{ "mode": "man", "parameter": "deb-src-control", "section": "5", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/deb-src-control/5/json", "generated": "2026-08-24T16:15:32Z", "synopsis": "", "sections": { "NAME": { "content": "deb-src-control - Debian source package template control file format\n", "subsections": [] }, "SYNOPSIS": { "content": "", "subsections": [ { "name": "debian/control", "content": "" } ] }, "DESCRIPTION": { "content": "Each Debian source package contains the «debian/control» template source control file, and\nits deb822(5) format is a superset of the control file shipped in Debian binary packages, see\ndeb-control(5).\n\nThis file contains at least 2 stanzas, separated by a blank line. The first stanza is called\nthe source package stanza and lists all information about the source package in general,\nwhile each following stanzas are called the binary package stanzas and describe exactly one\nbinary package per stanza. Each stanza consists of at least one field. A field starts with\na field name, such as Package or Section (case insensitive), followed by a colon, the body of\nthe field (case sensitive unless stated otherwise) and a newline. Multi-line fields are also\nallowed, but each supplementary line, without a field name, should start with at least one\nspace. The content of the multi-line fields is generally joined to a single line by the\ntools (except in the case of the Description field, see below). To insert empty lines into a\nmulti-line field, insert a dot after the space. Lines starting with a ‘#’ are treated as\ncomments.\n", "subsections": [] }, "SOURCE FIELDS": { "content": "Source: source-package-name (required)\nThe value of this field is the name of the source package, and should match the name of\nthe source package in the debian/changelog file. A package name must consist only of\nlowercase letters (a-z), digits (0-9), plus (+) and minus (-) signs, and periods (.).\nPackage names must be at least two characters long and must start with a lowercase\nalphanumeric character (a-z0-9).\n\nMaintainer: fullname-email (recommended)\nShould be in the format «Joe Bloggs », and references the person who\ncurrently maintains the package, as opposed to the author of the software or the original\npackager.\n\nUploaders: fullname-email\nLists all the names and email addresses of co-maintainers of the package, in the same\nformat as the Maintainer field. Multiple co-maintainers should be separated by a comma.\n\nStandards-Version: version-string\nThis documents the most recent version of the distribution policy standards this package\ncomplies with.\n\nDescription short-description\nlong-description\nThe format for the source package description is a short brief summary on the first line\n(after the Description field). The following lines should be used as a longer, more\ndetailed description. Each line of the long description must be preceded by a space, and\nblank lines in the long description must contain a single ‘.’ following the preceding\nspace.\n\nHomepage: url\nThe upstream project home page URL.\n\nBugs: url\nThe url of the bug tracking system for this package. The current used format is bts-\ntype://bts-address, like debbugs://bugs.debian.org. This field is usually not needed.\n\nRules-Requires-Root: no|binary-targets|impl-keywords\nThis field is used to indicate whether the debian/rules file requires (fake)root\nprivileges to run some of its targets, and if so when.\n\nno The binary targets will not require (fake)root at all. This is the default in dpkg-\nbuild-api level >= 1.\n\nbinary-targets\nThe binary targets must always be run under (fake)root. This value is the default in\ndpkg-build-api level 0, when the field is omitted; adding the field with an explicit\nbinary-targets, while not strictly needed, marks it as having been analyzed for this\nrequirement.\n\nimpl-keywords\nThis is a space-separated list of keywords which define when (fake)root is required.\n\nKeywords consist of namespace/cases. The namespace part cannot contain \"/\" or\nwhitespace. The cases part cannot contain whitespace. Furthermore, both parts must\nconsist entirely of printable ASCII characters.\n\nEach tool/package will define a namespace named after itself and provide a number of\ncases where (fake)root is required. (See \"Implementation provided keywords\" in\nrootless-builds.txt).\n\nWhen the field is set to one of the impl-keywords, the builder will expose an\ninterface that is used to run a command under (fake)root. (See \"Gain Root API\" in\nrootless-builds.txt.)