Provided by: piuparts_0.56ubuntu1_all 
NAME
piuparts - .deb installation, upgrade, and removal testing suite
SYNOPSIS
piuparts [-apvV] [-d distro] [-i filename] [-I regexp] [-l logfile] [-m url] [--bindmount
dir] [package]... [changes_file]...
DESCRIPTION
piuparts tests that Debian packages handle installation, upgrading, and removal correctly.
It does this by creating a minimal Debian installation in a chroot, and installing,
upgrading, and removing packages in that environment, and comparing the state of the
directory tree before and after. piuparts reports any files that have been added, removed,
or modified during this process.
piuparts is meant as a quality assurance tool for people who create Debian packages to
test them before they upload them to the Debian package archive.
By default, piuparts can do three different tests:
1. A simple install-purge test within one Debian distribution (chosen with the -d option,
unstable by default). It sets up the chroot with the desired distribution, then
installs and purges the packages, and reports problems.
2. A simple install-upgrade-purge test within one Debian distribution. This test is like
the install-purge test, but install the packages first via apt-get and then from the
package files given on the command line. If the command line has package names (option
--apt used), or no tested package is known to apt-get (new packages), this test is
skipped, otherwise it is performed automatically.
3. An upgrade test between Debian releases. This test is enabled by using the -d option
multiple times and disables the other two tests. It sets up the chroot with the first
distribution named, then upgrades it to each successive one, and then remembers the
directory tree state at the end. After this, it starts over with the chroot of the
first distribution, installs the desired packages (via apt-get), and does the
successive upgrading (via apt-get dist-upgrade). Then, if package files (and not just
package names) were given on the command line, it installs them. Finally, it reports
problems against the state of the directory tree at the last distribution compared
with the state without the packages having been installed. This test can be quite slow
to execute.
Note that this does not work with experimental, because apt-get does not automatically
upgrade to packages in experimental. To test a particular package or group of packages
in experimental, use the second test.
Command line arguments are the paths to package files (e.g., piuparts_1.0-1_all.deb),
paths to changes files (e.g., piuparts_1.0-1_i386.changes), or names of packages, if the
--apt option is given.
When processing changes files, by default, all packages in a changes file will be
processed together with all individual packages given on the command line. Then each
package given on the command line is processed in a single group. If the
--single-changes-list is used, the packages in all changes files are processed together
along with any individual packages that were given on the command line.
piuparts outputs to the standard output some log messages to show what is going on. If a
log file is used, the messages go there as well.
piuparts needs to be run as root.
OPTIONS
Options must come before the other command line arguments.
-a, --apt
The package arguments on the command line are to be treated as package names and
installed via apt-get instead of being names of package files, to be installed via
dpkg -i.
--allow-database
Allow starting MySQL and PostgreSQL database servers in the chroot for packages
requiring database access in their maintainer scripts. Do not use this option if there
is already a database server running on the system running piuparts (or
piuparts-slave)! In master-slave setups with multiple slaves running on one host
collisions may occur, these will be detected by detect_piuparts_issues and the
affected packages will be tested again.
--arch=arch
Create chroot and run tests for (non-default) architecture arch. The default is the
output from dpkg --print-architecture.
-b tarball, --basetgz=tarball
Use tarball as the contents of the initial chroot, instead of building a new one with
debootstrap.
The tarball can be created with the -s option, or you can use one that pbuilder has
created (see -p). If you create one manually, make sure the root of the chroot is the
root of the tarball.
--bindmount=dir
Bind-mount a directory inside the chroot.
-d name, --distribution=name
Which Debian distribution to use: a code name (for example squeeze, wheezy or sid) or
experimental. The default is sid (=unstable).
-D flavor, --defaults=flavor
Use default settings suitable for a particular flavor of Debian: either debian or
ubuntu. The default is debian.
--do-not-verify-signatures
Do not verify signatures from the Release files when running debootstrap.
--dpkg-force-confdef
Make dpkg use --force-confdef, which lets dpkg always choose the default action when a
modified conffile is found. This option will make piuparts ignore errors it was
designed to report and therefore should only be used to hide problems in depending
packages. This option shall normally not be used. (See #466118.)
--dpkg-noforce-unsafe-io
Prevent running dpkg with --force-unsafe-io. --force-unsafe-io causes dpkg to skip
certain file system syncs known to cause substantial performance degradation on some
filesystems. Thus, including this option reverts to safe but slower behavior. The
--dpkg-noforce-unsafe-io is required for running tests on distributions older than
squeeze.
--no-eatmydata
Prevent use of eatmydata. The --no-eatmydata option is required for running tests on
squeeze or older distributions.
