output so that it can log the
installation process. Likewise, because these scripts
<tt>Provides</tt> control file field of another package.
The effect is as if the package(s) which provide a
particular virtual package name had been listed by name
- everywhere the virtual package name appears.
+ everywhere the virtual package name appears. (See also <ref
+ id="virtual_pkg_sect">)
</p>
<p>
- If there are both a real and a virtual package of the same
- name then the dependency may be satisfied (or the conflict
- caused) by either the real package or any of the virtual
- packages which provide it. This is so that, for example,
- supposing we have
+ If there are both concrete and virtual packages of the same
+ name, then the dependency may be satisfied (or the conflict
+ caused) by either the concrete package with the name in
+ question or any other concrete package which provides the
+ virtual package with the name in question. This is so that,
+ for example, supposing we have
<example compact="compact">
Package: foo
Depends: bar
<tt>Build-Conflicts</tt> and <tt>Build-Conflicts-Indep</tt>.
The dependencies and conflicts they define must be satisfied
(as defined earlier for binary packages) in order to invoke
- the targets in <tt>debian/rules</tt>, as follows:
+ the targets in <tt>debian/rules</tt>, as follows:<footnote>
+ <p>
+ If you make "build-arch" or "binary-arch", you need
+ Build-Depends. If you make "build-indep" or
+ "binary-indep", you need Build-Depends and
+ Build-Depends-Indep. If you make "build" or "binary",
+ you need both.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ There is no Build-Depends-Arch; the autobuilders will
+ only need the Build-Depends if they know how to build
+ only build-arch and binary-arch. Anyone building the
+ build-indep/binary-indep targets is basically assumed to
+ be building the whole package and so installs all build
+ dependencies.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The purpose of the original split, I recall, was so that
+ the autobuilders wouldn't need to install extra packages
+ needed only for the binary-indep targets. But without a
+ build-arch/build-indep split, this didn't work, since
+ most of the work is done in the build target, not in the
+ binary target.
+ </p>
+ </footnote>
<taglist>
<tag><tt>Build-Depends</tt>, <tt>Build-Conflicts</tt></tag>
The <tt>Build-Depends</tt> and
<tt>Build-Conflicts</tt> fields must be satisfied when
any of the following targets is invoked:
- <tt>build</tt>, <tt>binary</tt>, <tt>binary-arch</tt>
+ <tt>build</tt>, <tt>binary</tt>, <tt>binary-arch</tt>,
+ <tt>build-arch</tt>, <tt>build-indep</tt>
and <tt>binary-indep</tt>.
</p>
</item>
- <tag><tt>Build-Depends-Indep</tt>, <tt>Build-Conflicts-Indep</tt></tag>
+ <tag><tt>Build-Depends-Indep</tt>,
+ <tt>Build-Conflicts-Indep</tt></tag>
<item>
<p>
The <tt>Build-Depends-Indep</tt> and
<tt>Build-Conflicts-Indep</tt> fields must be
satisfied when any of the following targets is
- invoked: <tt>binary</tt> and <tt>binary-indep</tt>.
+ invoked: <tt>build</tt>, <tt>build-indep</tt>,
+ <tt>binary</tt> and <tt>binary-indep</tt>.
</p>
</item>
</taglist>
Firstly, the package should install the shared libraries under
their normal names. For example, the <tt>libgdbmg1</tt>
package should install <tt>libgdbm.so.1.7.3</tt> as
- <tt>/usr/lib/libgdbm.so.1.7.3</tt>. The files should not be
+ <file>/usr/lib/libgdbm.so.1.7.3</file>. The files should not be
renamed or re-linked by any <prgn>prerm</prgn> or
<prgn>postrm</prgn> scripts; <prgn>dpkg</prgn> will take care
of renaming things safely without affecting running programs,
Secondly, the package should include the symbolic link that
<prgn>ldconfig</prgn> would create for the shared libraries.
For example, the <prgn>libgdbmg1</prgn> package should include
- a symbolic link from <tt>/usr/lib/libgdbm.so.1</tt> to
- <tt>libgdbm.so.1.7.3</tt>. This is needed so that the dynamic
+ a symbolic link from <file>/usr/lib/libgdbm.so.1</file> to
+ <file>libgdbm.so.1.7.3</file>. This is needed so that the dynamic
linker (for example <prgn>ld.so</prgn> or
<prgn>ld-linux.so.*</prgn>) can find the library between the
time that <prgn>dpkg</prgn> installs it and the time that
<p>
The package management system requires the library to be
placed before the symbolic link pointing to it in the
- <tt>.deb</tt> file. This is so that when
+ <file>.deb</file> file. This is so that when
<prgn>dpkg</prgn> comes to install the symlink
(overwriting the previous symlink pointing at an older
version of the library), the new shared library is already
library in the temporary packaging directory before
creating the symlink. Unfortunately, this was not always
effective, since the building of the tar file in the
- <tt>.deb</tt> depended on the behavior of the underlying
+ <file>.deb</file> depended on the behavior of the underlying
file system. Some file systems (such as reiserfs) reorder
the files so that the order of creation is forgotten.
Starting with release <tt>1.7.0</tt>, <prgn>dpkg</prgn>
symlink for the shared library without a version number. For
example, the <tt>libgdbmg1-dev</tt> package should include a
symlink from <tt>/usr/lib/libgdbm.so</tt> to
- <tt>libgdbm.so.1.7.3</tt>. This symlink is needed by the
+ <file>libgdbm.so.1.7.3</file>. This symlink is needed by the
linker (<prgn>ld</prgn>) when compiling packages, as it will
- only look for <tt>libgdbm.so</tt> when compiling dynamically.
+ only look for <file>libgdbm.so</file> when compiling dynamically.
</p>
<p>
Any package installing shared libraries in one of the default
library directories of the dynamic linker (which are currently
- <tt>/usr/lib</tt> and <tt>/lib</tt>) or a directory that is
- listed in <tt>/etc/ld.so.conf</tt><footnote>
+ <file>/usr/lib</file> and <file>/lib</file>) or a directory that is
+ listed in <file>/etc/ld.so.conf</file><footnote>
<p>
These are currently
<list compact="compact">
</list>
</p>
</footnote>
- must call <prgn>ldconfig</prgn> in its <prgn>postinst</prgn>
- script if the first argument is <tt>configure</tt> and should
- call it in the <prgn>postrm</prgn> script if the first
- argument is <tt>remove</tt>.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- However, <prgn>postrm</prgn> and <prgn>preinst</prgn> scripts
- <em>must not</em> call <prgn>ldconfig</prgn> in the case where
- the package is being upgraded (see <ref id="unpackphase"> for
- details), as <prgn>ldconfig</prgn> will see the temporary
- names that <prgn>dpkg</prgn> uses for the files while it is
- installing them and will make the shared library links point
- to them, just before <prgn>dpkg</prgn> continues the
- installation and renames the temporary files!
+ must use <prgn>ldconfig</prgn> to update the shared library
+ system. The package must call <prgn>ldconfig</prgn> in the
+ <prgn>postinst</prgn> script if the first argument is
+ <tt>configure</tt>; the <prgn>postinst</prgn> script may
+ optionally invoke <prgn>ldconfig</prgn> at other times. The
+ package should call <prgn>ldconfig</prgn> in the
+ <prgn>postrm</prgn> script if the first argument is
+ <tt>remove</tt>. The maintainer scripts must not invoke
+ <prgn>ldconfig</prgn> under any circumstances other than those
+ described in this paragraph.<footnote>
+ <p>During install or upgrade, the preinst is called before
+ the new files are installed, so calling "ldconfig" is
+ pointless. The preinst of an existing package can also be
+ called if an upgrade fails. However, this happens during
+ the critical time when a shared libs may exist on-disk
+ under a temporary name. Thus, it is dangerous and
+ forbidden by current policy to call "ldconfig" at this
+ time. When a package is installed or upgraded, "postinst
+ configure" runs after the new files are safely on-disk.
+ The postinst can also be called to recover from a failed
+ upgrade. This happens before any new files are unpacked,
+ so there is no reason to call "ldconfig" at this point.
+ For a package that is being removed, prerm is called with
+ all the files intact, so calling ldconfig is useless. The
+ other calls to "prerm" happen in the case of upgrade at a
+ time when all the files of the old package are on-disk, so
+ again calling "ldconfig" is pointless. If An installed
+ shared lib has been removed from the system just before
+ "postrm remove" is run. This is the proper time to call
+ "ldconfig" to notify the system of that fact. The postrm
+ can be called at several other times. At the time of
+ "postrm purge", "postrm abort-install", or "postrm
+ abort-upgrade", calling "ldconfig" is useless because the
+ shared lib files are not on-disk. However, when "postrm"
+ is invoked with arguments "upgrade", "failed-upgrade", or
+ "disappear", a shared lib may exist on-disk under a
+ temporary filename.
+ </p>
+ </footnote>
</p>
<sect>
<em>uses</em> a shared library uses this information to
determine the dependencies it requires. The files which
contain the mapping from shared libraries to the necessary
- dependency information are called <tt>shlibs</tt> files.
+ dependency information are called <file>shlibs</file> files.
</p>
<p>
Thus, when a package is built which contains any shared
- libraries, it must provide a <tt>shlibs</tt> file for other
+ libraries, it must provide a <file>shlibs</file> file for other
packages to use, and when a package is built which contains
any shared libraries or compiled binaries, it must run
<prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> on these to determine the
<p>
<list>
<item>
- <p><tt>debian/shlibs.local</tt></p>
+ <p><file>debian/shlibs.local</file></p>
<p>
This lists overrides for this package. Its use is
described below (see <ref id="shlibslocal">).
</item>
<item>
- <p><tt>/etc/dpkg/shlibs.override</tt></p>
+ <p><file>/etc/dpkg/shlibs.override</file></p>
<p>
This lists global overrides. This list is normally
empty. It is maintained by the local system
</item>
<item>
- <p><tt>DEBIAN/shlibs</tt> files in the `build directory'</p>
+ <p><file>DEBIAN/shlibs</file> files in the `build directory'</p>
<p>
When packages are being built, any
- <tt>debian/shlibs</tt> files are copied into the
+ <file>debian/shlibs</file> files are copied into the
control file area of the temporary build directory and
- given the name <tt>shlibs</tt>. These files give
+ given the name <file>shlibs</file>. These files give
details of any shared libraries included in the
package.<footnote>
<p>
packages, <tt>libfoo2</tt> and
<tt>foo-runtime</tt>. When building the binary
packages, the two packages are created in the
- directories <tt>debian/libfoo2</tt> and
- <tt>debian/foo-runtime</tt> respectively.
- (<tt>debian/tmp</tt> could be used instead of one
+ directories <file>debian/libfoo2</file> and
+ <file>debian/foo-runtime</file> respectively.
+ (<file>debian/tmp</file> could be used instead of one
of these.) Since <tt>libfoo2</tt> provides the
<tt>libfoo</tt> shared library, it will require a
<tt>shlibs</tt> file, which will be installed in
- <tt>debian/libfoo2/DEBIAN/shlibs</tt>, eventually
+ <file>debian/libfoo2/DEBIAN/shlibs</file>, eventually
to become
- <tt>/var/lib/dpkg/info/libfoo2.shlibs</tt>. Then
+ <file>/var/lib/dpkg/info/libfoo2.shlibs</file>. Then
when <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> is run on the
executable
- <tt>debian/foo-runtime/usr/bin/foo-prog</tt>, it
+ <file>debian/foo-runtime/usr/bin/foo-prog</file>, it
will examine the
- <tt>debian/libfoo2/DEBIAN/shlibs</tt> file to
+ <file>debian/libfoo2/DEBIAN/shlibs</file> file to
determine whether <tt>foo-prog</tt>'s library
dependencies are satisfied by any of the libraries
provided by <tt>libfoo2</tt>. For this reason,
</item>
<item>
- <p><tt>/var/lib/dpkg/info/*.shlibs</tt></p>
+ <p><file>/var/lib/dpkg/info/*.shlibs</file></p>
<p>
- These are the <tt>shlibs</tt> files corresponding to
+ These are the <file>shlibs</file> files corresponding to
all of the packages installed on the system, and are
maintained by the relevant package maintainers.
</p>
</item>
<item>
- <p><tt>/etc/dpkg/shlibs.default</tt></p>
+ <p><file>/etc/dpkg/shlibs.default</file></p>
<p>
This file lists any shared libraries whose packages
- have failed to provide correct <tt>shlibs</tt> files.
- It was used when the <tt>shlibs</tt> setup was first
+ have failed to provide correct <file>shlibs</file> files.
+ It was used when the <file>shlibs</file> setup was first
introduced, but it is now normally empty. It is
maintained by the <tt>dpkg</tt> maintainer.
</p>
<sect>
<heading>How to use <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> and the
- <tt>shlibs</tt> files</heading>
+ <file>shlibs</file> files</heading>
<p>
Put a call to <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> into your
- <tt>debian/rules</tt> file. If your package contains only
+ <file>debian/rules</file> file. If your package contains only
compiled binaries and libraries (but no scripts), you can
use a command such as:
<example compact="compact">
<p>
This command puts the dependency information into the
- <tt>debian/substvars</tt> file, which is then used by
+ <file>debian/substvars</file> file, which is then used by
<prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn>. You will need to place a
<tt>${shlib:Depends}</tt> variable in the <tt>Depends</tt>
field in the control file for this to work.
<p>
If <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> doesn't complain, you're
done. If it does complain you might need to create your own
- <tt>debian/shlibs.local</tt> file, as explained below (see
+ <file>debian/shlibs.local</file> file, as explained below (see
<ref id="shlibslocal">).
</p>
<prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> on each one which contains
compiled libraries or binaries. In such a case, you will
need to use the <tt>-T</tt> option to the <tt>dpkg</tt>
- utilities to specify a different <tt>substvars</tt> file.
+ utilities to specify a different <file>substvars</file> file.
For more details on this and other options, see <manref
name="dpkg-shlibdeps" section="1">.
</p>
</sect>
- <sect id="shlibs"><heading>The <tt>shlibs</tt> File Format
+ <sect id="shlibs"><heading>The <file>shlibs</file> File Format
</heading>
<p>
- Each <tt>shlibs</tt> file has the same format. Lines
+ Each <file>shlibs</file> file has the same format. Lines
beginning with <tt>#</tt> are considered to be comments and
are ignored. Each line is of the form:
<example compact="compact">
<p>
We will explain this by reference to the example of the
<tt>zlib1g</tt> package, which (at the time of writing)
- installs the shared library <tt>/usr/lib/libz.so.1.1.3</tt>.
+ installs the shared library <file>/usr/lib/libz.so.1.1.3</file>.
</p>
<p>
</sect>
<sect>
- <heading>Providing a <tt>shlibs</tt> file</heading>
+ <heading>Providing a <file>shlibs</file> file</heading>
<p>
If your package provides a shared library, you should create
- a <tt>shlibs</tt> file following the format described above.
- It is usual to call this file <tt>debian/shlibs</tt> (but if
+ a <file>shlibs</file> file following the format described above.
+ It is usual to call this file <file>debian/shlibs</file> (but if
you have multiple binary packages, you might want to call it
- <tt>debian/shlibs.<var>package</var></tt> instead). Then
- let <tt>debian/rules</tt> install it in the control area:
+ <file>debian/shlibs.<var>package</var></file> instead). Then
+ let <file>debian/rules</file> install it in the control area:
<example compact="compact">
install -m644 debian/shlibs debian/tmp/DEBIAN
</example>
install -m644 debian/shlibs.<var>package</var> debian/<var>package</var>/DEBIAN/shlibs
</example>
An alternative way of doing this is to create the
- <tt>shlibs</tt> file in the control area directly from
- <tt>debian/rules</tt> without using a <tt>debian/shlibs</tt>
+ <file>shlibs</file> file in the control area directly from
+ <file>debian/rules</file> without using a <file>debian/shlibs</file>
file at all,<footnote>
<p>
This is what <prgn>dh_makeshlibs</prgn> in the
<tt>debhelper</tt> suite does.
</p>
</footnote>
- since the <tt>debian/shlibs</tt> file itself is ignored by
+ since the <file>debian/shlibs</file> file itself is ignored by
<prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn>.
</p>
<p>
As <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> reads the
- <tt>DEBIAN/shlibs</tt> files in all of the binary packages
+ <file>DEBIAN/shlibs</file> files in all of the binary packages
being built from this source package, all of the
- <tt>DEBIAN/shlibs</tt> files should be installed before
+ <file>DEBIAN/shlibs</file> files should be installed before
<prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> is called on any of the binary
packages.
</p>
</sect>
<sect id="shlibslocal">
- <heading>Writing the <tt>debian/shlibs.local</tt> file</heading>
+ <heading>Writing the <file>debian/shlibs.local</file> file</heading>
<p>
This file is intended only as a <em>temporary</em> fix if
your binaries or libraries depend on a library whose package
- does not yet provide a correct <tt>shlibs</tt> file.
+ does not yet provide a correct <file>shlibs</file> file.
</p>
<p>
</example>
So the <prgn>foo</prgn> binary depends on the
<prgn>libbar</prgn> shared library, but no package seems to
- provide a <tt>*.shlibs</tt> file handling
- <tt>libbar.so.1</tt> in <tt>/var/lib/dpkg/info/</tt>. Let's
+ provide a <file>*.shlibs</file> file handling
+ <file>libbar.so.1</file> in <file>/var/lib/dpkg/info/</file>. Let's
determine the package responsible:
<example compact="compact">
$ dpkg -S /usr/lib/libbar.so.1
This tells us that the <tt>bar1</tt> package, version 1.0-1,
is the one we are using. Now we can file a bug against the
<tt>bar1</tt> package and create our own
- <tt>debian/shlibs.local</tt> to locally fix the problem.
+ <file>debian/shlibs.local</file> to locally fix the problem.
Including the following line into your
- <tt>debian/shlibs.local</tt> file:
+ <file>debian/shlibs.local</file> file:
<example compact="compact">
libbar 1 bar1 (>= 1.0-1)
</example>
<p>
As soon as the maintainer of <tt>bar1</tt> provides a
- correct <tt>shlibs</tt> file, you should remove this line
- from your <tt>debian/shlibs.local</tt> file. (You should
+ correct <file>shlibs</file> file, you should remove this line
+ from your <file>debian/shlibs.local</file> file. (You should
probably also then have a versioned <tt>Build-Depends</tt>
on <tt>bar1</tt> to help ensure that others do not have the
same problem building your package.)
version 2.1, except where doing so would violate other
terms of Debian Policy. The version of this document
referred here can be found in the <tt>debian-policy</tt>
- package or on
+ package or on
<url id="http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/fhs/"
name="FHS (Debian copy)"> alongside this manual. The
latest version, which may be a more recent version, may
<url id="http://www.pathname.com/fhs/" name="FHS (upstream)">.
