{ "mode": "man", "parameter": "debdiff", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/debdiff/1/json", "generated": "2026-06-02T22:31:32Z", "synopsis": "debdiff [options]\ndebdiff [options] ... deb1 deb2\ndebdiff [options] ... changes1 changes2\ndebdiff [options] ... --from deb1a deb1b ... --to deb2a deb2b ...\ndebdiff [options] ... dsc1 dsc2", "sections": { "NAME": { "content": "debdiff - compare file lists in two Debian packages\n", "subsections": [] }, "SYNOPSIS": { "content": "debdiff [options]\ndebdiff [options] ... deb1 deb2\ndebdiff [options] ... changes1 changes2\ndebdiff [options] ... --from deb1a deb1b ... --to deb2a deb2b ...\ndebdiff [options] ... dsc1 dsc2\n", "subsections": [] }, "DESCRIPTION": { "content": "debdiff takes the names of two Debian package files (.debs or .udebs) on the command line and\ncompares their contents (considering only the files in the main package, not the maintenance\nscripts). It shows which files have been introduced and which removed between the two pack‐\nage files, and is therefore useful for spotting files which may have been inadvertently lost\nbetween revisions of the package. It also checks the file owners and permissions, and com‐\npares the control files of the two packages using the wdiff program. If you want a deeper\ncomparison of two Debian package files you can use the diffoscope tool.\n\nIf no arguments are given, debdiff tries to compare the content of the current source direc‐\ntory with the last version of the package.\n\ndebdiff can also handle changes between groups of .deb files in two ways. The first is to\nspecify two .changes files. In this case, the .deb files listed in the .changes file will be\ncompared, by taking the contents of all of the listed .deb files together. (The .deb files\nlisted are assumed to be in the same directory as the .changes file.) The second way is to\nlist the .deb files of interest specifically using the --from ... --to syntax. These both\nhelp if a package is broken up into smaller packages and one wishes to ensure that nothing is\nlost in the interim.\n\ndebdiff examines the devscripts configuration files as described below. Command line options\noverride the configuration file settings, though.\n\nIf debdiff is passed two source packages (.dsc files) it will compare the contents of the\nsource packages. If the source packages differ only in Debian revision number (that is, the\n.orig.tar.gz files are the same in the two .dsc files), then interdiff(1) will be used to\ncompare the two patch files if this program is available on the system, otherwise a diff will\nbe performed between the two source trees.\n", "subsections": [] }, "OPTIONS": { "content": "--dirs, -d\nThe default mode of operation is to ignore directory names which appear in the file\nlist, but they, too, will be considered if this option is given.\n", "subsections": [ { "name": "--nodirs", "content": "Ignore directory names which appear in the file list. This is the default and it can\nbe used to override a configuration file setting.\n\n--move FROM TO, -m FROM TO\nIt sometimes occurs that various files or directories are moved around between revi‐\nsions. This can be handled using this option. There are two arguments, the first\ngiving the location of the directory or file in the first package, and the second in\nthe second. Any files in the first listing whose names begin with the first argument\nare treated as having that substituted for the second argument when the file lists are\ncompared. Any number of --move arguments may be given; they are processed in the or‐\nder in which they appear. This only affects comparing binary packages, not source\npackages.\n\n--move-regex FROM TO\nThis is the same as --move, except that FROM is treated as a regular expression and\nthe perl substitution command s/^FROM/TO/ is applied to the files. In particular, TO\ncan make use of backreferences such as $1.\n", "long": "--nodirs" }, { "name": "--nocontrol", "content": "debdiff will usually compare the respective control files of the packages using wd‐‐\niff(1). This option suppresses this part of the processing.\n", "long": "--nocontrol" }, { "name": "--control", "content": "Compare the respective control files; this is the default, and it can be used to over‐\nride a configuration file setting.\n\n--controlfiles FILE[,FILE ...]\nSpecify which control files to compare; by default this is just control, but could in‐\nclude postinst, config and so on. Files will only be compared if they are present in\nboth .debs being compared. The special value ALL compares all control files present\nin both packages, except for md5sums. This option can be used to override a configu‐\nration file setting.