Provided by: git-buildpackage_0.6.9_all 
NAME
git-dch;, gbp-dch; - Generate the Debian changelog from git commit messages
SYNOPSIS
gbp dch [ --verbose ] [ --debian-branch=branch_name ] [ --debian-tag=tag-format ] [ --upstream-tag=tag-
format ] [ --ignore-branch ] [ --snapshot | --release ] [ --auto | --since=commitish ] [ --new-
version=version ] [ --bpo | --nmu | --qa | --team ] [ --distribution=name ] [ --force-distribution ] [
--urgency=level ] [ --[no-]full ] [ --[no-]meta ] [ --meta-closes=bug-close-tags ] [ --snapshot-
number=expression ] [ --id-length=number ] [ --git-log=git-log-options ] [ --[no-]git-author ] [
--[no-]multimaint ] [ --[no-]multimaint-merge ] [ --spawn-editor=[always|snapshot|release] ] [ --commit-
msg=msg-format ] [ --commit ] [ --customization=customization-file ] [path1 path2]
DESCRIPTION
gbp dch reads git commit messages and generates the Debian changelog from it. If no arguments are given
gbp dch starts from the last tagged Debian package version up to the current tip of the current branch.
If the distribution of the topmost section in debian/changelog is UNRELEASED the changelog entries will
be inserted into this section. Otherwise a new section will be created.
If --auto is given gbp dch tries to guess the last Git commit documented in the changelog - this only
works in snapshot mode. Otherwise --since can be used to tell gbp dch at which point it should start in
the Git history.
The additional path arguments can be used to restrict the repository paths gbp dch looks at. Setting path
to debian/ is a good choice if upstream uses Git and all Debian packaging changes are restricted to the
debian/ subdir. In more sophisticated cases (like backports) you can use --git-log to restrict the
generated changelog entries further. E.g. by using --git-log="--author=Foo Bar".
OPTIONS
--debian-branch=branch_name
The branch in the Git repository the Debian package is being developed on, default is master.
--ignore-branch
Don't check if the current branch matches debian-branch.
--verbose
-v verbose execution
--debian-tag=tag-format
tag format used, when tagging debian versions, default is debian/%(version)s
--since=committish
Start reading commit messages at committish.
--auto, -a
Guess the last commit documented in the changelog from the snapshot banner (or from the last tag
if no snapshot banner exists).
--[no-]meta
Parse meta tags like Closes:, Thanks: and Git-Dch:. See META TAGS below.
--meta-closes=bug-close-tags
What meta tags to look for to generate bug-closing changelog entries. The default is 'Closes|LP'
to support Debian and Launchpad.
--[no-]full
Include the full commit message in the changelog output.
--snapshot, -S
Create a snapshot release entry. This adds a snapshot release number and a warning banner to the
changelog entry. The release version number is being auto incremented with every new snapshot
release to avoid packages downgrades during snapshot testing.
--snapshot-number=expression
Python expression that gets eval()ed to the new snapshot number.
--release, -R
Remove any snapshot release banners and version suffixes, set the current distribution to unstable
and open the changelog for final tweaking.
--new-version=version, -N version
Add a new changelog section with version newversion. Together with --snapshot the snapshot number
will be appended to newversion.
--team Create a Team upload changelog entry.
--bpo Increment the Debian release number for an upload to backports, and add a backport upload
changelog comment.
--nmu Increment the Debian release number for a non-maintainer upload.
--qa Increment the Debian release number for a Debian QA Team upload, and add a QA upload changelog
comment.
--distribution=name
Set the distribution field to name.
--force-distribution
Force the distribution specified with --distribution to be used, even if it doesn't match the list
of known distributions.
--urgency=level
Set the urgency field to level.
--git-log=git-log-options
Options passed on verbatim to git-log(1).
--id-length=N
Include N digits of the commit id in the changelog entry. Default is to not include any commit ids
at all.
--ignore-regex=regex
Ignore commit lines matching regex when generating the changelog.
--git-author
Use user.name and user.email from git-config(1) for changelog trailer.
--[no-]multimaint-merge
Merge commits by maintainer.
--spawn-editor=[always|snapshot|release]
Whether to spawn an editor: always, when doing snapshots or when doing a release.
--commit-msg=msg-format
use this format string for the commit message when committing the generated changelog file (when
--commit is given). Default is Update changelog for %(version)s release
--commit
Commit the generated changelog.
SNAPSHOT MODE
Snapshot mode can be used for quick test and install cycles without having to worry about version numbers
or changelog entries.
When using --snapshot or -S gbp dch uses a pseudo header in the Debian changelog to remember the last git
commit it added a changelog entry for. It also sets a version number ending in
~<snaspshotnumber>.gbp<commitid>. It automatically increments the snapshot number on subsequent
invocations of gbp dch -S so that later snapshots automatically have a higher version number. To leave
snapshot mode invoke gbp dch with the --release option. This removes the pseudo header and unmangles the
version number so the released version has a higher version number than the snapshots.
META TAGS
Additional to the above options the formatting of the commit message in debian/changelog can be modified
by special tags (called Meta Tags) given in the git commit message. Meta Tag processing can be activated
via the --meta option. The tags must start at the first column of a commit message but can appear on any
line. They are of the form Tagname: value. Valid Meta Tags are:
Git-Dch: action
Supported actions are: Ignore which will ignore this commit when generating debian/changelog,
Short which will only use the description (the first line) of the commit message when generating
the changelog entry (useful when --full is given) and Full which will use the full commit message
when generating the changelog entry (useful when --full is not given).
Thanks: msg
Add a thanks message after the commit message.
Closes: bugnumber
Indicate in the debian/changelog that the bug was closed by this commit. See the --meta-closes on
how to extend this for other bugtrackers.
The following git commit message:
Document meta tags
so one doesn't have to consult the manual
Git-Dch: Short
Closes: #636088
Thanks: Raphaël Hertzog for the suggestion
Results in this debian/changelog entry:
* Document meta tags.
Thanks to Raphaël Hertzog for the suggestion (Closes: #636088)
CONFIGURATION FILES
Several gbp.conf files are parsed to set defaults for the above commandline arguments. See the
gbp.conf(5) manpage for details.
SEE ALSO
gbp-buildpackage(1), gbp-import-dsc(1), gbp-import-dscs(1), gbp-import-orig(1), gbp.conf(5), debuild(1), git(1), pristine-tar(1), The Git-Buildpackage Manual <URL:file:///usr/share/doc/git-buildpackage/manual- html/index.html> Cl2vcs <URL:https://honk.sigxcpu.org/cl2vcs>,
AUTHOR
Guido Guenther <agx@sigxcpu.org> 15 February 2014 GBP-DCH(1)