man > deb-preinst(5)

deb-preinst(5)                               dpkg suite                               deb-preinst(5)

NAME
       deb-preinst - package pre-installation maintainer script

SYNOPSIS
       DEBIAN/preinst

DESCRIPTION
       A package can perform several pre-installation actions via maintainer scripts, by including
       an executable preinst file in its control archive (i.e. DEBIAN/preinst during package
       creation).

       The script can be called in the following ways:

       new-preinst install
           Before the package is installed.

       new-preinst install old-version new-version
           Before a removed package is upgraded.

           The new-version is passed only since dpkg 1.18.5.

       new-preinst upgrade old-version new-version
           Before the package is upgraded.

           The new-version is passed only since dpkg 1.18.5.

       old-preinst abort-upgrade new-version
           If postrm fails during upgrade or fails on failed upgrade.

SEE ALSO
       dpkg(1).

1.22.6                                       2026-05-06                               deb-preinst(5)