DH_INSTALLDEB(1)

DH_INSTALLDEB(1) Debhelper DH_INSTALLDEB(1)

NAME
dh_installdeb - install files into the DEBIAN directory

SYNOPSIS
dh_installdeb [debhelperoptions]

DESCRIPTION
dh_installdeb is a debhelper program that is responsible for installing
files into the DEBIAN directories in package build directories with the
correct permissions.

FILES
package.postinst
package.preinst
package.postrm
package.prerm
These maintainer scripts are installed into the DEBIAN directory.

dh_installdeb will perform substitution of known tokens of the
pattern #TOKEN#. In generally, scripts will want to include the
#DEBHELPER# to benefit from the shell scripts generated by
debhelper commands (including those from dh_installdeb when it
processes package.maintscript files).

The #DEBHELPER# token should be placed on its own line as it is
often replaced by a multi-line shell script.

package.triggers
package.shlibs
These control files are installed into the DEBIAN directory.

Note that package.shlibs is only installed in compat level 9 and
earlier. In compat 10, please use dh_makeshlibs(1).

package.conffiles
Historically, this file was needed to manually mark files files as
conffiles. However, it has become de facto obsolete since
debhelper automatically computed which files should be marked as
conffiles.

In compatibility level up and including 11, this control file will
be installed into the DEBIAN directory. In compatibility level 12
and later, the file is silently ignored.

package.maintscript
Lines in this file correspond to dpkg-maintscript-helper(1)
commands and parameters. However, the "maint-script-parameters"
should not be included as debhelper will add those automatically.

Example:

# Correct
rm_conffile /etc/obsolete.conf 0.2~ foo
# INCORRECT
rm_conffile /etc/obsolete.conf 0.2~ foo -- "$@"

In compat 10 or later, any shell metacharacters will be escaped, so
arbitrary shell code cannot be inserted here. For example, a line
such as "mv_conffile /etc/oldconffile /etc/newconffile" will insert
maintainer script snippets into all maintainer scripts sufficient
to move that conffile.

It was also the intention to escape shell metacharacters in
previous compat levels. However, it did not work properly and as
such it was possible to embed arbitrary shell code in earlier
compat levels.

The dh_installdeb tool will do some basic validation of some of the
commands listed in this file to catch common mistakes. The
validation is enabled as a warning since compat 10 and as a hard
error in compat 12.

Supports substitution variables in compat 13 and later as
documented in debhelper(7).

OPTIONS
-DTOKEN=VALUE, --define TOKEN=VALUE
Define tokens to be replaced inside the maintainer scripts when it
is generated. Please note that the limitations described in
"Limitations in token names" also applies to tokens defined on the
command line. Invalid token names will trigger an error.

In the simple case, this parameter will cause #TOKEN# to be
replaced by VALUE. If VALUE starts with a literal @-sign, then
VALUE is expected to point to a file containing the actual value to
insert.

An explicit declared token with this parameter will replace built-
in tokens.

Test examples to aid with the understanding:

cat >> debian/postinst <<EOF
#SIMPLE#
#FILEBASED#
EOF
echo -n "Complex value" > some-file
dh_installdeb --define SIMPLE=direct --define FILEBASED=@some-file

In this example, #SIMPLE# will expand to direct and #FILEBASED#
will expand to Complex value.

It is also possible to set package-specific values for a given
token. This is useful when dh_installdeb is acting on multiple
packages that need different values for the same token. This is
done by prefixing the token name with pkg.package-name..

This can be used as in the following example:

cat >> debian/foo.postinst <<EOF
# Script for #PACKAGE#
#TOKEN#
EOF
cat >> debian/bar.postinst <<EOF
# Script for #PACKAGE#
#TOKEN#
EOF
cat >> debian/baz.postinst <<EOF
# Script for #PACKAGE#
#TOKEN#
EOF
dh_installdeb -pfoo -pbar -pbaz --define TOKEN=default --define pkg.bar.TOKEN=unique-bar-value \
--define pkg.baz.TOKEN=unique-baz-value

In this example, #TOKEN# will expand to default in
debian/foo.postinst, to unique-bar-value in debian/bar.postinst and
to unique-baz-value in debian/baz.postinst.

Note that the #pkg.*# tokens will be visible in all scripts acted
on. E.g. you can refer to #pkg.bar.TOKEN# inside
debian/foo.postinst and it will be replaced by unique-bar-value.

SUBSTITUTION IN MAINTAINER SCRIPTS
The dh_installdeb will automatically replace the following tokens
inside a provided maintainer script (if not replaced via -D/--define):

#DEBHELPER#
This token is by default replaced with generated shell snippets
debhelper commands. This includes the snippets generated by
dh_installdeb from package.maintscript file (if present).

#DEB_HOST_NAME#, #DEB_BUILD_NAME#, #DEB_TARGET_NAME#
These tokens are replaced with the respective variable from
dpkg-architecture(1). In almost all cases, you will want use the
#DEB_HOST_NAME variant in a script to ensure you get the right
value when cross-building.

On a best effort, tokens of this pattern that do not match a
variable in dpkg-architecture(1) will be left as-is.

#ENV.NAME#
These tokens of this form will be replaced with value of the
corresponding environment variable. If the environment variable is
unset, the token is replaced with the empty string.

Note that there are limits on which names can be used (see
"Limitations in token names").

#PACKAGE#
This token is by default replaced by the package name, which will
contain the concrete script.

Limitations in token names
All tokens intended to be substituted must match the regex:
#[A-Za-z0-9_.+]+#

Tokens that do not match that regex will be silently ignored if found
in the script template. Invalid token names passed to -D or --define
will cause dh_installdeb to reject the command with an error in most
cases.