3 dgit - tutorial for package maintainers, using a workflow centered around git-debrebase(1)
7 This document describes elements of a workflow for maintaining a
8 non-native Debian package using B<dgit>. We maintain the Debian delta
9 as a series of git commits on our master branch. We use
10 git-debrebase(1) to shuffle our branch such that this series of git
11 commits appears at the end of the branch. All the public git history
12 is fast-forwarding, i.e., we do not rewrite and force-push.
14 Some advantages of this workflow:
20 Manipulate the patch queue using the full power of git-rebase(1),
21 instead of relying on quilt(1), and without having to switch back and
22 forth between patches-applied and patches-unapplied branches when
23 committing changes and trying to build, as with gbp-pq(1).
27 Avoid the git tree being dirtied by the application or unapplication
28 of patches, as they are always applied.
32 Benefit from dgit's safety catches. In particular, ensure that your
33 upload always matches exactly your git HEAD.
37 Provide your full git history in a standard format on B<dgit-repos>,
38 where it can benefit downstream dgit users, such as people using dgit
39 to do an NMU (see dgit-nmu-simple(7) and dgit-user(7)).
43 Minimise the amount you need to know about 3.0 (quilt) in order to
44 maintain Debian source packages which use that format.
48 This workflow is appropriate for packages where the Debian delta
49 contains multiple pieces which interact, or which you don't expect to
50 be able to upstream soon. For packages with simple and/or short-lived
51 Debian deltas, use of git-debrebase(1) might introduce unneeded
52 complexity (for examples, see "BEHAVIOUR TO AVOID" below). For such
53 packages, consider the workflow described in dgit-maint-merge(7).
55 =head1 INITIAL DEBIANISATION
57 This section explains how to start using this workflow with a new
58 package. It should be skipped when converting an existing package to
61 =head2 When upstream tags releases in git
63 Suppose that the latest stable upstream release is 1.2.2, and this has
64 been tagged '1.2.2' by upstream.
68 % git clone -oupstream https://some.upstream/foo.git
70 % git verify-tag 1.2.2
71 % git reset --hard 1.2.2
72 % git branch --unset-upstream
76 The final command detaches your master branch from the upstream
77 remote, so that git doesn't try to push anything there, or merge
78 unreleased upstream commits. To maintain a copy of your packaging
79 branch on B<salsa.debian.org> in addition to B<dgit-repos>, you can do
84 % git remote add -f origin salsa.debian.org:Debian/foo.git
85 % git push --follow-tags -u origin master
89 Now go ahead and Debianise your package. Just make commits on the
90 master branch, adding things in the I<debian/> directory. If you need
91 to patch the upstream source, see "EDITING THE PATCH QUEUE", below.
92 Note that there is no need to maintain a separate 'upstream' branch,
93 unless you also happen to be involved in upstream development. We
94 work with upstream tags rather than any branches, except when
95 forwarding patches (see FORWARDING PATCHES UPSTREAM, below).
97 Finally, you need an orig tarball:
105 See git-deborig(1) if this fails.
107 This tarball is ephemeral and easily regenerated, so we don't commit
108 it anywhere (e.g. with tools like pristine-tar(1)).
110 =head3 Verifying upstream's tarball releases
114 It can be a good idea to compare upstream's released tarballs with the
115 release tags, at least for the first upload of the package. If they
116 are different, you might need to add some additional steps to your
117 I<debian/rules>, such as running autotools.
119 A convenient way to perform this check is to import the tarball as
120 described in the following section, using a different value for
121 'upstream-tag', and then use git-diff(1) to compare the imported
122 tarball to the release tag. If they are the same, you can use
123 upstream's tarball instead of running git-deborig(1).
