NAME

       dpkg-split - Debian package archive split/join tool

SYNOPSIS

       dpkg-split [option...] command

DESCRIPTION

       dpkg-split splits Debian binary package files into smaller parts and reassembles them
       again, to support the storage of large package files on small media such as floppy disks.

       It can be operated manually using the --split, --join and --info options.

       It also has an automatic mode, invoked using the --auto option, where it maintains a queue
       of parts seen but not yet reassembled and reassembles a package file when it has seen all
       of its parts. The --listq and --discard options allow the management of the queue.

       All splitting, joining and queueing operations produce informative messages on standard
       output; these may safely be ignored.

COMMANDS

       -s, --split complete-archive [prefix]
           Splits a single Debian binary package into several parts.

           The parts are named prefix.NofM.deb where N is the part number, starting at 1, and M
           is the total number of parts (both in decimal).

           If no prefix is supplied then the complete-archive filename is taken, including
           directory, with any trailing .deb removed.

       -j, --join part...
           Joins the parts of a package file together, reassembling the original file as it was
           before it was split.

           The part files given as arguments must be all the parts of exactly the same original
           binary file. Each part must occur exactly once in the argument list, though the parts
           to not need to be listed in order.

           The parts must of course all have been generated with the same part size specified at
           split time, which means that they must usually have been generated by the same
           invocation of dpkg-split --split.

           The parts' filenames are not significant for the reassembly process.

           By default the output file is called package_version_arch.deb.

       -I, --info part...
           Prints information, in a human-readable format, about the part file(s) specified.
           Arguments which are not binary package parts produce a message saying so instead (but
           still on standard output).

       -a, --auto -o complete-output part
           Automatically queue parts and reassemble a package if possible.

           The part specified is examined, and compared with other parts of the same package (if
           any) in the queue of packages file parts.

           If all parts of the package file of which part is a part are available then the
           package is reassembled and written to complete-output (which should not usually
           already exist, though this is not an error).

           If not then the part is copied into the queue and complete-output is not created.

           If part is not a split binary package part then dpkg-split will exit with status 1; if
           some other trouble occurs then it will exit with status 2.

           The --output or -o option must be supplied when using --auto.  (If this were not
           mandatory the calling program would not know what output file to expect.)

       -l, --listq
           Lists the contents of the queue of packages to be reassembled.

           For each package file of which parts are in the queue the output gives the name of the
           package, the parts in the queue, and the total number of bytes stored in the queue.

       -d, --discard [package...]
           This discards parts from the queue of those waiting for the remaining parts of their
           packages.

           If no package is specified then the queue is cleared completely; if any are specified
           then only parts of the relevant package(s) are deleted.

       -?, --help
           Show the usage message and exit.

       --version
           Show the version and exit.

OPTIONS

       --depotdir directory
           Specifies an alternative directory for the queue of parts awaiting automatic
           reassembly. The default is /var/lib/dpkg.

       -S, --partsize kibibytes
           Specifies the maximum part size when splitting, in kibibytes (1024 bytes). The default
           is 450 KiB.

       -o, --output complete-output
           Specifies the output file name for a reassembly.

           This overrides the default for a manual reassembly (--join) and is mandatory for an
           automatic queue-or-reassemble (--auto).

       -Q, --npquiet
           When doing automatic queue-or-reassembly dpkg-split usually prints a message if it is
           given a part that is not a binary package part. This option suppresses this message,
           to allow programs such as dpkg to cope with both split and unsplit packages without
           producing spurious messages.

       --msdos
           Forces the output filenames generated by --split to be MSDOS-compatible.

           This mangles the prefix - either the default derived from the input filename or the
           one supplied as an argument: alphanumerics are lowercased, plus signs are replaced by
           x's and all other characters are discarded.

           The result is then truncated as much as is necessary, and filenames of the form
           prefixNofM.deb are generated.

EXIT STATUS

       0   The requested split, merge, or other command succeeded.  --info commands count as
           successful even if the files are not binary package parts.

       1   Only occurs with --auto and indicates that the part file was not a binary package
           part.

       2   Fatal or unrecoverable error due to invalid command-line usage, a file that looked
           like a package part file but was corrupted, or interactions with the system, such as
           accesses to the database, memory allocations, etc.

ENVIRONMENT

       DPKG_COLORS
           Sets the color mode (since dpkg 1.18.5).  The currently accepted values are: auto
           (default), always and never.

       SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH
           If set, it will be used as the timestamp (as seconds since the epoch) in the deb-
           split(5)'s ar(5) container.

FILES

       /var/lib/dpkg/parts
           The default queue directory for part files awaiting automatic reassembly.

           The filenames used in this directory are in a format internal to dpkg-split and are
           unlikely to be useful to other programs, and in any case the filename format should
           not be relied upon.

BUGS

       Full details of the packages in the queue are impossible to get without digging into the
       queue directory yourself.

       There is no easy way to test whether a file that may be a binary package part is one.

SEE ALSO

       deb(5), deb-control(5), dpkg-deb(1), dpkg(1).