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- .\" dpkg manual page - deb-control(5)
- .\"
- .\" Copyright © 1995 Raul Miller, Ian Jackson, Ian Murdock
- .\" Copyright © 1999 Ben Collins <bcollins@debian.org>
- .\" Copyright © 2000 Wichert Akkerman <wakkerma@debian.org>
- .\" Copyright © 2007-2011, 2013-2015 Guillem Jover <guillem@debian.org>
- .\" Copyright © 2008-2012 Raphaël Hertzog <hertzog@debian.org>
- .\"
- .\" This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
- .\" it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
- .\" the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
- .\" (at your option) any later version.
- .\"
- .\" This is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
- .\" but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
- .\" MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
- .\" GNU General Public License for more details.
- .\"
- .\" You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
- .\" along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
- .
- .TH deb\-control 5 "2013-12-20" "Debian Project" "Debian"
- .SH NAME
- deb\-control \- Debian packages' master control file format
- .
- .SH SYNOPSIS
- control
- .
- .SH DESCRIPTION
- Each Debian package contains the master \fIcontrol\fP file, which contains
- a number of fields, or comments when the line starts with \(oq\fB#\fP\(cq.
- Each field begins with a tag, such as
- .B Package
- or
- .B Version
- (case insensitive), followed by a colon, and the body of the field.
- Fields are delimited only by field tags. In other words, field text
- may be multiple lines in length, but the installation tools will
- generally join lines when processing the body of the field (except
- in the case of the
- .B Description
- field, see below).
- .
- .SH REQUIRED FIELDS
- .TP
- .BI Package: " package-name"
- The value of this field determines the package name, and is used to
- generate file names by most installation tools.
- .TP
- .BI Version: " version-string"
- Typically, this is the original package's version number in whatever form
- the program's author uses. It may also include a Debian revision number
- (for non-native packages). The exact format and sorting algorithm
- are described in
- .BR deb\-version (5).
- .TP
- .BI Maintainer: " fullname-email"
- Should be in the format \(lqJoe Bloggs <jbloggs@foo.com>\(rq, and is typically
- the person who created the package, as opposed to the author of the
- software that was packaged.
- .TP
- .BI Description: " short-description"
- .TQ
- .BI " " "long-description"
- .br
- The format for the package description is a short brief summary on the
- first line (after the \fBDescription\fP field). The following lines should be
- used as a longer, more detailed description. Each line of the long description
- must be preceded by a space, and blank lines in the long description must
- contain a single \(oq\fB.\fP\(cq following the preceding space.
- .
- .SH OPTIONAL FIELDS
- .TP
- .BI Section: " section"
- This is a general field that gives the package a category based on the
- software that it installs.
- Some common sections are \fButils\fP, \fBnet\fP, \fBmail\fP, \fBtext\fP,
- \fBx11\fP, etc.
- .TP
- .BI Priority: " priority"
- Sets the importance of this package in relation to the system as a whole.
- Common priorities are \fBrequired\fP, \fBstandard\fP, \fBoptional\fP,
- \fBextra\fP, etc.
- .LP
- In Debian, the
- .B Section
- and
- .B Priority
- fields have a defined set of accepted values based on the Policy Manual.
- A list of these values can be obtained from the latest version of the
- .B debian\-policy
- package.
- .TP
- .BR Essential: " \fByes\fP|\fBno\fP"
- This field is usually only needed when the answer is \fByes\fP. It denotes
- a package that is required for proper operation of the system. Dpkg
- or any other installation tool will not allow an
- .B Essential
- package to be removed (at least not without using one of the force options).
- .TP
- .BR Architecture: " \fIarch\fP|\fBall\fP"
- The architecture specifies which type of hardware this package was compiled
- for.
- Common architectures are \fBamd64\fP, \fBarmel\fP, \fBi386\fP, \fBpowerpc\fP,
- etc.
- Note that the
- .B all
- option is meant for packages that are architecture independent. Some examples
- of this are shell and Perl scripts, and documentation.
- .TP
- .BI Origin: " name"
- The name of the distribution this package is originating from.
