# debchange(1) - man - phpMan
[DEBCHANGE(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/DEBCHANGE/1/markdown) General Commands Manual [DEBCHANGE(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/DEBCHANGE/1/markdown)
## NAME
debchange - Tool for maintenance of the debian/changelog file in a source package
## SYNOPSIS
**debchange** [_options_] [_text_ ...]
**dch** [_options_] [_text_ ...]
## DESCRIPTION
**debchange** or its alias **dch** will add a new comment line to the Debian changelog in the current
source tree. This command must be run from within that tree. If the text of the change is
given on the command line, **debchange** will run in batch mode and simply add the text, with
line breaks as necessary, at the appropriate place in _debian/changelog_ (or the changelog
specified by options, as described below). If the text given on the command line is a null
string, **debchange** will run in batch mode without adding any text. If the text given on the
command line is a space string, **debchange** will run in batch mode and add a blank changelog
entry. If no text is specified then **debchange** will run the editor as determined by **sensible-**
**editor** for you to edit the file. (The environment variables **VISUAL** and **EDITOR** are used in
this order to determine which editor to use.) Editors which understand the _+n_ option for
starting the editing on a specified line will use this to move to the correct line of the
file for editing. If the editor is quit without modifying the temporary file, **debchange** will
exit without touching the existing changelog. **Note** **that** **the** **changelog** **is** **assumed** **to** **be** **en**‐‐
**coded** **with** **the** **UTF-8** **encoding.** **If** **it** **is** **not,** **problems** **may** **occur.** Please see the [**iconv**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/iconv/1/markdown)
manpage to find out how to convert changelogs from legacy encodings. Finally, a _changelog_ or
_NEWS_ file can be created from scratch using the **--create** option described below.
**debchange** also supports automatically producing bug-closing changelog entries, using the
**--closes** option. This will usually query the BTS, the Debian Bug Tracking System (see
) to determine the title of the bug and the package in which it oc‐
curs. This behaviour can be stopped by giving a **--noquery** option or by setting the configu‐
ration variable **DEBCHANGE**___**QUERY**___**BTS** to _no_, as described below. In either case, the editor
(as described above) will always be invoked to give an opportunity to modify the entries, and
the changelog will be accepted whether or not modifications are made. An extra changelog en‐
try can be given on the command line in addition to the closes entries.
At most one of **--append**, **--increment**, **--edit**, **--release**, and **--newversion** may be specified as
listed below. If no options are specified, **debchange** will use heuristics to guess whether or
not the package has been successfully released, and behave as if **--increment** had been speci‐
fied if the package has been released, or otherwise as if **--append** has been specified.
Two different sets of heuristics can be used, as controlled by the **--release-heuristic** option
or the **DEBCHANGE**___**RELEASE**___**HEURISTIC** configuration variable. The default _changelog_ heuristic
assumes the package has been released unless its changelog contains **UNRELEASED** in the distri‐
bution field. If this heuristic is enabled then the distribution will default to **UNRELEASED**
in new changelog entries, and the **--mainttrailer** option described below will be automatically
enabled. This can be useful if a package can be released by different maintainers, or if you
do not keep the upload logs. The alternate _log_ heuristic determines if a package has been re‐
leased by looking for an appropriate [**dupload**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dupload/1/markdown) or [**dput**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dput/1/markdown) log file in the parent directory.
A warning will be issued if the log file is found but a successful upload is not recorded.
This may be because the previous upload was performed with a version of **dupload** prior to 2.1
or because the upload failed.
If either **--increment** or **--newversion** is used, the name and email for the new version will be
determined as follows. If the environment variable **DEBFULLNAME** is set, this will be used for
the maintainer full name; if not, then **NAME** will be checked. If the environment variable
**DEBEMAIL** is set, this will be used for the email address. If this variable has the form
"name ", then the maintainer name will also be taken from here if neither **DEBFULLNAME**
nor **NAME** is set. If this variable is not set, the same test is performed on the environment
variable **EMAIL**. Next, if the full name has still not been determined, then use [**getpwuid**(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getpwuid/3/markdown)
to determine the name from the password file. If this fails, use the previous changelog en‐
try. For the email address, if it has not been set from **DEBEMAIL** or **EMAIL**, then look in
_/etc/mailname_, then attempt to build it from the username and FQDN, otherwise use the email
address in the previous changelog entry. In other words, it's a good idea to set **DEBEMAIL**
and **DEBFULLNAME** when using this script.
