apt-ftparchive is the command line tool that generates the index
files that APT uses to access a distribution source. The index files should
be generated on the origin site based on the content of that site.
apt-ftparchive is a superset of the dpkg-scanpackages(8) program,
incorporating it's entire functionality via the directory command.
It also contains a contents file generator, contents, and an
elaborate means to 'script' the generation process for a complete
archive.
Internally apt-ftparchive can make use of binary databases to
cache the contents of a .deb file and it does not rely on any external
programs aside from gzip(1). When doing a full generate it automatically
performs file-change checks and builds the desired compressed output files.
Unless the -h, or --help option is given one of the
commands below must be present.
packages
The packages command generates a package file from a directory tree. It
takes the given directory and recursively searches it for .deb files,
emitting a package record to stdout for each. This command is
approximately equivalent to dpkg-scanpackages(8).
The option --db can be used to specify a binary caching DB.
sources
The sources command generates a source index file from a directory tree.
It takes the given directory and recursively searches it for .dsc files,
emitting a source record to stdout for each. This command is approximately
equivalent to dpkg-scansources(8).
If an override file is specified then a source override file will be
looked for with an extension of .src. The --source-override option can be
used to change the source override file that will be used.
contents
The contents command generates a contents file from a directory tree. It
takes the given directory and recursively searches it for .deb files,
and reads the file list from each file. It then sorts and writes to stdout
the list of files matched to packages. Directories are not written to
the output. If multiple packages own the same file then each package is
separated by a comma in the output.
The option --db can be used to specify a binary caching DB.
generate
The generate command is designed to be runnable from a cron script and
builds indexes according to the given config file. The config language
provides a flexible means of specifying which index files are built from
which directories, as well as providing a simple means of maintaining the
required settings.
clean
The clean command tidies the databases used by the given
configuration file by removing any records that are no longer necessary.
THE GENERATE CONFIGURATION
The generate command uses a configuration file to describe the
archives that are going to be generated. It follows the typical ISC
configuration format as seen in ISC tools like bind 8 and dhcpd.
apt.conf(5) contains a description of the syntax. Note that the generate
configuration is parsed in sectional manner, but apt.conf(5) is parsed in a
tree manner. This only effects how the scope tag is handled.
The generate configuration has 4 separate sections, each decribed below.
DIR SECTION
The Dir section defines the standard directories needed to
locate the files required during the generation process. These
directories are prepended to certain relative paths defined in later
sections to produce a complete an absolute path.
ArchiveDir
Specifies the root of the FTP archive, in a standard
Debian configuration this is the directory that contains the
ls-LR, and dist nodes.
OverrideDir
Specifies the location of the override files.
CacheDir
Specifies the location of the cache files
FileListDir
Specifies the location of the file list files,
if the FileList setting is used below.
DEFAULT SECTION
The Default section specifies default values, and settings
that control the operation of the generator. Other sections may override
these defaults with a per-section setting.
Packages::Compress
Sets the default compression schemes to use
for the Package index files. It is a string that contains a space
separated list of at least one of: '.' (no compression), 'gzip' and
'bzip2'. The default for all compression schemes is '. gzip'.
Packages::Extensions
Sets the default list of file extensions that are package files.
This defaults to '.deb'.
Sources::Compress
This is similar to Packages::Compress
except that it controls the compression for the Sources files.
Sources::Extensions
Sets the default list of file extensions that are source files.
This defaults to '.dsc'.
Contents::Compress
This is similar to Packages::Compress
except that it controls the compression for the Contents files.
DeLinkLimit
Specifies the number of kilobytes to delink (and
replace with hard links) per run. This is used in conjunction with the
per-section External-Links setting.
FileMode
Specifies the mode of all created index files. It
defaults to 0644. All index files are set to this mode with no regard
to the umask.
TREEDEFAULT SECTION
Sets defaults specific to Tree sections. All of these
variables are substitution variables and have the strings $(DIST),
$(SECTION) and $(ARCH) replaced with their respective values.
MaxContentsChange
Sets the number of kilobytes of contents
files that are generated each day. The contents files are round-robined
so that over several days they will all be rebuilt.
ContentsAge
Controls the number of days a contents file is allowed
to be checked without changing. If this limit is passed the mtime of the
contents file is updated. This case can occur if the package file is
changed in such a way that does not result in a new contents file
[overried edit for instance]. A hold off is allowed in hopes that new
.debs will be installed, requiring a new file anyhow. The default is 10,
the units are in days.
Directory
Sets the top of the .deb directory tree. Defaults to
$(DIST)/$(SECTION)/binary-$(ARCH)/
Packages
Sets the output Packages file. Defaults to
$(DIST)/$(SECTION)/binary-$(ARCH)/Packages
Sources
Sets the output Packages file. Defaults to
$(DIST)/$(SECTION)/source/Sources
InternalPrefix
Sets the path prefix that causes a symlink to be
considered an internal link instead of an external link. Defaults to
$(DIST)/$(SECTION)/
Contents
Sets the output Contents file. Defaults to
$(DIST)/Contents-$(ARCH). If this setting causes multiple
Packages files to map onto a single Contents file (such as the default)
then apt-ftparchive will integrate those package files
together automatically.
Contents::Header
Sets header file to prepend to the contents output.