Specific questions about following the standard may be
asked on the <tt>debian-devel</tt> mailing list, or
- referred to the FHS mailing list (see the
+ referred to the FHS mailing list (see the
<url id="http://www.pathname.com/fhs/" name="FHS web site"> for
- more information).
+ more information).
</p>
</sect1>
<p>
As mandated by the FHS, packages must not place any
- files in <tt>/usr/local</tt>, either by putting them in
+ files in <file>/usr/local</file>, either by putting them in
the file system archive to be unpacked by <prgn>dpkg</prgn>
or by manipulating them in their maintainer scripts.
</p>
<p>
However, the package may create empty directories below
- <tt>/usr/local</tt> so that the system administrator knows
+ <file>/usr/local</file> so that the system administrator knows
where to place site-specific files. These directories
should be removed on package removal if they are
empty.
<p>
Note, that this applies only to directories <em>below</em>
- <tt>/usr/local</tt>, not <em>in</em> <tt>/usr/local</tt>.
+ <file>/usr/local</file>, not <em>in</em> <file>/usr/local</file>.
Packages must not create sub-directories in the directory
- <tt>/usr/local</tt> itself, except those listed in FHS,
+ <file>/usr/local</file> itself, except those listed in FHS,
section 4.5. However, you may create directories below
them as you wish. You must not remove any of the
directories listed in 4.5, even if you created them.
</p>
<p>
- Since <tt>/usr/local</tt> can be mounted read-only from a
+ Since <file>/usr/local</file> can be mounted read-only from a
remote server, these directories must be created and
removed by the <prgn>postinst</prgn> and <prgn>prerm</prgn>
maintainer scripts and not be included in the
- <tt>.deb</tt> archive. These scripts must not fail if
+ <file>.deb</file> archive. These scripts must not fail if
either of these operations fail.
</p>
</example>
in the <prgn>prerm</prgn> script. (Note that this form is
used to ensure that if the script is interrupted, the
- directory <tt>/usr/local/share/emacs</tt> will still be
+ directory <file>/usr/local/share/emacs</file> will still be
removed.)
</p>
<p>
- If you do create a directory in <tt>/usr/local</tt> for
+ If you do create a directory in <file>/usr/local</file> for
local additions to a package, you should ensure that
- settings in <tt>/usr/local</tt> take precedence over the
- equivalents in <tt>/usr</tt>.
+ settings in <file>/usr/local</file> take precedence over the
+ equivalents in <file>/usr</file>.
</p>
<p>
- However, because <tt>/usr/local</tt> and its contents are
+ However, because <file>/usr/local</file> and its contents are
for exclusive use of the local administrator, a package
must not rely on the presence or absence of files or
- directories in <tt>/usr/local</tt> for normal operation.
+ directories in <file>/usr/local</file> for normal operation.
</p>
<p>
- The <tt>/usr/local</tt> directory itself and all the
+ The <file>/usr/local</file> directory itself and all the
subdirectories created by the package should (by default) have
permissions 2775 (group-writable and set-group-id) and be
owned by <tt>root.staff</tt>.
<sect1>
<heading>The system-wide mail directory</heading>
<p>
- The system-wide mail directory is <tt>/var/mail</tt>. This
+ The system-wide mail directory is <file>/var/mail</file>. This
directory is part of the base system and should not owned
by any particular mail agents. The use of the old
- location <tt>/var/spool/mail</tt> is deprecated, even
+ location <file>/var/spool/mail</file> is deprecated, even
though the spool may still be physically located there.
To maintain partial upgrade compatibility for systems
- which have <tt>/var/spool/mail</tt> as their physical mail
- spool, packages using <tt>/var/mail</tt> must depend on
+ which have <file>/var/spool/mail</file> as their physical mail
+ spool, packages using <file>/var/mail</file> must depend on
either <package>libc6</package> (>= 2.1.3-13), or on
<package>base-files</package> (>= 2.2.0), or on later
versions of either one of these packages.
<p>
Packages other than <tt>base-passwd</tt> must not modify
- <tt>/etc/passwd</tt>, <tt>/etc/shadow</tt>,
- <tt>/etc/group</tt> or <tt>/etc/gshadow</tt>.
+ <file>/etc/passwd</file>, <file>/etc/shadow</file>,
+ <file>/etc/group</file> or <file>/etc/gshadow</file>.
</p>
</sect1>
<p>
Globally allocated by the Debian project, the same
on every Debian system. These ids will appear in
- the <tt>passwd</tt> and <tt>group</tt> files of all
+ the <file>passwd</file> and <file>group</file> files of all
Debian systems, new ids in this range being added
automatically as the <tt>base-passwd</tt> package is
updated.
<prgn>adduser</prgn> will check for the existence of
the user or group, and if necessary choose an unused
id based on the ranges specified in
- <tt>adduser.conf</tt>.
+ <file>adduser.conf</file>.
</p>
</item>
Dynamically allocated user accounts. By default
<prgn>adduser</prgn> will choose UIDs and GIDs for
user accounts in this range, though
- <tt>adduser.conf</tt> may be used to modify this
+ <file>adduser.conf</file> may be used to modify this
behavior.
</p>
</item>
These ids are for packages which are obscure or
which require many statically-allocated ids. These
packages should check for and create the accounts in
- <tt>/etc/passwd</tt> or <tt>/etc/group</tt> (using
+ <file>/etc/passwd</file> or <file>/etc/group</file> (using
<prgn>adduser</prgn> if it has this facility) if
necessary. Packages which are likely to require
further allocations should have a `hole' left after
</sect>
<sect id="sysvinit">
- <heading>System run levels and <tt>init.d</tt> scripts</heading>
+ <heading>System run levels and <file>init.d</file> scripts</heading>
<sect1 id="/etc/init.d">
<heading>Introduction</heading>
<p>
- The <tt>/etc/init.d</tt> directory contains the scripts
+ The <file>/etc/init.d</file> directory contains the scripts
executed by <prgn>init</prgn> at boot time and when the
init state (or `runlevel') is changed (see <manref
name="init" section="8">).
<p>
These scripts are referenced by symbolic links in the
- <tt>/etc/rc<var>n</var>.d</tt> directories. When changing
+ <file>/etc/rc<var>n</var>.d</file> directories. When changing
runlevels, <prgn>init</prgn> looks in the directory
- <tt>/etc/rc<var>n</var>.d</tt> for the scripts it should
+ <file>/etc/rc<var>n</var>.d</file> for the scripts it should
execute, where <tt><var>n</var></tt> is the runlevel that
is being changed to, or <tt>S</tt> for the boot-up
scripts.
<p>
The names of the links all have the form
- <tt>S<var>mm</var><var>script</var></tt> or
- <tt>K<var>mm</var><var>script</var></tt> where
+ <file>S<var>mm</var><var>script</var></file> or
+ <file>K<var>mm</var><var>script</var></file> where
<var>mm</var> is a two-digit number and <var>script</var>
is the name of the script (this should be the same as the
- name of the actual script in <tt>/etc/init.d</tt>).
+ name of the actual script in <file>/etc/init.d</file>).
</p>
<p>
executed, each with the single argument <tt>stop</tt>,
followed by the scripts prefixed with an <tt>S</tt>, each
with the single argument <tt>start</tt>. (The links are
- those in the <tt>/etc/rc<var>n</var>.d</tt> directory
+ those in the <file>/etc/rc<var>n</var>.d</file> directory
corresponding to the new runlevel.) The <tt>K</tt> links
are responsible for killing services and the <tt>S</tt>
link for starting services upon entering the runlevel.
<p>
For example, if we are changing from runlevel 2 to
runlevel 3, init will first execute all of the <tt>K</tt>
- prefixed scripts it finds in <tt>/etc/rc3.d</tt>, and then
+ prefixed scripts it finds in <file>/etc/rc3.d</file>, and then
all of the <tt>S</tt> prefixed scripts in that directory.
The links starting with <tt>K</tt> will cause the
referred-to file to be executed with an argument of
<p>
Packages that include daemons for system services should
- place scripts in <tt>/etc/init.d</tt> to start or stop
+ place scripts in <file>/etc/init.d</file> to start or stop
services at boot time or during a change of runlevel.
These scripts should be named
- <tt>/etc/init.d/<var>package</var></tt>, and they should
+ <file>/etc/init.d/<var>package</var></file>, and they should
accept one argument, saying what to do:
<taglist>
The <tt>start</tt>, <tt>stop</tt>, <tt>restart</tt>, and
<tt>force-reload</tt> options should be supported by all
- scripts in <tt>/etc/init.d</tt>, the <tt>reload</tt>
+ scripts in <file>/etc/init.d</file>, the <tt>reload</tt>
option is optional.</p>
<p>
- The <tt>init.d</tt> scripts should ensure that they will
+ The <file>init.d</file> scripts should ensure that they will
behave sensibly if invoked with <tt>start</tt> when the
service is already running, or with <tt>stop</tt> when it
isn't, and that they don't kill unfortunately-named user
<p>
If a service reloads its configuration automatically (as
in the case of <prgn>cron</prgn>, for example), the
- <tt>reload</tt> option of the <tt>init.d</tt> script
+ <tt>reload</tt> option of the <file>init.d</file> script
should behave as if the configuration has been reloaded
successfully.</p>
<p>
- The <tt>/etc/init.d</tt> scripts must be treated as
+ The <file>/etc/init.d</file> scripts must be treated as
configuration files, either (if they are present in the
package, that is, in the .deb file) by marking them as
<tt>conffile</tt>s, or, (if they do not exist in the .deb)
the package has been removed. Only when <prgn>dpkg</prgn>
is executed with the <tt>--purge</tt> option will
configuration files be removed. In particular, as the
- <tt>/etc/init.d/<var>package</var></tt> script itself is
+ <file>/etc/init.d/<var>package</var></file> script itself is
usually a <tt>conffile</tt>, it will remain on the system
if the package is removed but not purged. Therefore, you
should include a <tt>test</tt> statement at the top of the
</p>
<p>
- Often there are some variables in the <tt>init.d</tt>
- scripts whose values control the bahaviour of the scripts,
+ Often there are some variables in the <file>init.d</file>
+ scripts whose values control the behaviour of the scripts,
and which a system administrator is likely to want to
change. As the scripts themselves are frequently
<tt>conffile</tt>s, modifying them requires that the
the burden on the system administrator, such configurable
values should not be placed directly in the script.
Instead, they should be placed in a file in
- <tt>/etc/default</tt>, which typically will have the same
- base name as the <tt>init.d</tt> script. This extra file
+ <file>/etc/default</file>, which typically will have the same
+ base name as the <file>init.d</file> script. This extra file
should be sourced by the script when the script runs. It
must contain only variable settings and comments in POSIX
<prgn>sh</prgn> format. It may either be a
<tt>conffile</tt> or a configuration file maintained by
- the package maintainer scripts. See <ref id="config-files">
- for more details.
+ the package maintainer scripts. See <ref id="config-files">
+ for more details.
</p>
<p>
To ensure that vital configurable values are always
- available, the <tt>init.d</tt> script should set default
+ available, the <file>init.d</file> script should set default
values for each of the shell variables it uses, either
- before sourcing the <tt>/etc/default/</tt> file or
+ before sourcing the <file>/etc/default/</file> file or
afterwards using something like the <tt>:
- ${VAR:=default}</tt> syntax. Also, the <tt>init.d</tt>
+ ${VAR:=default}</tt> syntax. Also, the <file>init.d</file>
script must behave sensibly and not fail if the
- <tt>/etc/default</tt> file is deleted.
+ <file>/etc/default</file> file is deleted.
</p>
</sect1>
<sect1>
- <heading>Managing the links</heading>
-
- <p>
- The program <prgn>update-rc.d</prgn> is provided for
- package maintainers to arrange for the proper creation and
- removal of <tt>/etc/rc<var>n</var>.d</tt> symbolic links,
- or their functional equivalent if another method is being
- used. This may be used by maintainers in their packages'
- <prgn>postinst</prgn> and <prgn>postrm</prgn> scripts.</p>
+ <heading>Interfacing with the initscript system</heading>
<p>
- You must not include any <tt>/etc/rc<var>n</var>.d</tt>
- symbolic links in the actual archive or manually create or
- remove the symbolic links in maintainer scripts; you must
- use the <prgn>update-rc.d</prgn> program instead. (The
- former will fail if an alternative method of maintaining
- runlevel information is being used.) You must not include
- the <tt>/etc/rc<var>n</var>.d</tt> directories themselves
- in the archive either. (Only the <tt>sysvinit</tt>
- package may do so.)
+ Maintainers should use the abstraction layer provided by
+ the <prgn>update-rc.d</prgn> and <prgn>invoke-rc.d</prgn>
+ programs to deal with initscripts in their packages'
+ scripts such as <prgn>postinst</prgn>, <prgn>prerm</prgn>
+ and <prgn>postrm</prgn>.
</p>
-
<p>
- By default <prgn>update-rc.d</prgn> will start services in
- each of the multi-user state runlevels (2, 3, 4, and 5)
- and stop them in the halt runlevel (0), the single-user
- runlevel (1) and the reboot runlevel (6). The system
- administrator will have the opportunity to customize
- runlevels by simply adding, moving, or removing the
- symbolic links in <tt>/etc/rc<var>n</var>.d</tt> if
- symbolic links are being used, or by modifying
- <tt>/etc/runlevel.conf</tt> if the <tt>file-rc</tt> method
- is being used.
+ Directly managing the /etc/rc?.d links and directly
+ invoking the <file>/etc/init.d/</file> initscripts should
+ be done only by packages providing the initscript
+ subsystem (such as <prgn>sysvinit</prgn> and
+ <prgn>file-rc</prgn>).
+
</p>
- <p>
- To get the default behavior for your package, put in your
- <prgn>postinst</prgn> script
- <example compact="compact">
-update-rc.d <var>package</var> defaults >/dev/null
- </example>
- and in your <prgn>postrm</prgn>
- <example compact="compact">
-if [ "$1" = purge ]; then
- update-rc.d <var>package</var> remove >/dev/null
-fi
- </example></p>
+ <sect2>
+ <heading>Managing the links</heading>
- <p>
- This will use a default sequence number of 20. If it does
- not matter when or in which order the <tt>init.d</tt>
- script is run, use this default. If it does, then you
- should talk to the maintainer of the <prgn>sysvinit</prgn>
- package or post to <tt>debian-devel</tt>, and they will
- help you choose a number.
- </p>
+ <p>
+ The program <prgn>update-rc.d</prgn> is provided for
+ package maintainers to arrange for the proper creation and
+ removal of <file>/etc/rc<var>n</var>.d</file> symbolic links,
+ or their functional equivalent if another method is being
+ used. This may be used by maintainers in their packages'
+ <prgn>postinst</prgn> and <prgn>postrm</prgn> scripts.</p>
- <p>
- For more information about using <tt>update-rc.d</tt>,
- please consult its manpage <manref name="update-rc.d"
- section="8">.
- </p>
+ <p>
+ You must not include any <file>/etc/rc<var>n</var>.d</file>
+ symbolic links in the actual archive or manually create or
+ remove the symbolic links in maintainer scripts; you must
+ use the <prgn>update-rc.d</prgn> program instead. (The
+ former will fail if an alternative method of maintaining
+ runlevel information is being used.) You must not include
+ the <file>/etc/rc<var>n</var>.d</file> directories themselves
+ in the archive either. (Only the <tt>sysvinit</tt>
+ package may do so.)
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ By default <prgn>update-rc.d</prgn> will start services in
+ each of the multi-user state runlevels (2, 3, 4, and 5)
+ and stop them in the halt runlevel (0), the single-user
+ runlevel (1) and the reboot runlevel (6). The system
+ administrator will have the opportunity to customize
+ runlevels by simply adding, moving, or removing the
+ symbolic links in <file>/etc/rc<var>n</var>.d</file> if
+ symbolic links are being used, or by modifying
+ <file>/etc/runlevel.conf</file> if the <tt>file-rc</tt> method
+ is being used.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ To get the default behavior for your package, put in your
+ <prgn>postinst</prgn> script
+ <example compact="compact">
+ update-rc.d <var>package</var> defaults >/dev/null
+ </example>
+ and in your <prgn>postrm</prgn>
+ <example compact="compact">
+ if [ "$1" = purge ]; then
+ update-rc.d <var>package</var> remove >/dev/null
+ fi
+ </example></p>
+
+ <p>
+ This will use a default sequence number of 20. If it does
+ not matter when or in which order the <file>init.d</file>
+ script is run, use this default. If it does, then you
+ should talk to the maintainer of the <prgn>sysvinit</prgn>
+ package or post to <tt>debian-devel</tt>, and they will
+ help you choose a number.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ For more information about using <tt>update-rc.d</tt>,
+ please consult its manpage <manref name="update-rc.d"
+ section="8">.
+ </p>
+ </sect2>
+
+ <sect2>
+ <heading>Running initscripts</heading>
+ <p>
+ The program <prgn>invoke-rc.d</prgn> is provided to make
+ it easier for package maintainers to properly invoke an
+ initscript, obeying runlevel and other locally-defined
+ constraints that might limit a package's right to start,
+ stop and otherwise manage services. This program may be
+ used by maintainers in their packages' scripts.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ The use of <prgn>invoke-rc.d</prgn> to invoke the
+ <file>/etc/init.d/*</file> initscripts is strongly
+ recommended<footnote>
+ <p>
+ In the future, the use of invoke-rc.d to invoke
+ initscripts shall be made mandatory. Maintainers are
+ advised to switch to invoke-rc.d as soon as
+ possible.</p>
+ </footnote>, instead of calling them directly.
+ </p>
+
+ <p>
+ By default, <prgn>invoke-rc.d</prgn> will pass any
+ action requests (start, stop, reload, restart...) to the
+ <file>/etc/init.d</file> script, filtering out requests
+ to start or restart a service out of its intended
+ runlevels.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Most packages will simply need to change:
+ <example compact="compact">/etc/init.d/<package>
+ <action></example> in their <prgn>postinst</prgn>
+ and <prgn>prerm</prgn> scripts to:
+ <example compact="compact">
+ if [ -x /usr/sbin/invoke-rc.d ] ; then
+ invoke-rc.d <var>package</var> <action>
+ else
+ /etc/init.d/<var>package</var> <action>
+ fi
+ </example></p>
+ <p>
+ A package should register its initscript services using
+ <prgn>update-rc.d</prgn> before it tries to invoke them
+ using <prgn>invoke-rc.d</prgn>. Invocation of
+ unregistered services may fail.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ For more information about using
+ <prgn>invoke-rc.d</prgn>, please consult its manpage
+ <manref name="invoke-rc.d" section="8">.
