NAME¶

apt-ftparchive - Utility to generate index files

SYNOPSIS¶

apt-ftparchive [-dsq] [--md5] [--delink] [--readonly] [--contents] [--arch architecture] [-o=config_string] [-c=config_file] {packages path [override-file [pathprefix]] | sources path [override-file [pathprefix]] | contents path | release path | generate config_file section... | clean config_file | {-v | --version} | {-h | --help}}

DESCRIPTION¶

apt-ftparchive is the command line tool that generates the index files that APT uses to access a distribution source. The index files should be generated on the origin site based on the content of that site.

apt-ftparchive is a superset of the dpkg-scanpackages(1) program, incorporating its entire functionality via the packages command. It also contains a contents file generator, contents, and an elaborate means to 'script' the generation process for a complete archive.

Internally apt-ftparchive can make use of binary databases to cache the contents of a .deb file and it does not rely on any external programs aside from gzip(1). When doing a full generate it automatically performs file-change checks and builds the desired compressed output files.

Unless the -h, or --help option is given, one of the commands below must be present.

packages

sources

contents

release

generate

clean

THE GENERATE CONFIGURATION¶

The generate command uses a configuration file to describe the archives that are going to be generated. It follows the typical ISC configuration format as seen in ISC tools like bind 8 and dhcpd. apt.conf(5) contains a description of the syntax. Note that the generate configuration is parsed in sectional manner, but apt.conf(5) is parsed in a tree manner. This only effects how the scope tag is handled.

The generate configuration has four separate sections, each described below.

for i in Sections do 


   for j in Architectures do


      Generate for DIST=scope SECTION=i ARCH=j


     

THE BINARY OVERRIDE FILE¶

The binary override file is fully compatible with dpkg-scanpackages(1). It contains four fields separated by spaces. The first field is the package name, the second is the priority to force that package to, the third is the section to force that package to and the final field is the maintainer permutation field.

The general form of the maintainer field is:

old [// oldn]* => new

or simply,

new

The first form allows a double-slash separated list of old email addresses to be specified. If any of those are found then new is substituted for the maintainer field. The second form unconditionally substitutes the maintainer field.

THE SOURCE OVERRIDE FILE¶

The source override file is fully compatible with dpkg-scansources(1). It contains two fields separated by spaces. The first field is the source package name, the second is the section to assign it.

THE EXTRA OVERRIDE FILE¶

The extra override file allows any arbitrary tag to be added or replaced in the output. It has three columns, the first is the package, the second is the tag and the remainder of the line is the new value.

OPTIONS¶

All command line options may be set using the configuration file, the descriptions indicate the configuration option to set. For boolean options you can override the config file by using something like -f-,--no-f, -f=no or several other variations.

--md5, --sha1, --sha256, --sha512

-d, --db

-q, --quiet

--delink

--contents

-s, --source-override

--readonly

-a, --arch

APT::FTPArchive::AlwaysStat

APT::FTPArchive::LongDescription

-h, --help

-v, --version

-c, --config-file

-o, --option

EXAMPLES¶

To create a compressed Packages file for a directory containing binary packages (.deb):

apt-ftparchive packages directory | gzip > Packages.gz

SEE ALSO¶

apt.conf(5)

DIAGNOSTICS¶

apt-ftparchive returns zero on normal operation, decimal 100 on error.

BUGS¶

APT bug page[1]. If you wish to report a bug in APT, please see /usr/share/doc/debian/bug-reporting.txt or the reportbug(1) command.

AUTHORS¶

Jason Gunthorpe

APT team

NOTES¶

1.

APT bug page