3 dgit - tutorial for package maintainers, using a workflow centered around git-merge(1)
7 This document describes elements of a workflow for maintaining a
8 non-native Debian package using B<dgit>. The workflow makes the
9 following opinionated assumptions:
15 Git histories should be the non-linear histories produced by
16 git-merge(1), preserving all information about divergent development
17 that was later brought together.
21 Maintaining convenient and powerful git workflows takes priority over
22 the usefulness of the raw Debian source package. The Debian archive
23 is thought of as an output format.
25 For example, we don't spend time curating a series of quilt patches.
27 in straightforward cases,
28 the information such a series would contain is readily
29 available from B<dgit-repos>.
33 It is more important to have the Debian package's git history be a
34 descendent of upstream's git history than to use exactly the orig.tar
35 that upstream makes available for download.
39 This workflow is less suitable for some packages.
40 When the Debian delta contains multiple pieces which interact,
41 or which you aren't going to be able to upstream soon,
42 it might be preferable to
43 maintain the delta as a rebasing patch series.
44 For such a workflow see for example
45 dgit-maint-debrebase(7) and dgit-maint-gbp(7).
47 =head1 INITIAL DEBIANISATION
49 This section explains how to start using this workflow with a new
50 package. It should be skipped when converting an existing package to
53 =head2 When upstream tags releases in git
55 Suppose that the latest stable upstream release is 1.2.2, and this has
56 been tagged '1.2.2' by upstream.
60 % git clone -oupstream https://some.upstream/foo.git
62 % git verify-tag 1.2.2
63 % git reset --hard 1.2.2
64 % git branch --unset-upstream
68 The final command detaches your master branch from the upstream remote,
69 so that git doesn't try to push anything there, or merge unreleased
70 upstream commits. If you want to maintain a copy of your packaging
71 branch on B<salsa.debian.org> in addition to B<dgit-repos>, you can
72 do something like this:
76 % git remote add -f origin salsa.debian.org:Debian/foo.git
77 % git push --follow-tags -u origin master
81 Now go ahead and Debianise your package. Just make commits on the
82 master branch, adding things in the I<debian/> directory. If you need
83 to patch the upstream source, just make commits that change files
84 outside of the I<debian/> directory. It is best to separate commits
85 that touch I<debian/> from commits that touch upstream source, so that
86 the latter can be cherry-picked by upstream.
88 Note that there is no need to maintain a separate 'upstream' branch,
89 unless you also happen to be involved in upstream development. We
90 work with upstream tags rather than any branches, except when
91 forwarding patches (see FORWARDING PATCHES UPSTREAM, below).
93 Finally, you need an orig tarball:
101 See git-deborig(1) if this fails.
103 This tarball is ephemeral and easily regenerated, so we don't commit
104 it anywhere (e.g. with tools like pristine-tar(1)).
106 =head3 Verifying upstream's tarball releases
110 It can be a good idea to compare upstream's released tarballs with the
111 release tags, at least for the first upload of the package. If they
112 are different, you might need to add some additional steps to your
113 I<debian/rules>, such as running autotools.
115 A convenient way to perform this check is to import the tarball as
116 described in the following section, using a different value for
117 'upstream-tag', and then use git-diff(1) to compare the imported
118 tarball to the release tag. If they are the same, you can use
119 upstream's tarball instead of running git-deborig(1).
123 =head3 Using untagged upstream commits
127 Sometimes upstream does not tag their releases, or you want to package
128 an unreleased git snapshot. In such a case you can create your own
129 upstream release tag, of the form B<upstream/>I<ver>, where I<ver> is
130 the upstream version you plan to put in I<debian/changelog>. The
131 B<upstream/> prefix ensures that your tag will not clash with any tags
132 upstream later creates.
134 For example, suppose that the latest upstream release is 1.2.2 and you
135 want to package git commit ab34c21 which was made on 2013-12-11. A
136 common convention is to use the upstream version number
137 1.2.2+git20131211.ab34c21 and so you could use
141 % git tag -s upstream/1.2.2+git20131211.ab34c21 ab34c21
145 to obtain a release tag, and then proceed as above.
