1. Debian packaging basics and definitions
    1. The "upstream" distribution
    2. Debian binary package
    3. Debian source package
      1. The .dsc file
      2. Building the source package

Debian packaging basics and definitions

The "upstream" distribution

Most Debian software is derived from some non-Debian software project (e.g., Apache, OpenLDAP, etc.). We refer to these files as the upstream software or upstream dstribution. The upstream software is usually supplied as a .tar.gz tarball. Usually (but not always) this software has no special support for Debian package building. It is the job of Debian packagers to take this upstream distribution and turn it into a Debian package.

The Debian packaging tools expect the upstream distribution tarball to have a name in the format package-version.tar.gz. The package-version part is described in package version numbering.

Debian binary package

The Debian binary package (.deb) is the actual file containing the sofware and other support files needed to install software onto a Debian system. A .deb file is analogous to an .rpm file for RedHat systems.

A Debian binary package is an ar archive containing these files:

  • data.tar.xz: the files to install on the Debian system

  • control.tar.gz: instructions on how to install the files including the package control file, other package dependencies, and optional scripts used during package install and removal

To extract these files from a .deb file use ar -x:

ar -x hello-debian_0.0.2-5-11_amd64.deb

Most Debian binary packages are intended to be installed on a specific version of Debian, for example, Debian stretch. Thus, Debian binary files have to be rebuilt for each different version of Debian. The Debian source package is used to build .deb files.

See also Packaging BinaryPackage and the Debian Policy Manual on Binary packages.

Debian source package

A Debian source package, according to Packaging SourcePackage,

... provide[s] you with all of the necessary files to compile or otherwise ... build the desired piece of software.

Unlike a Debian binary package a Debian source package is not a single file, rather, it consists of three files:

  • The upstream tarball ending in .tar.gz.

  • The .dsc file ("desription of the source code")

  • (optional) a file containing changes to the upstream source; this usually exists and, for non-native packages, ends in .debian.tar.gz.

The .dsc file

The .dsc file contains a number of fields that describe how the Debian package was build. These fields correspond to the fields in the debian/control file. For more information on the .dsc file and the supported fields, see the man page (man dsc).

Building the source package

The principal tool used with Debian package source files is dpkg-source. To build the source package you would change into the directory containng the Debian package files and run

dpkg-source --build .

Typically you do not run this command explicitly, instead, one of the Debian package tools calls this command during the package build process.