DPKG-SCANPACKAGES(8) dpkg utilities DPKG-SCANPACKAGES(8)NAMEdpkg-scanpackages - create Packages files
SYNOPSISdpkg-scanpackages [-u] [-a<arch>] binarydir overridefile [pathprefix] >
Packages
DESCRIPTIONdpkg-scanpackages sorts through a tree of Debian binary packages and
creates a Packages file, used by dselect(8), etc, to tell the user what
packages are available for installation. These Packages files are the
same as those found on Debian archive sites and CD-ROMs. You might use
dpkg-scanpackages yourself if making a directory of local packages to
install on a cluster of machines.
binarydir is the name of the binary tree to process (for example,
main/binary-darwin-powerpc). It is best to make this relative to the
root of the Debian archive, because every Filename field in the new
Packages file will start with this string.
overridefile is the name of a file to read which contains information
about how the package fits into the distribution; see below.
pathprefix is an optional string to be prepended to the Filename
fields.
If -u is specified, then scan for *.udeb, instead of *.deb.
When -a<arch> is specified, then instead of scanning for all debs, a
pattern consisting of *_all.deb and *_arch.deb is used.
THE OVERRIDE FILE
While most information about a package can be found in the control
file, some must be filled in by the distribution czars rather than by
the maintainer, because they relate to the arrangement of files for
release rather than the actual dependencies and description of the
package. This information is found in the override file.
The override file has a simple whitespace-delimited format. Comments
are allowed (denoted with a #).
package priority section [maintainerinfo]
package is the name of the package. Entries in the override file for
packages not found in the binary tree are ignored.
priority and section place the package within the release tree; these
ought not to be found in the control file. If the package is found in
a subdirectory of binarydir, that will be checked against section.
maintainerinfo, if present, can be either the name of a maintainer for
an unconditional override, or else oldmaintainer => newmaintainer to
perform a substitution.
The override files used to make the official Packages lists may be
found in the indices directory on any Debian mirror.
DIAGNOSTICSdpkg-scanpackages outputs the usual self-explanatory errors. It also
warns about packages that are in the wrong subdirectory, are dupli‐
cated, have a Filename field in their control file, are missing from
the override file, or have maintainer substitutions which do not take
effect.
SEE ALSOdpkg(8), dselect(8), dpkg-scansources(8).
AUTHOR
Paths modified by Carsten Klapp to reflect fink distribution, December
2002.
Debian project 1996-07-08 DPKG-SCANPACKAGES(8)