\n", "long": "--control" }, { "name": "--wdiff-source-control", "content": "When processing source packages, compare control files using wdiff. Equivalent to the\n--control option for binary packages.\n", "long": "--wdiff-source-control" }, { "name": "--no-wdiff-source-control", "content": "Do not compare control files in source packages using wdiff. This is the default.\n\n--wp, --wl, --wt\nPass a -p, -l or -t option to wdiff respectively. (This yields the whole wdiff output\nrather than just the lines with any changes.)\n", "long": "--no-wdiff-source-control" }, { "name": "--show-moved", "content": "If multiple .deb files are specified on the command line, either using .changes files\nor the --from/--to syntax, then this option will also show which files (if any) have\nmoved between packages. (The package names are simply determined from the names of\nthe .deb files.)\n", "long": "--show-moved" }, { "name": "--noshow-moved", "content": "The default behaviour; can be used to override a configuration file setting.\n\n--renamed FROM TO\nIf --show-moved is being used and a package has been renamed in the process, this com‐\nmand instructs debdiff to treat the package in the first list called FROM as if it\nwere called TO. Multiple uses of this option are permitted.\n\n--exclude PATTERN\nExclude files whose basenames match PATTERN. Multiple uses of this option are permit‐\nted. Note that this option is passed on to diff and has the same behaviour, so only\nthe basename of the file is considered: in particular, --exclude='*.patch' will work,\nbut --exclude='debian/patches/*' will have no practical effect.\n", "long": "--noshow-moved" }, { "name": "--diffstat", "content": "Include the result of diffstat before the generated diff.\n", "long": "--diffstat" }, { "name": "--no-diffstat", "content": "The default behaviour; can be used to override a configuration file setting.\n", "long": "--no-diffstat" }, { "name": "--auto-ver-sort", "content": "When comparing source packages, do so in version order.\n", "long": "--auto-ver-sort" }, { "name": "--no-auto-ver-sort", "content": "Compare source packages in the order they were passed on the command-line, even if\nthat means comparing a package with a higher version against one with a lower version.\nThis is the default behaviour.\n", "long": "--no-auto-ver-sort" }, { "name": "--unpack-tarballs", "content": "When comparing source packages, also unpack tarballs found in the top level source di‐\nrectory to compare their contents along with the other files. This is the default be‐\nhaviour.\n", "long": "--unpack-tarballs" }, { "name": "--no-unpack-tarballs", "content": "Do not unpack tarballs inside source packages.\n", "long": "--no-unpack-tarballs" }, { "name": "--apply-patches", "content": "If the old and/or new package is in 3.0 (quilt) format, apply the quilt patches (and\nremove .pc/) before comparison.\n", "long": "--apply-patches" }, { "name": "--no-apply-patches, --noapply-patches", "content": "If the old and/or new package is in 3.0 (quilt) format, do not apply the quilt patches\nbefore comparison. This is the default behaviour.\n\n--no-conf, --noconf\nDo not read any configuration files. This can only be used as the first option given\non the command-line.\n\n--debs-dir directory\nLook for the .dsc files in directory instead of the parent of the source directory.\nThis should either be an absolute path or relative to the top of the source directory.\n\n--help, -h\nShow a summary of options.\n\n--version, -v\nShow version and copyright information.\n\n--quiet, -q\nBe quiet if no differences were found.\n\n--ignore-space, -w\nIgnore whitespace in diffs.\n", "long": "--noapply-patches" } ] }, "CONFIGURATION VARIABLES": { "content": "The two configuration files /etc/devscripts.conf and ~/.devscripts are sourced by a shell in\nthat order to set configuration variables. Command line options can be used to override con‐\nfiguration file settings. Environment variable settings are ignored for this purpose. The\ncurrently recognised variables are:\n\nDEBDIFFDIRS\nIf this is set to yes, then it is the same as the --dirs command line parameter being\nused.\n\nDEBDIFFCONTROL\nIf this is set to no, then it is the same as the --nocontrol command line parameter\nbeing used. The default is yes.\n\nDEBDIFFCONTROLFILES\nWhich control files to compare, corresponding to the --controlfiles command line op‐\ntion. The default is control.\n\nDEBDIFFSHOWMOVED\nIf this is set to yes, then it is the same as the --show-moved command line parameter\nbeing used.