1 .\" dpkg manual page - deb-src-control(5)
3 .\" Copyright © 2010 Oxan van Leeuwen <oxan@oxanvanleeuwen.nl>
4 .\" Copyright © 2011 Raphaël Hertzog <hertzog@debian.org>
5 .\" Copyright © 2011-2015 Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org>
7 .\" This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
8 .\" it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
9 .\" the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
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15 .\" GNU General Public License for more details.
17 .\" You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
18 .\" along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
20 .TH deb\-src\-control 5 "%RELEASE_DATE%" "%VERSION%" "dpkg suite"
23 deb\-src\-control \- Debian source packages' master control file format
29 Each Debian source package contains the master «control» file,
30 which contains at least 2 paragraphs, separated by a blank line.
31 The first paragraph lists
32 all information about the source package in general, while each following
33 paragraph describes exactly one binary package. Each paragraph consists of at
34 least one field. A field starts with a fieldname, such as
38 (case insensitive), followed by a colon, the body of the field and a newline.
39 Multi-line fields are also allowed, but each supplementary line, without a
40 fieldname, should start with at least one space. The content of the multi-line
41 fields is generally joined to a single line by the tools (except in the case of
44 field, see below). To insert empty lines into a multi-line
45 field, insert a dot after the space.
46 Lines starting with a ‘\fB#\fP’ are treated as comments.
50 .BR Source: " \fIsource-package-name\fP (required)"
51 The value of this field is the name of the source package, and should
52 match the name of the source package in the debian/changelog file. A package
53 name must consist only of lower case letters (a-z), digits (0-9), plus (+) and
54 minus (-) signs, and periods (.). Package names must be at least two characters
55 long and must start with an alphanumeric character.
58 .BR Maintainer: " \fIfullname-email\fP (recommended)"
59 Should be in the format «Joe Bloggs <jbloggs@foo.com>», and references the
60 person who currently maintains the package, as opposed to the author of the
61 software or the original packager.
64 .BI Uploaders: " fullname-email"
65 Lists all the names and email addresses of co-maintainers of the package, in
66 the same format as the \fBMaintainer\fP field.
67 Multiple co-maintainers should be separated by a comma.
70 .BI Standards\-Version: " version-string"
71 This documents the most recent version of the distribution policy standards
72 this package complies with.
76 The upstream project home page URL.
80 The \fIurl\fP of the bug tracking system for this package. The current
81 used format is \fIbts-type\fP\fB://\fP\fIbts-address\fP, like
82 \fBdebbugs://bugs.debian.org\fP. This field is usually not needed.
91 .BI Vcs\-Darcs: " url"
100 The \fIurl\fP of the Version Control System repository used to maintain this
101 package. Currently supported are \fBArch\fP, \fBBzr\fP (Bazaar), \fBCvs\fP,
102 \fBDarcs\fP, \fBGit\fP, \fBHg\fP (Mercurial), \fBMtn\fP (Monotone) and
103 \fBSvn\fP (Subversion). Usually this field points to the latest version
104 of the package, such as the main branch or the trunk.
107 .BI Vcs\-Browser: " url"
108 The \fIurl\fP of a webinterface to browse the Version Control System
113 The name of the distribution this package is originating from. This field is
117 .BI Section: " section"
118 This is a general field that gives the package a category based on the
119 software that it installs.
120 Some common sections are \fButils\fP, \fBnet\fP, \fBmail\fP, \fBtext\fP,
124 .BI Priority: " priority"
125 Sets the importance of this package in relation to the system as a whole.
126 Common priorities are \fBrequired\fP, \fBstandard\fP, \fBoptional\fP,
133 fields usually have a defined set of accepted values based on the specific
137 .BI Build\-Depends: " package-list"
138 A list of packages that need to be installed and configured to be able
139 to build from source package.
140 These dependencies need to be satisfied when building binary architecture
141 dependent or independent packages and source packages.
142 Including a dependency in this field does not have the exact same effect as
143 including it in both \fBBuild\-Depends\-Arch\fP and \fBBuild\-Depends\-Indep\fP,
144 because the dependency also needs to be satisfied when building the source
148 .BI Build\-Depends\-Arch: " package-list"
149 Same as \fBBuild\-Depends\fP, but they are only needed when building the
150 architecture dependent packages. The \fBBuild\-Depends\fP are also
151 installed in this case. This field is supported since dpkg 1.16.4; in
152 order to build with older dpkg versions, \fBBuild\-Depends\fP
153 should be used instead.
156 .BI Build\-Depends\-Indep: " package-list"
157 Same as \fBBuild\-Depends\fP, but they are only needed when building the
158 architecture independent packages. The \fBBuild\-Depends\fP are also
159 installed in this case.
