This file documents things you should know to write a new debhelper program.
Any program with a name that begins with dh_ should conform to these
guidelines (with the historical exception of dh_make).
Standardization:
---------------
There are lots of debhelper commands. To make the learning curve shallower,
I want them all to behave in a standard manner:
All debhelper programs have names beginning with "dh_". This is so we don't
pollute the name space too much.
Debhelper programs should never output anything to standard output except
error messages, important warnings, and the actual commands they run that
modify files under debian/ (this last only if they are passed -v, and if you
output the commands, you should indent them with 1 tab). This is so we don't
have a lot of noise output when all the debhelper commands in a debian/rules
are run, so the important stuff is clearly visible.
An exception to above rule are dh_auto_* commands and dh itself. They will
also print the commands interacting with the upstream build system and which
of the simple debhelper programs are called. (i.e. print what a traditional
non-dh(1) using debian/rules would print but nothing else).
Debhelper programs should accept all options listed in the "SHARED
DEBHELPER OPTIONS" section of debhelper(7), including any long forms of
these options, like --verbose . If necessary, the options may be ignored.
If debhelper commands need config files, they should use
debian/package.filename as the name of the config file (replace filename
with whatever your command wants), and debian/filename should also be
checked for config information for the first binary package in
debian/control. Also, debhelper commands should accept the same sort of
information that appears in the config files, on their command lines, if
possible, and apply that information to the first package they act on.
The config file format should be as simple as possible, generally just a
list of files to act on.
Debhelper programs should never modify the debian/postinst, debian/prerm,
etc scripts. Instead, they can add lines to debian/postinst.debhelper, etc.
The autoscript() function (see below) is one easy way to do this.
dh_installdeb is an exception, it will run after the other commands and
merge these modifications into the actual postinst scripts.
In general, files named debian/*.debhelper and all content in
debian/.debhelper are internal to debhelper, and their existence or
use should not be relied on by external programs such as the build
process of a package. These files will be deleted by dh_clean.
Debhelper programs should default to doing exactly what policy says to do.
There are always exceptions. Just ask me.
Introducing Dh_Lib:
------------------
Dh_Lib is the library used by all debhelper programs to parse their
arguments and set some useful variables. It's not mandatory that your
program use Dh_Lib.pm, but it will make it a lot easier to keep it in sync
with the rest of debhelper if it does, so this is highly encouraged.
Use Dh_Lib like this:
use Debian::Debhelper::Dh_Lib;
our $VERSION = '1.0';
init();
The init() function causes Dh_lib to parse the command line and do
some other initialization tasks. If present, $main::VERSION will be
used to determine the version of the tool (e.g. embedded into
autoscript snippets).
Argument processing:
-------------------
All debhelper programs should respond to certain arguments, such as -v, -i,
-a, and -p. To help you make this work right, Dh_Lib.pm handles argument
processing. Just call init().
You can add support for additional options to your command by passing an
options hash to init(). The hash is then passed on the Getopt::Long to
parse the command line options. For example, to add a --foo option, which
sets $dh{FOO}:
init(options => { foo => \$dh{FOO} });
After argument processing, some global variables are used to hold the
results; programs can use them later. These variables are elements of the
%dh hash.
switch variable description
-v VERBOSE should the program verbosely output what it is
doing?
--no-act NO_ACT should the program not actually do anything?
-i,-a,-p,-N DOPACKAGES a space delimited list of the binary packages
to act on (in Dh_Lib.pm, this is an array)
-i DOINDEP set if we're acting on binary independent
packages
-a DOARCH set if we're acting on binary dependent
packages
-n NOSCRIPTS if set, do not make any modifications to the
package's postinst, postrm, etc scripts.
-o ONLYSCRIPTS if set, only make modifications to the
package's scripts, but don't look for or
install associated files.
-X EXCLUDE exclude a something from processing (you
decide what this means for your program)
(This is an array)
-X EXCLUDE_FIND same as EXCLUDE, except all items are put
into a string in a way that they will make
find find them. (Use ! in front to negate
that, of course) Note that this should
only be used inside complex_doit(), not in
doit().
-d D_FLAG you decide what this means to your program
-P TMPDIR package build directory (implies only one
package is being acted on)
-u U_PARAMS will be set to a string, that is typically
parameters your program passes on to some
other program. (This is an array)
-V V_FLAG will be set to a string, you decide what it
means to your program
-V V_FLAG_SET will be 1 if -V was specified, even if no
parameters were passed along with the -V
-A PARAMS_ALL generally means that additional command line
parameters passed to the program (other than
those processed here), will apply to all
binary packages the program acts on, not just
the first
--mainpackage MAINPACKAGE controls which package is treated as the
main package to act on
--name NAME a name to use for installed files, instead of
the package name
--error-handler ERROR_HANDLER a function to call on error
Any additional command line parameters that do not start with "-" will be
ignored, and you can access them later just as you normally would.
