Provided by:
debhelper_7.0.17ubuntu4_all 
NAME
dh - debhelper command sequencer
SYNOPSIS
dh sequence [--until cmd] [--before cmd] [--after cmd] [--remaining]
[--with addon] [debhelper options]
DESCRIPTION
dh runs a sequence of debhelper commands. The supported sequences
correspond to the targets of a debian/rules file: "build", "clean",
"install", "binary-arch", "binary-indep", and "binary".
Commands in the binary-indep sequence are passed the "-i" option to
ensure they only work on binary independent packages, and commands in
the binary-arch sequences are passed the "-a" option to ensure they
only work on architecture dependent packages.
Each debhelper command will record when it’s successfully run in
debian/package.debhelper.log. (Which dh_clean deletes.) So dh can tell
which commands have already been run, for which packages, and skip
running those commands again.
Each time dh is run, it examines the log, and finds the last logged
command that is in the specified sequence. It then continues with the
next command in the sequence. The --until, --before, --after, and
--remaining options can override this behavior.
OPTIONS
--until cmd
Run commands in the sequence until and including cmd, then stop.
--before cmd
Run commands in the sequence before cmd, then stop.
--after cmd
Run commands in the sequence that come after cmd.
--remaining
Run all commands in the sequence that have yet to be run.
--with addon
Add the debhelper commands specified by the given addon to
appropriate places in the sequence of commands that is run. This
option can be repeated more than once, and is used when there is a
third-party package that provides debhelper commands. See "SEQUENCE
ADDONS" below for documentation about what such packages should do
to be supported by --with.
All other options passed to dh are passed on to each command it runs.
This can be used to set an option like "-v" or "-X" or "-N", as well as
for more specialised options.
COMMAND SPECIFICATION
cmd can be a full name of a debhelper command, or a substring. It’ll
first search for a command in the sequence exactly matching the name,
to avoid any ambiguity. If there are multiple substring matches, the
last one in the sequence will be used.
SEQUENCE ADDONS
When --with addon is used, dh loads the perl module
Debian::Debhelper::Sequence::addon. Two functions are provided to let
the module add its commands to sequences:
Debian::Debhelper::Dh_Lib::insert_before(existing_command, new_command)
Insert new_command in sequences before existing_command.
Debian::Debhelper::Dh_Lib::insert_after(existing_command, new_command)
Insert new_command in sequences after existing_command.
Debian::Debhelper::Dh_Lib::remove_command(existing_command)
Remove existing_command from the list of commands to run.
EXAMPLES
To see what commands are included in a sequence, without actually doing
anything:
dh binary-arch --no-act
This is a very simple rules file, for packages where the default
sequences of commands work with no additional options.
#!/usr/bin/make -f
%:
dh $@
This is a simple rules file that is a good starting place for
customisation. (It’s also available in
/usr/share/doc/debhelper/examples/rules.simple
#!/usr/bin/make -f
build: build-stamp
dh build
touch build-stamp
clean:
dh clean
install: build install-stamp
install-stamp:
dh install
touch install-stamp
binary-arch: install
dh binary-arch
binary-indep: install
dh binary-indep
binary: binary-arch binary-indep
Often you’ll want to pass an option to ./configure. This uses dh to run
all commands before dh_auto_configure(1), then runs that command by
hand, and then finished up by running the rest of the sequence. You
could also run ./configure by hand, instead of bothering with using
dh_auto_configure. And if necessary, you can add commands to run
automake, etc here too.
build: build-stamp
build-stamp:
dh build --before configure
dh_auto_configure -- --kitchen-sink=yes
dh build --after configure
touch build-stamp
Here’s how to skip two automated in a row (configure and build), and
instead run the commands by hand.
build: build-stamp
build-stamp:
dh build --before configure
./mondoconfig
make universe-explode-in-delight
dh build --after build
touch build-stamp
Another common case is wanting to run some code manually after a
particular debhelper command is run.
install: build install-stamp
install-stamp:
dh install --until dh_fixperms
# dh_fixperms has run, now override it for one program
chmod 4755 debian/foo/usr/bin/foo
# and continue
dh install --after dh_fixperms
touch install-stamp
It’s also fine to run debhelper commands early. Just make sure that at
least dh_prep is run from the sequence first, and be sure to use the
--remaining option to ensure that commands that normally come before
those in the sequence are still run.
install: build install-stamp
install-stamp:
dh install --until dh_prep
dh_installdocs README TODO
dh_installchangelogs Changes
dh install --remaining
touch install-stamp
binary-arch: install
dh_strip -X foo
dh binary-arch --remaining
SEE ALSO
debhelper(7)
This program is a part of debhelper.
AUTHOR
Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>