Debian Packaging
Tidbits related to building packages in the Debian (.deb) package format. It applies equally to Ubuntu and even Linux Mint.
I have used these tips for building packages such as User:Fostermarkd/Applications/xca on Ubuntu
For CPAN (Perl) modules, use dh-make-perl.
Preparation
- Make sure the prereqs are installed
sudo aptitude install build-essential automake gnupg lintian fakeroot pbuilder dput cdbs dh-make dpatch
- Pull down the tarball for the source. Copy to srcname_version.orig.tar.gz
e.g. xca-0.6.3.tar.gz becomes xca_0.6.3.orig.tar.gz
- extract the tarball
- cd srcname-x.y.z/
- run dh_make
dh_make --copyright GPL --email mark@foster.cc --single
This creates debian/ subfolder and all the fun files such as
- changelog <-- change "unstable" to "hardy" and add ~ppa# to the version
- rules
- control <-- edit for Build-depends:
- copyright
- Review and tweak the files - especially control. This calls for a GPG-signed source package to be built and the -k option ensures it can find my key.
Building
dpkg-buildpackage -S -sa -k6F057F31 -rfakeroot
Another way, without any of the signing operations (useful if key isn't readily available)
dpkg-buildpackage -S -us -uc -rfakeroot
- Run this once to build a pbuilder environment
sudo pbuilder create
- Multiple environments can be setup using --distribution ala
sudo pbuilder create --distribution hardy
As of 2007-Oc Run this to build binary package for same
sudo pbuilder build ../*.dsc
Finally check for errors
cd ..; lintian *.dsc
Upload to Personal Package Archive (PPA)
The next step is to upload to my Personal Package Archive (PPA)
Setup ~/.dput.cf
[my-ppa] fqdn = ppa.launchpad.net method = ftp incoming = ~fostermarkd/ubuntu/ login = anonymous allow_unsigned_uploads = 0
Tweak the version in changelog e.g. 0.6.3-1~ppa1 and rebuild
mdf-laptop:~/proj/xca> dput my-ppa xca*ppa*source.changes ... Uploading to my-ppa (via ftp to ppa.launchpad.net): xca_0.6.3-1~ppa1.dsc: done. xca_0.6.3-1~ppa1.tar.gz: done. xca_0.6.3-1~ppa1_source.changes: done. Successfully uploaded packages. Not running dinstall.
The package should be build and the build logs can be viewed at https://launchpad.net/~fostermarkd/+archive/+builds or see https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+builds
Now edit sources.list to list my ppa.
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/fostermarkd/ubuntu hardy main restricted universe multiverse deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/fostermarkd/ubuntu hardy main restricted universe multiverse
And install
aptitude update aptitude install xca
Upload to Ubuntu REVU
After a round or two of PPA testing, it can be time to use REVU, which will take the path of getting the package into Ubuntu proper (via Universe a.k.a. MOTU).
This is purely optional but necessary to get the package reviewed and eventually included into the universe or other repos so a nice way to give back.
Some recent changes in REVU have made for some confusion, but important thing is to verify login at http://revu.ubuntuwire.com/ and also this page.
dput revu *_source.changes
Example...
mdf-laptop:~/proj/xca> dput revu xca_0.6.3-1_source.changes ... Uploading to revu (via ftp to revu.tauware.de): xca_0.6.3-1.dsc: done. xca_0.6.3-1.tar.gz: done. xca_0.6.3-1_source.changes: done. Successfully uploaded packages. Not running dinstall.
Pkg info
Here is an example of the output from aptitude show keepassx This is more-or-less what you would see in the 'control' file mentioned above.
# aptitude show keepassx
Package: keepassx
State: installed
Automatically installed: no
Version: 0.2.2-2
Priority: optional
Section: universe/utils
Maintainer: Ubuntu MOTU Developers <ubuntu-motu@lists.ubuntu.com>
Uncompressed Size: 1036k
Depends: libc6 (>= 2.5-0ubuntu1), libgcc1 (>= 1:4.1.1-31), libqt4-core (>= 4.2.2),
libqt4-gui (>= 4.2.2), libstdc++6 (>= 4.1.1-31), libx11-6, libxtst6
Description: Cross Platform Password Manager
KeePassX is a free/open-source password manager or safe which helps you to manage
your passwords in a secure way. You can put all your passwords in one database,
which is locked with one master key or a key-disk. So you only have to remember one
single master password or insert the key-disk to unlock the whole database. The
databases are encrypted using the algorithms AES or Twofish.
Homepage: http://keepassx.sourceforge.net
Related Links
Appendix A - Sections
Section: examples of Ubuntu sections in universe
universe/net universe/utils universe/x11 universe/text universe/perl universe/games universe/graphics universe/devel universe/doc universe/kde universe/sound universe/libs universe/science universe/gnome universe/mail universe/hamradio
Note that this type of Section gets interpreted as Component: universe Section: utils