149 =head2 When upstream releases only tarballs
151 We need a virtual upstream branch with virtual release tags.
152 gbp-import-orig(1) can manage this for us. To begin
162 Now create I<debian/gbp.conf>:
167 upstream-branch = upstream
168 debian-branch = master
169 upstream-tag = %(version)s
173 pristine-tar-commit = False
180 gbp-import-orig(1) requires a pre-existing upstream branch:
184 % git add debian/gbp.conf && git commit -m "create gbp.conf"
185 % git checkout --orphan upstream
187 % git commit --allow-empty -m "initial, empty branch for upstream source"
188 % git checkout -f master
192 Then we can import the upstream version:
196 % gbp import-orig --merge-mode=replace ../foo_1.2.2.orig.tar.xz
200 Our upstream branch cannot be pushed to B<dgit-repos>, but since we
201 will need it whenever we import a new upstream version, we must push
202 it somewhere. The usual choice is B<salsa.debian.org>:
206 % git remote add -f origin salsa.debian.org:Debian/foo.git
207 % git push --follow-tags -u origin master upstream
211 You are now ready to proceed as above, making commits to both the
212 upstream source and the I<debian/> directory.
214 =head1 CONVERTING AN EXISTING PACKAGE
216 This section explains how to convert an existing Debian package to
217 this workflow. It should be skipped when debianising a new package.
219 =head2 No existing git history
225 % git remote add -f upstream https://some.upstream/foo.git
229 =head2 Existing git history using another workflow
231 First, if you don't already have the git history locally, clone it,
232 and obtain the corresponding orig.tar from the archive:
236 % git clone git.debian.org:collab-maint/foo
242 Now dump any existing patch queue:
246 % git rm -rf debian/patches
247 % git commit -m "drop existing quilt patch queue"
251 Then make new upstream tags available:
255 % git remote add -f upstream https://some.upstream/foo.git
259 =for dgit-test dpkg-source-ignores begin
261 Now you simply need to ensure that your git HEAD is dgit-compatible,
262 i.e., it is exactly what you would get if you ran
263 B<dpkg-buildpackage -i'(?:^|/)\.git(?:/|$)' -I.git -S>
264 and then unpacked the resultant source package.
266 =for dgit-test dpkg-source-ignores end
268 To achieve this, you might need to delete
269 I<debian/source/local-options>. One way to have dgit check your
270 progress is to run B<dgit build-source>.
272 The first dgit push will require I<--overwrite>. If this is the first
273 ever dgit push of the package, consider passing
274 I<--deliberately-not-fast-forward> instead of I<--overwrite>. This
275 avoids introducing a new origin commit into your git history. (This
276 origin commit would represent the most recent non-dgit upload of the
277 package, but this should already be represented in your git history.)
279 =head1 SOURCE PACKAGE CONFIGURATION
281 =head2 debian/source/options
283 We set some source package options such that dgit can transparently
284 handle the "dropping" and "refreshing" of changes to the upstream
294 You don't need to create this file if you are using the version 1.0
295 source package format.
297 =head2 Sample text for debian/source/patch-header
299 It is a good idea to explain how a user can obtain a breakdown of the
300 changes to the upstream source:
304 The Debian packaging of foo is maintained in git,
305 using the merging workflow described in dgit-maint-merge(7).
306 There isn't a patch queue that can be represented as a quilt series.
308 A detailed breakdown of the changes is available from their
309 canonical representation -
310 git commits in the packaging repository.
311 For example, to see the changes made by the Debian maintainer in the
312 first upload of upstream version 1.2.3, you could use:
316 % git clone https://git.dgit.debian.org/foo
318 % git log --oneline 1.2.3..debian/1.2.3-1 -- . ':!debian'
322 (If you have dgit, use `dgit clone foo`,
323 rather than plain `git clone`.)
325 A single combined diff, containing all the changes, follows.
329 If you are using the version 1.0 source package format, this text
330 should be added to README.source instead. The version 1.0 source
331 package format ignores debian/source/patch-header.
333 If you're using the version 3.0 (quilt) source package format, you
334 could add this text to README.source instead of
335 debian/source/patch-header, but this might distract from more
336 important information present in README.source.
338 =head1 BUILDING AND UPLOADING
340 Use B<dgit build>, B<dgit sbuild>, B<dgit pbuilder>, B<dgit
341 cowbuilder>, B<dgit push-source>, and B<dgit push> as detailed in
342 dgit(1). If any command fails, dgit will provide a carefully-worded
343 error message explaining what you should do. If it's not clear, file
344 a bug against dgit. Remember to pass I<--new> for the first upload.
