I want to build a really cool app called sflowtool into source debian package that I can then compile for use on a Cumulus Switch or Ubuntu server, or Rasperry PI.
There is too much information about how to perform debian packaging, including the packaging guide, which is long and complicated. I figured, I better blog about something that works for me, so next year, I can just reference my own site!
Option 1: Use checkinstall
checkinstall is cool. Easiest tool I found to quickly build a deb.
Option 2: dh_make and dpkg-buildpackage
Using dh_make and dpkg-buildpackage provides
some more flexibility, in areas where I want to provide a simple patch or
change the compile options in debian/rules file.
These are the basic steps to go through using dh_make and dpkg-buildpackage.
Install necessary apps
$ sudo apt-get install dpkg-dev dh-make
untar source archive and run dh_make
$ tar xvfz /vagrant/sflowtool-3.34.tar.gz
$ cd sflowtool-3.34
$ dh_make --native
Type of package: single binary, indep binary, multiple binary, library, kernel
module, kernel patch?
[s/i/m/l/k/n] s
Maintainer name : unknown
Email-Address : vagrant@linuxsimba.local
Date : Thu, 18 Feb 2015 01:31:16 +0000
Package Name : sflowtool
Version : 3.34
License : gpl3
Type of Package : Single
Hit <enter> to confirm:
Done. Please edit the files in the debian/ subdirectory now. sflowtool
uses a configure script, so you probably don't have to edit the Makefiles.
modify the debian/control file
List at least 2 sections in this file.
One section starting with Source will define the control parameters for the
source deb.
The 2nd section starting with a linebreak and then the word Package: will
cover what is defined for the binary package.
Modify the debian/changelog file
When running dpkg-buildpackage I use the -uc and -us` to ignore building with a gpg key
Modify the debian/docs file
Lists the files that go into the documentation folder listed in the deb
Run dpkg-buildpackage
I ignore signing any files when doing this.
by running dpkg-buildpackage -us -uc
Because the output is so long, the complete output of a
dpkg-buildpackage run can be found on a gist I created
Option 3: git-buildpackage
Its on my TODO list to understand the real power behind this
dpkg-buildpackage wrapper.
What I am using for now
I think for now, I’ll be playing with git-buildpackage. My working example
will continue to be the sflowtool package.
To build the sflowtool on a particular platform, git clone the sflowtool repo
I maintain and run git-buildpackage