scripts-fabq/notes/debian packaging.md

Debian packaging

Table of Contents

• Debian packaging
  • Table of Contents
  • Upstream documentation
  • Required Tools
  • Packaging steps
    • Notes

Upstream documentation

• Packaging portal
  • Introduction to Debian Packaging
  • Binary package
  • Source package
• Simple packaging tutorial

Required Tools

Ensure that you have the necessary tools (build-essential, devscripts, debhelper, dh-python, and optionally lintian for linting) installed on your Debian system. You can install them using apt:

apt update
apt install build-essential devscripts debhelper dh-python lintian

Lintian is recommended as it helps ensure your package adheres to Debian standards.

Packaging steps

1. Download source archive You can either download the source tarball directly from GitHub or create it using Git. Since you have already created it, you can skip the wget step:

• Direct download (optional):

  wget https://github.com/fabquenneville/mediacurator/archive/refs/tags/v1.0.1.tar.gz
  

• Using Git to create the tarball from tag v1.0.1 (already done):

  git archive --format=tar.gz --prefix=mediacurator/ v1.0.1 -o /mnt/workbench/builds/mediacurator/v1.0.1/mediacurator_1.0.1.orig.tar.gz
  

• Using Git to create the tarball from the latest commit (already done):

  git archive --format=tar.gz --prefix=mediacurator/ HEAD -o /mnt/workbench/builds/mediacurator/v1.0.1/mediacurator_1.0.1.orig.tar.gz
  

2. Extract source archive

tar -xvzf mediacurator_1.0.1.orig.tar.gz

3. Create necessary folder Create a debian directory where all Debian packaging files will reside:

mkdir debian
mkdir debian/source

4. Create changelog Initialize the changelog file with your package version. Make sure to follow Debian formatting standards (package (version) distribution; urgency=urgency-level):

dch --create -v 1.0.1-1 --package mediacurator

Example changelog entry:

mediacurator (1.0.1-1) unstable; urgency=medium

  * Initial release

 -- Fabrice Quenneville <fabrice@fabq.ca>  Wed, 23 Oct 2024 10:00:00 +0000

5. Create control files Create the necessary files for packaging:

touch debian/control
touch debian/copyright
touch debian/rules
touch debian/source/format
touch debian/source/options
touch debian/install

Explanation of files:

• control: Contains package metadata (dependencies, package name, description, etc.)
• copyright: Specifies copyright and license information for your package.
• rules: The main script for building the package. This file orchestrates the build process.
• source/format: Defines the source package format, e.g., "3.0 (quilt)" for most packages.
• install: Lists files to install and their destinations.

6. Make rules executable Make the rules file executable, as it's the main script for building the package:

chmod +x debian/rules

7. Add dependencies in debian/control

Make sure to declare both Python and non-Python dependencies in the debian/control file. For example, if your application requires ffmpeg:

Depends: ${misc:Depends}, ${python3:Depends}, ffmpeg

8. Copy python source tarball

Copy your generated source tarball to the appropriate location for Debian packaging:

cp ./mediacurator-1.0.1.tar.gz ../mediacurator_1.0.1.orig.tar.gz

Ensure you are in the correct directory where mediacurator-1.0.1.tar.gz exists before running this command.

9. Run lintian (optional but recommended)

Before building your package, it’s a good practice to run lintian to check for any packaging issues:

lintian

This step ensures your package complies with Debian policy.

10. Build the package

Finally, build your Debian package:

debuild -us -uc

11. Test the package After building, you can test the package by installing it:

With dpkg

dpkg -i ../mediacurator_1.0.1-1_all.deb

With apt

apt install ../mediacurator_1.0.1-1_all.deb

Then check if it works as expected. If there are missing dependencies, you can run:

apt --fix-broken install

Notes

• Make sure your debian/control and other files are filled with the necessary package information (dependencies, description, etc.).
• Ensure that non-Python dependencies (e.g., ffmpeg) are listed in the debian/control file.
• If you encounter any issues or errors during the build process, review the output logs for clues on what might need adjusting.
• It’s a good idea to test the .deb package after building to ensure it installs and runs as expected.