346 As an alternative to B<dgit build> and friends, you can use a tool
347 like gitpkg(1). This works because like dgit, gitpkg(1) enforces that
348 HEAD has exactly the contents of the source package. gitpkg(1) is
349 highly configurable, and one dgit user reports using it to produce and
350 test multiple source packages, from different branches corresponding
351 to each of the current Debian suites.
353 If you want to skip dgit's checks while iterating on a problem with
354 the package build (for example, you don't want to commit your changes
355 to git), you can just run dpkg-buildpackage(1) or debuild(1) instead.
357 =head1 NEW UPSTREAM RELEASES
359 =head2 Obtaining the release
361 =head3 When upstream tags releases in git
369 If you want to package an untagged upstream commit (because upstream
370 does not tag releases or because you want to package an upstream
371 development snapshot), see "Using untagged upstream commits" above.
373 =head3 When upstream releases only tarballs
375 You will need the I<debian/gbp.conf> from "When upstream releases only
376 tarballs", above. You will also need your upstream branch. Above, we
377 pushed this to B<salsa.debian.org>. You will need to clone or fetch
378 from there, instead of relying on B<dgit clone>/B<dgit fetch> alone.
384 % gbp import-orig --no-merge ../foo_1.2.3.orig.tar.xz
388 or if you have a working watch file
392 % gbp import-orig --no-merge --uscan
396 =head2 Reviewing & merging the release
398 It's a good idea to preview the merge of the new upstream release.
399 First, just check for any new or deleted files that may need
400 accounting for in your copyright file:
404 % git diff --name-status --diff-filter=ADR master..1.2.3 -- . ':!debian'
408 You can then review the full merge diff:
412 % git merge-tree `git merge-base master 1.2.3` master 1.2.3 | $PAGER
416 Once you're satisfied with what will be merged, update your package:
421 % dch -v1.2.3-1 New upstream release.
422 % git add debian/changelog && git commit -m changelog
426 If you obtained a tarball from upstream, you are ready to try a build.
427 If you merged a git tag from upstream, you will first need to generate
436 =head1 HANDLING DFSG-NON-FREE MATERIAL
438 =head2 When upstream tags releases in git
440 We create a DFSG-clean tag to merge to master:
444 % git checkout -b pre-dfsg 1.2.3
446 % git commit -m "upstream version 1.2.3 DFSG-cleaned"
447 % git tag -s 1.2.3+dfsg
448 % git checkout master
449 % git branch -D pre-dfsg
453 Before merging the new 1.2.3+dfsg tag to master, you should first
454 determine whether it would be legally dangerous for the non-free
455 material to be publicly accessible in the git history on
458 If it would be dangerous, there is a big problem;
459 in this case please consult your archive administrators
460 (for Debian this is the dgit administrator dgit-owner@debian.org
461 and the ftpmasters ftpmaster@ftp-master.debian.org).
463 =head2 When upstream releases only tarballs
465 The easiest way to handle this is to add a B<Files-Excluded> field to
466 I<debian/copyright>, and a B<uversionmangle> setting in
467 I<debian/watch>. See uscan(1). Alternatively, see the I<--filter>
468 option detailed in gbp-import-orig(1).
470 =head1 FORWARDING PATCHES UPSTREAM
478 Create a new branch based off upstream's master branch.
482 git-cherry-pick(1) commits from your master branch onto your new
487 Push the branch somewhere and ask upstream to merge it, or use
488 git-format-patch(1) or git-request-pull(1).
492 For example (and it is only an example):
496 % # fork foo.git on GitHub
497 % git remote add -f fork git@github.com:spwhitton/foo.git
498 % git checkout -b fix-error upstream/master
499 % git config branch.fix-error.pushRemote fork
500 % git cherry-pick master^2
502 % # submit pull request on GitHub
506 Note that when you merge an upstream release containing your forwarded
507 patches, git and dgit will transparently handle "dropping" the patches
508 that have been forwarded, "retaining" the ones that haven't.
510 =head1 INCORPORATING NMUS
518 Alternatively, you can apply the NMU diff to your repository. The
519 next push will then require I<--overwrite>.
527 This tutorial was written and is maintained by Sean Whitton <spwhitton@spwhitton.name>. It contains contributions from other dgit contributors too - see the dgit copyright file.