Support is included for changelogs that record changes by multiple co-maintainers of a pack‐
age. If an entry is appended to the current version's entries, and the maintainer is differ‐
ent from the maintainer who is listed as having done the previous entries, then lines will be
added to the changelog to tell which maintainers made which changes. Currently only one of
the several such styles of recording this information is supported, in which the name of the
maintainer who made a set of changes appears on a line before the changes, inside square
brackets. This can be switched on and off using the **--**[**no**]**multimaint** option or the **DE**‐‐
**BCHANGE**___**MULTIMAINT** configuration file option; the default is to enable it. Note that if an
entry has already been marked in this way, then this option will be silently ignored.
If the directory name of the source tree has the form _package_-_version_, then **debchange** will
also attempt to rename it if the (upstream) version number changes. This can be prevented by
using the **--preserve** command line or configuration file option as described below.
If **--force-bad-version** or **--allow-lower-version** is used, **debchange** will not stop if the new
version is less than the current one. This is especially useful while doing backports.
### Directory name checking
In common with several other scripts in the **devscripts** package, **debchange** will climb the di‐
rectory tree until it finds a _debian/changelog_ file. As a safeguard against stray files
causing potential problems, it will examine the name of the parent directory once it finds
the _debian/changelog_ file, and check that the directory name corresponds to the package name.
Precisely how it does this is controlled by two configuration file variables **DE**‐‐
**VSCRIPTS**___**CHECK**___**DIRNAME**___**LEVEL** and **DEVSCRIPTS**___**CHECK**___**DIRNAME**___**REGEX**, and their corresponding com‐
mand-line options **--check-dirname-level** and **--check-dirname-regex**.
**DEVSCRIPTS**___**CHECK**___**DIRNAME**___**LEVEL** can take the following values:
**0** Never check the directory name.
**1** Only check the directory name if we have had to change directory in our search for _de__‐
_bian/changelog_. This is the default behaviour.
**2** Always check the directory name.
The directory name is checked by testing whether the current directory name (as determined by
[**pwd**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/pwd/1/markdown)) matches the regex given by the configuration file option **DE**‐‐
**VSCRIPTS**___**CHECK**___**DIRNAME**___**REGEX** or by the command line option **--check-dirname-regex** _regex_. Here
_regex_ is a Perl regex (see [**perlre**(3perl)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/perlre/3perl/markdown)), which will be anchored at the beginning and the
end. If _regex_ contains a '**/**', then it must match the full directory path. If not, then it
must match the full directory name. If _regex_ contains the string ´**PACKAGE**', this will be re‐
placed by the source package name, as determined from the changelog. The default value for
the regex is: ´**PACKAGE(-.+)?**', thus matching directory names such as **PACKAGE** and **PACKAGE-**_ver__‐
_sion_.
The default changelog to be edited is _debian/changelog_; however, this can be changed using
the **--changelog** or **--news** options or the **CHANGELOG** environment variable, as described below.
## OPTIONS
**--append**, **-a**
Add a new changelog entry at the end of the current version's entries.
**--increment**, **-i**
Increment either the final component of the Debian release number or, if this is a na‐
tive Debian package, the version number. On Ubuntu or Tanglu, this will also change
the suffix from buildX to ubuntu1/tanglu1. Use **-R**, **--rebuild** for a no change rebuild
increment. This creates a new section at the beginning of the changelog with appro‐
priate headers and footers. Also, if this is a new version of a native Debian pack‐
age, the directory name is changed to reflect this. If **DEBCHANGE**___**RELEASE**___**HEURISTIC** is
_changelog_ (default) and the current release is _UNRELEASED_, this will only change the
version of the current changelog stanza. Otherwise, this will create a new changelog
stanza with the new version.
