DH_INSTALL(1) Debhelper DH_INSTALL(1)
NAME
dh_install - install files into package build directories
SYNOPSIS
dh_install [-Xitem] [--autodest] [--sourcedir=dir] [debhelperoptions]
[file|dir...destdir]
DESCRIPTION
dh_install is a debhelper program that handles installing files into
package build directories. There are many dh_install* commands that
handle installing specific types of files such as documentation,
examples, man pages, and so on, and they should be used when possible
as they often have extra intelligence for those particular tasks.
dh_install, then, is useful for installing everything else, for which
no particular intelligence is needed. It is a replacement for the old
dh_movefiles command.
This program may be used in one of two ways. If you just have a file or
two that the upstream Makefile does not install for you, you can run
dh_install on them to move them into place. On the other hand, maybe
you have a large package that builds multiple binary packages. You can
use the upstream Makefile to install it all into debian/tmp, and then
use dh_install to copy directories and files from there into the proper
package build directories.
From debhelper compatibility level 7 on, dh_install will fall back to
looking in debian/tmp for files, if it does not find them in the
current directory (or wherever you've told it to look using
--sourcedir).
FILES
debian/package.install
List the files to install into each package and the directory they
should be installed to. The format is a set of lines, where each
line lists a file or files to install, and at the end of the line
tells the directory it should be installed in. The name of the
files (or directories) to install should be given relative to the
current directory, while the installation directory is given
relative to the package build directory. You may use wildcards in
the names of the files to install.
Note that if you list exactly one filename or wildcard-pattern on a
line by itself, with no explicit destination, then dh_install will
automatically guess the destination to use, the same as if the
--autodest option were used.
Supports substitution variables in compat 13 and later as
documented in debhelper(7).
debian/not-installed
Used with the deprecated --list-missing and --fail-missing options.
Please refer to dh_missing(1) for the documentation of this file.
OPTIONS
--list-missing
Deprecated: Please use dh_missing --list-missing instead. If you
use this option, dh_install will call dh_missing with that option
after it has processed all the files. Please see dh_missing(1) for
the documentation of this option.
This option is removed in compat 12.
--fail-missing
Deprecated: Please use dh_missing --fail-missing instead. If you
use this option, dh_install will call dh_missing with that option
after it has processed all the files. Please see dh_missing(1) for
the documentation of this option.
This option is removed in compat 12.
--sourcedir=dir
Look in the specified directory for files to be installed.
Note that this is not the same as the --sourcedirectory option used
by the dh_auto_* commands. You rarely need to use this option,
since dh_install automatically looks for files in debian/tmp in
debhelper compatibility level 7 and above.
--autodest
Guess as the destination directory to install things to. If this is
specified, you should not list destination directories in
debian/package.install files or on the command line. Instead,
dh_install will guess as follows:
Strip off debian/tmp (or the sourcedir if one is given) from the
front of the filename, if it is present, and install into the
dirname of the filename. So if the filename is debian/tmp/usr/bin,
then that directory will be copied to debian/package/usr/. If the
filename is debian/tmp/etc/passwd, it will be copied to
debian/package/etc/.
file|dir ... destdir
Lists files (or directories) to install and where to install them
to. The files will be installed into the first package dh_install
acts on.
EXAMPLES
Here are some small examples of configuration files for dh_install.
# Install my-prog into usr/bin (as "usr/bin/my-prog")
my-prog usr/bin
# Install a plugins directory into usr/share/my-prog
# (as "usr/share/my-prog/plugins/")
plugins usr/share/my-prog
# Install a file with spaces in into usr/share/my-prog/data
# (as "usr/share/my-prog/data/my datafile with spaces.txt")
# ASSUMES COMPAT 13, where substitution patterns are available
my${Space}datafile${Space}with${Space}spaces.txt usr/share/my-prog/data
# Install a library into the multi-arch lib directory
# ASSUMES COMPAT 13, where substitution patterns are available
build/output/libfrop*.so.* usr/lib/${DEB_HOST_MULTIARCH}
LIMITATIONS
dh_install cannot rename files or directories, it can only install them
with the names they already have into wherever you want in the package
build tree.
However, renaming can be achieved by using dh-exec with compatibility
level 9 or later. An example debian/package.install file using dh-exec
could look like:
#!/usr/bin/dh-exec
debian/default.conf => /etc/my-package/start.conf
Please remember the following three things:
o The package must be using compatibility level 9 or later (see
debhelper(7))
o The package will need a build-dependency on dh-exec.
o The install file must be marked as executable.
SEE ALSO
debhelper(7)
This program is a part of debhelper.
AUTHOR
Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>
13.2 2020-07-05 DH_INSTALL(1)