--extra-old-packages=pkg1[,pkg2]...
Install additional old packages before upgrading. Allows testing package
renames/merges where the old package is no longer available in the new distribution
and the new one utilizes Conflicts/Replaces. The argument is a comma separated list of
package names and the option can be given multiple times. For install/purge tests
these packages will be installed before the package that is to be tested.
-e dirname, --existing-chroot=dirname
Use the specified directory as source for the new chroot, instead of building a new
one with debootstrap. This is similar to --basetgz, but the contents are not archived.
--distupgrade-to-testdebs
Use the "testdebs" repository to override the packages in the distupgrade target
distribution. This allows to test complex upgrade paths before the packages enter the
archive.
--extra-repo=deb-line
Provide an additional (unparsed) line to be appended to sources.list, e.g. deb <URL>
<distrib> <components> or deb file:// </bind/mount> ./ Useful for e.g. backports,
security or local repositories that cannot be handled by --mirror. May be repeated to
add more than one line.
-i filename, --ignore=filename
Add a filename to the list of filenames to be ignored when comparing changes before
and after installation. By default, piuparts ignores files that always change during a
package installation and uninstallation, such as dpkg status files. The filename
should be relative to the root of the chroot (e.g., var/lib/dpkg/status). This option
can be used as many times as necessary.
-I regexp, --ignore-regexp=regexp
Add a regular expression pattern to the list of patterns for filenames to be ignored
when comparing changes before and after installation. This option can be used as many
times as necessary.
--install-purge-install
Purge package after installation and reinstall. All depedencies are installed during
purge.
--install-recommends
Enable installation of Recommends.
--install-remove-install
Remove package after installation and reinstall. For testing installation in
config-files-remaining state.
-k, --keep-tmpdir
Don’t remove the temporary directory for the chroot when the program ends.
-K, --keyring=filename
Use FILE as the keyring to use with debootstrap when creating chroots.
--keep-sources-list
Don’t modify the chroot’s etc/apt/sources.list (only makes sense with --basetgz).
--list-installed-files
List the files added to the chroot after the installation of the package and after the
installation of the package dependencies.
--lvm-volume=lvm-volume
Use the specified lvm-volume as source for the chroot, instead of building a new one
with debootstrap. This creates a snapshot of the given LVM volume and mounts it to the
chroot path.
--lvm-snapshot-size=snapshot-size
Use the specified snapshot-size as snapshot size when creating a new LVM snapshot
(default: 1G)
-l filename, --log-file=filename
Append log file to filename in addition to the standard output.
--log-level=level
Display messages from loglevel LEVEL, possible values are: error, info, dump, debug.
The default is dump.
-m url, --mirror=url
Which Debian mirror to use. The default is the first mirror named in
/etc/apt/sources.list or http://cdn.debian.net/debian if none is found. This option
may be used multiple times to use multiple mirrors. Only the first mirror is used with
debootstrap.
The components that are used for a mirror can also be set with this option: a space
separated list within the same argument (so you need to quote the entire argument in
the shell). If no components are given explicitly, the usual Debian components are
used (main, contrib, and non-free). For the mirrors read from /etc/apt/sources.list,
the components are read from the same place.
Note that file: addresses works if the directories are made accessible from within the
chroot with --bindmount.
--no-adequate
Don’t run adequate after installation. The default is to run adequate, provided it is
installed.
--no-diversions
Don’t check for broken diversions.
-n, --no-ignores
Forget all built-in and other ignores that have been set so far. Any -i or -I
arguments that come after this one will be obeyed, but none of the ones that come
before.
-N, --no-symlinks
Don’t check for broken symlinks.
--fail-if-inadequate
Fail on inadequate results from running adequate. The default is to just issue those
errors as warnings.
--fail-on-broken-symlinks
Fail on broken symlinks. The default is to just issue those errors as warnings.
--no-upgrade-test
Skip testing upgrade from an existing version in the archive.
--no-install-purge-test
Skip the install and purge test.
-p, *--pbuilder
Use /var/cache/pbuilder/base.tgz as the base tarball. This is a shorthand so that you
don’t need to use -b for it.
--pedantic-purge-test
Be pedantic when checking if a purged package leaves files behind. If this option is
not set, files left in /tmp are ignored.")
--proxy=URL
Use the proxy at URL to access the Debian mirror(s). Takes precedence over the
http_proxy environment variable. Using a local proxy is recommended because piuparts
may use large amounts of bandwidth to repeatedly download the same files.
-s filename, --save=filename
Save the chroot, after it has been set up, as a tarball into filename. It can then be
used with -b.
