Provided by: dh-python_6.20251204.1_all 
Name
pybuild - invokes various build systems for requested Python versions in order to build modules and
extensions
SYNOPSIS
pybuild [ACTION] [BUILD SYSTEM ARGUMENTS] [DIRECTORIES] [OPTIONS]
DEBHELPER COMMAND SEQUENCER INTEGRATION
• build depend on dh-python,
• build depend on all supported Python interpreters, pybuild will use it to create a list of interpreters
to build for. Recognized dependencies:
• python3-all-dev - for Python extensions that work with Python 3.X interpreters,
• python3-all-dbg - as above, add this one if you're building -dbg packages,
• python3-all - for Python modules that work with Python 3.X interpreters,
• python3-dev - builds an extension for default Python 3.X interpreter (useful for private
extensions, use python3-all-dev for public ones),
• python3 - as above, used if headers files are not needed to build private module,
• add --buildsystem=pybuild to dh's arguments in debian/rules,
• if more than one binary package is build: add debian/python3-foo.install files, or export
PYBUILD_NAME=modulename (modulename will be used to guess binary package prefixes), or export
PYBUILD_DESTDIR env. variables in debian/rules
• add --with=python3 to dh's arguments in debian/rules (see proper helper's manpage for more details) or
add dh-sequence-python3 to Build-Depends
debian/rules file example:
#! /usr/bin/make -f
export PYBUILD_NAME=foo
%:
dh $@ --with python3 --buildsystem=pybuild
OPTIONS
Most options can be set (in addition to command line) via environment variables. PyBuild will check:
• PYBUILD_OPTION_VERSIONED_INTERPRETER (f.e. PYBUILD_CLEAN_ARGS_python3.2)
• PYBUILD_OPTION_INTERPRETER (f.e. PYBUILD_CONFIGURE_ARGS_python3-dbg)
• PYBUILD_OPTION (f.e. PYBUILD_INSTALL_ARGS)
optional arguments
-h, --help
show this help message and exit
-v, --verbose
turn verbose mode on
-q, --quiet
doesn't show external command's output
-qq, --really-quiet
be quiet
--version
show program's version number and exit
ACTION
The default is to build, install and test the library using detected build system version by version.
Selecting one of following actions, will invoke given action for all versions - one by one - which
(contrary to the default action) in some build systems can overwrite previous results.
--detect
return the name of detected build system
--clean
clean files using auto-detected build system specific methods
--configure
invoke configure step for all requested Python versions
--build
invoke build step for all requested Python versions
--install
invoke install step for all requested Python versions
--test invoke tests for auto-detected build system
--list-systems
list available build systems and exit
--print
print pybuild's internal parameters
TESTS
unittest's discover from standard library is used in test step by default.
--test-nose
use nose module in test step, remember to add python3-nose to Build-Depends.
--test-nose2
use nose2 module in test step, remember to add python3-nose2 to Build-Depends.
--test-pytest
use pytest module in test step, remember to add python3-pytest to Build-Depends.
--test-tox
use tox command in test step, remember to add tox to Build-Depends.
--test-stestr
use stestr command in test step, remember to add python3-stestr to Build-Depends.
--test-custom
use a custom command in the test step. The full test command is then specified with --test-args
or by setting the PYBUILD_TEST_ARGS environment variable. Remember to add any needed packages
to run the tests to Build-Depends.
testfiles
Tests are invoked from within build directory to make sure newly built files are tested instead of
source files. If test suite requires other files in this directory, you can list them in
debian/pybuild.testfiles file (you can also use debian/pybuild_pythonX.testfiles or
debian/pybuild_pythonX.Y.testfiles) and files listed there will be copied before test step and removed
before install step. By default only pyproject.toml and pytest.ini files, and test and tests
directories are copied to build directory. If testfiles are provided, it overrides these defaults, if
still required they need to be explicitly specified.
By default, the test files are copied at the root of the build directory. You can optionally specify
a destination as second argument in the testfiles. If the destination ends with a / it is treated as a
target directory into which the file will be copied.
BUILD SYSTEM ARGUMENTS
Additional arguments passed to the build system. --system=custom requires complete command in
--foo-args parameters.
--before-clean COMMAND
invoked before the clean command
--clean-args ARGUMENTS
arguments added to clean command generated by build system plugin
--after-clean COMMAND
invoked after the clean command
--before-configure COMMAND
invoked before the configure command
--configure-args ARGUMENTS
arguments added to configure command generated by build system plugin
--after-configure COMMAND
invoked after the configure command
--before-build COMMAND
invoked before the build command
--build-args ARGUMENTS
arguments added to build command generated by build system plugin
--after-build COMMAND
invoked after the build command
--before-install COMMAND
invoked before the install command
--install-args ARGUMENTS
arguments added to install command generated by build system plugin
--after-install COMMAND
invoked after the install command
--before-test COMMAND
invoked before the test command
--test-args ARGUMENTS
arguments added to test command generated by build system plugin
--after-test COMMAND
invoked after the test command
variables that can be used in ARGUMENTS and COMMAND
• {version} will be replaced with current Python version, you can also use {version.major},
{version.minor}, etc.
