Provided by: devscripts_2.14.1ubuntu0.1_amd64 
NAME
debuild - build a Debian package
SYNOPSIS
debuild [debuild options] [dpkg-buildpackage options] [--lintian-opts lintian options]
debuild [debuild options] binary|binary-arch|binary-indep|clean ...
DESCRIPTION
debuild creates all the files necessary for uploading a Debian package. It first runs dpkg-buildpackage,
then runs lintian on the .changes file created (assuming that lintian is installed), and finally signs
the .changes and/or .dsc files as appropriate (using debsign(1) to do this instead of dpkg-
buildpackage(1) itself; all relevant key-signing options are passed on). Parameters can be passed to
dpkg-buildpackage and lintian, where the parameters to the latter are indicated with the --lintian-opts
option. The allowable options in this case are --lintian and --no-lintian to force or skip the lintian
step, respectively. The default is to run lintian. There are also various options available for setting
and preserving environment variables, as described below in the Environment Variables section. In this
method of running debuild, we also save a build log to the file ../<package>_<version>_<arch>.build.
An alternative way of using debuild is to use one or more of the parameters binary, binary-arch, binary-
indep and clean, in which case debuild will attempt to gain root privileges and then run debian/rules
with the given parameters. A --rootcmd=gain-root-command or -rgain-root-command option may be used to
specify a method of gaining root privileges. The gain-root-command is likely to be one of fakeroot, sudo
or super. See below for further discussion of this point. Again, the environment preservation options
may be used. In this case, debuild will also attempt to run dpkg-checkbuilddeps first; this can be
explicitly requested or switched off using the options -D and -d respectively. Note also that if either
of these or a -r option is specified in the configuration file option DEBUILD_DPKG_BUILDPACKAGE_OPTS,
then it will be recognised even in this method of invocation of debuild.
debuild also reads the devscripts configuration files as described below. This allows default options to
be given.
Directory name checking
In common with several other scripts in the devscripts package, debuild will climb the directory tree
until it finds a debian/changelog file before attempting to build the package. As a safeguard against
stray files causing potential problems, it will examine the name of the parent directory once it finds
the debian/changelog file, and check that the directory name corresponds to the package name. Precisely
how it does this is controlled by two configuration file variables DEVSCRIPTS_CHECK_DIRNAME_LEVEL and
DEVSCRIPTS_CHECK_DIRNAME_REGEX, and their corresponding command-line options --check-dirname-level and
--check-dirname-regex.
DEVSCRIPTS_CHECK_DIRNAME_LEVEL can take the following values:
0 Never check the directory name.
1 Only check the directory name if we have had to change directory in our search for
debian/changelog. This is the default behaviour.
2 Always check the directory name.
The directory name is checked by testing whether the current directory name (as determined by pwd(1))
matches the regex given by the configuration file option DEVSCRIPTS_CHECK_DIRNAME_REGEX or by the command
line option --check-dirname-regex regex. Here regex is a Perl regex (see perlre(3perl)), which will be
anchored at the beginning and the end. If regex contains a '/', then it must match the full directory
path. If not, then it must match the full directory name. If regex contains the string ´PACKAGE', this
will be replaced by the source package name, as determined from the changelog. The default value for the
regex is: ´PACKAGE(-.+)?', thus matching directory names such as PACKAGE and PACKAGE-version.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
As environment variables can affect the building of a package, often unintentionally, debuild sanitises
the environment by removing all environment variables except for TERM, HOME, LOGNAME, GNUPGHOME, PGPPATH,
GPG_AGENT_INFO, FAKEROOTKEY, DEB_*, the (C, CPP, CXX, LD and F)FLAGS variables and their _APPEND
counterparts and the locale variables LANG and LC_*. TERM is set to `dumb' if it is unset, and PATH is
set to "/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin/X11".
If a particular environment variable is required to be passed through untouched to the build process,
this may be specified by using a --preserve-envvar envvar (which can also be written as -e envvar
option). The environment may be left untouched by using the --preserve-env option. However, even in
this case, the PATH will be set to the sane value described above. The only way to prevent PATH from
being reset is to specify a --preserve-envvar PATH option. But you are warned that using programs from
non-standard locations can easily result in the package being broken, as it will not be able to be built
on standard systems.
Note that one may add directories to the beginning of the sanitised PATH, using the --prepend-path
option. This is useful when one wishes to use tools such as ccache or distcc for building.
It is also possible to avoid having to type something like FOO=bar debuild -e FOO by writing debuild -e
FOO=bar or the long form debuild --set-envvar FOO=bar.
SUPERUSER REQUIREMENTS
debuild needs to be run as superuser to function properly. There are three fundamentally different ways
to do this. The first, and preferable, method is to use some root-gaining command. The best one to use
is probably fakeroot(1), since it does not involve granting any genuine privileges. super(1) and sudo(1)
are also possibilities. If no -r (or --rootcmd) option is given (and recall that dpkg-buildpackage also
accepts a -r option) and neither of the following methods is used, then -rfakeroot will silently be
assumed.