Global variables:
----------------
The following keys are also set in the %dh hash when you call init():
MAINPACKAGE the name of the first binary package listed in
debian/control
FIRSTPACKAGE the first package we were instructed to act on. This package
typically gets special treatment; additional arguments
specified on the command line may effect it.
Functions:
---------
Dh_Lib.pm also contains a number of functions you may find useful.
doit([$options, ]@command)
Pass this function an array that is a command with arguments.
It will run the command (unless $dh{NO_ACT} is set), and
if $dh{VERBOSE} is set, it will also output the command to stdout. You
should use this function for almost all commands your program performs
that manipulate files in the package build directories.
The $options argument (if passed) must be a hashref (added in debhelper 10.7).
The following key-value pairs can be used:
* stdout => A file name. The child process will have its STDOUT redirected
to that file. [debhelper (>= 10.7)]
* chdir => A directory. The child process will do a chdir into that
directory before executing the command. [debhelper (>= 10.9)]
* update_env => A hashref. Each key in it represents an environment variable
that should be set in the child (possibly replacing the existing value)
prior to the exec. If the value is undef, the environment variable will
be unset. Environment variables in %ENV but not listed in the update_env
hashref will be preserved as-is. [debhelper (>= 11.1)]
This will *not* invoke a shell, so meta characters will not have any special
meaning. Use complex_doit for that (or emulate via "bash -c").
NB: In compat 11 and below, there was a bug that would make doit fork a shell
in one special case. This is deprecated and will be removed in compat 12.
The detection code for this can be disabled by passing an empty hashref for
as $options. This will make doit unconditionally avoid forking a shell.
print_and_doit([$options, ]@command)
Like doit but will print unless $dh{QUIET} is set. See "Standardization"
above for when this is allowed to be called.
complex_doit($command)
Pass this function a string that is a shell command, it will run it
similarly to how doit() does. You can pass more complicated commands
to this (i.e. commands involving piping redirection), however, you
have to worry about things like escaping shell metacharacters.
verbose_print($message)
Pass this command a string, and it will echo it if $dh{VERBOSE} is set.
nonquiet_print($message)
Pass this command a string, and it will echo it unless $dh{QUIET} is set.
See "Standardization" above for when this is allowed to be called.
error($errormsg)
Pass this command a string, it will output it to standard error and
exit.
error_exitcode($cmd)
Pass this subroutine a string (representing a command line), it will
output a message describing that the command failed to standard error
and exit. Note that this relies on the value of $? to produce a
meaningful error message. Even if $? is 0, this /will/ still terminate
the program (although with a rather unhelpful message).
warning($message)
Pass this command a string, and it will output it to standard error
as a warning message.
tmpdir($dir)
Pass this command the name of a binary package, it will return the
name of the tmp directory that will be used as this package's
package build directory. Typically, this will be "debian/package".
compat($num)
Pass this command a number, and if the current compatibility level
is less than or equal to that number, it will return true.
Looks at DH_COMPAT to get the compatibility level.
pkgfile($package, $basename)
Pass this command the name of a binary package, and the base name of a
file, and it will return the actual filename to use. This is used
for allowing debhelper programs to have configuration files in the
debian/ directory, so there can be one config file per binary
package. The convention is that the files are named
debian/package.filename, and debian/filename is also allowable for
the $dh{MAINPACKAGE}. If the file does not exist, nothing is returned.
If the *entire* behavior of a command, when run without any special
options, is determined by the existence of 1 or more pkgfiles,
or by the existence of a file or directory in a location in the
tmpdir, it can be marked as such, which allows dh to automatically
skip running it. Please see "Optimization techniques" below.
pkgext($package)
Pass this command the name of a binary package, and it will return
the name to prefix to files in debian/ for this package. For the
$dh{MAINPACKAGE}, it returns nothing (there is no prefix), for the other
packages, it returns "package.".
isnative($package)
Pass this command the name of a package, it returns 1 if the package
is a native debian package.
As a side effect, $dh{VERSION} is set to the version number of the
package.
autoscript($package, $scriptname, $snippetname, $substparam)
Pass parameters:
- binary package to be affected
- script to add to
- filename of snippet. For testing purposes, you can set the
environment variable DH_DATAFILES containing a autoscripts
directory, which can be used to shadow the snippets provided
in /usr/share/debhelper/autoscripts (or to test newly added
snippets).