+ </p>
+ </sect2>
</sect1>
<heading>Boot-time initialization</heading>
<p>
- There used to be another directory, <tt>/etc/rc.boot</tt>,
+ There used to be another directory, <file>/etc/rc.boot</file>,
which contained scripts which were run once per machine
boot. This has been deprecated in favour of links from
- <tt>/etc/rcS.d</tt> to files in <tt>/etc/init.d</tt> as
+ <file>/etc/rcS.d</file> to files in <file>/etc/init.d</file> as
described in <ref id="/etc/init.d">. Packages must not
- place files in <tt>/etc/rc.boot</tt>.</p>
+ place files in <file>/etc/rc.boot</file>.</p>
<sect1>
<heading>Example</heading>
The <prgn>bind</prgn> DNS (nameserver) package wants to
make sure that the nameserver is running in multiuser
runlevels, and is properly shut down with the system. It
- puts a script in <tt>/etc/init.d</tt>, naming the script
+ puts a script in <file>/etc/init.d</file>, naming the script
appropriately <tt>bind</tt>. As you can see, the script
interprets the argument <tt>reload</tt> to send the
nameserver a <tt>HUP</tt> signal (causing it to reload its
configuration); this way the system administrator can say
- <tt>/etc/init.d/bind reload</tt> to reload the name
+ <file>/etc/init.d/bind reload</file> to reload the name
server. The script has one configurable value, which can
be used to pass parameters to the named program at
startup; this value is read from
- <tt>/etc/default/bind</tt> (see below).
+ <file>/etc/default/bind</file> (see below).
</p>
<p>
echo "."
;;
*)
- echo "Usage: /etc/init.d/bind {start|stop|restart|reload|force-reload}" >&2
+ echo "Usage: /etc/init.d/bind " \
+ " {start|stop|restart|reload|force-reload}" >&2
exit 1
;;
esac
<p>
Complementing the above init script is a configuration
- file <tt>/etc/default/bind</tt>, which contains
+ file <file>/etc/default/bind</file>, which contains
configurable parameters used by the script. This would be
created by the <prgn>postinst</prgn> script if it was not
already present, and removed on purge by the
<p>
Another example on which you can base your
- <tt>/etc/init.d</tt> scripts is found in
- <tt>/etc/init.d/skeleton</tt>.
+ <file>/etc/init.d</file> scripts is found in
+ <file>/etc/init.d/skeleton</file>.
</p>
<p>
</sect>
<sect>
- <heading>Console messages from <tt>init.d</tt> scripts</heading>
+ <heading>Console messages from <file>init.d</file> scripts</heading>
<p>
This section describes the formats to be used for messages
- written to standard output by the <tt>/etc/init.d</tt>
+ written to standard output by the <file>/etc/init.d</file>
scripts. The intent is to improve the consistency of
Debian's startup and shutdown look and feel. For this
reason, please look very carefully at the details. We want
</p>
<p>
- For example, the output of <tt>/etc/init.d/lpd</tt>
+ For example, the output of <file>/etc/init.d/lpd</file>
would look like:
<example compact="compact">
Starting printer spooler: lpd.
<p>
Packages must not modify the configuration file
- <tt>/etc/crontab</tt>, and they must not modify the files in
- <tt>/var/spool/cron/crontabs</tt>.</p>
+ <file>/etc/crontab</file>, and they must not modify the files in
+ <file>/var/spool/cron/crontabs</file>.</p>
<p>
If a package wants to install a job that has to be executed
As these directory names imply, the files within them are
executed on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis,
respectively. The exact times are listed in
- <tt>/etc/crontab</tt>.</p>
+ <file>/etc/crontab</file>.</p>
<p>
All files installed in any of these directories must be
<p>
If a certain job has to be executed more frequently than
daily, the package should install a file
- <tt>/etc/cron.d/<var>package</var></tt>. This file uses the
- same syntax as <tt>/etc/crontab</tt> and is processed by
+ <file>/etc/cron.d/<var>package</var></file>. This file uses the
+ same syntax as <file>/etc/crontab</file> and is processed by
<prgn>cron</prgn> automatically. The file must also be
treated as a configuration file. (Note that entries in the
- <tt>/etc/cron.d</tt> directory are not handled by
+ <file>/etc/cron.d</file> directory are not handled by
<prgn>anacron</prgn>. Thus, you should only use this
directory for jobs which may be skipped if the system is not
running.)</p>
A program must not depend on environment variables to get
reasonable defaults. (That's because these environment
variables would have to be set in a system-wide
- configuration file like <tt>/etc/profile</tt>, which is not
+ configuration file like <file>/etc/profile</file>, which is not
supported by all shells.)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
- Furthermore, as <tt>/etc/profile</tt> is a configuration
+ Furthermore, as <file>/etc/profile</file> is a configuration
file of the <prgn>base-files</prgn> package, other packages must not
put any environment variables or other commands into that
file.</p>
</p>
<p>
- Generally the following compilation parameters should be used:
+ By default, when a package is being built, any binaries
+ created should include debugging information, as well as
+ being compiled with optimization. You should also turn on
+ as many reasonable compilation warnings as possible; this
+ makes life easier for porters, who can then look at build
+ logs for possible problems. For the C programming language,
+ this means the following compilation parameters should be
+ used:
<example compact="compact">
CC = gcc
-CFLAGS = -O2 -Wall # sane warning options vary between programs
+CFLAGS = -O2 -g -Wall # sane warning options vary between programs
LDFLAGS = # none
install -s # (or use strip on the files in debian/tmp)
- </example></p>
+ </example>
+ </p>
<p>
Note that by default all installed binaries should be stripped,
either by using the <tt>-s</tt> flag to
<prgn>install</prgn>, or by calling <prgn>strip</prgn> on
the binaries after they have been copied into
- <tt>debian/tmp</tt> but before the tree is made into a
+ <file>debian/tmp</file> but before the tree is made into a
package.</p>
<p>
- The <tt>-N</tt> flag should not be used. On <tt>a.out</tt>
- systems it may have been useful for some very small
- binaries, but for ELF it has no good effect.</p>
-
- <p>
- Debugging symbols are useful for error diagnosis,
- investigation of core dumps (which may be submitted by users
- in bug reports), or testing and developing the software.
- Therefore it is recommended to support building the package
- with debugging information through the following interface:
- If the environment variable <tt>DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS</tt>
- contains the string <tt>debug</tt>, compile the software
- with debugging information (usually this involves adding the
- <tt>-g</tt> flag to <tt>CFLAGS</tt>). This allows the
- generation of a build tree with debugging information. If
- the environment variable <tt>DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS</tt> contains
- the string <tt>nostrip</tt>, do not strip the files at
- installation time. This allows one to generate a package
- with debugging information included.<footnote>
- <p>
- Rationale: Using <tt>-g</tt> by default causes wasted
- CPU cycles since the information is stripped away
- anyway; this can have a significant impact on the
- efficiency of the autobuilders. Having a standard way
- to build a debugging variant also makes it easier to
- build debugging bins and libraries since it provides a
- documented way of getting this type of build; one does
- not have to manually edit <tt>debian/rules</tt> or
- <tt>Makefile</tt>s.
- </p>
- </footnote>
+ Although binaries in the build tree should be compiled with
+ debugging information by default, it can often be difficult
+ to debug programs if they are also subjected to compiler
+ optimization. For this reason, it is recommended to support
+ the standardized environment
+ variable <tt>DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS</tt>. This variable can
+ contain several flags to change how a package is compiled
+ and built.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <taglist>
+ <tag>noopt</tag>
+ <item>
+ <p>
+ The presence of this string means that the package
+ should be complied with a minimum of optimization.
+ For C programs, it is best to add <tt>-O0</tt>
+ to <tt>CFLAGS</tt> (although this is usually the
+ default). Some programs might fail to build or run at
+ this level of optimization; it may be necessary to
+ use <tt>-O1</tt>, for example.
+ </p>
+ </item>
+ <tag>nostrip</tag>
+ <item>
+ <p>
+ This string means that the debugging symbols should
+ not be stripped from the binary during installation,
+ so that debugging information may be included in the + package.
+ </p>
+ </item>
+ </taglist>
+ </p>
+ <p>
The following makefile snippet is an example of how one may
- test for either condition; you will probably have to massage
- this example in order to make it work for your package.
- <example compact="compact">
-CFLAGS = -O2 -Wall
+ implement the build options; you will probably have to
+ massage this example in order to make it work for your
+ package.
+ <example compact="compact">
+CFLAGS = -Wall -g
INSTALL = install
INSTALL_FILE = $(INSTALL) -p -o root -g root -m 644
INSTALL_PROGRAM = $(INSTALL) -p -o root -g root -m 755
INSTALL_SCRIPT = $(INSTALL) -p -o root -g root -m 755
INSTALL_DIR = $(INSTALL) -p -d -o root -g root -m 755
-ifneq (,$(findstring debug,$(DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
-CFLAGS += -g
+ifneq (,$(findstring noopt,$(DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
+CFLAGS += -O0
+else
+CFLAGS += -O2
endif
ifeq (,$(findstring nostrip,$(DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
INSTALL_PROGRAM += -s
if there is good reason to do so. Feel free to override
the upstream author's ideas about which compilation
options are best: they are often inappropriate for our
- environment.</p></sect>
+ environment.
+ </p>
+ </sect>
<sect>
<heading>Libraries</heading>
-
+ <p>
+ In general, libraries must have a shared version in the
+ library package and a static version in the development
+ package. The shared version must be compiled with
+ <tt>-fPIC</tt>, and the static version must not be. In
+ other words, each source unit ( <tt>*.c</tt>, for example,
+ for C files) will need to be compiled twice.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ In some cases, it is acceptable for a library to be
+ available in static form only; these cases include:
+ <list>
+ <item>
+ <p>libraries for languages whose shared library support
+ is immature or unstable</p>
+ </item>
+ <item>
+ <p>
+ libraries whose interfaces are in flux or under
+ development (commonly the case when the library's
+ major version number is zero, or where the ABI breaks
+ across patchlevels)
+ </p>
+ </item>
+ <item>
+ <p>
+ libraries which are explicitly intended to be
+ available only in static form by their upstream
+ author(s)</p>
+ </item>
+ </list>
+ If a library is available only in static form, then it must follow
+ the conventions for a development package.
+ </p>
<p>
All libraries must have a shared version in the
<tt>lib*</tt> package and a static version in the
</p>
<p>
- Shared object files (often <tt>.so</tt> files) that are not
+ Shared object files (often <file>.so</file> files) that are not
public libraries, that is, they are not meant to be linked
to by third party executables (binaries of other packages),
should be installed in subdirectories of the
- <tt>/usr/lib</tt> directory. Such files are exempt from the
+ <file>/usr/lib</file> directory. Such files are exempt from the
rules that govern ordinary shared libraries, except that
they must not be installed executable and should be
stripped.<footnote>
</p>
</footnote>
</p>
-
+
<p>
Packages containing shared libraries that may be linked to
by other packages' binaries, but which for some
<em>compelling</em> reason can not be installed in
- <tt>/usr/lib</tt> directory, may install the shared library
- files in subdirectories of the <tt>/usr/lib</tt> directory,
+ <file>/usr/lib</file> directory, may install the shared library
+ files in subdirectories of the <file>/usr/lib</file> directory,
in which case they should arrange to add that directory in
- <tt>/etc/ld.so.conf</tt> in the package's post-installation
+ <file>/etc/ld.so.conf</file> in the package's post-installation
script, and remove it in the package's post-removal script.
</p>
An ever increasing number of packages are using
<prgn>libtool</prgn> to do their linking. The latest GNU
libtools (>= 1.3a) can take advantage of the metadata in the
- installed <prgn>libtool</prgn> archive files (<tt>*.la</tt>
+ installed <prgn>libtool</prgn> archive files (<file>*.la</file>
files). The main advantage of <prgn>libtool</prgn>'s
- <
tt>.la</tt> files is that it allows <prgn>libtool</prgn> to
+ <
file>.la</file> files is that it allows <prgn>libtool</prgn> to
store and subsequently access metadata with respect to the
libraries it builds. <prgn>libtool</prgn> will search for
those files, which contain a lot of useful information about
for each library every time it is linked. With the
advent of <prgn>libtool</prgn> version 1.4 (and to a
lesser extent <prgn>libtool</prgn> version 1.3), the
- <tt>.la</tt> files also store information about
+ <file>.la</file> files also store information about
inter-library dependencies which cannot necessarily be
- derived after the <tt>.la</tt> file is deleted.
+ derived after the <file>.la</file> file is deleted.
</p>
</footnote>
</p>
<p>
Packages that use <prgn>libtool</prgn> to create shared
- libraries should include the <tt>.la</tt> files in the
+ libraries should include the <file>.la</file> files in the
<tt>-dev</tt> package, unless the package relies on
<tt>libtool</tt>'s <tt>libltdl</tt> library, in which case
the <tt>.la</tt> files must go in the run-time library
For a straightforward library which has a development
environment and a runtime kit including just shared
libraries you need to create two packages:
- <tt><var>libraryname</var><var>soversion</var></tt>, where
- <tt><var>soversion</var></tt> is the version number in the
+ <file><var>libraryname</var><var>soversion</var></file>, where
+ <file><var>soversion</var></file> is the version number in the
soname of the shared library<footnote>
<p>
The soname is the shared object name: it's the thing
that has to match exactly between building an executable
and running it for the dynamic linker to be able run the
program. For example, if the soname of the library is
- <tt>libfoo.so.6</tt>, the library package would be
- called <tt>libfoo6</tt>.
+ <file>libfoo.so.6</file>, the library package would be
+ called <file>libfoo6</file>.
</p>
</footnote>
and <tt><var>libraryname</var><var>soversion</var>-dev</tt>.
- </p>
+ Alternatively, if it would be confusing to directly append
+ <var>soversion</var> to <var>libraryname</var> (e.g. because
+ <var>libraryname</var> itself ends in a number), you may use
+ <tt><var>libraryname</var>-<var>soversion</var></tt> and
+ <tt><var>libraryname</var>-<var>soversion</var>-dev</tt>
+ instead.
+ </p>
<p>
If you prefer only to support one development version at a
time you may name the development package
- <tt><var>libraryname</var>-dev</tt>; otherwise you may need
+ <file><var>libraryname</var>-dev</file>; otherwise you may need
to use <prgn>dpkg</prgn>'s Conflicts mechanism (see <ref
id="conflicts">) to ensure that the user only installs one
development version at a time (as different development
<p>
Packages which use the shared library should have a
dependency on the name of the shared library package,
- <tt><var>libraryname</var><var>soversion</var></tt>. When
+ <file><var>libraryname</var><var>soversion</var></file>. When
the soname changes you can have both versions of the library
installed while migrating from the old library to the new.
</p>
command.</p>
<p>
- The standard shell interpreter <tt>/bin/sh</tt> can be a
+ The standard shell interpreter <file>/bin/sh</file> can be a
symbolic link to any POSIX compatible shell, if <tt>echo
-n</tt> does not generate a newline.<footnote>
<p>
Debian policy specifies POSIX behavior for
- <tt>/bin/sh</tt>, but <tt>echo -n</tt> has widespread
+ <file>/bin/sh</file>, but <tt>echo -n</tt> has widespread
use in the Linux community (in particular including this
policy, the Linux kernel source, many Debian scripts,
etc.). This <tt>echo -n</tt> mechanism is valid but not
the LSB anyway.
</p>
</footnote>
- Thus, shell scripts specifying <tt>/bin/sh</tt> as
+ Thus, shell scripts specifying <file>/bin/sh</file> as
interpreter should only use POSIX features. If a script
requires non-POSIX features from the shell interpreter, the
appropriate shell must be specified in the first line of the
<p>
You may wish to restrict your script to POSIX features when
- possible so that it may use <tt>/bin/sh</tt> as its
+ possible so that it may use <file>/bin/sh</file> as its
interpreter. If your script works with <prgn>ash</prgn>,
it's probably POSIX compliant, but if you are in doubt, use
- <tt>/bin/bash</tt>.
+ <file>/bin/bash</file>.
</p>
<p>
<p>
Any scripts which create files in world-writeable
- directories (e.g., in <tt>/tmp</tt>) must use a
+ directories (e.g., in <file>/tmp</file>) must use a
mechanism which will fail if a file with the same name
already exists.</p>
should be relative, and symbolic links pointing from one
top-level directory into another should be absolute. (A
top-level directory is a sub-directory of the root
- directory <tt>/</tt>.)</p>
+ directory <file>/</file>.)</p>
<p>
In addition, symbolic links should be specified as short as
- possible, i.e., link targets like <tt>foo/../bar</tt> are
+ possible, i.e., link targets like <file>foo/../bar</file> are
deprecated.</p>
<p>
<p>
For example, in your <prgn>Makefile</prgn> or
- <tt>debian/rules</tt>, you can do things like:
+ <file>debian/rules</file>, you can do things like:
<example compact="compact">
ln -fs gcc $(prefix)/bin/cc
ln -fs gcc debian/tmp/usr/bin/cc
<p>
A symbolic link pointing to a compressed file should always
have the same file extension as the referenced file. (For
- example, if a file <tt>foo.gz</tt> is referenced by a
+ example, if a file <file>foo.gz</file> is referenced by a
symbolic link, the filename of the link has to end with
- `<tt>.gz</tt>' too, as in <tt>bar.gz</tt>.)
+ `<file>.gz</file>' too, as in <file>bar.gz</file>.)
</p>
</sect>
If a package needs any special device files that are not
included in the base system, it must call
<prgn>MAKEDEV</prgn> in the <prgn>postinst</prgn> script,
- after asking the user for permission to do so.</p>
+ after notifying the user<footnote>
+ <p>
+ This notification could be done via a (low-priority)
+ debconf message, or an echo (printf) statement.
+ </p>
+ </footnote>
+ .</p>
<p>
Packages must not remove any device files in the
<p>
Debian uses the serial devices
- <tt>/dev/ttyS*</tt>. Programs using the old
- <tt>/dev/cu*</tt> devices should be changed to use
- <tt>/dev/ttyS*</tt>.</p>
+ <file>/dev/ttyS*</file>. Programs using the old
+ <file>/dev/cu*</file> devices should be changed to use
+ <file>/dev/ttyS*</file>.</p>
</sect>
<sect id="config-files">
<p>
Note that a script that embeds configuration information
- (such as most of the files in <tt>/etc/default</tt> and
- <tt>/etc/cron.{daily,weekly,monthly}</tt>) is de-facto a
+ (such as most of the files in <file>/etc/default</file> and
+ <file>/etc/cron.{daily,weekly,monthly}</file>) is de-facto a
configuration file and should be treated as such.
