Provided by: apt-utils_2.6.0_amd64 bug

NAME

       apt-ftparchive - Utility to generate index files

SYNOPSIS

       apt-ftparchive [-dsq] [--md5] [--delink] [--readonly] [--contents] [--arch architecture]
                      [-o=config_string] [-c=config_file]
                      {packages path [override-file [pathprefix]]  |
                      sources path [override-file [pathprefix]]  | contents path  | release path
                      | generate config_file section...  | clean config_file  | {-v | --version}
                      | {-h | --help}}

DESCRIPTION

       apt-ftparchive is the command line tool that generates the index files that APT uses to
       access a distribution source. The index files should be generated on the origin site based
       on the content of that site.

       apt-ftparchive is a superset of the dpkg-scanpackages(1) program, incorporating its entire
       functionality via the packages command. It also contains a contents file generator,
       contents, and an elaborate means to 'script' the generation process for a complete
       archive.

       Internally apt-ftparchive can make use of binary databases to cache the contents of a .deb
       file and it does not rely on any external programs aside from gzip(1). When doing a full
       generate it automatically performs file-change checks and builds the desired compressed
       output files.

       Unless the -h, or --help option is given, one of the commands below must be present.

       packages
           The packages command generates a package file from a directory tree. It takes the
           given directory and recursively searches it for .deb files, emitting a package record
           to stdout for each. This command is approximately equivalent to dpkg-scanpackages(1).

           The option --db can be used to specify a binary caching DB.

       sources
           The sources command generates a source index file from a directory tree. It takes the
           given directory and recursively searches it for .dsc files, emitting a source record
           to stdout for each. This command is approximately equivalent to dpkg-scansources(1).

           If an override file is specified then a source override file will be looked for with
           an extension of .src. The --source-override option can be used to change the source
           override file that will be used.

       contents
           The contents command generates a contents file from a directory tree. It takes the
           given directory and recursively searches it for .deb files, and reads the file list
           from each file. It then sorts and writes to stdout the list of files matched to
           packages. Directories are not written to the output. If multiple packages own the same
           file then each package is separated by a comma in the output.

           The option --db can be used to specify a binary caching DB.

       release
           The release command generates a Release file from a directory tree. It recursively
           searches the given directory for uncompressed and compressed Packages, Sources,
           Contents, Components and icons files as well as Release, Index and md5sum.txt files by
           default (APT::FTPArchive::Release::Default-Patterns). Additional filename patterns can
           be added by listing them in APT::FTPArchive::Release::Patterns. It then writes to
           stdout a Release file containing (by default) an MD5, SHA1, SHA256 and SHA512 digest
           for each file.

           Values for the additional metadata fields in the Release file are taken from the
           corresponding variables under APT::FTPArchive::Release, e.g.
           APT::FTPArchive::Release::Origin. The supported fields are Origin, Label, Suite,
           Version, Codename, Date, NotAutomatic, ButAutomaticUpgrades, Acquire-By-Hash,
           Valid-Until, Signed-By, Architectures, Components and Description.

       generate
           The generate command is designed to be runnable from a cron script and builds indexes
           according to the given config file. The config language provides a flexible means of
           specifying which index files are built from which directories, as well as providing a
           simple means of maintaining the required settings.

       clean
           The clean command tidies the databases used by the given configuration file by
           removing any records that are no longer necessary.

THE GENERATE CONFIGURATION

       The generate command uses a configuration file to describe the archives that are going to
       be generated. It follows the typical ISC configuration format as seen in ISC tools like
       bind 8 and dhcpd.  apt.conf(5) contains a description of the syntax. Note that the
       generate configuration is parsed in sectional manner, but apt.conf(5) is parsed in a tree
       manner. This only effects how the scope tag is handled.

       The generate configuration has four separate sections, each described below.

   Dir Section
       The Dir section defines the standard directories needed to locate the files required
       during the generation process. These directories are prepended certain relative paths
       defined in later sections to produce a complete an absolute path.

       ArchiveDir
           Specifies the root of the FTP archive, in a standard Debian configuration this is the
           directory that contains the ls-LR and dist nodes.

       OverrideDir
           Specifies the location of the override files.

       CacheDir
           Specifies the location of the cache files.

       FileListDir
           Specifies the location of the file list files, if the FileList setting is used below.

   Default Section
       The Default section specifies default values, and settings that control the operation of
       the generator. Other sections may override these defaults with a per-section setting.

       Packages::Compress
           Sets the default compression schemes to use for the package index files. It is a
           string that contains a space separated list of at least one of the compressors
           configured via the APT::Compressor configuration scope. The default for all
           compression schemes is '. gzip'.

       Packages::Extensions
           Sets the default list of file extensions that are package files. This defaults to
           '.deb'.

       Sources::Compress
           This is similar to Packages::Compress except that it controls the compression for the
           Sources files.

       Sources::Extensions
           Sets the default list of file extensions that are source files. This defaults to
           '.dsc'.