-B FILE, --end-meta=FILE
Load chroot package selection and file meta data from FILE. See the function
install_and_upgrade_between_distros() in piuparts.py for defaults. Mostly useful for
large scale distro upgrade tests.
-S FILE, --save-end-meta=FILE
Save chroot package selection and file meta data in FILE for later use. See the
function install_and_upgrade_between_distros() in piuparts.py for defaults. Mostly
useful for large scale distro upgrade tests.
--scriptsdir=DIR
Directory where are placed the custom scripts. For more information about this, read
README_server.txt
--schroot=SCHROOT-NAME
Use schroot session named SCHROOT-NAME for the chroot, instead of building a new one
with debootstrap.
--single-changes-list
When processing changes files, piuparts will process the packages in each individual
changes file seperately. This option will set piuparts to scan the packages of all
changes files together along with any individual package files that may have been
given on the command line.
--skip-minimize
Allow skip minimize chroot step. This is useful when you want to test several packages
with piuparts. You can prepare a tarball already minimized and skip this step in all
the tests. This is the default now.
--minimize
Minimize the chroot with debfoster. This used to be the default until #539142 was
fixed.
--skip-cronfiles-test
Skip testing the output from the cron files left in the system after remove a package.
--skip-logrotatefiles-test
Skip testing the output from the logrotate files left in the system after remove a
package.
--testdebs-repo=deb-line
Provide an additional line to be appended to sources.list, e.g. deb <URL> <distrib>
<components> or deb file:// </bind/mount> ./ If only an URL or local path is given as
argument, "deb", "file://", and "./" will be prepended/appended as needed. The
"testdebs" repository provides the packages to be tested (and some additional
dependencies, if needed, e.g. all packages built from the same source package as the
(binary) package being tested) and can be used for testing complex installation and
upgrade scenarios involving dependencies that are not yet in the archive. This
repository will be available only for installing the target packages. Dependency
resolution will be done by apt-get. The packages to be tested can be passed as .debs
or as package names (with --apt).
-t directory, --tmpdir=directory
Use directory as the place where temporary files and directories are created. The
default is the environment variable TMPDIR, or /tmp if not set.
Note: the temporary directory must not be mounted with the nodev or nosuid mount
option.
-v, --verbose
This option no longer has any meaning, but it is still accepted for backwards
compatibility.
-V, --version
Write out the version number of the program.
--warn-on-debsums-errors
Print a warning rather than failing if debsums reports modified files.
--warn-on-leftovers-after-purge
Print a warning rather than failing if files are left behind after purge.
--warn-on-others
Print a warning rather than failing if files are left behind, modified, or removed by
a package that was not given on the command-line.
This way, you can basically isolate the purge test to your own packages. If a package
that is brought in as a dependency doesn’t purge cleanly, the test will not fail
because of it (but a warning message will be printed).
Behavior with multiple packages given on the command-line could be problematic,
particularly if the dependency tree of one package in the list includes another in the
list. Therefore, it is recommended to use this option with one package at a time.
EXAMPLES
Assume that you have just built a new version of your Debian package, to be uploaded to
Debian unstable. It is in ../foo_1.0-2_i386.deb and you would like to know whether it
installs and uninstalls properly. Here’s what you would do:
piuparts ../foo_1.0-2_i386.deb
If the package exists in the Debian archive already, the above command also tests that it
upgrades properly.
To do the same test, but using a particular mirror, and only the main component, you would
do this:
piuparts -m 'http://gytha/debian main' ../foo_1.0-2_i386.deb
If you want to do the same as above but for your changes files, pass in your changes files
when running piuparts, and piuparts will process each package in the changes files as
though you had passed all those packages on the command line to piuparts yourself. For
example:
piuparts ../foo_1.0-2_i386.changes
piuparts -m 'http://gytha/debian main' ../foo_1.0-2_i386.changes
If you want to test that a package installs properly in the stable (currently squeeze)
Debian release, then can be upgraded to the testing (currently wheezy) and unstable (sid)
versions, and then uninstalled without problems, you would give the following command:
piuparts -a -d squeeze -d wheezy -d sid foo
ENVIRONMENT
TMPDIR Location for temporary files and directories. If not set, use /tmp. See also the -t
(--tmpdir) option.
NOTES
Output of commands run by piuparts is limited to three megabytes. To change this limit,
the source code needs to be edited. Commands exceeding this limit will be aborted.
SEE ALSO
pbuilder(1), debootstrap(8)
AUTHOR
Lars Wirzenius (liw@iki.fi) and others
DATE
2012-06-22
04/15/2014 PIUPARTS(1)