</p>
</sect1>
<heading>Location</heading>
<p>
Any configuration files created or used by your package
- must reside in <tt>/etc</tt>. If there are several you
- should consider creating a subdirectory of <tt>/etc</tt>
+ must reside in <file>/etc</file>. If there are several you
+ should consider creating a subdirectory of <file>/etc</file>
named after your package.</p>
<p>
If your package creates or uses configuration files
- outside of <tt>/etc</tt>, and it is not feasible to modify
- the package to use the <tt>/etc</tt>, you should still put
- the files in <tt>/etc</tt> and create symbolic links to
+ outside of <file>/etc</file>, and it is not feasible to modify
+ the package to use the <file>/etc</file>, you should still put
+ the files in <file>/etc</file> and create symbolic links to
those files from the location that the package
requires.</p>
</sect1>
<p>
A common practice is to create a script called
- <tt><var>package</var>-configure</tt> and have the
+ <file><var>package</var>-configure</file> and have the
package's <prgn>postinst</prgn> call it if and only if the
configuration file does not already exist. In certain
cases it is useful for there to be an example or template
file which the maintainer scripts use. Such files should
- be in <tt>/usr/share/<var>package</var></tt> or
- <tt>/usr/lib/<var>package</var></tt> (depending on whether
+ be in <file>/usr/share/<var>package</var></file> or
+ <file>/usr/lib/<var>package</var></file> (depending on whether
they are architecture-independent or not). There should
be symbolic links to them from
- <tt>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/examples</tt> if
+ <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/examples</file> if
they are examples, and should be perfectly ordinary
<prgn>dpkg</prgn>-handled files (<em>not</em>
configuration files).
<heading>User configuration files ("dotfiles")</heading>
<p>
- The files in <tt>/etc/skel</tt> will automatically be
+ The files in <file>/etc/skel</file> will automatically be
copied into new user accounts by <prgn>adduser</prgn>.
No other program should reference the files in
- <tt>/etc/skel</tt>.
+ <file>/etc/skel</file>.
</p>
<p>
Therefore, if a program needs a dotfile to exist in
- advance in <tt>$HOME</tt> to work sensibly, that dotfile
- should be installed in <tt>/etc/skel</tt> and treated as a
+ advance in <file>$HOME</file> to work sensibly, that dotfile
+ should be installed in <file>/etc/skel</file> and treated as a
configuration file.
</p>
Therefore, if a program in a Debian package needs to be
configured in some way in order to operate sensibly, that
should be done using a site-wide configuration file placed
- in <tt>/etc</tt>. Only if the program doesn't support a
+ in <file>/etc</file>. Only if the program doesn't support a
site-wide default configuration and the package maintainer
doesn't have time to add it may a default per-user file be
- placed in <tt>/etc/skel</tt>.
+ placed in <file>/etc/skel</file>.
</p>
<p>
- <tt>/etc/skel</tt> should be as empty as we can make it.
+ <file>/etc/skel</file> should be as empty as we can make it.
This is particularly true because there is no easy (or
necessarily desirable) mechanism for ensuring that the
appropriate dotfiles are copied into the accounts of
<heading>Log files</heading>
<p>
Log files should usually be named
- <tt>/var/log/<var>package</var>.log</tt>. If you have many
+ <file>/var/log/<var>package</var>.log</file>. If you have many
log files, or need a separate directory for permission
- reasons (<tt>/var/log</tt> is writable only by
- <tt>root</tt>), you should usually create a directory named
- <tt>/var/log/<var>package</var></tt> and place your log
+ reasons (<file>/var/log</file> is writable only by
+ <file>root</file>), you should usually create a directory named
+ <file>/var/log/<var>package</var></file> and place your log
files there.
</p>
Log files must be rotated occasionally so that they don't
grow indefinitely; the best way to do this is to drop a log
rotation configuration file into the directory
- <tt>/etc/logrotate.d</tt> and use the facilities provided by
+ <file>/etc/logrotate.d</file> and use the facilities provided by
logrotate.<footnote>
<p>
The traditional approach to log files has been to set up
The use of <prgn>logrotate</prgn>, a program developed
by Red Hat, is better, as it centralizes log management.
It has both a configuration file
- (<tt>/etc/logrotate.conf</tt>) and a directory where
+ (<file>/etc/logrotate.conf</file>) and a directory where
packages can drop their individual log rotation
- configurations (<tt>/etc/logrotate.d</tt>).
+ configurations (<file>/etc/logrotate.d</file>).
</p>
</footnote>
Here is a good example for a logrotate config
endscript
}
</example>
- This rotates all files under <tt>/var/log/foo</tt>, saves 12
+ This rotates all files under <file>/var/log/foo</file>, saves 12
compressed generations, and forces the daemon to reload its
configuration information after the log rotation.
</p>
allocated one. Once you have been allocated one you must
either make the package depend on a version of the
<tt>base-passwd</tt> package with the id present in
- <tt>/etc/passwd</tt> or <tt>/etc/group</tt>, or arrange for
+ <file>/etc/passwd</file> or <file>/etc/group</file>, or arrange for
your package to create the user or group itself with the
correct id (using <tt>adduser</tt>) in its
<prgn>preinst</prgn> or <prgn>postinst</prgn>. (Doing it in
<heading>Daemons</heading>
<p>
- The configuration files <tt>/etc/services</tt>,
- <tt>/etc/protocols</tt>, and <tt>/etc/rpc</tt> are managed
+ The configuration files <file>/etc/services</file>,
+ <file>/etc/protocols</file>, and <file>/etc/rpc</file> are managed
by the <prgn>netbase</prgn> package and must not be modified
by other packages.
</p>
</p>
<p>
- The configuration file <tt>/etc/inetd.conf</tt> must not be
+ The configuration file <file>/etc/inetd.conf</file> must not be
modified by the package's scripts except via the
<prgn>update-inetd</prgn> script or the
- <tt>DebianNet.pm</tt> Perl module. See their documentation
+ <file>DebianNet.pm</file> Perl module. See their documentation
for details on how to add entries.
</p>
<p>
If a package wants to install an example entry into
- <tt>/etc/inetd.conf</tt>, the entry must be preceded with
+ <file>/etc/inetd.conf</file>, the entry must be preceded with
exactly one hash character (<tt>#</tt>). Such lines are
treated as `commented out by user' by the
<prgn>update-inetd</prgn> script and are not changed or
</p>
<p>
- The files <tt>/var/run/utmp</tt>, <tt>/var/log/wtmp</tt> and
- <tt>/var/log/lastlog</tt> must be installed writeable by
+ The files <file>/var/run/utmp</file>, <file>/var/log/wtmp</file> and
+ <file>/var/log/lastlog</file> must be installed writeable by
group <tt>utmp</tt>. Programs which need to modify those
files must be installed setgid <tt>utmp</tt>.
</p>
Thus, every program that launches an editor or pager must
use the EDITOR or PAGER environment variable to determine
the editor or pager the user wishes to use. If these
- variables are not set, the programs <tt>/usr/bin/editor</tt>
- and <tt>/usr/bin/pager</tt> should be used, respectively.
+ variables are not set, the programs <file>/usr/bin/editor</file>
+ and <file>/usr/bin/pager</file> should be used, respectively.
</p>
<p>
<p>
If it is very hard to adapt a program to make use of the
EDITOR or PAGER variables, that program may be configured to
- use <tt>/usr/bin/sensible-editor</tt> and
- <tt>/usr/bin/sensible-pager</tt> as the editor or pager
+ use <file>/usr/bin/sensible-editor</file> and
+ <file>/usr/bin/sensible-pager</file> as the editor or pager
program respectively. These are two scripts provided in the
Debian base system that check the EDITOR and PAGER variables
and launch the appropriate program, and fall back to
- <tt>/usr/bin/editor</tt> and <tt>/usr/bin/pager</tt> if the
+ <file>/usr/bin/editor</file> and <file>/usr/bin/pager</file> if the
variable is not set.
</p>
A program may also use the VISUAL environment variable to
determine the user's choice of editor. If it exists, it
should take precedence over EDITOR. This is in fact what
- <tt>/usr/bin/sensible-editor</tt> does.
+ <file>/usr/bin/sensible-editor</file> does.
</p>
<p>
<p>
HTML documents for a package are stored in
- <tt>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></tt>
+ <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></file>
and can be referred to as
<example compact="compact">
http://localhost/doc/<var>package</var>/<var>filename</var>
</p>
<p>
- The mail spool is <tt>/var/mail</tt> and the interface to
- send a mail message is <tt>/usr/sbin/sendmail</tt> (as per
+ The mail spool is <file>/var/mail</file> and the interface to
+ send a mail message is <file>/usr/sbin/sendmail</file> (as per
the FHS). On older systems, the mail spool may be
- physically located in <tt>/var/spool/mail</tt>, but all
+ physically located in <file>/var/spool/mail</file>, but all
access to the mail spool should be via the
- <tt>/var/mail</tt> symlink. The mail spool is part of the
+ <file>/var/mail</file> symlink. The mail spool is part of the
base system and not part of the MTA package.
</p>
using this privilege).</p>
<p>
- <tt>/etc/aliases</tt> is the source file for the system mail
+ <file>/etc/aliases</file> is the source file for the system mail
aliases (e.g., postmaster, usenet, etc.), it is the one
which the sysadmin and <prgn>postinst</prgn> scripts may
- edit. After <tt>/etc/aliases</tt> is edited the program or
+ edit. After <file>/etc/aliases</file> is edited the program or
human editing it must call <prgn>newaliases</prgn>. All MTA
packages must come with a <prgn>newaliases</prgn> program,
even if it does nothing, but older MTA packages did not do
<p>
The <prgn>rmail</prgn> program used by UUCP
- for incoming mail should be <tt>/usr/sbin/rmail</tt>.
+ for incoming mail should be <file>/usr/sbin/rmail</file>.
Likewise, <prgn>rsmtp</prgn>, for receiving
- batch-SMTP-over-UUCP, should be <tt>/usr/sbin/rsmtp</tt> if it
+ batch-SMTP-over-UUCP, should be <file>/usr/sbin/rsmtp</file> if it
is supported.</p>
<p>
If your package needs to know what hostname to use on (for
example) outgoing news and mail messages which are generated
- locally, you should use the file <tt>/etc/mailname</tt>. It
+ locally, you should use the file <file>/etc/mailname</file>. It
will contain the portion after the username and <tt>@</tt>
(at) sign for email addresses of users on the machine
(followed by a newline).
may wish to prompt the user even if it finds that this file
exists. If the file does not exist, the package should
prompt the user for the value (preferably using
- <prgn>debconf</prgn>) and store it in <tt>/etc/mailname</tt>
+ <prgn>debconf</prgn>) and store it in <file>/etc/mailname</file>
as well as using it in the package's configuration. The
prompt should make it clear that the name will not just be
used by that package. For example, in this situation the
<p>
All the configuration files related to the NNTP (news)
servers and clients should be located under
- <tt>/etc/news</tt>.</p>
+ <file>/etc/news</file>.</p>
<p>
There are some configuration issues that apply to a number
are:
<taglist>
- <tag><tt>/etc/news/organization</tt></tag>
+ <tag><file>/etc/news/organization</file></tag>
<item><p>A string which should appear as the
organization header for all messages posted
by NNTP clients on the machine</p></item>
- <tag><tt>/etc/news/server</tt></tag>
+ <tag><file>/etc/news/server</file></tag>
<item><p>Contains the FQDN of the upstream NNTP
server, or localhost if the local machine is
an NNTP server.</p></item>
in their control data that they provide the virtual
package <tt>x-terminal-emulator</tt>. They should also
register themselves as an alternative for
- <tt>/usr/bin/x-terminal-emulator</tt>, with a priority of
+ <file>/usr/bin/x-terminal-emulator</file>, with a priority of
20.
</p>
their control data that they provide the virtual package
<tt>x-window-manager</tt>. They should also register
themselves as an alternative for
- <tt>/usr/bin/x-window-manager</tt>, with a priority
+ <file>/usr/bin/x-window-manager</file>, with a priority
calculated as follows:
<list compact="compact">
<item><p>Start with a priority of 20.</p></item>
points.
</p>
</item>
+ <item>
+ <p>
+ If the window manager complies with <url
+ id="http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/wm-spec.html"
+ name="The Window Manager Specification Project">,
+ written by the <url id="http://www.freedesktop.org"
+ name="Free Desktop Group">, add 20 points.
+ </p>
+ </item>
<item>
<p>
<item>
<p>
Fonts of any type supported by the X Window System
- must be be in a separate binary package from any
+ must be in a separate binary package from any
executables, libraries, or documentation (except
that specific to the fonts shipped, such as their
license information). If one or more of the fonts
<list compact="compact">
<item><p>
100 dpi fonts must be placed in
- <tt>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/</tt>.
+ <file>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/</file>.
</p></item>
<item><p>
75 dpi fonts must be placed in
- <tt>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/</tt>.
+ <file>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/</file>.
</p></item>
<item><p>
Character-cell fonts, cursor fonts, and other
low-resolution fonts must be placed in
- <tt>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/</tt>.
+ <file>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/</file>.
</p></item>
</list>
</p>
<item><p>
Speedo fonts must be placed in
- <tt>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/</tt>.
+ <file>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/</file>.
</p></item>
<item><p>
Type 1 fonts must be placed in
- <tt>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/</tt>. If font
+ <file>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/</file>. If font
metric files are available, they must be placed here
as well.
</p></item>
<item>
<p>
- Subdirectories of <tt>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/</tt>
+ Subdirectories of <file>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/</file>
other than those listed above must be neither
- created nor used. (The <tt>PEX</tt>, <tt>CID</tt>,
- and <tt>cyrillic</tt> directories are excepted for
+ created nor used. (The <file>PEX</file>, <file>CID</file>,
+ and <file>cyrillic</file> directories are excepted for
historical reasons, but installation of files into
these directories remains discouraged.)
</p>
<p>
Font packages may, instead of placing files directly
in the X font directories listed above, provide
- symbolic links in the font directory which point to
+ symbolic links in that font directory pointing to
the files' actual location in the filesystem. Such
a location must comply with the FHS.
</p>
<item>
<p>
- Fonts destined for the <tt>misc</tt> subdirectory
+ Fonts destined for the <file>misc</file> subdirectory
should not be included in the same package as 75dpi
or 100dpi fonts; instead, they should be provided in
a separate package with <tt>-misc</tt> appended to
<item>
<p>
Font packages must not provide the files
- <tt>fonts.dir</tt>, <tt>fonts.alias</tt>, or
- <tt>fonts.scale</tt> in a font directory:
+ <file>fonts.dir</file>, <file>fonts.alias</file>, or
+ <file>fonts.scale</file> in a font directory:
<list>
<item><p>
- <tt>fonts.dir</tt> files must not be provided at all.
+ <file>fonts.dir</file> files must not be provided at all.
</p></item>
<item>
<p>
- <tt>fonts.alias</tt> and <tt>fonts.scale</tt>
+ <file>fonts.alias</file> and <file>fonts.scale</file>
files, if needed, should be provided in the
directory
- <tt>/etc/X11/fonts/<var>fontdir</var>/<var>package</var>.<var>extension</var></tt>,
+ <file>/etc/X11/fonts/<var>fontdir</var>/<var>package</var>.<var>extension</var></file>,
where <var>fontdir</var> is the name of the
subdirectory of
- <tt>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/</tt> where the
+ <file>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/</file> where the
package's corresponding fonts are stored
(e.g., <tt>75dpi</tt> or <tt>misc</tt>),
<var>package</var> is the name of the package
<item>
<p>
Font packages that provide one or more
- <tt>fonts.scale</tt> files as described above must
+ <file>fonts.scale</file> files as described above must
invoke <prgn>update-fonts-scale</prgn> on each
directory into which they installed fonts
<em>before</em> invoking
<item>
<p>
Font packages that provide one or more
- <tt>fonts.alias</tt> files as described above must
+ <file>fonts.alias</file> files as described above must
invoke <prgn>update-fonts-alias</prgn> on each
directory into which they installed fonts. This
invocation must occur in both the
<p>
Application defaults files must be installed in the
- directory <tt>/etc/X11/app-defaults/</tt> (use of a
- localized subdirectory of <tt>/etc/X11/</tt> as described
+ directory <file>/etc/X11/app-defaults/</file> (use of a
+ localized subdirectory of <file>/etc/X11/</file> as described
in the <em>X Toolkit Intrinsics - C Language
Interface</em> manual is also permitted). They must be
registered as <tt>conffile</tt>s or handled as
configuration files. Packages must not provide the
- directory <tt>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/app-defaults/</tt>.
+ directory <file>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/app-defaults/</file>.
</p>
<p>
Customization of programs' X resources may also be
supported with the provision of a file with the same name
as that of the package placed in the
- <tt>/etc/X11/Xresources/</tt> directory, which must
+ <file>/etc/X11/Xresources/</file> directory, which must
registered as a <tt>conffile</tt> or handled as a
configuration file.<footnote>
<p>
</p>
</footnote>
<em>Important:</em> packages that install files into the
- <tt>/etc/X11/Xresources/</tt> directory must conflict with
+ <file>/etc/X11/Xresources/</file> directory must conflict with
<tt>xbase (<< 3.3.2.3a-2)</tt>; if this is not done
it is possible for the installing package to destroy a
- previously-existing <tt>/etc/X11/Xresources</tt> file
+ previously-existing <file>/etc/X11/Xresources</file> file
which had been customized by the system administrator.
</p>
</sect1>
<p>
Packages using the X Window System should not be
- configured to install files under the <tt>/usr/X11R6/</tt>
+ configured to install files under the <file>/usr/X11R6/</file>
directory unless they use <prgn>imake</prgn>. The
- <tt>/usr/X11R6/</tt> directory hierarchy should be
+ <file>/usr/X11R6/</file> directory hierarchy should be
regarded as deprecated for all packages except the X
Window System itself, and those which use the
<prgn>imake</prgn> program it provides, in which case the
- packages may transition out of the <tt>/usr/X11R6/</tt>
+ packages may transition out of the <file>/usr/X11R6/</file>
directory at the maintainer's discretion.<footnote>
<p>
<prgn>Imake</prgn>-using programs are exempt because,
they use to locate resources and install themselves
are derived wholly from the X Window System
configuration. Thus, in the event that the X Window
- System moves to <tt>/usr/X11R7/</tt>,
- <tt>/usr/X12/</tt>, or just plain <tt>/usr/</tt>, all
+ System moves to <file>/usr/X11R7/</file>,
+ <file>/usr/X12/</file>, or just plain <file>/usr/</file>, all
that is required for these programs is a recompile
against the corresponding X Window System library
development packages.