       Contents::Compress
           This is similar to Packages::Compress except that it controls the compression for the
           Contents files.

       Translation::Compress
           This is similar to Packages::Compress except that it controls the compression for the
           Translation-en master file.

       DeLinkLimit
           Specifies the number of kilobytes to delink (and replace with hard links) per run.
           This is used in conjunction with the per-section External-Links setting.

       FileMode
           Specifies the mode of all created index files. It defaults to 0644. All index files
           are set to this mode with no regard to the umask.

       LongDescription
           Specifies whether long descriptions should be included in the Packages file or split
           out into a master Translation-en file.

   TreeDefault Section
       Sets defaults specific to Tree sections. All of these variables are substitution variables
       and have the strings $(DIST), $(SECTION) and $(ARCH) replaced with their respective
       values.

       MaxContentsChange
           Sets the number of kilobytes of contents files that are generated each day. The
           contents files are round-robined so that over several days they will all be rebuilt.

       ContentsAge
           Controls the number of days a contents file is allowed to be checked without changing.
           If this limit is passed the mtime of the contents file is updated. This case can occur
           if the package file is changed in such a way that does not result in a new contents
           file [override edit for instance]. A hold off is allowed in hopes that new .debs will
           be installed, requiring a new file anyhow. The default is 10, the units are in days.

       Directory
           Sets the top of the .deb directory tree. Defaults to
           $(DIST)/$(SECTION)/binary-$(ARCH)/

       SrcDirectory
           Sets the top of the source package directory tree. Defaults to
           $(DIST)/$(SECTION)/source/

       Packages
           Sets the output Packages file. Defaults to $(DIST)/$(SECTION)/binary-$(ARCH)/Packages

       Sources
           Sets the output Sources file. Defaults to $(DIST)/$(SECTION)/source/Sources

       Translation
           Sets the output Translation-en master file with the long descriptions if they should
           be not included in the Packages file. Defaults to
           $(DIST)/$(SECTION)/i18n/Translation-en

       InternalPrefix
           Sets the path prefix that causes a symlink to be considered an internal link instead
           of an external link. Defaults to $(DIST)/$(SECTION)/

       Contents
           Sets the output Contents file. Defaults to $(DIST)/$(SECTION)/Contents-$(ARCH). If
           this setting causes multiple Packages files to map onto a single Contents file (as is
           the default) then apt-ftparchive will integrate those package files together
           automatically.

       Contents::Header
           Sets header file to prepend to the contents output.

       BinCacheDB
           Sets the binary cache database to use for this section. Multiple sections can share
           the same database.

       FileList
           Specifies that instead of walking the directory tree, apt-ftparchive should read the
           list of files from the given file. Relative files names are prefixed with the archive
           directory.

       SourceFileList
           Specifies that instead of walking the directory tree, apt-ftparchive should read the
           list of files from the given file. Relative files names are prefixed with the archive
           directory. This is used when processing source indexes.

   Tree Section
       The Tree section defines a standard Debian file tree which consists of a base directory,
       then multiple sections in that base directory and finally multiple Architectures in each
       section. The exact pathing used is defined by the Directory substitution variable.

       The Tree section takes a scope tag which sets the $(DIST) variable and defines the root of
       the tree (the path is prefixed by ArchiveDir). Typically this is a setting such as
       dists/bookworm.

       All of the settings defined in the TreeDefault section can be used in a Tree section as
       well as three new variables.

       When processing a Tree section apt-ftparchive performs an operation similar to:

           for i in Sections do
              for j in Architectures do
                 Generate for DIST=scope SECTION=i ARCH=j

       Sections
           This is a space separated list of sections which appear under the distribution;
           typically this is something like main contrib non-free non-free-firmware

       Architectures
           This is a space separated list of all the architectures that appear under search
           section. The special architecture 'source' is used to indicate that this tree has a
           source archive. The architecture 'all' signals that architecture specific files like
           Packages should not include information about architecture all packages in all files
           as they will be available in a dedicated file.

       LongDescription
           Specifies whether long descriptions should be included in the Packages file or split
           out into a master Translation-en file.

       BinOverride
           Sets the binary override file. The override file contains section, priority and
           maintainer address information.

       SrcOverride
           Sets the source override file. The override file contains section information.

       ExtraOverride
           Sets the binary extra override file.

       SrcExtraOverride
           Sets the source extra override file.

   BinDirectory Section
       The bindirectory section defines a binary directory tree with no special structure. The
       scope tag specifies the location of the binary directory and the settings are similar to
       the Tree section with no substitution variables or SectionArchitecture settings.

       Packages
           Sets the Packages file output.

       Sources
           Sets the Sources file output. At least one of Packages or Sources is required.

       Contents
           Sets the Contents file output (optional).

       BinOverride
           Sets the binary override file.

       SrcOverride
           Sets the source override file.

       ExtraOverride
           Sets the binary extra override file.