**--newversion** _version_, **-v** _version_
This specifies the version number (including the Debian release part) explicitly and
behaves as the **--increment** option in other respects. It will also change the direc‐
tory name if the upstream version number has changed. If **DEBCHANGE**___**RELEASE**___**HEURISTIC**
is _changelog_ (default) and the current release is _UNRELEASED_, this will only change
the version of the current changelog stanza. Otherwise, this will create a new
changelog stanza with the new version.
**--edit**, **-e**
Edit the changelog in an editor.
**--release**, **-r**
Finalize the changelog for a release. Update the changelog timestamp. If the distri‐
bution is set to **UNRELEASED**, change it to the distribution from the previous changelog
entry (or another distribution as specified by **--distribution**). If there are no pre‐
vious changelog entries and an explicit distribution has not been specified, **unstable**
will be used (or the name of the current development release when run under Ubuntu).
### --force-save-on-release
When **--release** is used, an editor is opened to allow inspection of the changelog. The
user is required to save the file to accept the modified changelog, otherwise the
original will be kept (default).
### --no-force-save-on-release
Do not do so. Note that a dummy changelog entry may be supplied in order to achieve
the same effect - e.g. **debchange** **--release** **""**. The entry will not be added to the
changelog but its presence will suppress the editor.
### --create
This will create a new _debian/changelog_ file (or _NEWS_ if the **--news** option is used).
You must be in the top-level directory to use this; no directory name checking will be
performed. The package name and version can either be specified using the **--package**
and **--newversion** options, determined from the directory name using the **--fromdirname**
option or entered manually into the generated _changelog_ file. The maintainer name is
determined from the environment if this is possible, and the distribution is specified
either using the **--distribution** option or in the generated _changelog_ file.
### --empty
When used in combination with **--create**, suppress the automatic addition of an "**initial**
**release**" changelog entry (so that the next invocation of **debchange** adds the first en‐
try). Note that this will cause a **dpkg-parsechangelog** warning on the next invocation
due to the lack of changes.
**--package** _package_
This specifies the package name to be used in the new changelog; this may only be used
in conjunction with the **--create**, **--increment** and **--newversion** options.
**--nmu**, **-n**
Increment the Debian release number for a non-maintainer upload by either appending a
"**.1**" to a non-NMU version number (unless the package is Debian native, in which case
"**+nmu1**" is appended) or by incrementing an NMU version number, and add an NMU
changelog comment. This happens automatically if the packager is neither in the **Main**‐‐
**tainer** nor the **Uploaders** field in _debian/control_, unless **DEBCHANGE**___**AUTO**___**NMU** is set to
_no_ or the **--no-auto-nmu** option is used.
### --bin-nmu
Increment the Debian release number for a binary non-maintainer upload by either ap‐
pending a "**+b1**" to a non-binNMU version number or by incrementing a binNMU version
number, and add a binNMU changelog comment.
**--qa**, **-q**
Increment the Debian release number for a Debian QA Team upload, and add a **QA** **upload**
changelog comment.
**--rebuild**, **-R**
Increment the Debian release number for a no-change rebuild by appending a "build1" or
by incrementing a rebuild version number.
**--security**, **-s**
Increment the Debian release number for a Debian Security Team non-maintainer upload,
and add a **Security** **Team** **upload** changelog comment.
**--lts** Increment the Debian release number for a LTS Security Team non-maintainer upload, and
add a **LTS** **Security** **Team** **upload** changelog comment.
**--team** Increment the Debian release number for a team upload, and add a **Team** **upload** changelog
comment.
**--upstream**, **-U**
Don't append **distro-name1** to the version on a derived distribution. Increment the De‐
bian version.
**--bpo** Increment the Debian release number for an upload to bullseye-backports, and add a
backport upload changelog comment.
### --stable
Increment the Debian release number for an upload to the current stable release.
**--local**, **-l**_suffix_
Add a suffix to the Debian version number for a local build.
**--force-bad-version**, **-b**
Force a version number to be less than the current one (e.g., when backporting).
**--allow-lower-version** _pattern_
Allow a version number to be less than the current one if the new version matches the
specified pattern.
### --force-distribution
Force the provided distribution to be used, even if it doesn't match the list of known
distributions (e.g. for unofficial distributions).
