Create or Update a Debian package

Create or Update a Debian package Organic Design procedure

General procedure

Working directory structure

Here's an example directory structure for a package which replaces the apache default config file and sets up default php and html files in /var/www.

{"minExpandLevel":2}

• example-package

  • DEBIAN
    • control
    • postinst
    • postrm
    • prerm
  • etc
    • apache2
      • sites-available
        • default
  • var
    • www
      • index.php
      • index.html
      • index.php5

The control file in the DEBIAN sub-directory is the all the main configuration is done. The other three files in that sub-directory are scripts which execute on installation and removal of the package.

The rest of the directory structure outside the DEBIAN sub-directory define the directory structure which will be merged with the root of the filesystem when the package is installed.

Our packages at Organic Design are in /var/www/domains/packages and the source directory structures for them are in the sources subdirectory.

Building into a package

To turn the directory structure into a proper .deb package file, use:

dpkg -b /var/www/domains/packages/source/<package-name>

The package will be created with the same name but with the .deb extension in the same directory as the package directory.

Adding to a package repository

All the .deb package files must be added to the main repository on the server which is in /var/www/packages/main. Ensure that this repository is included in your /etc/apt/sources.list:

deb http://packages.organicdesign.co.nz main/

Whenever any of the packages in the repository change, the Packages.gz index file must be updated which can be done as follows:

dpkg-scanpackages /var/www/domains/packages/main /dev/null | gzip > /var/www/domains/packages/main/Packages.gz

See also

• Packages - we plan to manage our IT infrastructure using APT
• LinuxDevices instructions
• TLDP HOWTO
• Google:creating Debian packages
• Format of sources.list file