127 =head2 When upstream releases only tarballs
129 We need a virtual upstream branch with virtual release tags.
130 gbp-import-orig(1) can manage this for us. To begin
140 Now create I<debian/gbp.conf>:
145 upstream-branch = upstream
146 debian-branch = master
147 upstream-tag = %(version)s
151 pristine-tar-commit = False
158 gbp-import-orig(1) requires a pre-existing upstream branch:
162 % git add debian/gbp.conf && git commit -m "create gbp.conf"
163 % git checkout --orphan upstream
165 % git commit --allow-empty -m "initial, empty branch for upstream source"
166 % git checkout -f master
170 Then we can import the upstream version:
174 % gbp import-orig --merge-mode=replace ../foo_1.2.2.orig.tar.xz
178 Our upstream branch cannot be pushed to B<dgit-repos>, but since we
179 will need it whenever we import a new upstream version, we must push
180 it somewhere. The usual choice is B<salsa.debian.org>:
184 % git remote add -f origin salsa.debian.org:Debian/foo.git
185 % git push --follow-tags -u origin master upstream
189 You are now ready to proceed as above, making commits to the
190 I<debian/> directory.
192 =head1 CONVERTING AN EXISTING PACKAGE
194 This section explains how to convert an existing Debian package to
195 this workflow. It should be skipped when debianising a new package.
197 =head2 No existing git history
203 % git remote add -f upstream https://some.upstream/foo.git
207 =head2 Existing git history using another workflow
209 First, if you don't already have the git history locally, clone it,
210 and obtain the corresponding orig.tar from the archive:
214 % git clone salsa.debian.org:Debian/foo
220 If your tree is patches-unapplied, you will need to make a commit
221 corresponding to each of the quilt patches. You can use
225 git debrebase convert-from-gbp
229 or manually with gbp-pq(1):
235 % git merge --ff-only patch-queue/master
240 Then make new upstream tags available:
244 % git remote add -f upstream https://some.upstream/foo.git
248 =for dgit-test dpkg-source-ignores begin
250 Now you simply need to ensure that your git HEAD is dgit-compatible,
251 i.e., it is exactly what you would get if you ran
252 B<dpkg-buildpackage -i'(?:^|/)\.git(?:/|$)' -I.git -S>
253 and then unpacked the resultant source package.
255 =for dgit-test dpkg-source-ignores end
257 To achieve this, you might need to delete
258 I<debian/source/local-options>. One way to have dgit check your
259 progress is to run B<dgit build-source>.
261 The first dgit push will require I<--overwrite>. If this is the first
262 ever dgit push of the package, consider passing
263 I<--deliberately-not-fast-forward> instead of I<--overwrite>. This
264 avoids introducing a new origin commit into your git history. (This
265 origin commit would represent the most recent non-dgit upload of the
266 package, but this should already be represented in your git history.)
268 =head1 IMPORTING NEW UPSTREAM RELEASES
270 =head2 Obtaining the release
272 =head3 When upstream tags releases in git
280 =head3 When upstream releases only tarballs
282 You will need the I<debian/gbp.conf> from "When upstream releases only
283 tarballs", above. You will also need your upstream branch. Above, we
284 pushed this to B<salsa.debian.org>. You will need to clone or fetch
285 from there, instead of relying on B<dgit clone>/B<dgit fetch> alone.
291 % gbp import-orig --no-merge ../foo_1.2.3.orig.tar.xz
295 or if you have a working watch file
299 % gbp import-orig --no-merge --uscan
303 =head2 Importing the release
307 % git debrebase new-upstream-v0 1.2.3
308 % dch -v1.2.3-1 New upstream release.
309 % git add debian/changelog && git commit -m changelog
313 You can now review the merge of the new upstream release:
317 git diff debian/1.2.2-1..HEAD -- . ':!debian'
321 Pass I<--stat> just to see the list of changed files, which is useful
322 to determine whether there are any new or deleted files to may need
323 accounting for in your copyright file.
325 If you obtained a tarball from upstream, you are ready to try a build.
326 If you merged a git tag from upstream, you will first need to generate
335 =head1 EDITING THE PATCH QUEUE
337 =head2 Adding new patches
339 Adding new patches is straightforward: just make commits touching only
340 files outside of the I<debian/> directory. You can also use tools
341 like git-revert(1), git-am(1) and git-cherrypick(1).
343 =head2 Editing patches: starting a debrebase
345 git-debrebase(1) is a wrapper around git-rebase(1) which allows us to
346 edit, re-order and delete patches. Run
354 to start an interactive rebase. You can edit, re-order and delete
355 commits just as you would during B<git rebase -i>. Alternatively, you
356 can perform a non-interactive rebase like this:
360 % git debrebase -- [git-rebase options...]