\n\nTestsuite: name-list\nTestsuite-Triggers: package-list\nThese fields are described in the dsc(5) manual page, as they are generated from\ninformation inferred from debian/tests/control or copied literally to the source control\nfile.\n\nVcs-Arch: url\nVcs-Bzr: url\nVcs-Cvs: url\nVcs-Darcs: url\nVcs-Git: url\nVcs-Hg: url\nVcs-Mtn: url\nVcs-Svn: url\nThe url of the Version Control System repository used to maintain this package.\nCurrently supported are Arch, Bzr (Bazaar), Cvs, Darcs, Git, Hg (Mercurial), Mtn\n(Monotone) and Svn (Subversion). Usually this field points to the latest version of the\npackage, such as the main branch or the trunk.\n\nVcs-Browser: url\nThe url of a web interface to browse the Version Control System repository.\n\nOrigin: name\nThe name of the distribution this package is originating from. This field is usually not\nneeded.\n\nSection: section\nThis is a general field that gives the package a category based on the software that it\ninstalls. Some common sections are utils, net, mail, text, x11, etc.\n\nPriority: priority\nSets the importance of this package in relation to the system as a whole. Common\npriorities are required, standard, optional, extra, etc.\n\nThe Section and Priority fields usually have a defined set of accepted values based on\nthe specific distribution policy.\n\nBuild-Depends: package-list\nA list of packages that need to be installed and configured to be able to build from\nsource package. These dependencies need to be satisfied when building binary\narchitecture dependent or independent packages and source packages. Including a\ndependency in this field does not have the exact same effect as including it in both\nBuild-Depends-Arch and Build-Depends-Indep, because the dependency also needs to be\nsatisfied when building the source package.\n\nBuild-Depends-Arch: package-list\nSame as Build-Depends, but they are only needed when building the architecture dependent\npackages. The Build-Depends are also installed in this case. This field is supported\nsince dpkg 1.16.4; in order to build with older dpkg versions, Build-Depends should be\nused instead.\n\nBuild-Depends-Indep: package-list\nSame as Build-Depends, but they are only needed when building the architecture\nindependent packages. The Build-Depends are also installed in this case.\n\nBuild-Conflicts: package-list\nA list of packages that should not be installed when the package is built, for example\nbecause they interfere with the build system used. Including a dependency in this list\nhas the same effect as including it in both Build-Conflicts-Arch and Build-Conflicts-\nIndep, with the additional effect of being used for source-only builds.\n\nBuild-Conflicts-Arch: package-list\nSame as Build-Conflicts, but only when building the architecture dependent packages.\nThis field is supported since dpkg 1.16.4; in order to build with older dpkg versions,\nBuild-Conflicts should be used instead.\n\nBuild-Conflicts-Indep: package-list\nSame as Build-Conflicts, but only when building the architecture independent packages.\n\nThe syntax of the Build-Depends, Build-Depends-Arch and Build-Depends-Indep fields is a list\nof groups of alternative packages. Each group is a list of packages separated by vertical\nbar (or “pipe”) symbols, ‘|’. The groups are separated by commas ‘,’, and can end with a\ntrailing comma that will be eliminated when generating the fields for deb-control(5) (since\ndpkg 1.10.14). Commas are to be read as “AND”, and pipes as “OR”, with pipes binding more\ntightly. Each package name is optionally followed by an architecture qualifier appended\nafter a colon ‘:’, optionally followed by a version number specification in parentheses ‘(’\nand ‘)’, an architecture specification in square brackets ‘[’ and ‘]’, and a restriction\nformula consisting of one or more lists of profile names in angle brackets ‘<’ and ‘>’.\n\nThe syntax of the Build-Conflicts, Build-Conflicts-Arch and Build-Conflicts-Indep fields is a\nlist of comma-separated package names, where the comma is read as an “AND”, and where the\nlist can end with a trailing comma that will be eliminated when generating the fields for\ndeb-control(5) (since dpkg 1.10.14). Specifying alternative packages using a “pipe” is not\nsupported. Each package name is optionally followed by a version number specification in\nparentheses, an architecture specification in square brackets, and a restriction formula\nconsisting of one or more lists of profile names in angle brackets.