       SrcExtraOverride
           Sets the source extra override file.

       BinCacheDB
           Sets the cache DB.

       PathPrefix
           Appends a path to all the output paths.

       FileList, SourceFileList
           Specifies the file list file.

THE BINARY OVERRIDE FILE

       The binary override file is fully compatible with dpkg-scanpackages(1). It contains four
       fields separated by spaces. The first field is the package name, the second is the
       priority to force that package to, the third is the section to force that package to and
       the final field is the maintainer permutation field.

       The general form of the maintainer field is:

           old [// oldn]* => new

       or simply,

           new

       The first form allows a double-slash separated list of old email addresses to be
       specified. If any of those are found then new is substituted for the maintainer field. The
       second form unconditionally substitutes the maintainer field.

THE SOURCE OVERRIDE FILE

       The source override file is fully compatible with dpkg-scansources(1). It contains two
       fields separated by spaces. The first field is the source package name, the second is the
       section to assign it.

THE EXTRA OVERRIDE FILE

       The extra override file allows any arbitrary tag to be added or replaced in the output. It
       has three columns, the first is the package, the second is the tag and the remainder of
       the line is the new value.

OPTIONS

       All command line options may be set using the configuration file, the descriptions
       indicate the configuration option to set. For boolean options you can override the config
       file by using something like -f-,--no-f, -f=no or several other variations.

       --md5, --sha1, --sha256, --sha512
           Generate the given checksum. These options default to on, when turned off the
           generated index files will not have the checksum fields where possible. Configuration
           Items: APT::FTPArchive::Checksum and APT::FTPArchive::Index::Checksum where Index can
           be Packages, Sources or Release and Checksum can be MD5, SHA1, SHA256 or SHA512.

       -d, --db
           Use a binary caching DB. This has no effect on the generate command. Configuration
           Item: APT::FTPArchive::DB.

       -q, --quiet
           Quiet; produces output suitable for logging, omitting progress indicators. More q's
           will produce more quiet up to a maximum of 2. You can also use -q=# to set the quiet
           level, overriding the configuration file. Configuration Item: quiet.

       --delink
           Perform Delinking. If the External-Links setting is used then this option actually
           enables delinking of the files. It defaults to on and can be turned off with
           --no-delink. Configuration Item: APT::FTPArchive::DeLinkAct.

       --contents
           Perform contents generation. When this option is set and package indexes are being
           generated with a cache DB then the file listing will also be extracted and stored in
           the DB for later use. When using the generate command this option also allows the
           creation of any Contents files. The default is on. Configuration Item:
           APT::FTPArchive::Contents.

       -s, --source-override
           Select the source override file to use with the sources command. Configuration Item:
           APT::FTPArchive::SourceOverride.

       --readonly
           Make the caching databases read only. Configuration Item: APT::FTPArchive::ReadOnlyDB.

       -a, --arch
           Accept in the packages and contents commands only package files matching *_arch.deb or
           *_all.deb instead of all package files in the given path. Configuration Item:
           APT::FTPArchive::Architecture.

       APT::FTPArchive::AlwaysStat
           apt-ftparchive(1) caches as much as possible of metadata in a cachedb. If packages are
           recompiled and/or republished with the same version again, this will lead to problems
           as the now outdated cached metadata like size and checksums will be used. With this
           option enabled this will no longer happen as it will be checked if the file was
           changed. Note that this option is set to "false" by default as it is not recommend to
           upload multiple versions/builds of a package with the same version number, so in
           theory nobody will have these problems and therefore all these extra checks are
           useless.

       APT::FTPArchive::LongDescription
           This configuration option defaults to "true" and should only be set to "false" if the
           Archive generated with apt-ftparchive(1) also provides Translation files. Note that
           the Translation-en master file can only be created in the generate command.

       -h, --help
           Show a short usage summary.

       -v, --version
           Show the program version.

       -c, --config-file
           Configuration File; Specify a configuration file to use. The program will read the
           default configuration file and then this configuration file. If configuration settings
           need to be set before the default configuration files are parsed specify a file with
           the APT_CONFIG environment variable. See apt.conf(5) for syntax information.

       -o, --option
           Set a Configuration Option; This will set an arbitrary configuration option. The
           syntax is -o Foo::Bar=bar.  -o and --option can be used multiple times to set
           different options.

EXAMPLES

       To create a compressed Packages file for a directory containing binary packages (.deb):

           apt-ftparchive packages directory | gzip > Packages.gz

SEE ALSO

       apt.conf(5)

DIAGNOSTICS

       apt-ftparchive returns zero on normal operation, decimal 100 on error.

BUGS

       APT bug page[1]. If you wish to report a bug in APT, please see
       /usr/share/doc/debian/bug-reporting.txt or the reportbug(1) command.

AUTHORS

       Jason Gunthorpe

       APT team

NOTES

        1. APT bug page
           http://bugs.debian.org/src:apt