# man > ORIGTARGZ(1)

[_ORIGTARGZ_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ORIGTARGZ/1/markdown)                                                                            [_ORIGTARGZ_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ORIGTARGZ/1/markdown)

## NAME
       origtargz - fetch the orig tarball of a Debian package from various sources, and unpack it

## SYNOPSIS
       **origtargz **[_OPTIONS_] [**--unpack**[=**no**|**once**|**yes**]]
### origtargz --help

## DESCRIPTION
       **origtargz  **downloads  the  orig  tarball  of  a  Debian package, and also unpacks it into the
       current directory, if it just contains a _debian_ directory. The main use for **origtargz **is with
       debian-dir-only repository checkouts, but it is useful as a general tarball download wrapper.
       The version number for the tarball to be downloaded is determined from  _debian/changelog_.  It
       should be invoked from the top level directory of an unpacked Debian source package.

       Various download locations are tried:

       •   First, an existing file is looked for.

       •   Directories given with **--path **are searched.

       •   **pristine-tar **is tried.

       •   **pristine-lfs **is tried.

       •   **apt-get source **is tried when **apt-cache showsrc **reports a matching version.

       •   Finally, **uscan --download --download-current-version **is tried.

       When  asked  to unpack the orig tarball, **origtargz **will remove all files and directories from
       the current directory, except the debian directory, and the VCS repository directories.  _Note_
       _that_ _this_ _will_ _drop_ _all_ _non-committed_ _changes_ for the patch system in use (e.g. source format
       "3.0  (quilt)"), and will even remove all patches from the package when no patch system is in
       use (the original "1.0" source format). Some VCS  control  files  outside  _debian/_  preserved
       (_.bzr-builddeb_, _.bzr-ignore_, _.gitignore_, _.hgignore_), if stored in VCS.

       The  default  behavior is to unpack the orig tarball if the current directory is empty except
       for a _debian_ directory and the VCS files mentioned above.

## NOTES
       Despite **origtargz **being called "targz", it will work with any compression scheme used for the
       tarball.

       A similar tool to  unpack  orig  tarballs  is  [**uupdate**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/uupdate/1/markdown).  **uupdate  **creates  a  new  working
       directory,  unpacks  the  tarball,  and  applies  the  Debian  _.diff.gz_ changes. In contrast,
       **origtargz **uses the current directory, keeping VCS metadata.

       For Debian package repositories that keep the full upstream source,  other  tools  should  be
       used  to  upgrade  the  repository  from  the  new  tarball.  See [**gbp-import-orig**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/gbp-import-orig/1/markdown) and **svn-**
       [**upgrade**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/upgrade/1/markdown) for examples. **origtargz **is still useful for downloading the current tarball.

## OPTIONS
### -p --path _
           Add _directory_ to the list of locations to search for an existing tarball.  When found,  a
           hardlink is created if possible, otherwise a symlink.

### -u --unpack
           Unpack  the downloaded orig tarball to the current directory, replacing everything except
           the debian directory. Existing files are removed,  except  for  _debian/_  and  VCS  files.
           Preserved  are: _.bzr_, _.bzrignore_, _.bzr-builddeb_, _.git_, _.gitignore_, _.hg_, _.hgignore_, __darcs_
           and _.svn_.

           **no  **Do not unpack the orig tarball.

           **once **(default when **--unpack **is not used)
               If the current  directory  contains  only  a  _debian_  directory  (and  possibly  some
               dotfiles), unpack the orig tarball. This is the default behavior.

           **yes **(default for **--unpack **without argument)
               Always unpack the orig tarball.

### -d --download-only
           Alias for **--unpack=no**.

### -t --tar-only
           When  using  **apt-get  source**,  pass **--tar-only **to it. The default is to download the full
           source package including _.dsc_ and _.diff.gz_ or _.debian.tar.gz_ components so **debdiff **can be
           used to diff the last upload  to  the  next  one.  With  **--tar-only**,  only  download  the
           _.orig.tar.*_ file.

### --clean
           Remove  existing  files  as  with  **--unpack**.  Note  that  like **--unpack**, this will remove
           upstream files even if they are stored in VCS.

## SEE ALSO
       [**debcheckout**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/debcheckout/1/markdown), [**gbp-import-orig**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/gbp-import-orig/1/markdown), [**pristine-tar**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/pristine-tar/1/markdown), [**svn-upgrade**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/svn-upgrade/1/markdown), [**uupdate**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/uupdate/1/markdown)

## AUTHOR
       **origtargz **and this manpage have been written by Christoph Berg <<_myon@debian.org_>>.

Debian Utilities                             2026-02-25                                 [_ORIGTARGZ_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ORIGTARGZ/1/markdown)