• {interpreter} will be replaced with current interpreter, you can also use {interpreter.include_dir}
• {dir} will be replaced with sources directory,
• {destdir} will be replaced with destination directory,
• {home_dir} will be replaced with temporary HOME directory, where plugins can keep their data
(.pybuild/interpreter_version/ by default),
• {build_dir} will be replaced with build directory
• {install_dir} will be replaced with install directory.
• {package} will be replaced with suggested package name, if --name (or PYBUILD_NAME) is set to foo, this
variable will be replaced with python3-foo.
DIRECTORIES
-d DIR, --dir DIR
set source files directory - base for other relative dirs [by default: current working
directory]
--dest-dir DIR
set destination directory [default: debian/tmp]
--ext-dest-dir DIR
set destination directory for .so files
--ext-pattern PATTERN
regular expression for files that should be moved if --ext-dest-dir is set [default:
.so(.[^/]*)?$]
--ext-sub-pattern PATTERN
regular expression for part of path/filename matched in --ext-pattern that should be removed or
replaced with --ext-sub-repl
--ext-sub-repl PATTERN
replacement for matches in --ext-sub-pattern
--install-dir DIR
set installation directory [default: .../dist-packages]
--name NAME
use this name to guess destination directories (foo changes the default --dest-dir setting
debian/python3-foo). This name can also be used to keep multiple builds of unrelated python
modules separate from each other. Run pybuild once with --name set to a different value, for
each module, at each step of the build.
variables that can be used in DIR
• {version} will be replaced with current Python version,
• {interpreter} will be replaced with selected interpreter.
LIMITATIONS
-s SYSTEM, --system SYSTEM
select a build system [default: auto-detection]
-p VERSIONS, --pyver VERSIONS
build for Python VERSIONS. This option can be used multiple times. Versions can be separated
by space character. The default is all Python 3.X supported versions.
-i INTERPRETER, --interpreter INTERPRETER
change interpreter [default: python{version}]
--disable ITEMS
disable action, interpreter, version or any mix of them. Note that f.e. python3 and
python3-dbg are two different interpreters, --disable test/python3 doesn't disable
python3-dbg's tests.
disable examples
• --disable test/python3.9-dbg - disables tests for python3.9-dbg
• --disable '3.8 3.9' - disables all actions for version 3.8 and 3.9
• PYBUILD_DISABLE=python3.9 - disables all actions for Python 3.9
• PYBUILD_DISABLE_python3.3=test - disables tests for Python 3.3
• PYBUILD_DISABLE=test/python3.3 - same as above
• PYBUILD_DISABLE=configure/python3 3.2 - disables configure action for all python3 interpreters, and all
actions for version 3.2
PLUGINS
pybuild supports multiple build system plugins. By default it is automatically selected. These systems
are currently supported:
* distutils (most commonly used)
* cmake
* flit (deprecated)
* pyproject
* custom
flit plugin
The flit plugin is deprecated, please use the pyproject plugin instead.
The flit plugin can be used to build Debian packages based on PEP 517 metadata in pyproject.toml when
flit is the upstream build system. These can be identified by the presence of a build-backend =
"flit_core.buildapi" element in pyproject.toml. The flit plugin only supports python3. To use this
plugin:
* build depend on `flit`, and
* add `export PYBUILD_SYSTEM=flit` to debian/rules to manually select
debian/rules file example:
#! /usr/bin/make -f
export PYBUILD_NAME=foo
export PYBUILD_SYSTEM=flit
%:
dh $@ --with python3 --buildsystem=pybuild
pyproject
The pyproject plugin drives the new PEP-517 standard interface for building Python packages, upstream.
This is configured via pyproject.toml. This plugin is expected to replace the distutils and flit plugins
in the future. The entry points generated by the package are created during the build step (other
plugins make the entry points during the install step); the entry points are available in PATH during the
test step, permitting them to be called from tests.
To use this plugin:
• build depend on pybuild-plugin-pyproject as well as any build tools specified by upstream in
pyproject.toml.
ENVIRONMENT
As described above in OPTIONS, pybuild can be configured by PYBUILD_ prefixed environment variables.
Tests are skipped if nocheck is in the DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS or DEB_BUILD_PROFILES environment variables.
DESTDIR provides a default a default value to the --dest-dir option.
Pybuild will export http_proxy=http://127.0.0.1:9/, https_proxy=https://127.0.0.1:9/, and
no_proxy=localhost to hopefully block attempts by the package's build-system to access the Internet. If
network access to a loopback interface is needed and blocked by this, export empty http_proxy and
https_proxy variables before calling pybuild.
If not set, LC_ALL, CCACHE_DIR, DEB_PYTHON_INSTALL_LAYOUT, _PYTHON_HOST_PLATFORM,
_PYTHON_SYSCONFIGDATA_NAME, will all be set to appropriate values, before calling the package's build
script.
SEE ALSO
• dh_python3(1)
• <https://wiki.debian.org/Python/Pybuild>
• <http://deb.li/pybuild> - most recent version of this document
Author
Piotr Ożarowski, 2012-2019
pybuild(1)