The second method is to use some command such as su(1) to become root, and then to do everything as root.
Note, though, that lintian will abort if it is run as root or setuid root; this can be overcome using the
--allow-root option of lintian if you know what you are doing.
The third possible method is to have debuild installed as setuid root. This is not the default method,
and will have to be installed as such by the system administrator. It must also be realised that anyone
who can run debuild as root or setuid root has full access to the whole machine. This method is
therefore not recommended, but will work. debuild could be installed with mode 4754, so that only
members of the owning group could run it. A disadvantage of this method would be that other users would
then not be able to use the program. There are many other variants of this option involving multiple
copies of debuild, or the use of programs such as sudo or super to grant root privileges to users
selectively. If the sysadmin wishes to do this, she should use the dpkg-statoverride program to change
the permissions of /usr/bin/debuild. This will ensure that these permissions are preserved across
upgrades.
HOOKS
debuild supports a number of hooks when running dpkg-buildpackage. Note that if any of the hooks from
clean-hook to final-clean (inclusive) are used, debuild will emulate some sections of the dpkg-
buildpackage process rather than running them directly, as dpkg-buildpackage does not support hooks. The
available hooks are as follows:
dpkg-buildpackage-hook
Run before dpkg-buildpackage begins by calling dpkg-checkbuilddeps.
clean-hook
Run before dpkg-buildpackage runs debian/rules clean to clean the source tree. (Run even if the
tree is not being cleaned because -nc is used.)
dpkg-source-hook
Run after cleaning the tree and before running dpkg-source. (Run even if dpkg-source is not being
called because -b, -B, or -A is used.)
dpkg-build-hook
Run after dpkg-source and before calling debian/rules build. (Run even if this is a source-only
build, so debian/rules build is not being called.)
dpkg-binary-hook
Run between debian/rules build and debian/rules binary(-arch). Run only if a binary package is
being built.
dpkg-genchanges-hook
Run after the binary package is built and before calling dpkg-genchanges.
final-clean-hook
Run after dpkg-genchanges and before the final debian/rules clean. (Run even if we are not
cleaning the tree post-build, which is the default.)
lintian-hook
Run (once) before calling lintian. (Run even if we are not calling lintian.)
signing-hook
Run after calling lintian before any signing takes place. (Run even if we are not signing
anything.)
post-dpkg-buildpackage-hook
Run after everything has finished.
A hook command can be specified either in the configuration file as, for example,
DEBUILD_SIGNING_HOOK='foo' (note the hyphens change into underscores!) or as a command line option
--signing-hook-foo. The command will have certain percent substitutions made on it: %% will be replaced
by a single % sign, %p will be replaced by the package name, %v by the package version number, %s by the
source version number, %u by the upstream version number. Neither %s nor %u will contain an epoch. %a
will be 1 if the immediately following action is to be performed and 0 if not (for example, in the dpkg-
source hook, %a will become 1 if dpkg-source is to be run and 0 if not). Then it will be handed to the
shell to deal with, so it can include redirections and stuff. For example, to only run the dpkg-source
hook if dpkg-source is to be run, the hook could be something like: "if [ %a -eq 1 ]; then ...; fi".
Please take care with hooks, as misuse of them can lead to packages which FTBFS (fail to build from
source). They can be useful for taking snapshots of things or the like.
Finally, only dpkg-buildpackage-hook and the hooks from lintian-hook onwards can be used if dpkg-cross is
installed. (This is because internally, debuild reimplements dpkg-buildpackage, but it does not attempt
to reimplement the dpkg-cross replacement of this script.)
OPTIONS
For details, see above.
--no-conf, --noconf
Do not read any configuration files. This can only be used as the first option given on the
command-line.
--rootcmd=gain-root-command, -rgain-root-command
Command to gain root (or fake root) privileges.
--preserve-env
Do not clean the environment, except for PATH.
--preserve-envvar=var, -evar
Do not clean the var variable from the environment.
If var ends in an asterisk ("*") then all variables with names that match the portion of var
before the asterisk will be preserved.
--set-envvar=var=value, -evar=value
Set the environment variable var to value and do not remove it from the environment.
--prepend-path=value
Once the normalized PATH has been set, prepend value to it.
--lintian
Run lintian after dpkg-buildpackage. This is the default behaviour, and it overrides any
configuration file directive to the contrary.
--no-lintian
Do not run lintian after dpkg-buildpackage.
--no-tgz-check
Even if we're running dpkg-buildpackage and the version number has a Debian revision, do not check
that the .orig.tar.gz file or .orig directory exists before starting the build.
--tgz-check
If we're running dpkg-buildpackage and the version number has a Debian revision, check that the
.orig.tar.gz file or .orig directory exists before starting the build. This is the default
behaviour.