</footnote>
Programs that use GNU <prgn>autoconf</prgn> and
<prgn>automake</prgn> are usually easily configured at
- compile time to use <tt>/usr/</tt> instead of
- <tt>/usr/X11R6/</tt>, and this should be done whenever
+ compile time to use <file>/usr/</file> instead of
+ <file>/usr/X11R6/</file>, and this should be done whenever
possible. Configuration files for window managers and
display managers should be placed in a subdirectory of
- <tt>/etc/X11/</tt> corresponding to the package name due
+ <file>/etc/X11/</file> corresponding to the package name due
to these programs' tight integration with the mechanisms
of the X Window System. Application-level programs should
- use the <tt>/etc/</tt> directory unless otherwise mandated
+ use the <file>/etc/</file> directory unless otherwise mandated
by policy. The installation of files into subdirectories
- of <tt>/usr/X11R6/include/X11/</tt> and
- <tt>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/</tt> is permitted but discouraged;
+ of <file>/usr/X11R6/include/X11/</file> and
+ <file>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/</file> is permitted but discouraged;
package maintainers should determine if subdirectories of
- <tt>/usr/lib/</tt> and <tt>/usr/share/</tt> can be used
+ <file>/usr/lib/</file> and <file>/usr/share/</file> can be used
instead. (The use of symbolic links from the
- <tt>X11R6</tt> directories to other FHS-compliant
+ <file>X11R6</file> directories to other FHS-compliant
locations is encouraged if the program is not easily
configured to look elsewhere for its files.) Packages
must not provide or install files into the directories
- <tt>/usr/bin/X11/</tt>, <tt>/usr/include/X11/</tt> or
- <tt>/usr/lib/X11/</tt>. Files within a package should,
+ <file>/usr/bin/X11/</file>, <file>/usr/include/X11/</file> or
+ <file>/usr/lib/X11/</file>. Files within a package should,
however, make reference to these directories, rather than
their <tt>X11R6</tt>-named counterparts
- <tt>/usr/X11R6/bin/</tt>, <tt>/usr/X11R6/include/X11/</tt>
- and <tt>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/</tt>, if the resources being
+ <file>/usr/X11R6/bin/</file>, <file>/usr/X11R6/include/X11/</file>
+ and <file>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/</file>, if the resources being
referred to have not been moved to other FHS-compliant
locations.
</p>
<sect>
<heading>Perl programs and modules</heading>
<p>
- Perl programs and modules should follow the current Perl
- policy as defined in the file found on
- <ftpsite>ftp.debian.org</ftpsite> in
- <ftppath>/debian/doc/package-developer/perl-policy.txt.gz</ftppath>
- or your local mirror. In addition, it is included in the
- <tt>debian-policy</tt> package.
+ Perl programs and modules should follow the current Perl
+ policy as defined in the file found on
+ <ftpsite>ftp.debian.org</ftpsite> in
+ <ftppath>/debian/doc/package-developer/perl-policy.txt.gz</ftppath>
+ or your local mirror. In addition, it is included in the
+ <tt>debian-policy</tt> package.
</p>
</sect>
<p>
Please refer to the `Debian Emacs Policy' (documented in
- <tt>debian-emacs-policy.gz</tt> of the
+ <file>debian-emacs-policy.gz</file> of the
<prgn>emacsen-common</prgn> package) for details of how to
package emacs lisp programs.
</p>
<heading>Games</heading>
<p>
- The permissions on <tt>/var/games</tt> are mode 755, owner
+ The permissions on <file>/var/games</file> are mode 755, owner
<tt>root</tt> and group <tt>root</tt>.
</p>
-
+
<p>
Each game decides on its own security policy.</p>
data files or other static information made unreadable so
that they can only be accessed through set-id programs
provided. You should not do this in a Debian package: anyone can
- download the <tt>.deb</tt> file and read the data from it,
+ download the <file>.deb</file> file and read the data from it,
so there is no point making the files unreadable. Not
making the files unreadable also means that you don't have
to make so many programs set-id, which reduces the risk of a
<p>
As described in the FHS, binaries of games should be
- installed in the directory <tt>/usr/games</tt>. This also
+ installed in the directory <file>/usr/games</file>. This also
applies to games that use the X Window System. Manual pages
for games (X and non-X games) should be installed in
- <tt>/usr/share/man/man6</tt>.</p>
+ <file>/usr/share/man/man6</file>.</p>
</sect>
</chapt>
<p>
You should install manual pages in <prgn>nroff</prgn> source
- form, in appropriate places under <tt>/usr/share/man</tt>. You
+ form, in appropriate places under <file>/usr/share/man</file>. You
should only use sections 1 to 9 (see the FHS for more
details). You must not install a preformatted `cat
page'.</p>
from the requested manual page to the <manref
name="undocumented" section="7"> manual page may be
provided. This symbolic link can be created from
- <tt>debian/rules</tt> like this:
+ <file>debian/rules</file> like this:
<example compact="compact">
ln -s ../man7/undocumented.7.gz \
debian/tmp/usr/share/man/man[1-9]/<var>requested_manpage</var>.[1-9].gz
<p>
If one manpage needs to be accessible via several names it
- is better to use a symbolic link than the <tt>.so</tt>
+ is better to use a symbolic link than the <file>.so</file>
feature, but there is no need to fiddle with the relevant
- parts of the upstream source to change from <tt>.so</tt> to
+ parts of the upstream source to change from <file>.so</file> to
symlinks: don't do it unless it's easy. You should not
create hard links in the manual page directories, nor put
- absolute filenames in <tt>.so</tt> directives. The filename
- in a <tt>.so</tt> in a manpage should be relative to the
+ absolute filenames in <file>.so</file> directives. The filename
+ in a <file>.so</file> in a manpage should be relative to the
base of the manpage tree (usually
- <tt>/usr/share/man</tt>). If you do not create any links
+ <file>/usr/share/man</file>). If you do not create any links
(whether symlinks, hard links, or <tt>.so</tt> directives)
in the filesystem to the alternate names of the manpage,
then you should not rely on <prgn>man</prgn> finding your
<heading>Info documents</heading>
<p>
- Info documents should be installed in <tt>/usr/share/info</tt>.
+ Info documents should be installed in <file>/usr/share/info</file>.
They should be compressed with <tt>gzip -9</tt>.</p>
<p>
Your package should call <prgn>install-info</prgn> to update
- the Info <
tt>dir</tt> file in its <prgn>postinst</prgn>
+ the Info <
file>dir</file> file in its <prgn>postinst</prgn>
script when called with a <tt>configure</tt> argument, for
example:
<example compact="compact">
It is a good idea to specify a section for the location of
your program; this is done with the <tt>--section</tt>
switch. To determine which section to use, you should look
- at <tt>/usr/share/info/dir</tt> on your system and choose the most
+ at <file>/usr/share/info/dir</file> on your system and choose the most
relevant (or create a new section if none of the current
sections are relevant). Note that the <tt>--section</tt>
flag takes two arguments; the first is a regular expression
Any additional documentation that comes with the package may
be installed at the discretion of the package maintainer.
Text documentation should be installed in the directory
- <tt>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></tt>, where
+ <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></file>, where
<var>package</var> is the name of the package, and
compressed with <tt>gzip -9</tt> unless it is small.</p>
<p>
It is often a good idea to put text information files
- (<tt>README</tt>s, changelogs, and so forth) that come with
- the source package in <tt>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></tt>
+ (<file>README</file>s, changelogs, and so forth) that come with
+ the source package in <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></file>
in the binary package. However, you don't need to install
the instructions for building and installing the package, of
course!</p>
<p>
- Files in <tt>/usr/share/doc</tt> should not be referenced by
+ Files in <file>/usr/share/doc</file> should not be referenced by
any program, and the system administrator should be able to
delete them without causing any programs to break. Any files
that are referenced by programs but are also useful as
standalone documentation should be installed under
- <tt>/usr/share/<var>package</var>/</tt> with symbolic links
- from <tt>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/</tt>.
+ <file>/usr/share/<var>package</var>/</file> with symbolic links
+ from <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/</file>.
</p>
</sect>
<p>
Former Debian releases placed all additional documentation
- in <tt>/usr/doc/<var>package</var></tt>. To realize a
- smooth migration to
- <tt>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></tt>, each package
- must maintain a symlink <tt>/usr/doc/<var>package</var></tt>
- that points to the new location of its documentation in
- <tt>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></tt><footnote>These
- symlinks will be removed in the future, but they have to be
- there for compatibility reasons until all packages have
- moved and the policy is changed accordingly.</footnote>.
- The symlink must be created when the package is installed;
- it cannot be contained in the package itself due to problems
- with <prgn>dpkg</prgn>. One reasonable way to accomplish
- this is to put the following in the package's
- <prgn>postinst</prgn><footnote>
- <p>
- The <tt>debhelper</tt> script
- <prgn>dh_installdocs</prgn> does this automatically.
- </p>
- </footnote>:
- <example compact="compact">
-if [ "$1" = "configure" ]; then
- if [ -d /usr/doc -a ! -e /usr/doc/<var>package</var> \
- -a -d /usr/share/doc/<var>package</var> ]; then
- ln -sf ../share/doc/<var>package</var> /usr/doc/<var>package</var>
- fi
-fi
- </example>
- and the following in the package's <prgn>prerm</prgn>:
- <example compact="compact">
-if [ \( "$1" = "upgrade" -o "$1" = "remove" \) \
- -a -L /usr/doc/<var>package</var> ]; then
- rm -f /usr/doc/<var>package</var>
-fi
- </example>
+ in <file>/usr/doc/<var>package</var></file>. This has now
+ changed to <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></file>,
+ and packages must not put documentation in the directory
+ <file>/usr/doc/<var>package</var></file>. <footnote>
+ <p>At this phase of the transition, we no longer require a
+ symbolic link in <file>/usr/doc/</file>. At a later point,
+ policy shall change to make the symbolic links a bug.</p>
+ </footnote>
</p>
</sect>
markup format that can be converted to various other formats
you should if possible ship HTML versions in a binary
package, in the directory
- <tt>/usr/share/doc/<var>appropriate-package</var></tt> or
+ <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>appropriate-package</var></file> or
its subdirectories.<footnote>
<p>
The rationale: The important thing here is that HTML
<p>
Every package must be accompanied by a verbatim copy of its
copyright and distribution license in the file
- <tt>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/copyright</tt>. This
+ <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/copyright</file>. This
file must neither be compressed nor be a symbolic link.
</p>
<p>
A copy of the file which will be installed in
- <tt>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/copyright</tt> should
- be in <tt>debian/copyright</tt> in the source package.
+ <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/copyright</file> should
+ be in <file>debian/copyright</file> in the source package.
</p>
<p>
- <tt>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></tt> may be a symbolic
- link to another directory in <tt>/usr/share/doc</tt> only if
+ <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></file> may be a symbolic
+ link to another directory in <file>/usr/share/doc</file> only if
the two packages both come from the same source and the
first package Depends on the second. These rules are
important because copyrights must be extractable by
<p>
Packages distributed under the UCB BSD license, the Artistic
license, the GNU GPL, and the GNU LGPL should refer to the
- files <tt>/usr/share/common-licenses/BSD</tt>,
- <tt>/usr/share/common-licenses/Artistic</tt>,
- <tt>/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL</tt>, and
- <tt>/usr/share/common-licenses/LGPL</tt> respectively,
+ files <file>/usr/share/common-licenses/BSD</file>,
+ <file>/usr/share/common-licenses/Artistic</file>,
+ <file>/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL</file>, and
+ <file>/usr/share/common-licenses/LGPL</file> respectively,
rather than quoting them in the copyright file.
</p>
<p>
- You should not use the copyright file as a general <tt>README</tt>
+ You should not use the copyright file as a general <file>README</file>
file. If your package has such a file it should be
- installed in <tt>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/README</tt> or
- <tt>README.Debian</tt> or some other appropriate place.</p>
+ installed in <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/README</file> or
+ <file>README.Debian</file> or some other appropriate place.</p>
</sect>
<sect>
<p>
Any examples (configurations, source files, whatever),
should be installed in a directory
- <tt>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/examples</tt>. These
+ <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/examples</file>. These
files should not be referenced by any program: they're there
for the benefit of the system administrator and users as
documentation only. Architecture-specific example files
should be installed in a directory
- <tt>/usr/lib/<var>package</var>/examples</tt> with symbolic
+ <file>/usr/lib/<var>package</var>/examples</file> with symbolic
links to them from
- <tt>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/examples</tt>, or the
+ <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/examples</file>, or the
latter directory itself may be a symbolic link to the
former.
</p>
<p>
Packages that are not Debian-native must contain a
- compressed copy of the <tt>debian/changelog</tt> file from
+ compressed copy of the <file>debian/changelog</file> file from
the Debian source tree in
- <tt>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></tt> with the name
- <tt>changelog.Debian.gz</tt>. If an upstream changelog is
+ <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var></file> with the name
+ <file>changelog.Debian.gz</file>. If an upstream changelog is
available, it should be accessible as
- <tt>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/changelog.gz</tt> in
+ <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/changelog.gz</file> in
plain text. If the upstream changelog is distributed in
HTML, it should be made available in that form as
- <tt>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/changelog.html.gz</tt>
- and a plain text <tt>changelog.gz</tt> should be generated
+ <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/changelog.html.gz</file>
+ and a plain text <file>changelog.gz</file> should be generated
from it using, for example, <tt>lynx -dump -nolist</tt>. If
the upstream changelog files do not already conform to this
naming convention, then this may be achieved either by
the Debian changelog and the upstream one because there is
no separate upstream maintainer then that changelog should
usually be installed as
- <tt>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/changelog.gz</tt>; if
+ <file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/changelog.gz</file>; if
there is a separate upstream maintainer, but no upstream
changelog, then the Debian changelog should still be called
- <tt>changelog.Debian.gz</tt>.</p>
+ <file>changelog.Debian.gz</file>.</p>
</sect>
</chapt>
precedence. The remaining chapters of the old Packaging
Manual have also not been read in detail to ensure that there
are not parts which have been left out. Both of these will be
- done in due course.
+ done in due course.
</p>
<p>
<p>
This manual describes the technical aspects of creating Debian
- binary packages (<tt>.deb</tt> files). It documents the
+ binary packages (<file>.deb</file> files). It documents the
behaviour of the package management programs
<prgn>dpkg</prgn>, <prgn>dselect</prgn> et al. and the way
they interact with packages.</p>
<prgn>dselect</prgn>'s core and the access method scripts it
uses to actually install the selected packages, and describes
how to create a new access method.</p>
-
+
<p>
This manual does not go into detail about the options and
usage of the package building and installation tools. It
should therefore be read in conjuction with those programs'
manpages.
- </p>
+ </p>
<p>
The utility programs which are provided with <prgn>dpkg</prgn>
<prgn>install-info</prgn>, are not described in detail here -
please see their manpages.
</p>
-
+
<p>
It does <em>not</em> describe the policy requirements imposed
on Debian packages, such as the permissions on files and
helpful even if you don't plan to upload your package and make
it available as part of the distribution.)
</p>
-
+
<p>
It is assumed that the reader is reasonably familiar with the
<prgn>dpkg</prgn> System Administrators' manual.
Unfortunately this manual does not yet exist.
</p>
-
+
<p>
The Debian version of the FSF's GNU hello program is provided
as an example for people wishing to create Debian
<appendix id="pkg-binarypkg"><heading>Binary packages (from old
Packaging Manual)
</heading>
-
+
<p>
The binary package has two main sections. The first part
consists of various control information files and scripts used
by <prgn>dpkg</prgn> when installing and removing. See <ref
id="pkg-controlarea">.
</p>
-
+
<p>
The second part is an archive containing the files and
directories to be installed.
</p>
-
+
<p>
In the future binary packages may also contain other
components, such as checksums and digital signatures. The
format for the archive is described in full in the
- <tt>deb(5)</tt> manpage.
+ <file>deb(5)</file> manpage.
</p>
-
-
+
+
<sect id="pkg-bincreating"><heading>Creating package files -
<prgn>dpkg-deb</prgn>
</heading>
-
+
<p>
All manipulation of binary package files is done by
<prgn>dpkg-deb</prgn>; it's the only program that has
<prgn>dpkg-deb</prgn> and invoke that instead with the same
arguments.)
</p>
-
+
<p>
In order to create a binary package you must make a
directory tree which contains all the files and directories
you want to have in the filesystem data part of the package.
In Debian-format source packages this directory is usually
- <tt>debian/tmp</tt>, relative to the top of the package's
+ <file>debian/tmp</file>, relative to the top of the package's
source tree.
</p>
-
+
<p>
They should have the locations (relative to the root of the
directory tree you're constructing) ownerships and
permissions which you want them to have on the system when
they are installed.
</p>
-
+
<p>
With current versions of <prgn>dpkg</prgn> the uid/username
and gid/groupname mappings for the users and groups being
used should be the same on the system where the package is
built and the one where it is installed.
</p>
-
+
<p>
You need to add one special directory to the root of the
miniature filesystem tree you're creating:
information files, notably the binary package control file
(see <ref id="pkg-controlfile">).
</p>
-
+
<p>
The <prgn>DEBIAN</prgn> directory will not appear in the
filesystem archive of the package, and so won't be installed
by <prgn>dpkg</prgn> when the package is installed.
</p>
-
+
<p>
When you've prepared the package, you should invoke:
<example>
dpkg --build <var>directory</var>
</example>
</p>
-
+
<p>
This will build the package in
- <
tt><var>directory</var>.deb</tt>. (<prgn>dpkg</prgn> knows
+ <
file><var>directory</var>.deb</file>. (<prgn>dpkg</prgn> knows
that <tt>--build</tt> is a <prgn>dpkg-deb</prgn> option, so
it invokes <prgn>dpkg-deb</prgn> with the same arguments to
build the package.)
</p>
-
+
<p>
See the manpage <manref name="dpkg-deb" section="8"> for details of how
to examine the contents of this newly-created file. You may find the
<heading>
Package control information files
</heading>
-
+
<p>
The control information portion of a binary package is a
collection of files with names known to <prgn>dpkg</prgn>.
installing or removing the package; others are scripts which
the package maintainer wants <prgn>dpkg</prgn> to run.