Older versions of debhelper (<< 13.1~) does not support
DH_DATAFILES. If you need to support debhelper (<< 13.1~)
then you can set DH_AUTOSCRIPTDIR to a directory containing
the snippets instead (note it should point to the autoscripts
directory unlike DH_DATAFILES).
- (optional) A substitution parameter, which is one of 3 types:
* sed commands to run on the snippet. E.g. s/#PACKAGE#/$PACKAGE/
Note: Passed to the shell inside double quotes.
* a perl sub to invoke with $_ set to each line of the snippet
in turn.
* a hashref, where each key will substitute "#${key}#" with the
value that $key points to. [debhelper (>= 10.7)]
This command automatically adds shell script snippets to a debian
maintainer script (like the postinst or prerm).
Note that in v6 mode and up, the snippets are added in reverse
order for the removal scripts.
autotrigger($package, $trigger_type, $trigger_target)
This command automatically adds a trigger to the package. The
parameters:
- binary package to be affected
- the type of trigger (e.g. "activate-noawait")
- the target (e.g. "ldconfig" or "/usr/share/foo")
dirname($pathname)
Return directory part of pathname.
basename($pathname)
Return base of pathname,
addsubstvar($package, $substvar, $deppackage, $verinfo, $remove)
This function adds a dependency on some package to the specified
substvar in a package's substvar's file. It needs all these
parameters:
- binary package that gets the item
- name of the substvar to add the item to
- the package that will be depended on
- version info for the package (optional) (i.e. ">= 1.1")
- if this last parameter is passed, the thing that would be added
is removed instead. This can be useful to ensure that a debhelper
command is idempotent. (However, we generally don't bother,
and rely on the user calling dh_prep.) Note that without this
parameter, if you call the function twice with the same values it
will only add one item to the substvars file.
delsubstvar($package, $substvar)
This function removes the entire line for the substvar from the
package's shlibs file.
excludefile($filename)
This function returns true if -X has been used to ask for the file
to be excluded.
is_udeb($package)
Returns true if the package is marked as a udeb in the control
file.
getpackages($type)
Returns a list of packages in the control file.
Pass "arch" or "indep" to specify arch-dependent or
-independent. If $type is omitted, returns all
packages (including packages that are not built
for this architecture). Pass "both" to get the union
of "arch" and "indep" packages.
Note that "both" is *not* the same omitting the $type parameter.
As a side effect, populates %package_arches and %package_types with
the types of all packages (not only those returned).
get_source_date_epoch()
Return the value of $ENV{SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH} if exists.
Otherwise compute the value from the first changelog entry,
use it to set the ENV variable and return it.
inhibit_log()
Prevent logging the program's successful finish to
debian/*debhelper.log
Since debhelper/12.9, this can be done by passing the inhibit_log
option with a value of 1 to init() instead. E.g.
init('inhibit_log' => 1);
load_log($package, $hashref)
Loads the log file for the given package and returns a list of
logged commands.
(Passing a hashref also causes it to populate the hash.)
write_log($cmd, $package ...)
Writes the log files for the specified package(s), adding
the cmd to the end.
restore_file_on_clean($file)
Store a copy of $file, which will be restored by dh_clean.
The $file *must* be a relative path to the package root and
*must* be a real regular file. Dirs, devices and symlinks
(and everything else) *cannot* be restored by this.
If $file is passed multiple times (e.g. from different programs)
only the first version is stored.
CAVEAT: This *cannot* undo arbitrary "rm -fr"'ing. The dir,
which is/was in $file, must be present when dh_clean is called.
make_symlink($src, $dest, $tmp)
Creates a Policy compliant system link called $dest pointing to
$src. If $tmp is given, then $tmp will be prefixed to $dest when
creating the actual symlink.
install_dh_config_file($src, $dest[, $mode])
Installs $src into $dest with $mode (defaults to 0644). If
compat is 9 (or later) and $src is executable, $src will be
executed instead and its output will be used to generate the
$dest file.
install_dir(@dirs)
Create the directories denoted by the paths in @dirs and all
parent entries as well (as needed). It uses mode 0755.
If a directory listed in @dirs already exists, the function
silently skips that directory (similar to mkdir -p).
install_file($src, $dest)
Installs $src into $dest with mode 0644. The parent dir of
$dest must exist (can be created with install_dir).
This is intended for installing regular non-executable files.
install_prog($src, $dest)
Installs $src into $dest with mode 0755. The parent dir of
$dest must exist (can be created with install_dir).
