DH_LINK(1) Debhelper DH_LINK(1)
NAME
dh_link - create symlinks in package build directories
SYNOPSIS
dh_link [debhelperoptions] [-A] [-Xitem] [sourcedestination...]
DESCRIPTION
dh_link is a debhelper program that creates symlinks in package build
directories.
dh_link accepts a list of pairs of source and destination files. The
source files are the already existing files that will be symlinked from
(called target by ln(1)). The destination files are the symlinks that
will be created (called link name by ln(1)). There must be an equal
number of source and destination files specified.
Be sure you do specify the absolute path to both the source and
destination files (unlike you would do if you were using something like
ln(1)). Please note that the leading slash is optional.
dh_link will generate symlinks that comply with Debian policy -
absolute when policy says they should be absolute, and relative links
with as short a path as possible. It will also create any
subdirectories it needs to put the symlinks in.
Any pre-existing destination files will be replaced with symlinks.
dh_link also scans the package build tree for existing symlinks which
do not conform to Debian policy, and corrects them (v4 or later).
FILES
debian/package.links
Lists pairs of source and destination files to be symlinked. Each
pair should be put on its own line, with the source and destination
separated by whitespace.
In each pair the source file (called target by ln(1)) comes first
and is followed by the destination file (called link name by
ln(1)). Thus the pairs of source and destination files in each line
are given in the same order as they would be given to ln(1).
In contrast to ln(1), source and destination paths must be absolute
(the leading slash is optional).
Supports substitution variables in compat 13 and later as
documented in debhelper(7).
OPTIONS
-A, --all
Create any links specified by command line parameters in ALL
packages acted on, not just the first.
-Xitem, --exclude=item
Exclude symlinks that contain item anywhere in their filename from
being corrected to comply with Debian policy.
source destination ...
Create a file named destination as a link to a file named source.
Do this in the package build directory of the first package acted
on. (Or in all packages if -A is specified.)
EXAMPLES
dh_link usr/share/man/man1/foo.1 usr/share/man/man1/bar.1
Make bar.1 be a symlink to foo.1
dh_link var/lib/foo usr/lib/foo \
usr/share/man/man1/foo.1 usr/share/man/man1/bar.1
Make /usr/lib/foo/ be a link to /var/lib/foo/, and bar.1 be a symlink
to the foo.1
var/lib/foo usr/lib/foo
usr/share/man/man1/foo.1 usr/share/man/man1/bar.1
Same as above but as content for a debian/package.links file.
SEE ALSO
debhelper(7)
This program is a part of debhelper.
AUTHOR
Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>
13.2 2020-07-05 DH_LINK(1)