</p>
-
+
<p>
It is possible to put other files in the package control
area, but this is not generally a good idea (though they
will largely be ignored).
</p>
-
+
<p>
Here is a brief list of the control info files supported by
<prgn>dpkg</prgn> and a summary of what they're used for.
</p>
-
+
<p>
<taglist>
<tag><tt>control</tt>
<item>
-
+
<p>
This is the key description file used by
<prgn>dpkg</prgn>. It specifies the package's name
states its relationships with other packages, and so
forth. See <ref id="pkg-controlfile">.
</p>
-
+
<p>
It is usually generated automatically from information
in the source package by the
assistance from <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn>. See <ref
id="pkg-sourcetools">.</p>
</item>
-
+
<tag><tt>postinst</tt>, <tt>preinst</tt>, <tt>postrm</tt>,
<tt>prerm</tt>
</tag>
<item>
-
+
<p>
These are exectuable files (usually scripts) which
<prgn>dpkg</prgn> runs during installation, upgrade
how they are called are in <ref
id="maintainerscripts">.
</p>
-
+
<p>
It is very important to make these scripts
idempotent.
unforeseen circumstance happens you don't leave the
user with a badly-broken package.
</p>
-
+
<p>
The maintainer scripts are guaranteed to run with a
controlling terminal and can interact with the user.
If they need to prompt for passwords, do full-screen
interaction or something similar you should do these
- things to and from <tt>/dev/tty</tt>, since
+ things to and from <file>/dev/tty</file>, since
<prgn>dpkg</prgn> will at some point redirect scripts'
standard input and output so that it can log the
installation process. Likewise, because these scripts
output is printed immediately rather than being
buffered.
</p>
-
+
<p>
Each script should return a zero exit status for
success, or a nonzero one for failure.</p>
</item>
-
+
<tag><tt>conffiles</tt>
</tag>
<item>
-
+
<p>
This file contains a list of configuration files which
are to be handled automatically by <prgn>dpkg</prgn>
(see <ref id="pkg-conffiles">). Note that not necessarily
every configuration file should be listed here.</p>
</item>
-
+
<tag><tt>shlibs</tt>
</tag>
<item>
-
+
<p>
This file contains a list of the shared libraries
supplied by the package, with dependency details for
</item>
</taglist>
</p>
-
+
<sect id="pkg-controlfile">
<heading>
The main control information file: <tt>control</tt>
statistics'.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The binary package control files of packages built from
Debian sources are made by a special tool,
<prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn>, which reads
- <tt>debian/control</tt> and <tt>debian/changelog</tt> to
+ <file>debian/control</file> and <file>debian/changelog</file> to
find the information it needs. See <ref id="pkg-sourcepkg"> for
more details.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The fields in binary package control files are:
<list compact="compact">
<item>
<p>
<qref id="pkg-f-Installed-Size"><tt>Installed-Size</tt></qref>
</p>
- </item>
+ </item>
</list>
-
+
<p>
A description of the syntax of control files and the purpose
of these fields is available in <ref id="pkg-controlfields">.
<p>
Maintainers are encouraged to preserve the modification
times of the upstream source files in a package, as far as
- is reasonably possible.
+ is reasonably possible.
<footnote>
<p>
The rationale is that there is some information conveyed
<appendix id="pkg-sourcepkg">
<heading>Source packages (from old Packaging Manual) </heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
The Debian binary packages in the distribution are generated
from Debian sources, which are in a special format to assist
the easy and automatic building of binaries.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
There was a previous version of the Debian source format,
which is now being phased out. Instructions for converting an
old-style package are given in the Debian policy manual.
</p>
-
+
<sect id="pkg-sourcetools">
- <heading>Tools for processing source packages</heading>
+ <heading>Tools for processing source packages</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
Various tools are provided for manipulating source packages;
they pack and unpack sources and help build of binary
packages and help manage the distribution of new versions.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
They are introduced and typical uses described here; see
<manref name="dpkg-source" section="1"> for full
documentation about their arguments and operation.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
For examples of how to construct a Debian source package,
and how to use those utilities that are used by Debian
source packages, please see the <prgn>hello</prgn> example
package.
</p>
-
+
<sect1>
<heading>
<prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> - packs and unpacks Debian source
packages
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
This program is frequently used by hand, and is also
called from package-independent automated building scripts
such as <prgn>dpkg-buildpackage</prgn>.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
To unpack a package it is typically invoked with
<example>
dpkg-source -x <var>.../path/to/filename</var>.dsc
- </example>
+ </example>
</p>
- <p>
- with the <tt><var>filename</var>.tar.gz</tt> and
- <tt><var>filename</var>.diff.gz</tt> (if applicable) in
+ <p>
+ with the <file><var>filename</var>.tar.gz</file> and
+ <file><var>filename</var>.diff.gz</file> (if applicable) in
the same directory. It unpacks into
- <tt><var>package</var>-<var>version</var></tt>, and if
+ <file><var>package</var>-<var>version</var></file>, and if
applicable
- <tt><var>package</var>-<var>version</var>.orig</tt>, in
+ <file><var>package</var>-<var>version</var>.orig</file>, in
the current directory.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
To create a packed source archive it is typically invoked:
<example>
dpkg-source -b <var>package</var>-<var>version</var>
</p>
<p>
- This will create the <tt>.dsc</tt>, <tt>.tar.gz</tt> and
- <tt>.diff.gz</tt> (if appropriate) in the current
+ This will create the <file>.dsc</file>, <file>.tar.gz</file> and
+ <file>.diff.gz</file> (if appropriate) in the current
directory. <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> does not clean the
source tree first - this must be done separately if it is
required.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
See also <ref id="pkg-sourcearchives">.</p>
</sect1>
-
-
+
+
<sect1>
<heading>
<prgn>dpkg-buildpackage</prgn> - overall package-building
control script
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
<prgn>dpkg-buildpackage</prgn> is a script which invokes
- <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn>, the <tt>debian/rules</tt>
+ <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn>, the <file>debian/rules</file>
targets <tt>clean</tt>, <tt>build</tt> and
<tt>binary</tt>, <prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> and
<prgn>pgp</prgn> to build a signed source and binary
package upload.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
It is usually invoked by hand from the top level of the
built or unbuilt source directory. It may be invoked with
no arguments; useful arguments include:
</taglist>
</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1>
<heading>
<prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> - generates binary package
control files
</heading>
- <p>
- This program is usually called from <tt>debian/rules</tt>
+ <p>
+ This program is usually called from <file>debian/rules</file>
(see <ref id="pkg-sourcetree">) in the top level of the source
tree.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
This is usually done just before the files and directories in the
temporary directory tree where the package is being built have their
permissions and ownerships set and the package is constructed using
</footnote>.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
<prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> must be called after all the
files which are to go into the package have been placed in
the temporary build directory, so that its calculation of
the installed size of a package is correct.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
It is also necessary for <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> to
be run after <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> so that the
variable substitutions created by
- <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> in <tt>debian/substvars</tt>
+ <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> in <file>debian/substvars</file>
are available.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
For a package which generates only one binary package, and
- which builds it in <tt>debian/tmp</tt> relative to the top
+ which builds it in <file>debian/tmp</file> relative to the top
of the source package, it is usually sufficient to call
<prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn>.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
Sources which build several binaries will typically need
something like:
<example>
tells it which package's control file should be generated.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
<prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> also adds information to the
- list of files in <tt>debian/files</tt>, for the benefit of
+ list of files in <file>debian/files</file>, for the benefit of
(for example) a future invocation of
<prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn>.</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1>
<heading>
<prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> - calculates shared library
dependencies
</heading>
- <p>
- This program is usually called from <tt>debian/rules</tt>
+ <p>
+ This program is usually called from <file>debian/rules</file>
just before <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> (see <ref
id="pkg-sourcetree">), in the top level of the source tree.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
Its arguments are executables.
<footnote>
<p>
In a forthcoming dpkg version,
<prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> would be required to be
- called on shared libraries as well.
+ called on shared libraries as well.
</p>
<p>
They may be specified either in the locations in the
be included in the binary package's control file.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
If some of the found shared libraries should only
warrant a <tt>Recommends</tt> or <tt>Suggests</tt>, or if
some warrant a <tt>Pre-Depends</tt>, this can be achieved
takes effect until the next <tt>-d</tt>.)
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
<prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> does not directly cause the
output control file to be modified. Instead by default it
- adds to the <tt>debian/substvars</tt> file variable
+ adds to the <file>debian/substvars</file> file variable
settings like <tt>shlibs:Depends</tt>. These variable
settings must be referenced in dependency fields in the
appropriate per-binary-package sections of the source
control file.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
For example, the <prgn>procps</prgn> package generates two
kinds of binaries, simple C binaries like <prgn>ps</prgn>
which require a predependency and full-screen ncurses
binaries like <prgn>top</prgn> which require only a
- recommendation. It can say in its <tt>debian/rules</tt>:
+ recommendation. It can say in its <file>debian/rules</file>:
<example>
dpkg-shlibdeps -dPre-Depends ps -dRecommends top
</example>
- and then in its main control file <tt>debian/control</tt>:
+ and then in its main control file <file>debian/control</file>:
<example>
<var>...</var>
Package: procps
</example>
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
Sources which produce several binary packages with
different shared library dependency requirements can use
the <tt>-p<var>varnameprefix</var></tt> option to override
- the default <tt>shlib:</tt> prefix (one invocation of
+ the default <tt>shlibs:</tt> prefix (one invocation of
<prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> per setting of this option).
They can thus produce several sets of dependency
variables, each of the form
binary package control files.
</p>
</sect1>
-
-
+
+
<sect1>
<heading>
<prgn>dpkg-distaddfile</prgn> - adds a file to
- <tt>debian/files</tt>
+ <file>debian/files</file>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
Some packages' uploads need to include files other than
the source and binary package files.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
<prgn>dpkg-distaddfile</prgn> adds a file to the
- <tt>debian/files</tt> file so that it will be included in
- the <tt>.changes</tt> file when
+ <file>debian/files</file> file so that it will be included in
+ the <file>.changes</file> file when
<prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> is run.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
It is usually invoked from the <tt>binary</tt> target of
- <tt>debian/rules</tt>:
+ <file>debian/rules</file>:
<example>
dpkg-distaddfile <var>filename</var> <var>section</var> <var>priority</var>
</example>
The <var>filename</var> is relative to the directory where
<prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> will expect to find it - this
is usually the directory above the top level of the source
- tree. The <tt>debian/rules</tt> target should put the
+ tree. The <file>debian/rules</file> target should put the
file there just before or just after calling
<prgn>dpkg-distaddfile</prgn>.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The <var>section</var> and <var>priority</var> are passed
- unchanged into the resulting <tt>.changes</tt> file. See
+ unchanged into the resulting <file>.changes</file> file. See
<ref id="pkg-f-classification">.
</p>
</sect1>
-
-
- <sect1><heading><prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> - generates a <tt>.changes</tt> upload
+
+
+ <sect1><heading><prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> - generates a <file>.changes</file> upload
control file
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
This program is usually called by package-independent
automatic building scripts such as
<prgn>dpkg-buildpackage</prgn>, but it may also be called
by hand.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
It is usually called in the top level of a built source
tree, and when invoked with no arguments will print out a
- straightforward <tt>.changes</tt> file based on the
+ straightforward <file>.changes</file> file based on the
information in the source package's changelog and control
file and the binary and source packages which should have
been built.
</p>
</sect1>
-
-
+
+
<sect1><heading><prgn>dpkg-parsechangelog</prgn> - produces parsed representation of
a changelog
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
This program is used internally by
<prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> et al. It may also occasionally
- be useful in <tt>debian/rules</tt> and elsewhere. It
- parses a changelog, <tt>debian/changelog</tt> by default,
+ be useful in <file>debian/rules</file> and elsewhere. It
+ parses a changelog, <file>debian/changelog</file> by default,
and prints a control-file format representation of the
information in it to standard output.
</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1 id="pkg-dpkgarch"><heading><prgn>dpkg-architecture</prgn> -
- information about the build and host system
+ information about the build and host system
</heading>
-
+
<p>
This program can be used manually, but is also invoked by
- <tt>dpkg-buildpackage</tt> or <tt>debian/rules</tt> to set
+ <tt>dpkg-buildpackage</tt> or <file>debian/rules</file> to set
to set environment or make variables which specify the build and
host architecture for the package building process.
</p>
</sect1>
</sect>
-
+
<sect id="pkg-sourcetree"><heading>The Debianised source tree
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
The source archive scheme described later is intended to
allow a Debianised source tree with some associated control
information to be reproduced and transported easily. The
scripts.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The extra files created for Debian are in the subdirectory
- <tt>debian</tt> of the top level of the Debianised source
+ <file>debian</file> of the top level of the Debianised source
tree. They are described below.
</p>
-
- <sect1 id="pkg-debianrules"><heading><tt>debian/rules</tt> - the main building
+
+ <sect1 id="pkg-debianrules"><heading><file>debian/rules</file> - the main building
script
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
This file is an executable makefile, and contains the
package-specific recipies for compiling the package and
building binary package(s) out of the source.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
It must start with the line <tt>#!/usr/bin/make -f</tt>,
so that it can be invoked by saying its name rather than
invoking <prgn>make</prgn> explicitly.
</p>
<p>
- Since an interactive <tt>debian/rules</tt> script makes it
+ Since an interactive <file>debian/rules</file> script makes it
impossible to autocompile that package and also makes it
hard for other people to reproduce the same binary
package, all <strong>required targets</strong> have to be
targets depend on must also be non-interactive.
</p>
- <p>
- The targets which are required to be present are:
+ <p>
+ The targets which are required to be present are:
<taglist>
<tag><tt>build</tt></tag>
<item>
built after this has taken place, so that it can be
built without rerunning the configuration.
</p>
-
+
<p>
A package may also provide both of the targets
<tt>build-arch</tt> and <tt>build-indep</tt>. The
<tt>build-indep</tt> that are provided in the rules
file.
</p>
-
- <p>
+
+ <p>
If one or both of the targets <tt>build-arch</tt> and
<tt>build-indep</tt> are not provided, then invoking
- <tt>debian/rules</tt> with one of the not-provided
+ <file>debian/rules</file> with one of the not-provided
targets as arguments should produce a exit status code
of 2. Usually this is provided automatically by make
if the target is missing.
</p>
-
+
<p>
For some packages, notably ones where the same
source tree is compiled in different ways to produce
binary package out of each.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The targets <tt>build</tt>, <tt>build-arch</tt>
and <tt>build-indep</tt> target must not do
anything that might require root privilege.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The <tt>build</tt> target may need to run
<tt>clean</tt> first - see below.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
When a package has a configuration routine that takes
a long time, or when the makefiles are poorly
designed, or when <tt>build</tt> needs to run
again it will not rebuild the whole program.
</p>
</item>
-
+
<tag><tt>binary</tt>, <tt>binary-arch</tt>,
<tt>binary-indep</tt>
- </tag>
+ </tag>
<item>
<p>
The <tt>binary</tt> target should be all that is
those which are not.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
<tt>binary</tt> should usually be a target with
no commands which simply depends on
<prgn>binary-arch</prgn> and
<prgn>binary-indep</prgn>.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
Both <prgn>binary-*</prgn> targets should depend on
the <tt>build</tt> target, above, so that the
package is built if it has not been already. It
directory.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
If one of the <prgn>binary-*</prgn> targets has
nothing to do (this will be always be the case if
the source generates only a single binary package,
succeed.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
<ref id="pkg-binarypkg"> describes how to construct
binary packages.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The <tt>binary</tt> targets must be invoked as
root.
</p>
</item>
-
+
<tag><tt>clean</tt></tag>
<item>
-
+
<p>
This should undo any effects that the
<tt>build</tt> and <tt>binary</tt> targets
to be non-interactive.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
If a <tt>build</tt> file is touched at the end
of the <tt>build</tt> target, as suggested
above, it must be removed as the first thing that
already done.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The <tt>clean</tt> target must be invoked as
root if <tt>binary</tt> has been invoked since
the last <tt>clean</tt>, or if
example).
</p>
</item>
-
+
<tag><tt>get-orig-source</tt> (optional)</tag>
<item>
-
+
<p>
This target fetches the most recent version of the
original source package from a canonical archive
in the current directory.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
This target may be invoked in any directory, and
should take care to clean up any temporary files it
may have left.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
This target is optional, but providing it if
possible is a good idea.
</p>
</item>
</taglist>
-
+
<p>
The <tt>build</tt>, <tt>binary</tt> and
<tt>clean</tt> targets must be invoked with a current
directory of the package's top-level directory.
</p>
-
- <p>
- Additional targets may exist in <tt>debian/rules</tt>,
+
+ <p>
+ Additional targets may exist in <file>debian/rules</file>,
either as published or undocumented interfaces or for the
package's internal use.
</p>
-
+
<p>
The architecture we build on and build for is determined by make
variables via dpkg-architecture (see <ref id="pkg-dpkgarch">). You can
</item>
<item>
<p><tt>DEB_*_GNU_TYPE</tt> (the GNU style architecture
- specification string)</p>
+ specification string)</p>
</item>
<item>
<p><tt>DEB_*_GNU_CPU</tt> (the CPU part of DEB_*_GNU_TYPE)</p>
DEB_*_GNU_TYPE)</p>
</list>
</p>
-
+
<p>
where <tt>*</tt> is either <tt>BUILD</tt> for specification of
the build machine or <tt>HOST</tt> for specification of the machine
we build for.
</p>
-
+
<p>
Backward compatibility can be provided in the rules file
by setting the needed variables to suitable default
values, please refer to the documentation of
dpkg-architecture for details.
</p>
-
+
<p>
It is important to understand that the <tt>DEB_*_ARCH</tt>
string does only determine which Debian architecture we
used for that.
</p>
</sect1>
-
-
- <sect1><heading><tt>debian/control</tt>
+
+
+ <sect1><heading><file>debian/control</file>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
This file contains version-independent details about the
source package and about the binary packages it creates.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
It is a series of sets of control fields, each
syntactically similar to a binary package control file.