\n\nAn architecture qualifier name can be a real Debian architecture name (since dpkg 1.16.5),\nany (since dpkg 1.16.2) or native (since dpkg 1.16.5). If omitted, the default for Build-\nDepends fields is the current host architecture, the default for Build-Conflicts fields is\nany. A real Debian architecture name will match exactly that architecture for that package\nname, any will match any architecture for that package name if the package is marked with\nMulti-Arch: allowed, and native will match the current build architecture if the package is\nnot marked with Multi-Arch: foreign.\n\nA version number may start with a ‘>>’, in which case any later version will match, and may\nspecify or omit the Debian packaging revision (separated by a hyphen). Accepted version\nrelationships are ‘>>’ for greater than, ‘<<’ for less than, ‘>=’ for greater than or equal\nto, ‘<=’ for less than or equal to, and ‘=’ for equal to.\n\nAn architecture specification consists of one or more architecture names, separated by\nwhitespace. Exclamation marks may be prepended to each of the names, meaning “NOT”.\n\nA restriction formula consists of one or more restriction lists, separated by whitespace.\nEach restriction list is enclosed in angle brackets. Items in the restriction list are build\nprofile names, separated by whitespace and can be prefixed with an exclamation mark, meaning\n“NOT”. A restriction formula represents a disjunctive normal form expression.\n\nNote that dependencies on packages in the build-essential set can be omitted and that\ndeclaring build conflicts against them is impossible. A list of these packages is in the\nbuild-essential package.\n", "subsections": [] }, "BINARY FIELDS": { "content": "Note that the Priority, Section and Homepage fields can also be in a binary stanza to\noverride the global value from the source package.\n\nPackage: binary-package-name (required)\nThis field is used to name the binary package name. The same restrictions as to a source\npackage name apply.\n\nPackage-Type: deb|udeb|type\nThis field defines the type of the package. udeb is for size-constrained packages used\nby the debian installer. deb is the default value, it is assumed if the field is absent.\nMore types might be added in the future.\n\nArchitecture: arch|all|any (required)\nThe architecture specifies on which type of hardware this package runs. For packages\nthat run on all architectures, use the any value. For packages that are architecture\nindependent, such as shell and Perl scripts or documentation, use the all value. To\nrestrict the packages to a certain set of architectures, specify the architecture names,\nseparated by a space. It's also possible to put architecture wildcards in that list (see\ndpkg-architecture(1) for more information about them).\n\nBuild-Profiles: restriction-formula\nThis field specifies the conditions for which this binary package does or does not build.\nTo express that condition, the same restriction formula syntax from the Build-Depends\nfield is used (including the angle brackets).\n\nIf a binary package stanza does not contain this field, then it implicitly means that it\nbuilds with all build profiles (including none at all).\n\nIn other words, if a binary package stanza is annotated with a non-empty Build-Profiles\nfield, then this binary package is generated if and only if the condition expressed by\nthe conjunctive normal form expression evaluates to true.\n\nProtected: yes|no\nEssential: yes|no\nBuild-Essential: yes|no\nMulti-Arch: same|foreign|allowed|no\nTag: tag-list\nDescription: short-description (recommended)\nThese fields are described in the deb-control(5) manual page, as they are copied\nliterally to the control file of the binary package.\n\nDepends: package-list\nPre-Depends: package-list\nRecommends: package-list\nSuggests: package-list\nBreaks: package-list\nEnhances: package-list\nReplaces: package-list\nConflicts: package-list\nProvides: package-list\nBuilt-Using: package-list\nStatic-Built-Using: package-list\nThese fields declare relationships between packages. They are discussed in the\ndeb-control(5) manual page. When these fields are found in debian/control they can also\nend with a trailing comma (since dpkg 1.10.14), have architecture specifications and\nrestriction formulas which will all get reduced when generating the fields for\ndeb-control(5).\n\nSubarchitecture: value\nKernel-Version: value\nInstaller-Menu-Item: value\nThese fields are used by the debian-installer in udebs and are usually not needed. For\nmore details about them, see\n.