debian-packaging-example.md

Debian Local Packaging Example

An example of local packaging of the sugar-artwork module on Debian. Also applicable to Ubuntu.

Warning: this is not Debian packaging. For more information on Debian, and becoming a Debian Developer, please see debian.org.

Add or enable deb-src lines in your /etc/apt/sources.list.

Install build dependencies;

sudo apt update
sudo apt build-dep sugar-artwork

Create a directory for this work and change to it;

mkdir /tmp/test
cd /tmp/test

Clone your repository, and change to it;

git clone https://github.com/quozl/sugar-artwork.git
cd sugar-artwork

Set the version number by adding a developer suffix to configure.ac, using your GitHub username and a release number:

AC_INIT([sugar-artwork],[0.112~quozl.0],[],[sugar-artwork])

Configure the source code.

./autogen.sh

Make a local release tarball.

make dist

As an optional check, compare sugar-artwork-0.112~quozl.0.tar.xz with the most recent release sugar-artwork-0.112.tar.xz at download.laptop.org sugar-artwork. You should see changes consistent with the git commits since the git tag of the release.

Copy the tar.xz file into the directory above with a special name expected by the Debian tools, and return to that directory.

mv sugar-artwork-0.112~quozl.0.tar.xz ../sugar-artwork_0.112~quozl.0.orig.tar.xz
cd ..

Download the latest distribution source package

sudo apt source sugar-artwork

A set of files will be created;

• .dsc describes the source package,
• .orig.tar.xz is the original release tarball,
• .debian.tar.xz is the delta, or set of changes, for packaging.

These files will be automatically extracted by apt.

A directory sugar-artwork-0.112 will be created. Below we will use the debian subdirectory only. Familiarise yourself with the directory and subdirectory; they can be used to rebuild the distribution package.

Unpack your local release tarball and copy the debian subdirectory into it;

tar xf sugar-artwork_0.112~quozl.0.orig.tar.xz
cp -rl sugar-artwork-0.112/debian sugar-artwork-0.112~quozl.0/
cd sugar-artwork-0.112~quozl.0

Install the devscripts package. It contains tools dch and debuild we will use below.

sudo apt install devscripts

Increment the package version number.

dch -b -v 0.112~quozl.0-1 -D bionic new local test version

Package version in this form will be lower than the official package.

Optionally confirm the version number has changed by reading the debian/changelog file. Familiarise yourself with the format and previous entries.

Clear the debian/patches/series file

> debian/patches/series

Build the package, without signing.

debuild -us -uc

Result should be a set of files in the directory above.

• a debian source package set;

  • sugar-artwork_0.112~quozl.0.orig.tar.xz - your local release tarball, made by make dist above,
  • sugar-artwork_0.112~quozl.0-1.debian.tar.xz - the debian directory,
  • sugar-artwork_0.112~quozl.0-1.dsc - the source package description,

• a debian binary package set, each of which can be installed;

  • sugar-themes_0.112~quozl.0-1_all.deb - the artwork, in architecture independent form,
  • sugar-icon-theme_0.112~quozl.0-1_all.deb - the icon theme, in architecture independent form,
  • gtk2-engines-sugar_0.112~quozl.0-1_amd64.deb - the GTK+ 2 theme engine, in amd64 architecture,
  • gtk2-engines-sugar-dbgsym_0.112~quozl.0-1_amd64.ddeb - debug symbols for above, usually not needed.

• build and changes descriptions;

  • sugar-artwork_0.112~quozl.0-1_amd64.buildinfo
  • sugar-artwork_0.112~quozl.0-1_amd64.changes
  • sugar-artwork_0.112~quozl.0-1_amd64.build

Install the three packages needed, and test Sugar.

References:

• GNU Coding Standards

• Native Sugar - Setting up a Development Environment has details on how to install build dependencies for all modules.

• Development Team - Release - Modules - Glucose Base is a process used by release manager for making a release.