364 A third alternative is to have git-debrebase(1) shuffle all the Debian
365 changes to the end of your branch, and then manipulate them yourself
366 using git-rebase(1). For example,
370 % git debrebase launder
371 % git rebase -i HEAD~5 # there are 4 Debian patches
375 If you take this approach, you should be very careful not to start the
376 rebase earlier than the beginning of the patch queue.
378 =head2 Editing patches: finishing a debrebase
380 After completing the git rebase, your branch will not be a
381 fast-forward of the git HEAD you had before the rebase. This means
382 that we cannot push the branch anywhere. If you are ready to upload,
383 B<dgit push> or B<dgit push-source> will take care of fixing this up
386 If you are not yet ready to upload, and want to push your branch to a
387 git remote such as B<salsa.debian.org>,
391 % git debrebase launder
392 % git debrebase stitch
396 Note that each time you stitch a debrebase you introduce a pseudomerge
397 into your git history, which may make it harder to read. Try to do
398 all of the editing of the patch queue that you think will be needed
399 for this upload in a single debrebase, so that there is a single
402 A strategy is to debrebase only right before you upload. Before that
403 point, instead of editing the existing patch series, you append fixup
404 commits (and reversions of commits) that alter the upstream source to
405 the required state. You can freely push and pull from
406 B<salsa.debian.org> during this. Just before uploading, you debrebase
407 to tidy everything up.
409 =head1 BUILDING AND UPLOADING
411 Use B<dgit build>, B<dgit sbuild>, B<dgit push> and B<dgit
412 push-source> as detailed in dgit(1). If any command fails, dgit will
413 provide a carefully-worded error message explaining what you should
414 do. If it's not clear, file a bug against dgit. Remember to pass
415 I<--new> for the first upload.
417 After dgit pushing, be sure to git push to B<salsa.debian.org>, if
420 As an alternative to B<dgit build> and friends, you can use a tool
421 like gitpkg(1). This works because like dgit, gitpkg(1) enforces that
422 HEAD has exactly the contents of the source package. gitpkg(1) is
423 highly configurable, and one dgit user reports using it to produce and
424 test multiple source packages, from different branches corresponding
425 to each of the current Debian suites.
427 If you want to skip dgit's checks while iterating on a problem with
428 the package build (for example, you don't want to commit your changes
429 to git), you can just run dpkg-buildpackage(1) or debuild(1) instead.
431 =head2 Laundering the patch queue before uploading
433 Just before you B<dgit push> or B<dgit push-source>, you might want to
434 have git-debrebase(1) shuffle your branch such that the Debian patch
435 queue appears at the end:
439 % git debrebase launder
444 Note that this will introduce a new pseudomerge.
446 =head1 HANDLING DFSG-NON-FREE MATERIAL
448 This covers only DFSG-non-free material. Material which is legally
449 dangerous (for example, files which are actually illegal) cannot be
452 If you encounter possibly-legally-dangerous material in the upstream
453 source code you should seek advice. It is often best not to make a
454 fuss on a public mailing list (at least, not at first). Instead,
455 email your archive administrators. For Debian that is
456 To: dgit-owner@debian.org, ftpmaster@ftp-master.debian.org
458 =head2 When upstream tags releases in git
460 We create a DFSG-clean tag to import to master:
464 % git checkout -b pre-dfsg 1.2.3
466 % git commit -m "upstream version 1.2.3 DFSG-cleaned"
467 % git tag -s 1.2.3+dfsg
468 % git checkout master
469 % git branch -D pre-dfsg
473 =head2 When upstream releases only tarballs
475 The easiest way to handle this is to add a B<Files-Excluded> field to
476 I<debian/copyright>, and a B<uversionmangle> setting in
477 I<debian/watch>. See uscan(1). Alternatively, see the I<--filter>
478 option detailed in gbp-import-orig(1).
480 =head1 INCORPORATING NMUS
488 If the NMUer added new commits modifying the upstream source, you will
489 probably want to debrebase before your next upload to tidy those up.
491 For example, the NMUer might have used git-revert(1) to unapply one of
492 your patches. A debrebase will strip both the patch and the reversion
493 from the patch series.
501 This tutorial was written and is maintained by Sean Whitton
502 <spwhitton@spwhitton.name>. It contains contributions from other dgit
503 contributors too - see the dgit copyright file.