The sets are separated by one or more blank lines. The
that the source tree builds.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The syntax and semantics of the fields are described below
in <ref id="pkg-controlfields">.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The general (binary-package-independent) fields are:
<list compact="compact">
<item>
<item>
<p>
<qref id="pkg-f-classification"><tt>Section</tt> and
- <tt>Priority</tt></qref>
+ <tt>Priority</tt></qref>
(classification, mandatory)
</p>
</item>
<p>
<qref id="pkg-f-Standards-Version"><tt>Standards-Version</tt></qref>
</p>
- </item>
+ </item>
</list>
- <p>
+ <p>
The per-binary-package fields are:
<list compact="compact">
<item>
</item>
</list>
- <p>
+ <p>
These fields are used by <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> to
generate control files for binary packages (see below), by
<prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> to generate the
<tt>.changes</tt> file to accompany the upload, and by
- <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> when it creates the <tt>.dsc</tt>
+ <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> when it creates the <file>.dsc</file>
source control file as part of a source archive.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The fields here may contain variable references - their
values will be substituted by
<prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn>, <prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn>
<p> <sect2><heading>User-defined fields
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
Additional user-defined fields may be added to the
source package control file. Such fields will be
ignored, and not copied to (for example) binary or
source package control files or upload control files.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
If you wish to add additional unsupported fields to
these output files you should use the mechanism
described here.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
Fields in the main source control information file with
names starting <tt>X</tt>, followed by one or more of
the letters <tt>BCS</tt> and a hyphen <tt>-</tt>, will
(<tt>.changes</tt>) files.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
For example, if the main source information control file
contains the field
<example>
</example>
</p>
</sect2>
-
+
</sect1>
- <sect1 id="pkg-dpkgchangelog"><heading><tt>debian/changelog</tt>
+ <sect1 id="pkg-dpkgchangelog"><heading><file>debian/changelog</file>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
This file records the changes to the Debian-specific parts of the
package
<footnote>
</footnote>.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
It has a special format which allows the package building
tools to discover which version of the package is being
built and find out other release-specific information.
</p>
<p>
- That format is a series of entries like this:
+ That format is a series of entries like this:
<example>
<var>package</var> (<var>version</var>) <var>distribution(s)</var>; urgency=<var>urgency</var>
* <var>change details</var>
<var>more change details</var>
* <var>even more change details</var>
-
+
-- <var>maintainer name and email address</var> <var>date</var>
</example>
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
<var>package</var> and <var>version</var> are the source
package name and version number.
- </p>
+ </p>
- <p>
+ <p>
<var>distribution(s)</var> lists the distributions where
this version should be installed when it is uploaded - it
is copied to the <tt>Distribution</tt> field in the
<tt>.changes</tt> file. See <ref id="pkg-f-Distribution">.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
<var>urgency</var> is the value for the <tt>Urgency</tt>
- field in the <tt>.changes</tt> file for the upload. See
+ field in the <file>.changes</file> file for the upload. See
<ref id="pkg-f-Urgency">. It is not possible to specify an
urgency containing commas; commas are used to separate
<tt><var>keyword</var>=<var>value</var></tt> settings in
<tt>urgency</tt>).
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The change details may in fact be any series of lines
starting with at least two spaces, but conventionally each
change starts with an asterisk and a separating space and
used here to separate groups of changes, if desired.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The maintainer name and email address should <em>not</em>
necessarily be those of the usual package maintainer.
They should be the details of the person doing
<em>this</em> version. The information here will be
- copied to the <tt>.changes</tt> file, and then later used
+ copied to the <file>.changes</file> file, and then later used
to send an acknowledgement when the upload has been
installed.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The <var>date</var> should be in RFC822 format
<footnote>
<p>
optionally present as a comment.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The first `title' line with the package name should start
at the left hand margin; the `trailer' line with the
maintainer and date details should be preceded by exactly
separated by exactly two spaces.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
An Emacs mode for editing this format is available: it is
called <tt>debian-changelog-mode</tt>. You can have this
mode selected automatically when you edit a Debian
changelog by adding a local variables clause to the end of
the changelog.
</p>
-
+
<sect2><heading>Defining alternative changelog formats
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
It is possible to use a different format to the standard
one, by providing a parser for the format you wish to
use.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
In order to have <tt>dpkg-parsechangelog</tt> run your
parser, you must include a line within the last 40 lines
of your file matching the Perl regular expression:
Changelog format names are non-empty strings of alphanumerics.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
If such a line exists then <tt>dpkg-parsechangelog</tt>
will look for the parser as
- <tt>/usr/lib/dpkg/parsechangelog/<var>format-name</var></tt>
+ <file>/usr/lib/dpkg/parsechangelog/<var>format-name</var></file>
or
- <tt>/usr/local/lib/dpkg/parsechangelog/<var>format-name</var></tt>;
+ <file>/usr/local/lib/dpkg/parsechangelog/<var>format-name</var></file>;
it is an error for it not to find it, or for it not to
be an executable program. The default changelog format
is <tt>dpkg</tt>, and a parser for it is provided with
the <tt>dpkg</tt> package.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The parser will be invoked with the changelog open on
standard input at the start of the file. It should read
the file (it may seek if it wishes) to determine the
changelog.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The fields are:
<list compact="compact">
<item>
<p>
<qref id="pkg-f-Distribution"><tt>Distribution</tt></qref>
(mandatory)
- </p>
+ </p>
</item>
<item>
<p><qref id="pkg-f-Urgency"><tt>Urgency</tt></qref> (mandatory)</p>
</item>
</list>
- <p>
+ <p>
If several versions are being returned (due to the use
of <tt>-v</tt>), the urgency value should be of the
highest urgency code listed at the start of any of the
date should always be from the most recent version.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
For the format of the <tt>Changes</tt> field see <ref
id="pkg-f-Changes">.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
If the changelog format which is being parsed always or
almost always leaves a blank line between individual
change notes these blank lines should be stripped out,
so as to make the resulting output compact.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
If the changelog format does not contain date or package
name information this information should be omitted from
the output. The parser should not attempt to synthesise
it or find it from other sources.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
If the changelog does not have the expected format the
parser should exit with a nonzero exit status, rather
than trying to muddle through and possibly generating
incorrect output.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
A changelog parser may not interact with the user at
all.</p></sect2>
</sect1>
-
- <sect1 id="pkg-srcsubstvars"><heading><tt>debian/substvars</tt>
+
+ <sect1 id="pkg-srcsubstvars"><heading><file>debian/substvars</file>
and variable substitutions
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
When <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn>,
<prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> and <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn>
generate control files they do variable substitutions on
their output just before writing it. Variable
substitutions have the form
<tt>${<var>variable-name</var>}</tt>. The optional file
- <tt>debian/substvars</tt> contains variable substitutions
+ <file>debian/substvars</file> contains variable substitutions
to be used; variables can also be set directly from
- <tt>debian/rules</tt> using the <tt>-V</tt> option to the
+ <file>debian/rules</file> using the <tt>-V</tt> option to the
source packaging commands, and certain predefined
variables are available.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The is usually generated and modified dynamically by
- <tt>debian/rules</tt> targets; in this case it must be
+ <file>debian/rules</file> targets; in this case it must be
removed by the <tt>clean</tt> target.
</p>
<p>
See <manref name="dpkg-source" section="1"> for full
details about source variable substitutions, including the
- format of <tt>debian/substvars</tt>.</p>
+ format of <file>debian/substvars</file>.</p>
</sect1>
-
- <sect1><heading><tt>debian/files</tt>
+
+ <sect1><heading><file>debian/files</file>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
This file is not a permanent part of the source tree; it
is used while building packages to record which files are
being generated. <prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> uses it
- when it generates a <tt>.changes</tt> file.
+ when it generates a <file>.changes</file> file.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
It should not exist in a shipped source package, and so it
(and any backup files or temporary files such as
- <tt>files.new</tt>
+ <file>files.new</file>
<footnote>
<p>
- <tt>files.new</tt> is used as a temporary file by
+ <file>files.new</file> is used as a temporary file by
<prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> and
<prgn>dpkg-distaddfile</prgn> - they write a new
- version of <tt>files</tt> here before renaming it,
+ version of <file>files</file> here before renaming it,
to avoid leaving a corrupted copy if an error
occurs
</p>
start of the <tt>binary</tt> target.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
<prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> adds an entry to this file
- for the <tt>.deb</tt> file that will be created by
+ for the <file>.deb</file> file that will be created by
<prgn>dpkg-deb</prgn> from the control file that it
generates, so for most packages all that needs to be done
with this file is to delete it in <tt>clean</tt>.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
If a package upload includes files besides the source
package and any binary packages whose control files were
made with <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> then they should be
placed in the parent of the package's top-level directory
and <prgn>dpkg-distaddfile</prgn> should be called to add
- the file to the list in <tt>debian/files</tt>.</p>
+ the file to the list in <file>debian/files</file>.</p>
</sect1>
-
- <sect1><heading><tt>debian/tmp</tt>
+
+ <sect1><heading><file>debian/tmp</file>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
This is the canonical temporary location for the
construction of binary packages by the <tt>binary</tt>
- target. The directory <tt>tmp</tt> serves as the root of
+ target. The directory <file>tmp</file> serves as the root of
the filesystem tree as it is being constructed (for
example, by using the package's upstream makefiles install
targets and redirecting the output there), and it also
id="pkg-bincreating">.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
If several binary packages are generated from the same
source tree it is usual to use several
- <tt>debian/tmp<var>something</var></tt> directories, for
- example <tt>tmp-a</tt> or <tt>tmp-doc</tt>.
+ <file>debian/tmp<var>something</var></file> directories, for
+ example <file>tmp-a</file> or <file>tmp-doc</file>.
</p>
- <p>
- Whatever <tt>tmp</tt> directories are created and used by
+ <p>
+ Whatever <file>tmp</file> directories are created and used by
<tt>binary</tt> must of course be removed by the
<tt>clean</tt> target.</p></sect1>
</sect>
-
-
+
+
<sect id="pkg-sourcearchives"><heading>Source packages as archives
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
As it exists on the FTP site, a Debian source package
consists of three related files. You must have the right
versions of all three to be able to use them.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
<taglist>
<tag>Debian source control file - <tt>.dsc</tt></tag>
<item>
-
+
<p>
This file contains a series of fields, identified and
separated just like the fields in the control file of
</item>
</list>
- <p>
+ <p>
The source package control file is generated by
<prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> when it builds the source
archive, from other files in the source package,
the files and directories in the other parts of the
source package, as described below.</p>
</item>
-
+
<tag>
Original source archive -
- <tt>
+ <file>
<var>package</var>_<var>upstream-version</var>.orig.tar.gz
- </tt>
- </tag>
+ </file>
+ </tag>
<item>
-
+
<p>
This is a compressed (with <tt>gzip -9</tt>)
<prgn>tar</prgn> file containing the source code from
the upstream authors of the program. The tarfile
unpacks into a directory
- <tt><var>package</var>-<var>upstream-version</var>.orig</tt>,
+ <file><var>package</var>-<var>upstream-version</var>.orig</file>,
and does not contain files anywhere other than in
there or in its subdirectories.</p>
</item>
-
+
<tag>
Debianisation diff -
- <tt>
+ <file>
<var>package</var>_<var>upstream_version-revision</var>.diff.gz
- </tt>
- </tag>
+ </file>
+ </tag>
<item>
-
+
<p>
This is a unified context diff (<tt>diff -u</tt>)
giving the changes which are required to turn the
or renamed.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
All the directories in the diff must exist, except the
- <tt>debian</tt> subdirectory of the top of the source
+ <file>debian</file> subdirectory of the top of the source
tree, which will be created by
<prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> if necessary when unpacking.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> program will
- automatically make the <tt>debian/rules</tt> file
+ automatically make the <file>debian/rules</file> file
executable (see below).</p></item>
</taglist>
-
- <p>
+
+ <p>
If there is no original source code - for example, if the
package is specially prepared for Debian or the Debian
maintainer is the same as the upstream maintainer - the
format is slightly different: then there is no diff, and the
tarfile is named
- <tt><var>package</var>_<var>version</var>.tar.gz</tt> and
+ <file><var>package</var>_<var>version</var>.tar.gz</file> and
contains a directory
- <tt><var>package</var>-<var>version</var></tt>.
+ <file><var>package</var>-<var>version</var></file>.
</p>
</sect>
-
+
<sect><heading>Unpacking a Debian source package without
<prgn>dpkg-source</prgn>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
<tt>dpkg-source -x</tt> is the recommended way to unpack a
Debian source package. However, if it is not available it
is possible to unpack a Debian source archive as follows:
<enumlist compact="compact">
- <item>
+ <item>
<p>
- Untar the tarfile, which will create a <tt>.orig</tt>
+ Untar the tarfile, which will create a <file>.orig</file>
directory.</p>
</item>
<item>
- <p>Rename the <tt>.orig</tt> directory to
- <tt><var>package</var>-<var>version</var></tt>.</p>
+ <p>Rename the <file>.orig</file> directory to
+ <file><var>package</var>-<var>version</var></file>.</p>
</item>
<item>
<p>
- Create the subdirectory <tt>debian</tt> at the top of
+ Create the subdirectory <file>debian</file> at the top of
the source tree.</p>
</item>
<item><p>Apply the diff using <tt>patch -p0</tt>.</p>
source code alongside the Debianised version.</p>
</item>
</enumlist>
-
- <p>
+
+ <p>
It is not possible to generate a valid Debian source archive
without using <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn>. In particular,
attempting to use <prgn>diff</prgn> directly to generate the
- <tt>.diff.gz</tt> file will not work.
+ <file>.diff.gz</file> file will not work.
</p>
-
+
<sect1><heading>Restrictions on objects in source packages
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
The source package may not contain any hard links
<footnote>
<p>
</footnote>
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The source packaging tools manage the changes between the
original and Debianised source using <prgn>diff</prgn> and
<prgn>patch</prgn>. Turning the original source tree as
- included in the <tt>.orig.tar.gz</tt> into the debianised
+ included in the <file>.orig.tar.gz</file> into the debianised
source must not involve any changes which cannot be
handled by these tools. Problematic changes which cause
<prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> to halt with an error when
</item>
<item><p>Changing the targets of symbolic links.</p>
</item>
- <item><p>Creating directories, other than <tt>debian</tt>.</p>
+ <item><p>Creating directories, other than <file>debian</file>.</p>
</item>
<item><p>Changes to the contents of binary files.</p></item>
</list> Changes which cause <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> to
<prgn>dpkg-source</prgn>, are:
<list compact="compact">
<item><p>Changing the permissions of files (other than
- <tt>debian/rules</tt>) and directories.</p></item>
+ <file>debian/rules</file>) and directories.</p></item>
</list>
</p>
- <p>
- The <tt>debian</tt> directory and <tt>debian/rules</tt>
+ <p>
+ The <file>debian</file> directory and <file>debian/rules</file>
are handled specially by <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> - before
- applying the changes it will create the <tt>debian</tt>
+ applying the changes it will create the <file>debian</file>
directory, and afterwards it will make
- <tt>debian/rules</tt> world-exectuable.
+ <file>debian/rules</file> world-exectuable.
</p>
</sect1>
</sect>
fields (from old Packaging Manual)
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
Many of the tools in the <prgn>dpkg</prgn> suite manipulate
data in a common format, known as control files. Binary and
- source packages have control data as do the <tt>.changes</tt>
+ source packages have control data as do the <file>.changes</file>
files which control the installation of uploaded files, and
<prgn>dpkg</prgn>'s internal databases are in a similar
format.
</p>
-
+
<sect><heading>Syntax of control files
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
A file consists of one or more paragraphs of fields. The
paragraphs are separated by blank lines. Some control files
only allow one paragraph; others allow several, in which
case each paragraph often refers to a different package.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
Each paragraph is a series of fields and values; each field
consists of a name, followed by a colon and the value. It
ends at the end of the line. Horizontal whitespace (spaces
colon.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
Some fields' values may span several lines; in this case
each continuation line <em>must</em> start with a space or
tab. Any trailing spaces or tabs at the end of individual
lines of a field value are ignored.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
Except where otherwise stated only a single line of data is
allowed and whitespace is not significant in a field body.
Whitespace may never appear inside names (of packages,
relationships.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
Field names are not case-sensitive, but it is usual to
capitalise the field names using mixed case as shown below.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
Blank lines, or lines consisting only of spaces and tabs,
are not allowed within field values or between fields - that
would mean a new paragraph.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
It is important to note that there are several fields which
are optional as far as <prgn>dpkg</prgn> and the related
tools are concerned, but which must appear in every Debian
the Debian policy manual in conjuction with the details
below and the list of fields for the particular file.</p>
</sect>
-
+
<sect><heading>List of fields
</heading>
-
+
<sect1 id="pkg-f-Package"><heading><tt>Package</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
The name of the binary package. Package names consist of
the alphanumerics and <tt>+</tt> <tt>-</tt> <tt>.</tt>
(plus, minus and full stop).
</footnote>
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
They must be at least two characters and must start with
an alphanumeric. In current versions of dpkg they are
sort of case-sensitive<footnote><p>This is a
the package you're building (or referring to, in other
fields) is already using uppercase.</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1 id="pkg-f-Version"><heading><tt>Version</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
This lists the source or binary package's version number -
see <ref id="versions">.
</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1 id="pkg-f-Architecture"><heading><tt>Architecture</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
This is the architecture string; it is a single word for
the Debian architecture.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
<prgn>dpkg</prgn> will check the declared architecture of
a binary package against its own compiled-in value before
it installs it.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The special value <tt>all</tt> indicates that the package
is architecture-independent.
</p>
- <p>
- In the main <tt>debian/control</tt> file in the source
+ <p>
+ In the main <file>debian/control</file> file in the source
package, or in the source package control file
- <tt>.dsc</tt>, a list of architectures (separated by
+ <file>.dsc</file>, a list of architectures (separated by
spaces) is also allowed, as is the special value
<tt>any</tt>. A list indicates that the source will build
an architecture-dependent package, and will only work
whatever the current build architecture is.
</p>
- <p>
- In a <tt>.changes</tt> file the <tt>Architecture</tt>
+ <p>
+ In a <file>.changes</file> file the <tt>Architecture</tt>
field lists the architecture(s) of the package(s)
currently being uploaded. This will be a list; if the
source for the package is being uploaded too the special
entry <tt>source</tt> is also present.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
See <ref id="pkg-debianrules"> for information how to get the
- architecture for the build process.
+ architecture for the build process.
</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1 id="pkg-f-Maintainer"><heading><tt>Maintainer</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
The package maintainer's name and email address. The name
should come first, then the email address inside angle
brackets <tt><></tt> (in RFC822 format).
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
If the maintainer's name contains a full stop then the
whole field will not work directly as an email address due
to a misfeature in the syntax specified in RFC822; a
end, and bringing the email address forward).