### --auto-nmu
Attempt to automatically determine whether a change to the changelog represents a Non
Maintainer Upload. This is the default.
### --no-auto-nmu
Disable automatic NMU detection. Equivalent to setting **DEBCHANGE**___**AUTO**___**NMU** to _no_.
**--fromdirname**, **-d**
This will take the upstream version number from the directory name, which should be of
the form _package_**-**_version_. If the upstream version number has increased from the most
recent changelog entry, then a new entry will be made with version number _version_**-1**
(or _version_ if the package is Debian native), with the same epoch as the previous
package version. If the upstream version number is the same, this option will behave
in the same way as **-i**.
**--closes** _nnnnn_[**,**_nnnnn_ ...]
Add changelog entries to close the specified bug numbers. Also invoke the editor af‐
ter adding these entries. Will generate warnings if the BTS cannot be contacted (and
**--noquery** has not been specified), or if there are problems with the bug report lo‐
cated.
**--**[**no**]**query**
Should we attempt to query the BTS when generating closes entries?
**--preserve**, **-p**
Preserve the source tree directory name if the upstream version number (or the version
number of a Debian native package) changes. See also the configuration variables sec‐
tion below.
**--no-preserve**, **--nopreserve**
Do not preserve the source tree directory name (default).
**--vendor** _vendor_
Override the distributor ID over the default returned by dpkg-vendor. This name is
used for heuristics applied to new package versions and for sanity checking of the
target distribution.
**--distribution** _dist_, **-D** _dist_
Use the specified distribution in the changelog entry being edited, instead of using
the previous changelog entry's distribution for new entries or the existing value for
existing entries.
**--urgency** _urgency_, **-u** _urgency_
Use the specified urgency in the changelog entry being edited, instead of using the
default "**medium**" for new entries or the existing value for existing entries.
**--changelog** _file_, **-c** _file_
This will edit the changelog _file_ instead of the standard _debian/changelog_. This op‐
tion overrides any **CHANGELOG** environment variable setting. Also, no directory
traversing or checking will be performed when this option is used.
**--news** [_newsfile_]
This will edit _newsfile_ (by default, _debian/NEWS_) instead of the regular changelog.
Directory searching will be performed. The changelog will be examined in order to de‐
termine the current package version.
**--**[**no**]**multimaint**
Should we indicate that parts of a changelog entry have been made by different main‐
tainers? Default is yes; see the discussion above and also the **DEBCHANGE**___**MULTIMAINT**
configuration file option below.
**--**[**no**]**multimaint-merge**
Should all changes made by the same author be merged into the same changelog section?
Default is no; see the discussion above and also the **DEBCHANGE**___**MULTIMAINT**___**MERGE** con‐
figuration file option below.
**--maintmaint**, **-m**
Do not modify the maintainer details previously listed in the changelog. This is use‐
ful particularly for sponsors wanting to automatically add a sponsorship message with‐
out disrupting the other changelog details. Note that there may be some interesting
interactions if multi-maintainer mode is in use; you will probably wish to check the
changelog manually before uploading it in such cases.
**--controlmaint**, **-M**
Use maintainer details from the _debian/control_ **Maintainer** field rather than relevant
environment variables (**DEBFULLNAME**, **DEBEMAIL**, etc.). This option might be useful to
restore details of the main maintainer in the changelog trailer after a bogus edit
(e.g. when **-m** was intended but forgot) or when releasing a package in the name of the
main maintainer (e.g. the team).
**--**[**no**]**mainttrailer**, **-t**
If **mainttrailer** is set, it will avoid modifying the existing changelog trailer line
(i.e. the maintainer and date-stamp details), unless used with options that require
the trailer to be modified (e.g. **--create**, **--release**, **-i**, **--qa**, etc.) This option
differs from **--maintmaint** in that it will use multi-maintainer mode if appropriate,
with the exception of editing the trailer. See also the **DEBCHANGE**___**MAINTTRAILER** config‐
uration file option below.
**--check-dirname-level** _N_
See the above section "**Directory** **name** **checking**" for an explanation of this option.
**--check-dirname-regex** _regex_
See the above section "**Directory** **name** **checking**" for an explanation of this option.