BinCacheDB
Sets the binary cache database to use for this
section. Multiple sections can share the same database.
FileList
Specifies that instead of walking the directory tree,
apt-ftparchive should read the list of files from the given
file. Relative files names are prefixed with the archive directory.
SourceFileList
Specifies that instead of walking the directory tree,
apt-ftparchive should read the list of files from the given
file. Relative files names are prefixed with the archive directory.
This is used when processing source indexs.
TREE SECTION
The Tree section defines a standard Debian file tree which
consists of a base directory, then multiple sections in that base
directory and finally multiple Architectures in each section. The exact
pathing used is defined by the Directory substitution variable.
The Tree section takes a scope tag which sets the
$(DIST) variable and defines the root of the tree
(the path is prefixed by ArchiveDir).
Typically this is a setting such as dists/woody.
All of the settings defined in the TreeDefault section can be
use in a Tree section as well as three new variables.
When processing a Tree section apt-ftparchive
performs an operation similar to:
for i in Sections do
for j in Architectures do
Generate for DIST=scope SECTION=i ARCH=j
Sections
This is a space separated list of sections which appear
under the distribution, typically this is something like
main contrib non-free.
Architectures
This is a space separated list of all the
architectures that appear under seach section. The special architecture
'source' is used to indicate that this tree has a source archive.
BinOverride
Sets the binary override file. The override file
contains section, priority and maintainer address information.
SrcOverride
Sets the source override file. The override file
contains section information.
ExtraOverride
Sets the binary extra override file.
SrcExtraOverride
Sets the source extra override file.
BINDIRECTORY SECTION
The bindirectory section defines a binary directory tree
with no special structure. The scope tag specifies the location of
the binary directory and the settings are similar to the Tree
section with no substitution variables or
SectionArchitecture settings.
Packages
Sets the Packages file output.
SrcPackages
Sets the Sources file output. At least one of
Packages or SrcPackages is required.
Contents
Sets the Contents file output. (Optional)
BinOverride
Sets the binary override file.
SrcOverride
Sets the source override file.
ExtraOverride
Sets the binary extra override file.
SrcExtraOverride
Sets the source extra override file.
BinCacheDB
Sets the cache DB.
PathPrefix
Appends a path to all the output paths.
FileList, SourceFileList
Specifies the file list file.
THE BINARY OVERRIDE FILE
The binary override file is fully compatible with dpkg-scanpackages(8). It
contains 4 fields separated by spaces. The first field is the package name,
the second is the priority to force that package to, the third is the
the section to force that package to and the final field is the maintainer
permutation field.
The general form of the maintainer field is:
old [// oldn]* => new
or simply,
new
The first form allows a double-slash separated list of old email addresses
to be specified. If any of those are found then new is substituted for the
maintainer field. The second form unconditionally substitutes the
maintainer field.
THE SOURCE OVERRIDE FILE
The source override file is fully compatible with dpkg-scansources(8). It
contains 2 fields separated by spaces. The first fields is the source
package name, the second is the section to assign it.
THE EXTRA OVERRIDE FILE
The extra override file allows any arbitary tag to be added or replaced
in the output. It has 3 columns, the first is the package, the second is
the tag and the remainder of the line is the new value.
OPTIONS
All command line options may be set using the configuration file, the
descriptions indicate the configuration option to set. For boolean
options you can override the config file by using something like
-f-,--no-f, -f=no or several other variations.
--md5
Generate MD5 sums. This defaults to on, when turned off the generated
index files will not have MD5Sum fields where possible.
Configuration Item: APT::FTPArchive::MD5.
-d
--db
Use a binary caching DB. This has no effect on the generate command.
Configuration Item: APT::FTPArchive::DB.
-q
--quiet
Quiet; produces output suitable for logging, omitting progress indicators.
More q's will produce more quiet up to a maximum of 2. You can also use
-q=# to set the quiet level, overriding the configuration file.
Configuration Item: quiet.
--delink
Perform Delinking. If the External-Links setting is used then
this option actually enables delinking of the files. It defaults to on and
can be turned off with --no-delink.
Configuration Item: APT::FTPArchive::DeLinkAct.
--contents
Perform contents generation. When this option is set and package indexes
are being generated with a cache DB then the file listing will also be
extracted and stored in the DB for later use. When using the generate
command this option also allows the creation of any Contents files. The
default is on.
Configuration Item: APT::FTPArchive::Contents.
-s
--source-override
Select the source override file to use with the sources command.
Configuration Item: APT::FTPArchive::SourceOverride.
--readonly
Make the caching databases read only.
Configuration Item: APT::FTPArchive::ReadOnlyDB.
-h
--help
Show a short usage summary.
-v
--version
Show the program verison.
-c
--config-file
Configuration File; Specify a configuration file to use.
The program will read the default configuration file and then this
configuration file. See apt.conf(5) for syntax information.
-o
--option
Set a Configuration Option; This will set an arbitary configuration
option. The syntax is -o Foo::Bar=bar.
apt-ftparchive returns zero on normal operation, decimal 100 on error.
BUGS
See the APT bug page <URL:http://bugs.debian.org/apt>.
If you wish to report a bug in APT, please see
/usr/share/doc/debian/bug-reporting.txt or the bug(1) command.