ian

simple tool for lazy Debian package maintainers

ìan is essentially a frontend for several official Debian packaging tools.

at a glance

Compiling a simple package with ian:

$ apt source hello
$ cd hello-2.10
hello-2.10$ ian build -f
... a lot of stuff ...
hello-2.10$ ls -la ../hello_*
-rw-r--r--  1 david david   1798 oct 31 16:02 ../hello_2.10-2_amd64.changes
-rw-r--r--  1 david david  50462 oct 31 16:02 ../hello_2.10-2_amd64.deb
-rw-r--r--  1 david david   8584 oct 31 16:02 ../hello_2.10-2.debian.tar.gz
-rw-r--r--  1 david david    793 oct 31 16:02 ../hello_2.10-2.dsc
-rw-r--r--  1 david david 730504 oct 31 16:02 ../hello_2.10.orig.tar.gz

NOTE: Your user should be a "sudoer" to easly complete several ian tasks.

commands

ian help [command]

show help about the specified command.

if you just exec ian help, you get a command summary:

ian summary

prints information about the current directory Debian package:

hello-2.10$ ian summary
source:              hello
upstream:            2.10
watch:               2.10
version:             2.10-2
orig:                ../hello_2.10.orig.tar.gz
orig methods:        uscan from-local
changes:             ../hello_2.10-2_amd64.changes
binaries:            hello
pkg vcs:             none

ian orig

create or download the .orig file.

ian chooses between these backends (all of them are commands too):

orig-uscan: download latest upstream with uscan
orig-from-rule: execute the rule "get-orig" in the debian/rules
orig-from-local: generates .orig from current directory files

ian build

compiles Debian sources to generate binary packages.

applies quilt patches if present
automatically install missing build depends

ian chooses between these backends:

build-standard: compile with dpkg-buildpackage
build-svn: compile with svn-buildpackage

there are several available options:

-b: skip 'source' target. See 'dpkg-buildpackage -b'
-c: run "ian clean" before "build"
-f: force build
-i: run "ian install" after "build"
-l: creates orig with "ian orig-from-local"
-m: merge ./debian with upstream .orig. bypassing directory contents
-s: include full source. See 'dpkg-genchanges -sa'

ian clean

removes all generated files and artifacts.

reverts quilt patches if present

ian chooses between these backends:

clean-common: remove deb, orig, changes, dsc, diff, upload, debian.tar.gz
clean-svn: remove svn-buildpackage artifacts: tarballs/, build-area/
clean-uscan: remove uscan downloaded files (available as "ian clean-uscan")

ian install

install all generated binary packages in the system.

ian release

creates a new debian package release. It opens your editor asking for comments.

-i: increment final version component (like 'dch -i')
-y: do not ask for release comments
-m message: release message for debian/changelog entry

ian release-date

use a date based version format for the new package.

-i: increment final version component (like 'dch -i')
-y: do not ask for release comments
-m message: release message for debian/changelog entry

ian upload

upload binary packages to the configured package repository.

run debsign
configure and run dupload

ian remove

remove package from the configured package repository.

-y: do not ask for confirmation

ian binary-contents

list files on generated binary packages.

ian ls

list all generated files

ian create

very basic wizard to create a new debian package

ian lintian-fix

automatically try to fix some common lintian issues (after a successful build).

Configuration

ian requires you define some environment variables. An example:

DEBFULLNAME="John Doe"
DEBEMAIL=john.doe@email.com
DEBSIGN_KEYID=D0FE7AFB
DEBPOOL=john.doe@debian.repository.org/var/repo

Variables DEBPOOL and DEBSIGN_KEYID are required only if you want upload you package to a remote Debian repository. DEBSIGN_KEYID is your GPG key fingerprint (keyID).

ian can load these variables from a ~/.config/ian/config.

hooks

ian may execute user provided shell functions at important events in the process. Allowed hooks are:

ian-clean-hook
ian-release-hook
ian-build-start-hook
ian-build-end-hook
ian-install-hook
ian-upload-start-hook
ian-run ian-upload-end-hook
ian-run ian-remove-hook

You may provide these functions in your ~/.config/ian file or the by-project .ian file.

Compiling i386 packages in an amd64 computer

$ ian vagrant-gen-files
ian: generated: Vagrantfile playbook.yml

$ ian vagrant-build
vagrant up --provision amd64
vagrant ssh amd64 -c "cd /vagrant/<package-directory>; ian build -m"
vagrant up --provision i386
vagrant ssh i386 -c "cd /vagrant/<package-directory>; ian build -bm"

$ ian vagrant-clean

Sign and upload externally compiled packages

You may upload binaries compiled in a different architecture (ie: RPi armhf) from your desktop computer. You need:

The same debian directory and same changelog version
Package compiled files in parent directory.

foo/
  mypackage_0.20201223.orig.tar.gz
  mypackage_0.20201223-1_armhf.buildinfo
  mypackage_0.20201223-1_armhf.changes
  mypackage_0.20201223-1_armhf.deb
  mypackage_0.20201223-1_armhf.upload
  mypackage_0.20201223-1.debian.tar.gz
  mypackage_0.20201223-1.dsc
  mypackage_0.20201223.orig.tar.gz
  mypackage/
    debian/

Then, at your desktop (amd64), just upload indicating package architecture:

foo/mypackage$ ian upload armhf

FAQ

gpg stalls for a while, then says "Timeout"
- gpg is asking for a password though gpg-agent. You may force tty asking adding pinentry-program /usr/bin/pinentry-tty to your ~/.gnupg/gpg-agent.conf. Also install package pinentry-tty.

GPG setup

You need a GPG key to sign and upload compiled debian packages. That's a brief recipe to create and publish your key. Create key:

$ gpg --gen-key

Key related files (and revocation certificate) are saved at ./gnupg. You may export your private key for secure. Save both (private key and revocation certificate) in a private and secure place until your death:

$ gpg --export-secret-keys -a <your_key_id> > ~/private-key.asc

Your GPG public key must be uploaded to a key server:

$ gpg --keyserver keys.openpgp.org --send-key <your_key_id>

davidvilla / ian

ian