- .TP
- .BI Bugs: " url"
- The \fIurl\fP of the bug tracking system for this package. The current
- used format is \fIbts-type\fP\fB://\fP\fIbts-address\fP, like
- \fB\%debbugs://bugs.debian.org\fP.
- .TP
- .BI Homepage: " url"
- The upstream project home page \fIurl\fP.
- .TP
- .BI Tag: " tag-list"
- List of tags describing the qualities of the package. The description and
- list of supported tags can be found in the \fB\%debtags\fP package.
- .TP
- .BR Multi\-Arch: " \fBsame\fP|\fBforeign\fP|\fBallowed\fP|\fBno\fP"
- This field is used to indicate how this package should behave on a multi-arch
- installations. The value \fBsame\fP means that the package is co-installable
- with itself, but it must not be used to satisfy the dependency of any package
- of a different architecture from itself. The value \fBforeign\fP means that
- the package is not co-installable with itself, but should be allowed to
- satisfy the dependency of a package of a different arch from itself. The
- value \fBallowed\fP allows reverse-dependencies to indicate in their
- \fBDepends\fP field that they accept a package from a foreign architecture by
- qualifying the package name with \fB:any\fP, but has no effect otherwise.
- The value \fBno\fP is the default when the field is omitted, in which case
- adding the field with an explicit \fBno\fP value is generally not needed.
- .TP
- .BI Source: " source-name"
- The name of the source package that this binary package came from, if
- different than the name of the package itself.
- .TP
- .BI Subarchitecture: " value"
- .TQ
- .BI Kernel\-Version: " value"
- .TQ
- .BI Installer\-Menu\-Item: " value"
- These fields are used by the debian\-installer and are usually not needed.
- See /usr/share/doc/debian\-installer/devel/modules.txt from the
- .B debian\-installer
- package for more details about them.
- .TP
- .BI Depends: " package-list"
- List of packages that are required for this package to provide a
- non-trivial amount of functionality. The package maintenance software
- will not allow a package to be installed if the packages listed in its
- .B Depends
- field aren't installed (at least not without using the force options).
- In an installation, the postinst scripts of packages listed in \fBDepends\fP
- fields are run before those of the packages which depend on them. On the
- opposite, in a removal, the prerm script of a package is run before
- those of the packages listed in its \fBDepends\fP field.
- .TP
- .BI Pre\-Depends: " package-list"
- List of packages that must be installed
- .B and
- configured before this one can be installed. This is usually used in the
- case where this package requires another package for running its preinst
- script.
- .TP
- .BI Recommends: " package-list"
- Lists packages that would be found together with this one in all but
- unusual installations. The package maintenance software will warn the
- user if they install a package without those listed in its
- .B Recommends
- field.
- .TP
- .BI Suggests: " package-list"
- Lists packages that are related to this one and can perhaps enhance
- its usefulness, but without which installing this package is perfectly
- reasonable.
- .LP
- The syntax of
- .BR Depends ,
- .BR Pre\-Depends ,
- .B Recommends
- and
- .B Suggests
- fields is a list of groups of alternative packages. Each group is a list
- of packages separated by vertical bar (or \(lqpipe\(rq) symbols,
- \(oq\fB|\fP\(cq.
- The groups are separated by commas.
- Commas are to be read as \(lqAND\(rq, and pipes as \(lqOR\(rq, with pipes
- binding more tightly.
- Each package name is optionally followed by an architecture qualifier
- appended after a colon \(oq\fB:\fP\(cq, optionally followed by a version
- number specification in parentheses.
- .LP
- An architecture qualifier name can be a real Debian architecture name
- (since dpkg 1.16.5) or \fBany\fP (since dpkg 1.16.2).
- If omitted, the default is the current binary package architecture.
- A real Debian architecture name will match exactly that architecture for
- that package name, \fBany\fP will match any architecture for that package
- name if the package has been marked as \fBMulti\-Arch: allowed\fP.
- .LP
- A version number may start with a \(oq\fB>>\fP\(cq, in which case any later
- version will match, and may specify or omit the Debian packaging revision
- (separated by a hyphen).