162 .BI Build\-Conflicts: " package-list"
163 A list of packages that should not be installed when the package is
164 built, for example because they interfere with the build system used.
165 Including a dependency in this list has the same effect as including
166 it in both \fBBuild\-Conflicts\-Arch\fP and
167 \fBBuild\-Conflicts\-Indep\fP, with the additional effect of being
168 used for source-only builds.
171 .BI Build\-Conflicts\-Arch: " package-list"
172 Same as \fBBuild\-Conflicts\fP, but only when building the architecture
173 dependent packages. This field is supported since dpkg 1.16.4; in
174 order to build with older dpkg versions, \fBBuild\-Conflicts\fP should
178 .BI Build\-Conflicts\-Indep: " package-list"
179 Same as \fBBuild\-Conflicts\fP, but only when building the architecture
180 independent packages.
185 .B Build\-Depends\-Arch
187 .B Build\-Depends\-Indep
188 fields is a list of groups of alternative packages.
189 Each group is a list of packages separated by vertical bar (or “pipe”)
191 The groups are separated by commas.
192 Commas are to be read as “AND”, and pipes as “OR”, with pipes
193 binding more tightly.
194 Each package name is optionally followed by an architecture qualifier
195 appended after a colon ‘\fB:\fP’,
196 optionally followed by a version number specification in parentheses, an
197 architecture specification in square brackets, and a restriction formula
198 consisting of one or more lists of profile names in angle brackets.
201 .BR Build\-Conflicts ,
202 .B Build\-Conflicts\-Arch
204 .B Build\-Conflicts\-Indep
205 fields is a list of comma-separated package names, where the comma is read
207 Specifying alternative packages using a “pipe” is not supported.
208 Each package name is optionally followed by a version number specification in
209 parentheses, an architecture specification in square brackets, and a
210 restriction formula consisting of one or more lists of profile names in
213 An architecture qualifier name can be a real Debian architecture name
214 (since dpkg 1.16.5), \fBany\fP (since dpkg 1.16.2) or \fBnative\fP
216 If omitted, the default for \fBBuild\-Depends\fP fields is the current host
217 architecture, the default for \fBBuild\-Conflicts\fP fields is \fBany\fP.
218 A real Debian architecture name will match exactly that architecture for
219 that package name, \fBany\fP will match any architecture for that package
220 name if the package is marked with \fBMulti\-Arch: allowed\fP, and
221 \fBnative\fP will match the current build architecture if the package
222 is not marked with \fBMulti\-Arch: foreign\fP.
224 A version number may start with a ‘\fB>>\fP’, in which case any
225 later version will match, and may specify or omit the Debian packaging
226 revision (separated by a hyphen).
227 Accepted version relationships are ‘\fB>>\fP’ for greater than,
228 ‘\fB<<\fP’ for less than, ‘\fB>=\fP’ for greater than or
229 equal to, ‘\fB<=\fP’ for less than or equal to, and ‘\fB=\fP’
232 An architecture specification consists of one or more architecture names,
233 separated by whitespace. Exclamation marks may be prepended to each of the
234 names, meaning “NOT”.
236 A restriction formula consists of one or more restriction lists, separated
237 by whitespace. Each restriction list is enclosed in angle brackets. Items
238 in the restriction list are build profile names, separated by whitespace
239 and can be prefixed with an exclamation mark, meaning “NOT”.
240 A restriction formula represents a disjunctive normal form expression.
242 Note that dependencies on packages in the
244 set can be omitted and that declaring build conflicts against them is
245 impossible. A list of these packages is in the build\-essential package.
252 .BR Priority ", " Section
255 fields can also be in a binary paragraph to override the global value from the
259 .BR Package: " \fIbinary-package-name\fP (required)"
260 This field is used to name the binary package name. The same restrictions as
261 to a source package name apply.
264 .BR Architecture: " \fIarch\fP|\fBall\fP|\fBany\fP (required)"
265 The architecture specifies on which type of hardware this package runs. For
266 packages that run on all architectures, use the
268 value. For packages that are architecture independent, such as shell and Perl
269 scripts or documentation, use the
271 value. To restrict the packages to a certain set of architectures, specify the
272 architecture names, separated by a space. It's also possible to put
273 architecture wildcards in that list (see
274 .BR dpkg\-architecture (1)
275 for more information about them).
278 .BR Build\-Profiles: " \fIrestriction-formula\fP"
279 This field specifies the conditions for which this binary package does or
281 To express that condition, the same restriction formula syntax from the
282 \fBBuild\-Depends\fP field is used.
