Basic Debian Packaging

this class should give a basic understanding of how to build a debian package from some common types of source tarballs or repositories.

prerequisites

• basic familiarity with commandline
• basic familiarity with linux

suggested background

• rudimentary understanding of building and compiling software
• basic understanding of apt and dpkg
• basic understanding of cvs or subversion

topics covered

finding software

• is it already packaged:
  • packages.debian.org
• freshmeat.net
• sourceforge.net
• google.com

environment variables

• DEBEMAIL
• DEBFULLNAME

creating debian directory

• dh_make
• copyright
• changelog
  • dch
  • version
  • release
• control
• rules
• other files
  • *.installi
  • *.manpages
  • *.examples
  • *.init
  • *.postinst
• other examples: *.ex and *.EX files

cdbs basics:

• magic snippet for a complete debian/rules file:

#!/usr/bin/make -f
# uncomment the next line if using a makefile-based source
#include /usr/share/cdbs/1/class/makefile.mk
include /usr/share/cdbs/1/rules/debhelper.mk

• debuild
• basic troubleshooting
  • build dependencies

lintian

• debian policy

additional and related topics:

• Debian_Package_Repositories
• gnupg-signed packages