</p>
- <p>
- In a <tt>.changes</tt> file or parsed changelog data this
+ <p>
+ In a <file>.changes</file> file or parsed changelog data this
contains the name and email address of the person
responsible for the particular version in question - this
may not be the package's usual maintainer.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
This field is usually optional in as far as the
<prgn>dpkg</prgn> are concerned, but its absence when
building packages usually generates a warning.</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1 id="pkg-f-Source"><heading><tt>Source</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
This field identifies the source package name.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
In a main source control information or a
- <tt>.changes</tt> or <tt>.dsc</tt> file or parsed
+ <file>.changes</file> or <file>.dsc</file> file or parsed
changelog data this may contain only the name of the
source package.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
In the control file of a binary package (or in a
- <tt>Packages</tt> file) it may be followed by a version
+ <file>Packages</file> file) it may be followed by a version
number in parentheses.
<footnote>
<p>
name and version as the binary package.
</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1><heading>Package interrelationship fields:
<tt>Depends</tt>, <tt>Pre-Depends</tt>,
<tt>Recommends</tt> <tt>Suggests</tt>, <tt>Conflicts</tt>,
<tt>Provides</tt>, <tt>Replaces</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
These fields describe the package's relationships with
other packages. Their syntax and semantics are described
in <ref id="relationships">.</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1 id="pkg-f-Description"><heading><tt>Description</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
In a binary package <tt>Packages</tt> file or main source
control file this field contains a description of the
binary package, in a special format. See <ref
id="descriptions"> for details.
</p>
- <p>
- In a <tt>.changes</tt> file it contains a summary of the
+ <p>
+ In a <file>.changes</file> file it contains a summary of the
descriptions for the packages being uploaded. The part of
the field before the first newline is empty; thereafter
each line has the name of a binary package and the summary
description line from that binary package. Each line is
indented by one space.</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1 id="pkg-f-Essential"><heading><tt>Essential</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
This is a boolean field which may occur only in the
control file of a binary package (or in the
- <tt>Packages</tt> file) or in a per-package fields
+ <file>Packages</file> file) or in a per-package fields
paragraph of a main source control data file.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
If set to <tt>yes</tt> then <prgn>dpkg</prgn> and
<prgn>dselect</prgn> will refuse to remove the package
(though it can be upgraded and/or replaced). The other
possible value is <tt>no</tt>, which is the same as not
having the field at all.</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1 id="pkg-f-classification"><heading><tt>Section</tt> and
<tt>Priority</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
These two fields classify the package. The
<tt>Priority</tt> represents how important that it is that
the user have it installed; the <tt>Section</tt>
been classified.
</p>
- <p>
- When they appear in the <tt>debian/control</tt> file these
+ <p>
+ When they appear in the <file>debian/control</file> file these
fields give values for the section and priority subfields
- of the <tt>Files</tt> field of the <tt>.changes</tt> file,
+ of the <tt>Files</tt> field of the <file>.changes</file> file,
and give defaults for the section and priority of the
binary packages.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The section and priority are represented, though not as
separate fields, in the information for each file in the
<qref id="pkg-f-Files"><tt>-File</tt></qref>field of a
- <tt>.changes</tt> file. The section value in a
- <tt>.changes</tt> file is used to decide where to install
+ <file>.changes</file> file. The section value in a
+ <file>.changes</file> file is used to decide where to install
a package in the FTP archive.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
These fields are not used by by <prgn>dpkg</prgn> proper,
but by <prgn>dselect</prgn> when it sorts packages and
selects defaults. See the Debian policy manual for the
archive for a list of currently in-use priorities.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
These fields may appear in binary package control files,
in which case they provide a default value in case the
- <tt>Packages</tt> files are missing the information.
+ <file>Packages</file> files are missing the information.
<prgn>dpkg</prgn> and <prgn>dselect</prgn> will only use
- the value from a <tt>.deb</tt> file if they have no other
- information; a value listed in a <tt>Packages</tt> file
+ the value from a <file>.deb</file> file if they have no other
+ information; a value listed in a <file>Packages</file> file
will always take precedence. By default
<prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn> does not include the section
and priority in the control file of a binary package - use
the <tt>-isp</tt>, <tt>-is</tt> or <tt>-ip</tt> options to
achieve this effect.</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1 id="pkg-f-Binary"><heading><tt>Binary</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
This field is a list of binary packages.
</p>
- <p>
- When it appears in the <tt>.dsc</tt> file it is the list
+ <p>
+ When it appears in the <file>.dsc</file> file it is the list
of binary packages which a source package can produce. It
does not necessarily produce all of these binary packages
for every architecture. The source control file doesn't
which of the binary packages.
</p>
- <p>
- When it appears in a <tt>.changes</tt> file it lists the
+ <p>
+ When it appears in a <file>.changes</file> file it lists the
names of the binary packages actually being uploaded.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The syntax is a list of binary packages separated by
commas.
<footnote>
A space after each comma is conventional.
</p>
</footnote> Currently the packages must be separated using
- only spaces in the <tt>.changes</tt> file.</p>
+ only spaces in the <file>.changes</file> file.</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1 id="pkg-f-Installed-Size"><heading><tt>Installed-Size</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
This field appears in the control files of binary
- packages, and in the <tt>Packages</tt> files. It gives
+ packages, and in the <file>Packages</file> files. It gives
the total amount of disk space required to install the
named package.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The disk space is represented in kilobytes as a simple
decimal number.</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1 id="pkg-f-Files"><heading><tt>Files</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
This field contains a list of files with information about
each one. The exact information and syntax varies with
the context. In all cases the the part of the field
sub-fields separated by spaces.
</p>
- <p>
- In the <tt>.dsc</tt> (Debian source control) file each
+ <p>
+ In the <file>.dsc</file> (Debian source control) file each
line contains the MD5 checksum, size and filename of the
tarfile and (if applicable) diff file which make up the
remainder of the source package.
in <ref id="pkg-sourcearchives">.
</p>
- <p>
- In the <tt>.changes</tt> file this contains one line per
+ <p>
+ In the <file>.changes</file> file this contains one line per
file being uploaded. Each line contains the MD5 checksum,
size, section and priority and the filename. The section
and priority are the values of the corresponding fields in
be installed properly.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The special value <tt>byhand</tt> for the section in a
<tt>.changes</tt> file indicates that the file in question
is not an ordinary package file and must by installed by
<tt>byhand</tt> the priority should be <tt>-</tt>.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
If a new Debian revision of a package is being shipped and
no new original source archive is being distributed the
<tt>.dsc</tt> must still contain the <tt>Files</tt> field
entry for the original source archive
- <tt><var>package</var>-<var>upstream-version</var>.orig.tar.gz</tt>,
- but the <tt>.changes</tt> file should leave it out. In
+ <file><var>package</var>-<var>upstream-version</var>.orig.tar.gz</file>,
+ but the <file>.changes</file> file should leave it out. In
this case the original source archive on the distribution
site must match exactly, byte-for-byte, the original
source archive which was used to generate the
- <tt>.dsc</tt> file and diff which are being uploaded.</p>
+ <file>.dsc</file> file and diff which are being uploaded.</p>
</sect1>
-
-
+
+
<sect1
id="pkg-f-Standards-Version"><heading><tt>Standards-Version</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
The most recent version of the standards (the
<prgn>dpkg</prgn> programmers' and policy manuals and
associated texts) with which the package complies. This
tell when a package needs attention.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
Its format is the same as that of a version number except
that no epoch or Debian revision is allowed - see <ref
id="versions">.</p>
</sect1>
-
-
+
+
<sect1 id="pkg-f-Distribution"><heading><tt>Distribution</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
- In a <tt>.changes</tt> file or parsed changelog output
+ <p>
+ In a <file>.changes</file> file or parsed changelog output
this contains the (space-separated) name(s) of the
distribution(s) where this version of the package should
be or was installed. Distribution names follow the rules
for package names. (See <ref id="pkg-f-Package">).
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
Current distribution values are:
<taglist>
<tag><em>stable</em></tag>
<item>
- <p>
+ <p>
This is the current `released' version of Debian
GNU/Linux. A new version is released approximately
every 3 months after the <em>development</em> code has
(for example: 1.2r1 becomes 1.2r2 then 1.2r3, etc).
</p>
</item>
-
+
<tag><em>unstable</em></tag>
<item>
<p>
tree. Download from this distribution at your own
risk.</p>
</item>
-
+
<tag><em>contrib</em></tag>
<item>
<p>
distributions. Use your best judgement in downloading
from this Distribution.</p>
</item>
-
+
<tag><em>non-free</em></tag>
<item>
<p>
criteria for inclusion in the main Debian distribution
as defined by the Policy Manual. Again, use your best
judgement in downloading from this Distribution.</p>
-
+
<tag><em>experimental</em></tag>
<item>
<p>
of the Debian distribution tree. Download at your own
risk.</p>
</item>
-
+
<tag><em>frozen</em></tag>
<item>
<p>
<em>unstable</em>. Likewise, installations into
<em>frozen</em> should also go into <em>unstable</em>.</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1 id="pkg-f-Urgency"><heading><tt>Urgency</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
This is a description of how important it is to upgrade to
this version from previous ones. It consists of a single
keyword usually taking one of the values <tt>LOW</tt>,
</example>
</p>
- <p>
- This field appears in the <tt>.changes</tt> file and in
+ <p>
+ This field appears in the <file>.changes</file> file and in
parsed changelogs; its value appears as the value of the
<tt>urgency</tt> attribute in a <prgn>dpkg</prgn>-style
changelog (see <ref id="pkg-dpkgchangelog">).
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
Urgency keywords are not case-sensitive.</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1 id="pkg-f-Date"><heading><tt>Date</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
In <tt>.changes</tt> files and parsed changelogs, this
gives the date the package was built or last edited.</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1 id="pkg-f-Format"><heading><tt>Format</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
- This field occurs in <tt>.changes</tt> files, and
+ <p>
+ This field occurs in <file>.changes</file> files, and
specifies a format revision for the file. The format
described here is version <tt>1.5</tt>. The syntax of the
format value is the same as that of a package version
number except that no epoch or Debian revision is allowed
- see <ref id="versions">.</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1 id="pkg-f-Changes"><heading><tt>Changes</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
- In a <tt>.changes</tt> file or parsed changelog this field
+ <p>
+ In a <file>.changes</file> file or parsed changelog this field
contains the human-readable changes data, describing the
differences between the last version and the current one.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
There should be nothing in this field before the first
newline; all the subsequent lines must be indented by at
least one space; blank lines must be represented by a line
consiting only of a space and a full stop.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
Each version's change information should be preceded by a
`title' line giving at least the version, distribution(s)
and urgency, in a human-readable way.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
If data from several versions is being returned the entry
for the most recent version should be returned first, and
entries should be separated by the representation of a
blank line (the `title' line may also be followed by the
representation of blank line).</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1 id="pkg-f-Filename"><heading><tt>Filename</tt> and
<tt>MSDOS-Filename</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
These fields in <tt>Packages</tt> files give the
filename(s) of (the parts of) a package in the
distribution directories, relative to the root of the
several parts the parts are all listed in order, separated
by spaces.</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1 id="pkg-f-Size"><heading><tt>Size</tt> and <tt>MD5sum</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
- These fields in <tt>Packages</tt> files give the size (in
+ <p>
+ These fields in <file>Packages</file> files give the size (in
bytes, expressed in decimal) and MD5 checksum of the
file(s) which make(s) up a binary package in the
distribution. If the package is split into several parts
the values for the parts are listed in order, separated by
spaces.</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1 id="pkg-f-Status"><heading><tt>Status</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
This field in <prgn>dpkg</prgn>'s status file records
whether the user wants a package installed, removed or
left alone, whether it is broken (requiring
system is. Each of these pieces of information is a
single word.</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1 id="pkg-f-Config-Version"><heading><tt>Config-Version</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
If a package is not installed or not configured, this
field in <prgn>dpkg</prgn>'s status file records the last
version of the package which was successfully
configured.</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1 id="pkg-f-Conffiles"><heading><tt>Conffiles</tt>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
This field in <prgn>dpkg</prgn>'s status file contains
information about the automatically-managed configuration
files held by a package. This field should <em>not</em>
appear anywhere in a package!</p>
</sect1>
-
+
<sect1><heading>Obsolete fields
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
These are still recognised by <prgn>dpkg</prgn> but should
not appear anywhere any more.
<taglist compact="compact">
-
+
<tag><tt>Revision</tt></tag>
<tag><tt>Package-Revision</tt></tag>
<tag><tt>Package_Revision</tt></tag>
at one point in a separate control file field. This
field went through several names.</p>
</item>
-
+
<tag><tt>Recommended</tt></tag>
<item><p>Old name for <tt>Recommends</tt></p>
</item>
-
+
<tag><tt>Optional</tt></tag>
<item><p>Old name for <tt>Suggests</tt>.</p>
</item>
(from old Packaging Manual)
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
<prgn>dpkg</prgn> can do a certain amount of automatic
handling of package configuration files.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
Whether this mechanism is appropriate depends on a number of
factors, but basically there are two approaches to any
particular configuration file.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The easy method is to ship a best-effort configuration in the
package, and use <prgn>dpkg</prgn>'s conffile mechanism to
handle updates. If the user is unlikely to want to edit the
is only released infrequently, this is a good approach.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The hard method is to build the configuration file from
scratch in the <prgn>postinst</prgn> script, and to take the
responsibility for fixing any mistakes made in earlier
appropriate if the file is likely to need to be different on
each system.
</p>
-
+
<sect><heading>Automatic handling of configuration files by
<prgn>dpkg</prgn>
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
A package may contain a control area file called
<tt>conffiles</tt>. This file should be a list of filenames
of configuration files needing automatic handling, separated
package.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
When a package is upgraded <prgn>dpkg</prgn> will process
the configuration files during the configuration stage,
shortly before it runs the package's <prgn>postinst</prgn>
script,
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
For each file it checks to see whether the version of the
file included in the package is the same as the one that was
included in the last version of the package (the one that is
version.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
If neither the user nor the package maintainer has changed
the file, it is left alone. If one or the other has changed
their version, then the changed version is preferred - i.e.,
and must resolve the differences themselves.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The comparisons are done by calculating the MD5 message
digests of the files, and storing the MD5 of the file as it
was included in the most recent version of the package.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
When a package is installed for the first time
<prgn>dpkg</prgn> will install the file that comes with it,
unless that would mean overwriting a file already on the
filesystem.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
However, note that <prgn>dpkg</prgn> will <em>not</em>
replace a conffile that was removed by the user (or by a
script). This is necessary because with some programs a
kept that way if the user did it.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
Note that a package should <em>not</em> modify a
<prgn>dpkg</prgn>-handled conffile in its maintainer
scripts. Doing this will lead to <prgn>dpkg</prgn> giving
the user confusing and possibly dangerous options for
conffile update when the package is upgraded.</p>
</sect>
-
+
<sect><heading>Fully-featured maintainer script configuration
handling
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
For files which contain site-specific information such as
the hostname and networking details and so forth, it is
better to create the file in the package's
<prgn>postinst</prgn> script.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
This will typically involve examining the state of the rest
of the system to determine values and other information, and
may involve prompting the user for some information which
can't be obtained some other way.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
When using this method there are a couple of important
issues which should be considered:
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
If you discover a bug in the program which generates the
configuration file, or if the format of the file changes
from one version to the next, you will have to arrange for
deal with them correctly.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
If you do go down this route it's probably a good idea to
make the program that generates the configuration file(s) a
- separate program in <tt>/usr/sbin</tt>, by convention called
- <tt><var>package</var>config</tt> and then run that if
+ separate program in <file>/usr/sbin</file>, by convention called
+ <file><var>package</var>config</file> and then run that if
appropriate from the post-installation script. The
<tt><var>package</var>config</tt> program should not
unquestioningly overwrite an existing configuration - if its
already exists, and require a <tt>--force</tt> flag to
overwrite it.</p></sect>
</appendix>
-
+
<appendix id="pkg-alternatives"><heading>Alternative versions of
an interface - <prgn>update-alternatives</prgn> (from old
Packaging Manual)
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
When several packages all provide different versions of the
same program or file it is useful to have the system select a
default, but to allow the system administrator to change it
and have their decisions respected.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
For example, there are several versions of the <prgn>vi</prgn>
editor, and there is no reason to prevent all of them from
being installed at once, each under their own name
refer to something, at least by default.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
If all the packages involved cooperate, this can be done with
<prgn>update-alternatives</prgn>.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
Each package provides its own version under its own name, and
calls <prgn>update-alternatives</prgn> in its postinst to
register its version (and again in its prerm to deregister
it).
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
See the manpage <manref name="update-alternatives"
section="8"> for details.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
If <prgn>update-alternatives</prgn> does not seem appropriate
you may wish to consider using diversions instead.</p>
</appendix>
-
+
<appendix id="pkg-diversions"><heading>Diversions - overriding a
package's version of a file (from old Packaging Manual)
</heading>
- <p>
+ <p>
It is possible to have <prgn>dpkg</prgn> not overwrite a file
when it reinstalls the package it belongs to, and to have it
put the file from the package somewhere else instead.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
This can be used locally to override a package's version of a
file, or by one package to override another's version (or
provide a wrapper for it).
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
Before deciding to use a diversion, read <ref
id="pkg-alternatives"> to see if you really want a diversion
rather than several alternative versions of a program.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
There is a diversion list, which is read by <prgn>dpkg</prgn>,
and updated by a special program <prgn>dpkg-divert</prgn>.
Please see <manref name="dpkg-divert" section="8"> for full
details of its operation.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
When a package wishes to divert a file from another, it should
call <prgn>dpkg-divert</prgn> in its preinst to add the
diversion and rename the existing file. For example,
supposing that a <prgn>smailwrapper</prgn> package wishes to
- install a wrapper around <tt>/usr/sbin/smail</tt>:
+ install a wrapper around <file>/usr/sbin/smail</file>:
<example>
- if [ install = "$1" -o upgrade = "$1" ]; then
+ if [ install = "$1" ]; then
dpkg-divert --package smailwrapper --add --rename \
--divert /usr/sbin/smail.real /usr/sbin/smail
fi
doesn't try to add the diversion again when
<prgn>smailwrapper</prgn> is upgraded. The <tt>--package
smailwrapper</tt> ensures that <prgn>smailwrapper</prgn>'s
- copy of <tt>/usr/sbin/smail</tt> can bypass the diversion and
+ copy of <file>/usr/sbin/smail</file> can bypass the diversion and
get installed as the true version.
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
The postrm has to do the reverse:
<example>
if [ remove = "$1" ]; then
</example>
</p>
- <p>
+ <p>
Do not attempt to divert a file which is vitally important for
the system's operation - when using <prgn>dpkg-divert</prgn>
there is a time, after it has been diverted but before
projects / debian / debian-policy.git / blobdiff