Provided by: dpkg-dev_1.17.5ubuntu5.8_all 
NAME
dpkg-architecture - set and determine the architecture for package building
SYNOPSIS
dpkg-architecture [option...] [command]
DESCRIPTION
dpkg-architecture does provide a facility to determine and set the build and host architecture for
package building.
The build architecture is always determined by an external call to dpkg(1), and can not be set at the
command line.
You can specify the host architecture by providing one or both of the options -a and -t. The default is
determined by an external call to gcc(1), or the same as the build architecture if CC or gcc are both not
available. One out of -a and -t is sufficient, the value of the other will be set to a usable default.
Indeed, it is often better to only specify one, because dpkg-architecture will warn you if your choice
does not match the default.
COMMANDS
-l Print the environment variables, one each line, in the format VARIABLE=value. This is the default
action.
-edebian-architecture
Check for equality of architecture (since dpkg 1.13.13). By default debian-architecture is
compared against the current Debian architecture, being the host. This action will not expand the
architecture wildcards. Command finishes with an exit status of 0 if matched, 1 if not matched.
-iarchitecture-wildcard
Check for identity of architecture by expanding architecture-wildcard as an architecture wildcard
and comparing against the current Debian architecture (since dpkg 1.13.13). Command finishes with
an exit status of 0 if matched, 1 if not matched.
-qvariable-name
Print the value of a single variable.
-s Print an export command. This can be used to set the environment variables using eval.
-u Print a similar command to -s but to unset all variables.
-c command
Execute a command in an environment which has all variables set to the determined value.
-L Print a list of valid architecture names.
-?, --help
Show the usage message and exit.
--version
Show the version and exit.
OPTIONS
-adebian-architecture
Set the Debian architecture.
-tgnu-system-type
Set the GNU system type.
-f Values set by existing environment variables with the same name as used by the scripts are honored
(i.e. used by dpkg-architecture), except if this force flag is present. This allows the user to
override a value even when the call to dpkg-architecture is buried in some other script (for
example dpkg-buildpackage(1)).
TERMS
build machine
The machine the package is built on.
host machine
The machine the package is built for.
Debian architecture
The Debian architecture string, which specifies the binary tree in the FTP archive. Examples: i386,
sparc, hurd-i386.
architecture wildcard
An architecture wildcard is a special architecture string that will match any real architecture being
part of it. The general form is <kernel>-<cpu>. Examples: linux-any, any-i386, hurd-any.
GNU system type
An architecture specification string consisting of two parts separated by a hyphen: cpu and system.
Examples: i386-linux-gnu, sparc-linux-gnu, i386-gnu, x86_64-netbsd.
VARIABLES
The following variables are set by dpkg-architecture:
DEB_BUILD_ARCH
The Debian architecture of the build machine.
DEB_BUILD_ARCH_OS
The Debian system name of the build machine (since dpkg 1.13.2).
DEB_BUILD_ARCH_CPU
The Debian cpu name of the build machine (since dpkg 1.13.2).
DEB_BUILD_ARCH_BITS
The pointer size of the build machine (in bits; since dpkg 1.15.4).
DEB_BUILD_ARCH_ENDIAN
The endianness of the build machine (little / big; since dpkg 1.15.4).
DEB_BUILD_GNU_CPU
The CPU part of DEB_BUILD_GNU_TYPE.
DEB_BUILD_GNU_SYSTEM
The System part of DEB_BUILD_GNU_TYPE.
DEB_BUILD_GNU_TYPE
The GNU system type of the build machine.
DEB_BUILD_MULTIARCH
The clarified GNU system type of the build machine, used for filesystem paths (since dpkg 1.16.0).
DEB_HOST_ARCH
The Debian architecture of the host machine.
DEB_HOST_ARCH_OS
The Debian system name of the host machine (since dpkg 1.13.2).
DEB_HOST_ARCH_CPU
The Debian cpu name of the host machine (since dpkg 1.13.2).
DEB_HOST_ARCH_BITS
The pointer size of the host machine (in bits; since dpkg 1.15.4).
DEB_HOST_ARCH_ENDIAN
The endianness of the host machine (little / big; since dpkg 1.15.4).
DEB_HOST_GNU_CPU
The CPU part of DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE.
DEB_HOST_GNU_SYSTEM
The System part of DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE.
DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE
The GNU system type of the host machine.
DEB_HOST_MULTIARCH
The clarified GNU system type of the host machine, used for filesystem paths (since dpkg 1.16.0).
FILES
Architecture tables
All these files have to be present for dpkg-architecture to work. Their location can be overridden at
runtime with the environment variable DPKG_DATADIR.
/usr/share/dpkg/cputable
Table of known CPU names and mapping to their GNU name.
/usr/share/dpkg/ostable
Table of known operating system names and mapping to their GNU name.
/usr/share/dpkg/triplettable
Mapping between Debian architecture triplets and Debian architecture names.
Packaging support
/usr/share/dpkg/architecture.mk
Makefile snippet that properly sets and exports all the variables that dpkg-architecture outputs
(since dpkg 1.16.1).
EXAMPLES
dpkg-buildpackage accepts the -a option and passes it to dpkg-architecture. Other examples:
CC=i386-gnu-gcc dpkg-architecture -c debian/rules build
eval `dpkg-architecture -u`
Check if an architecture is equal to the current architecture or a given one:
dpkg-architecture -elinux-alpha
dpkg-architecture -amips -elinux-mips
Check if the current architecture or an architecture provided with -a are Linux systems:
dpkg-architecture -ilinux-any
dpkg-architecture -ai386 -ilinux-any
Usage in debian/rules
The environment variables set by dpkg-architecture are passed to debian/rules as make variables (see make
documentation). However, you should not rely on them, as this breaks manual invocation of the script.
Instead, you should always initialize them using dpkg-architecture with the -q option. Here are some
examples, which also show how you can improve the cross compilation support in your package:
Retrieving the GNU system type and forwarding it to ./configure:
DEB_BUILD_GNU_TYPE ?= $(shell dpkg-architecture -qDEB_BUILD_GNU_TYPE)
DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE ?= $(shell dpkg-architecture -qDEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE)
[...]
ifeq ($(DEB_BUILD_GNU_TYPE), $(DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE))
confflags += --build=$(DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE)
else
confflags += --build=$(DEB_BUILD_GNU_TYPE) \
--host=$(DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE)
endif
[...]
./configure $(confflags)
Doing something only for a specific architecture:
DEB_HOST_ARCH ?= $(shell dpkg-architecture -qDEB_HOST_ARCH)
ifeq ($(DEB_HOST_ARCH),alpha)
[...]
endif
or if you only need to check the CPU or OS type, use the DEB_HOST_ARCH_CPU or DEB_HOST_ARCH_OS variables.
Note that you can also rely on an external Makefile snippet to properly set all the variables that
dpkg-architecture can provide:
include /usr/share/dpkg/architecture.mk
ifeq ($(DEB_HOST_ARCH),alpha)
[...]
endif
In any case, you should never use dpkg --print-architecture to get architecture information during a
package build.
SEE ALSO
dpkg-buildpackage(1), dpkg-cross(1).