**--no-conf**, **--noconf**
Do not read any configuration files. This can only be used as the first option given
on the command-line.
**--release-heuristic** _log_|_changelog_
Controls how **debchange** determines if a package has been released, when deciding
whether to create a new changelog entry or append to an existing changelog entry.
**--help**, **-h**
Display a help message and exit successfully.
### --version
Display version and copyright information and exit successfully.
## CONFIGURATION VARIABLES
The two configuration files _/etc/devscripts.conf_ and _~/.devscripts_ are sourced in that order
to set configuration variables. Command line options can be used to override configuration
file settings. Environment variable settings are ignored for this purpose. The currently
recognised variables are:
**DEBCHANGE**___**PRESERVE**
If this is set to _yes_, then it is the same as the **--preserve** command line parameter
being used.
**DEBCHANGE**___**QUERY**___**BTS**
If this is set to _no_, then it is the same as the **--noquery** command line parameter be‐
ing used.
**DEVSCRIPTS**___**CHECK**___**DIRNAME**___**LEVEL**, **DEVSCRIPTS**___**CHECK**___**DIRNAME**___**REGEX**
See the above section "**Directory** **name** **checking**" for an explanation of these variables.
Note that these are package-wide configuration variables, and will therefore affect
all **devscripts** scripts which check their value, as described in their respective man‐
pages and in [**devscripts.conf**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/devscripts.conf/5/markdown).
**DEBCHANGE**___**RELEASE**___**HEURISTIC**
Controls how **debchange** determines if a package has been released, when deciding
whether to create a new changelog entry or append to an existing changelog entry. Can
be either _log_ or _changelog_.
**DEBCHANGE**___**MULTIMAINT**
If set to _no_, **debchange** will not introduce multiple-maintainer distinctions when a
different maintainer appends an entry to an existing changelog. See the discussion
above. Default is _yes_.
**DEBCHANGE**___**MULTIMAINT**___**MERGE**
If set to _yes_, when adding changes in multiple-maintainer mode **debchange** will check
whether previous changes by the current maintainer exist and add the new changes to
the existing block rather than creating a new block. Default is _no_.
**DEBCHANGE**___**MAINTTRAILER**
If this is set to _no_, then it is the same as the **--nomainttrailer** command line parame‐
ter being used.
**DEBCHANGE**___**TZ**
Use this timezone for changelog entries. Default is the user/system timezone as shown
by `**date** **-R**` and affected by the environment variable **TZ**.
**DEBCHANGE**___**LOWER**___**VERSION**___**PATTERN**
If this is set, then it is the same as the **--allow-lower-version** command line parame‐
ter being used.
**DEBCHANGE**___**AUTO**___**NMU**
If this is set to _no_ then **debchange** will not attempt to automatically determine
whether the current changelog stanza represents an NMU. The default is _yes_. See the
discussion of the **--nmu** option above.
**DEBCHANGE**___**FORCE**___**SAVE**___**ON**___**RELEASE**
If this is set to _no_, then it is the same as the **--no-force-save-on-release** command
line parameter being used.
**DEBCHANGE**___**VENDOR**
Use this vendor instead of the default (dpkg-vendor output). See **--vendor** for de‐
tails.
## ENVIRONMENT
**DEBEMAIL**, **EMAIL**, **DEBFULLNAME**, **NAME**
See the above description of the use of these environment variables.
**CHANGELOG**
This variable specifies the changelog to edit in place of _debian/changelog_. No direc‐
tory traversal or checking is performed when this variable is set. This variable is
overridden by the **--changelog** command-line setting.
**VISUAL**, **EDITOR**
These environment variables (in this order) determine the editor used by **sensible-edi**‐‐
**tor**.
## SEE ALSO
[**debc**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/debc/1/markdown), [**debclean**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/debclean/1/markdown), [**dput**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dput/1/markdown), [**dupload**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dupload/1/markdown), [**devscripts.conf**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/devscripts.conf/5/markdown)
## AUTHOR
The original author was Christoph Lameter <>. Many substantial changes
and improvements were made by Julian Gilbey <>.
DEBIAN Debian Utilities [DEBCHANGE(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/DEBCHANGE/1/markdown)