--username username
When signing, use debrsign instead of debsign. username specifies the credentials to be used.
--foo-hook=hook
Set a hook as described above. If hook is blank, this unsets the hook.
--clear-hooks
Clears all hooks. They may be reinstated by later command line options.
--check-dirname-level N
See the above section Directory name checking for an explanation of this option.
--check-dirname-regex regex
See the above section Directory name checking for an explanation of this option.
-d Do not run dpkg-checkbuilddeps to check build dependencies.
-D Run dpkg-checkbuilddeps to check build dependencies.
CONFIGURATION VARIABLES
The two configuration files /etc/devscripts.conf and ~/.devscripts are sourced by a shell in that order
to set configuration variables. Command line options can be used to override some of these configuration
file settings, otherwise the --no-conf option can be used to prevent reading these files. Environment
variable settings are ignored when these configuration files are read. The currently recognised
variables are:
DEBUILD_PRESERVE_ENV
If this is set to yes, then it is the same as the --preserve-env command line parameter being
used.
DEBUILD_PRESERVE_ENVVARS
Which environment variables to preserve. This should be a comma-separated list of variables.
This corresponds to using possibly multiple --preserve-envvar or -e options.
DEBUILD_SET_ENVVAR_var=value
This corresponds to --set-envvar=var=value.
DEBUILD_PREPEND_PATH
This corresponds to --prepend-path.
DEBUILD_ROOTCMD
Setting this variable to prog is the equivalent of -rprog.
DEBUILD_TGZ_CHECK
Setting this variable to no is the same as the --no-tgz-check command line option.
DEBUILD_SIGNING_USERNAME
Setting this variable is the same as using the --username command line option.
DEBUILD_DPKG_BUILDPACKAGE_OPTS
These are options which should be passed to the invocation of dpkg-buildpackage. They are given
before any command-line options. Due to issues of shell quoting, if a word containing spaces is
required as a single option, extra quotes will be required. For example, to ensure that your own
GPG key is always used, even for sponsored uploads, the configuration file might contain the line:
DEBUILD_DPKG_BUILDPACKAGE_OPTS="-k'Julian Gilbey <jdg@debian.org>' -sa"
which gives precisely two options. Without the extra single quotes, dpkg-buildpackage would
reasonably complain that Gilbey is an unrecognised option (it doesn't start with a - sign).
Also, if this option contains any -r, -d or -D options, these will always be taken account of by
debuild. Note that a -r option in this variable will override the setting in DEBUILD_ROOTCMD.
DEBUILD_FOO_HOOK
The hook variable for the foo hook. See the section on hooks above for more details. By default,
this is empty.
DEBUILD_LINTIAN
Should we run lintian? If this is set to no, then lintian will not be run.
DEBUILD_LINTIAN_OPTS
These are options which should be passed to the invocation of lintian. They are given before any
command-line options, and the usage of this variable is as described for the
DEBUILD_DPKG_BUILDPACKAGE_OPTS variable.
DEVSCRIPTS_CHECK_DIRNAME_LEVEL, DEVSCRIPTS_CHECK_DIRNAME_REGEX
See the above section Directory name checking for an explanation of these variables. Note that
these are package-wide configuration variables, and will therefore affect all devscripts scripts
which check their value, as described in their respective manpages and in devscripts.conf(5).
EXAMPLES
To build your own package, simply run debuild from inside the source tree. dpkg-buildpackage(1) options
may be given on the command line.
The typical command line options to build only the binary package(s) without signing the .changes file
(or the non-existent .dsc file):
debuild -i -us -uc -b
Change the -b to -S to build only a source package.
An example using lintian to check the resulting packages and passing options to it:
debuild --lintian-opts -i
Note the order of options here: the debuild options come first, then the dpkg-buildpackage ones, then
finally the checker options. (And lintian is called by default.) If you find yourself using the same
dpkg-buildpackage options repeatedly, consider using the DEBUILD_DPKG_BUILDPACKAGE_OPTS configuration
file option as described above.
To build a package for a sponsored upload, given foobar_1.0-1.dsc and the respective source files, run
something like the following commands:
dpkg-source -x foobar_1.0-1.dsc
cd foobar-1.0
debuild -k0x12345678
where 0x12345678 is replaced by your GPG key ID or other key identifier such as your email address.
Again, you could also use the DEBUILD_DPKG_BUILDPACKAGE_OPTS configuration file option as described above
to avoid having to type the -k option each time you do a sponsored upload.
SEE ALSO
chmod(1), debsign(1), dpkg-buildpackage(1), dpkg-checkbuilddeps(1), fakeroot(1), lintian(1), su(1),
sudo(1), super(1), devscripts.conf(5), dpkg-statoverride(8)
AUTHOR
The original debuild program was written by Christoph Lameter <clameter@debian.org>. The current version
has been written by Julian Gilbey <jdg@debian.org>.
DEBIAN Debian Utilities DEBUILD(1)