\n", "subsections": [] }, "USER-DEFINED FIELDS": { "content": "It is allowed to add additional user-defined fields to the control file. The tools will\nignore these fields. If you want the fields to be copied over to the output files, such as\nthe binary packages, you need to use a custom naming scheme: the fields should start with an\nX, followed by zero or more of the letters SBC and a hyphen.\n\nS The field will appear in the source package control file, see dsc(5).\n\nB The field will appear in the control file in the binary package, see deb-control(5).\n\nC The field will appear in the upload control (.changes) file, see deb-changes(5).\n\nNote that the X[SBC]- prefixes are stripped when the fields are copied over to the output\nfiles. A field XC-Approved-By will appear as Approved-By in the changes file and will not\nappear in the binary or source package control files.\n\nTake into account that these user-defined fields will be using the global namespace, which\nmight at some point in the future collide with officially recognized fields. To avoid such\npotential situation you can prefix those fields with Private-, such as XB-Private-New-Field.\n", "subsections": [] }, "EXAMPLE": { "content": "# Comment\nSource: dpkg\nSection: admin\nPriority: required\nMaintainer: Dpkg Developers \n# this field is copied to the binary and source packages\nXBS-Upstream-Release-Status: stable\nHomepage: https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg\nVcs-Browser: https://git.dpkg.org/cgit/dpkg/dpkg.git\nVcs-Git: https://git.dpkg.org/git/dpkg/dpkg.git\nStandards-Version: 3.7.3\nBuild-Depends: pkgconf, debhelper (>= 4.1.81),\nlibselinux1-dev (>= 1.28-4) [!linux-any]\n\nPackage: dpkg-dev\nSection: utils\nPriority: optional\nArchitecture: all\n# this is a custom field in the binary package\nXB-Mentoring-Contact: Raphael Hertzog \nDepends: dpkg (>= 1.14.6), perl5, perl-modules, cpio (>= 2.4.2-2),\nbzip2, lzma, patch (>= 2.2-1), make, binutils, libtimedate-perl\nRecommends: gcc | c-compiler, build-essential\nSuggests: gnupg, debian-keyring\nConflicts: dpkg-cross (<< 2.0.0), devscripts (<< 2.10.26)\nReplaces: manpages-pl (<= 20051117-1)\nDescription: Debian package development tools\nThis package provides the development tools (including dpkg-source)\nrequired to unpack, build and upload Debian source packages.\n.\nMost Debian source packages will require additional tools to build;\nfor example, most packages need make and the C compiler gcc.\n", "subsections": [] }, "SEE ALSO": { "content": "/usr/share/doc/dpkg/spec/rootless-builds.txt, deb822(5), deb-control(5), deb-version(7),\ndpkg-source(1)\n\n1.22.6 2026-05-06 deb-src-control(5)", "subsections": [] } }, "summary": "deb-src-control - Debian source package template control file format", "flags": [], "examples": [ "# Comment", "Source: dpkg", "Section: admin", "Priority: required", "Maintainer: Dpkg Developers ", "# this field is copied to the binary and source packages", "XBS-Upstream-Release-Status: stable", "Homepage: https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg", "Vcs-Browser: https://git.dpkg.org/cgit/dpkg/dpkg.git", "Vcs-Git: https://git.dpkg.org/git/dpkg/dpkg.git", "Standards-Version: 3.7.3", "Build-Depends: pkgconf, debhelper (>= 4.1.81),", "libselinux1-dev (>= 1.28-4) [!linux-any]", "Package: dpkg-dev", "Section: utils", "Priority: optional", "Architecture: all", "# this is a custom field in the binary package", "XB-Mentoring-Contact: Raphael Hertzog ", "Depends: dpkg (>= 1.14.6), perl5, perl-modules, cpio (>= 2.4.2-2),", "bzip2, lzma, patch (>= 2.2-1), make, binutils, libtimedate-perl", "Recommends: gcc | c-compiler, build-essential", "Suggests: gnupg, debian-keyring", "Conflicts: dpkg-cross (<< 2.0.0), devscripts (<< 2.10.26)", "Replaces: manpages-pl (<= 20051117-1)", "Description: Debian package development tools", "This package provides the development tools (including dpkg-source)", "required to unpack, build and upload Debian source packages.", "Most Debian source packages will require additional tools to build;", "for example, most packages need make and the C compiler gcc." ], "see_also": [ { "name": "deb822", "section": "5", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/deb822/5/json" }, { "name": "deb-control", "section": "5", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/deb-control/5/json" }, { "name": "deb-version", "section": "7", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/deb-version/7/json" }, { "name": "dpkg-source", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dpkg-source/1/json" } ] }