This is intended for installing scripts or binaries.
install_lib($src, $dest)
Installs a library at the path $src into $dest. The parent
dir of $dest must exist (can be created with install_dir).
This is intended for installing libraries.
reset_perm_and_owner($mode, $path...)
Resets the ownership and mode (POSIX permissions) of $path
This is useful for files created directly by the script, but
it not necessary for files installed via the install_*
functions.
The file owner and group is set to "root:root". The change
is only done on the exact paths listed (i.e. it is *not*
recursive).
Mode should be passed as an integer (not a string).
open_gz($file)
Open $file, read from it as a gzip-compressed file and return
the file handle.
Depending on runtime features, it might be a pipe from an
external process (which will die with a "SIGPIPE" if you
do not consume all the input)
deprecated_functionality($warn_msg[, $rm_compat[, $rm_msg]])
Emit $warn_msg as a deprecation warning, or error out if $rm_compat
is provided and equal to (or greater than) the active compat level.
The $rm_msg parameter can be used to provide a custom error message
in the latter case (if omitted, $warn_msg will be used in both cases).
The function will provide a separate diagnostic about which compat
level that will remove/removed the functionality if $rm_compat is
given.
log_installed_files($package, @paths)
Creates a logfile (in debian/.debhelper/generated) for the helper's
processing of $package, which installed the files listed in
@paths. This logfile will later be used by the dh_missing helper.
Paths should be relative to the package root (i.e. the directory
containing "debian/") and should not have superfluous segments
(e.g. avoid "foo/../bar" or "foo/./bar")
If a directory is listed, it and all paths recursively beneath is
also considered installed.
on_pkgs_in_parallel($code) - prototype: (&)
Short hand for on_items_in_parallel with $dh{DOPACKAGES} as
as list of packages.
on_items_in_parallel($item_list_ref, $code)
Splits all the items in $item_list_ref into a number of groups
based on the max parallel (as decided by DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS)
A subprocess is forked for each group (minimum 1 process will be
forked) and each subprocess will be given a group of items
to process. Each group is passed to the $code sub, which will
then process it and return normally on success.
Example:
my @all_packages = getpackages();
on_items_in_parallel(\@all_packages, sub {
for my $package (@_) {
my $tmp=tmpdir($package);
my $pkgfile = pkgfile($package, 'foo');
...;
}
});
my @work_list = compute_work_list();
on_items_in_parallel(\@work_list, sub {
for my $item (@_) {
...;
}
});
If there is an error, which should stop the build, please invoke
either "error()" or "error_exitcode". Alternatively, a trappable
error (e.g. "die($msg)") can also be used.
Keep in mind that the sub will always be run in a subprocess,
so it cannot update global state.
Sequence Addons:
---------------
The dh(1) command has a --with <addon> parameter that can be used to load
a sequence addon module named Debian::Debhelper::Sequence::<addon>.
These modules can add/remove commands to the dh command sequences, by
calling some functions from Dh_Lib:
insert_before($existing_command, $new_command)
Insert $new_command in sequences before $existing_command
Compatible with "arch-only"/"indep-only" modes if the command
appears only in a compatible sequence.
insert_after($existing_command, $new_command)
Insert $new_command in sequences after $existing_command
Compatible with "arch-only"/"indep-only" modes if the command
appears only in a compatible sequence.
remove_command($existing_command)
Remove $existing_command from the list of commands to run
in all sequences.
Cannot be used in "arch-only"/"indep-only" mode.
add_command($new_command, $sequence)
Add $new_command to the beginning of the specified sequence.
If the sequence does not exist, it will be created.
Compatible with "arch-only"/"indep-only" modes if $sequence
is an "-arch" or "-indep" sequence (respectively).
add_command_options($command, $opt1, $opt2, ...)
Append $opt1, $opt2 etc. to the list of additional options which
dh passes when running the specified $command. These options are
not relayed to debhelper commands called via $command override.
Cannot be used in "arch-only"/"indep-only" mode.
remove_command_options($command)
Clear all additional $command options previously added with
add_command_options().
Cannot be used in "arch-only"/"indep-only" mode.
remove_command_options($command, $opt1, $opt2, ...)
Remove $opt1, $opt2 etc. from the list of additional options which
dh passes when running the specified $command.
Cannot be used in "arch-only"/"indep-only" mode.
declare_command_obsolete([$error_compat, ]$command)
Declare $command as obsolete, which make dh warn about leftover
override / hook targets. Note that $command MUST NOT be present
in the sequence!
The $error_compat parameter defines the compat level where
referencing this command via a hook target will become an error.
This must be at least 13 (which is the default if omitted).