284 If a binary package paragraph does not contain this field, then it implicitly
285 means that it builds with all build profiles (including none at all).
287 In other words, if a binary package paragraph is annotated with a non-empty
288 \fBBuild\-Profiles\fP field, then this binary package is generated if and
289 only if the condition expressed by the conjunctive normal form expression
293 .BR Package\-Type: " \fBdeb\fP|\fBudeb\fP"
294 This field defines the type of the package.
295 \fBudeb\fP is for size-constrained packages used by the debian installer.
296 \fBdeb\fP is the default value, it is assumed if the field is absent.
297 More types might be added in the future.
300 .BI Subarchitecture: " value"
302 .BI Kernel\-Version: " value"
304 .BI Installer\-Menu\-Item: " value"
305 These fields are used by the debian\-installer and are usually not needed.
306 See /usr/share/doc/debian\-installer/devel/modules.txt from the
308 package for more details about them.
311 .BR Essential: " \fByes\fP|\fBno\fP"
313 .BR Build\-Essential: " \fByes\fP|\fBno\fP"
315 .BR Multi\-Arch: " \fBsame\fP|\fBforeign\fP|\fBallowed\fP|\fBno\fP"
319 .BR Description: " \fIshort-description\fP (recommended)"
320 These fields are described in the
322 manual page, as they are copied literally to the control file of the binary
326 .BI Depends: " package-list"
328 .BI Pre\-Depends: " package-list"
330 .BI Recommends: " package-list"
332 .BI Suggests: " package-list"
334 .BI Breaks: " package-list"
336 .BI Enhances: " package-list"
338 .BI Replaces: " package-list"
340 .BI Conflicts: " package-list"
342 .BI Provides: " package-list"
344 .BI Built\-Using: " package-list"
345 These fields declare relationships between packages. They are discussed in
350 .SH USER-DEFINED FIELDS
351 It is allowed to add additional user-defined fields to the control file. The
352 tools will ignore these fields. If you want the fields to be copied over to
353 the output files, such as the binary packages, you need to use a custom naming
354 scheme: the fields should start with an \fBX\fP, followed by zero or more of
355 the letters \fBBCS\fP and a hyphen.
359 The field will appear in the control file in the binary package, see
360 \fBdeb\-control\fP(5).
363 The field will appear in the source package control file, see \fBdsc\fP(5).
366 The field will appear in the upload control (.changes) file, see
367 \fBdeb\-changes\fP(5).
370 Note that the \fBX\fP[\fBBCS\fP]\fB\-\fP prefixes are stripped when the
371 fields are copied over to the output files. A field \fBXC\-Approved\-By\fP
372 will appear as \fBApproved\-By\fP in the changes file and will not appear
373 in the binary or source package control files.
375 Take into account that these user-defined fields will be using the global
376 namespace, which might at some point in the future collide with officially
377 recognized fields. To avoid such potential situation you can prefix those
378 fields with \fBPrivate\-\fP, such as \fBXB\-Private\-New\-Field\fP.
387 Maintainer: Dpkg Developers <debian\-dpkg@lists.debian.org>
388 # this field is copied to the binary and source packages
389 XBS\-Upstream\-Release\-Status: stable
390 Homepage: https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg
391 Vcs\-Browser: https://git.dpkg.org/cgit/dpkg/dpkg.git
392 Vcs\-Git: https://git.dpkg.org/git/dpkg/dpkg.git
393 Standards\-Version: 3.7.3
394 Build\-Depends: pkg\-config, debhelper (>= 4.1.81),
395 libselinux1\-dev (>= 1.28\-4) [!linux\-any]
401 # this is a custom field in the binary package
402 XB\-Mentoring\-Contact: Raphael Hertzog <hertzog@debian.org>
403 Depends: dpkg (>= 1.14.6), perl5, perl\-modules, cpio (>= 2.4.2\-2),
404 bzip2, lzma, patch (>= 2.2\-1), make, binutils, libtimedate\-perl
405 Recommends: gcc | c\-compiler, build\-essential
406 Suggests: gnupg, debian\-keyring
407 Conflicts: dpkg\-cross (<< 2.0.0), devscripts (<< 2.10.26)
408 Replaces: manpages\-pl (<= 20051117\-1)
409 Description: Debian package development tools
410 This package provides the development tools (including dpkg\-source)
411 required to unpack, build and upload Debian source packages.
413 Most Debian source packages will require additional tools to build;
414 for example, most packages need make and the C compiler gcc.
420 .BR deb\-control (5),
421 .BR deb\-version (5),