- Accepted version relationships are \(oq\fB>>\fP\(cq for greater than,
- \(oq\fB<<\fP\(cq for less than, \(oq\fB>=\fP\(cq for greater than or
- equal to, \(oq\fB<=\fP\(cq for less than or equal to, and \(oq\fB=\fP\(cq
- for equal to.
- .TP
- .BI Breaks: " package-list"
- Lists packages that this one breaks, for example by exposing bugs
- when the named packages rely on this one. The package maintenance
- software will not allow broken packages to be configured; generally
- the resolution is to upgrade the packages named in a
- .B Breaks
- field.
- .TP
- .BI Conflicts: " package-list"
- Lists packages that conflict with this one, for example by containing
- files with the same names. The package maintenance software will not
- allow conflicting packages to be installed at the same time. Two
- conflicting packages should each include a
- .B \%Conflicts
- line mentioning the other.
- .TP
- .BI Replaces: " package-list"
- List of packages files from which this one replaces. This is used for
- allowing this package to overwrite the files of another package and
- is usually used with the
- .B Conflicts
- field to force removal of the other package, if this one also has the
- same files as the conflicted package.
- .TP
- .BI Provides: " package-list"
- This is a list of virtual packages that this one provides. Usually this is
- used in the case of several packages all providing the same service.
- For example, sendmail and exim can serve as a mail server, so they
- provide a common package (\(lqmail\-transport\-agent\(rq) on which other
- packages can depend.
- This will allow sendmail or exim to serve as a valid option
- to satisfy the dependency. This prevents the packages that depend on a mail
- server from having to know the package names for all of them, and using
- \(oq\fB|\fP\(cq to separate the list.
- .LP
- The syntax of
- .BR Breaks ,
- .BR Conflicts ,
- .B Replaces
- and
- .B Provides
- is a list of package names, separated by commas (and optional whitespace).
- In the
- .B Breaks
- and
- .B Conflicts
- fields, the comma should be read as \(lqOR\(rq.
- An optional architecture qualifier can also be appended to the package name
- with the same syntax as above, but the default is \fBany\fP instead of the
- binary package architecture.
- An optional version can also be given with the same syntax as above for the
- .BR Breaks ,
- .B Conflicts
- and
- .B Replaces
- fields, and an optional exact (equal to) version can also be given with the
- same syntax as above for the \fBProvides\fP field (since dpkg 1.17.11).
- .
- .TP
- .BI Built\-Using: " package-list"
- This field lists extra source packages that were used during the build of this
- binary package. This is an indication to the archive maintenance software that
- these extra source packages must be kept whilst this binary package is
- maintained.
- This field must be a list of source package names with strict \(oq\fB=\fP\(cq
- version relationships. Note that the archive maintenance software is likely to
- refuse to accept an upload which declares a
- .B Built\-Using
- relationship which cannot be satisfied within the archive.
- .
- .SH EXAMPLE
- .\" .RS
- .nf
- # Comment
- Package: grep
- Essential: yes
- Priority: required
- Section: base
- Maintainer: Wichert Akkerman <wakkerma@debian.org>
- Architecture: sparc
- Version: 2.4\-1
- Pre\-Depends: libc6 (>= 2.0.105)
- Provides: rgrep
- Conflicts: rgrep
- Description: GNU grep, egrep and fgrep.
- The GNU family of grep utilities may be the "fastest grep in the west".
- GNU grep is based on a fast lazy-state deterministic matcher (about
- twice as fast as stock Unix egrep) hybridized with a Boyer-Moore-Gosper
- search for a fixed string that eliminates impossible text from being
- considered by the full regexp matcher without necessarily having to
- look at every character. The result is typically many times faster
- than Unix grep or egrep. (Regular expressions containing backreferencing
- will run more slowly, however).
- .fi
- .\" .RE
- .
- .SH SEE ALSO
- .BR deb (5),
- .BR deb\-version (5),
- .BR debtags (1),
- .BR dpkg (1),
- .BR dpkg\-deb (1).
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