Be careful with using already closed compat levels as error compat
for new commands as it will cause FTBFS.
Cannot be used in "arch-only"/"indep-only" mode.
Optimization techniques:
------------------------
Most debhelper tools will have situations where they are not useful and can
be skipped. To support this, dh will look for a "NOOP PROMISE" as a part of
a comment in the command before running it. These promises have the form:
# PROMISE: DH NOOP WITHOUT pkgfile-logged(pkgfileA) pkgfile-logged(pkgfileB) tmp(need/this) cli-options()
The following keywords are defined:
* pkgfile(X): The command might do something if debian/X (or debian/<package>.X)
exist for any of the packages it will be run for. If the debhelper tool
interacts with dh_missing, you always want to use pkgfile-logged(X) instead.
* pkgfile-logged(X): Same as pkgfile(X) but it will also register which files
it handles so dh_missing can see it.
* tmp(X): The command might do something if debian/<package>/X exists.
* cli-options(--foo|--bar): The command might do something if *either* --foo
OR --bar are passed to the command.
* cli-options(BUILDSYSTEM): The command is a build system command (dh_auto_*)
and will react to standard build system command line options.
* cli-options(): Special variant of cli-options() to declare that command line
options will not affect whether the tool will do something. This enables
dh to skip commands even when passed custom options. Without an explicit
cli-option(...) hint, dh will assume the command might react to it.
If the hint is present and ALL of the keywords imply that the command can be
skipped, dh will skip the command.
Logging helpers and dh_missing:
-------------------------------
Since debhelper 10.3, debhelper has had a helper called "dh_missing". It
takes over the "--list-missing" and "--fail-missing" options from dh_install
and as the advantage that it can "see" what other helpers have installed.
Under the hood, this works by the helpers logging the source files
they (would) install to a hidden log file. When dh_missing is called,
it reads all these log files to determine which files have would been
installed and compare them to what is present.
If you are writing a helper that need to integrate with dh_missing,
here is what you do:
Dh_Lib-based helpers:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Replace "@{$dh{DOPACKAGES}}" with "getpackages()" and use
"process_pkg($package)" to determine if the helper should actually
install anything.
* Call "log_installed_files" at least once per package (even on the ones
that are not to be acted on) with a list of source files that would be
installed.
- You can list entire directories even if there are files under
it that are ignored.
- Please call "log_installed_files" /even if/ the list is empty for that
packages. This enables dh_missing to see that the helper has been run
and nothing should be installed for that package.
- Prefer calling "log_installed_files" /exactly once/ per package as
this is what it is optimized for.
* If your helper has a PROMISE, it must use "pkgfile-logged(<file>)"
for its config files. (See #867246)
- CAVEAT: This requires a dependency on "debhelper (>= 10.2.5)". Prior
to that version, debhelper will wrongly optimize your helper out.
* Consider using dh_installman or dh_installexamples as examples.
Other helpers:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* The helper must compile a list of files it would have installed for
each package (even packages that are not acted on). The file list
should be relative to the source package root (e.g.
"debian/tmp/usr/bin/bar").
- This list can also contain directories. They will be flagged as
installed along with their content (recursively).
* The helper must append to the file (create it if missing):
debian/.debhelper/generated/${package}/installed-by-${HELPER_NAME}
- Example: debian/.debhelper/generated/lintian/installed-by-dh_install
- The file should be created even if it is empty. This enables dh_missing
to see that the helper has been run and nothing would be installed for
that package.
* Please append to the file if it exists as the helper may be called multiple
times (once with -a and once with -i). It is completely fine if this leaves
duplicate entries as dh_missing will deduplicate these.
* If your helper has a PROMISE, it must use "pkgfile-logged(<file>)"
for its config files. (See #867246)
- CAVEAT: This requires a dependency on "debhelper (>= 10.2.5)". Prior
to that version, debhelper will wrongly optimize your helper out.
Buildsystem Classes:
--------------------
The dh_auto_* commands are frontends that use debhelper buildsystem
classes. These classes have names like Debian::Debhelper::Buildsystem::foo,
and are derived from Debian::Debhelper::Buildsystem, or other, related
classes.
A buildsystem class needs to inherit or define these methods: DESCRIPTION,
check_auto_buildable, configure, build, test, install, clean. See the comments
inside Debian::Debhelper::Buildsystem for details. Note that this interface
is still subject to change.
Note that third-party buildsystems will not automatically be used by
default. The package maintainer will either have to explicitly enable
it via the --buildsystem parameter OR the build system should be
registered in debhelper. The latter is currently needed to ensure a
stable and well-defined ordering of the build systems.
-- Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>
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