NAME

       dh_movetousr - canonicalize location according to merged-/usr

SYNOPSIS

       dh_movetousr [debhelper options] [--fail-noop | --warn-noop]

DESCRIPTION

       dh_movetousr is a debhelper program that canonicalizes paths inside packages according to
       merged-/usr.  Shipping aliased paths is known to cause problems with dpkg, so this helper
       moves all affected files to /usr regardless of how they were installed.  The compatibility
       symlinks ensure that converted packages continue to work.  In the process, absolute
       symbolic links may become relative or vice versa due to Debian policy section 10.5.

       Please keep in mind that moving files in this way is known to cause problems.  Known
       problems have been documented at <https://people.debian.org/~helmutg/dep17.html>.  For
       instance, if files have been moved between packages, use of this tool may cause file loss
       during upgrades (P1).  Most problems can be detected by
       <https://salsa.debian.org/helmutg/dumat>, which uses the Debian bug tracking for feedback.
       Therefore, it is recommended to upload to experimental when moving files (e.g. using this
       helper) or restructuring packages that earlier moved files.  A particular problem not
       being detected is about dpkg-statoverride (P5).  Please review uses of dpkg-statoverride
       in maintainer scripts and update them as needed.  For these reasons, dh_movetousr is not
       automatically enabled in e.g. a compatibility level.

       While we want to move files to /usr in trixie and beyond, we do not want to move them in
       bookworm and earlier.  This poses challenges to backporting packages, because any such
       moves have to be reverted during the backport.  A backport of debhelper to bookworm shall
       include a stub for this helper doing nothing to achieve this goal.  For packages that do
       not need to be backported (e.g. packages targeting forky and beyond), consider updating
       locations instead of using this helper.  When the only affected type of file is systemd
       units, consider using dh_installsystemd or detecting the unit location from "pkgconf
       --variable=systemdsystemunitdir systemd" instead of this helper as both will work in
       backports.

       For further information on the state of the transition refer to
       <https://wiki.debian.org/UsrMerge>.

       dh_movetousr shall be removed from debhelper during forky+1 is release cycle.

OPTIONS

       --fail-noop
           Fail if no files were found in aliased locations and therefore no change has been
           performed.

       --warn-noop
           Warn if no files were found in aliased locations and therefore no change has been
           performed.

EXAMPLES

         Build-Depends: dh-sequence-movetousr

       Enable this tool in a package that uses dh.

SEE ALSO

       debhelper(7)

       This program is a part of debhelper.

AUTHOR

       Helmut Grohne <helmut@subdivi.de>