\n\nDEBDIFFWDIFFOPT\nThis option will be passed to wdiff; it should be one of -p, -l or -t.\n\nDEBDIFFSHOWDIFFSTAT\nIf this is set to yes, then it is the same as the --diffstat command line parameter\nbeing used.\n\nDEBDIFFWDIFFSOURCECONTROL\nIf this is set to yes, then it is the same as the --wdiff-source-control command line\nparameter being used.\n\nDEBDIFFAUTOVERSORT\nIf this is set to yes, then it is the same as the --auto-ver-sort command line parame‐\nter being used.\n\nDEBDIFFUNPACKTARBALLS\nIf this is set to no, then it is the same as the --no-unpack-tarballs command line pa‐\nrameter being used.\n\nDEBDIFFAPPLYPATCHES\nIf this is set to yes, then it is the same as the --apply-patches command line parame‐\nter being used. The default is no.\n\nDEBRELEASEDEBSDIR\nThis specifies the directory in which to look for the .dsc and files, and is either an\nabsolute path or relative to the top of the source tree. This corresponds to the\n--debs-dir command line option. This directive could be used, for example, if you al‐\nways use pbuilder or svn-buildpackage to build your packages. Note that it also af‐\nfects debrelease(1) in the same way, hence the strange name of the option.\n", "subsections": [] }, "EXIT VALUES": { "content": "Normally the exit value will be 0 if no differences are reported and 1 if any are reported.\nIf there is some fatal error, the exit code will be 255.\n", "subsections": [] }, "SEE ALSO": { "content": "debdiff-apply(1), diffstat(1), dpkg-deb(1), interdiff(1), wdiff(1), devscripts.conf(5), dif‐‐\nfoscope(1)\n", "subsections": [] }, "AUTHOR": { "content": "debdiff was originally written as a shell script by Yann Dirson and\nrewritten in Perl with many more features by Julian Gilbey . The software\nmay be freely redistributed under the terms and conditions of the GNU General Public License,\nversion 2.\n\n\n\nDEBIAN Debian Utilities DEBDIFF(1)", "subsections": [] } }, "summary": "debdiff - compare file lists in two Debian packages", "flags": [ { "flag": "", "long": "--nodirs", "arg": null, "description": "Ignore directory names which appear in the file list. This is the default and it can be used to override a configuration file setting. --move FROM TO, -m FROM TO It sometimes occurs that various files or directories are moved around between revi‐ sions. This can be handled using this option. There are two arguments, the first giving the location of the directory or file in the first package, and the second in the second. Any files in the first listing whose names begin with the first argument are treated as having that substituted for the second argument when the file lists are compared. Any number of --move arguments may be given; they are processed in the or‐ der in which they appear. This only affects comparing binary packages, not source packages. --move-regex FROM TO This is the same as --move, except that FROM is treated as a regular expression and the perl substitution command s/^FROM/TO/ is applied to the files. In particular, TO can make use of backreferences such as $1." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--nocontrol", "arg": null, "description": "debdiff will usually compare the respective control files of the packages using wd‐‐ iff(1). This option suppresses this part of the processing." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--control", "arg": null, "description": "Compare the respective control files; this is the default, and it can be used to over‐ ride a configuration file setting. --controlfiles FILE[,FILE ...] Specify which control files to compare; by default this is just control, but could in‐ clude postinst, config and so on. Files will only be compared if they are present in both .debs being compared. The special value ALL compares all control files present in both packages, except for md5sums. This option can be used to override a configu‐ ration file setting." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--wdiff-source-control", "arg": null, "description": "When processing source packages, compare control files using wdiff. Equivalent to the --control option for binary packages." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--no-wdiff-source-control", "arg": null, "description": "Do not compare control files in source packages using wdiff. This is the default. --wp, --wl, --wt Pass a -p, -l or -t option to wdiff respectively. (This yields the whole wdiff output rather than just the lines with any changes.)" }, { "flag": "", "long": "--show-moved", "arg": null, "description": "If multiple .deb files are specified on the command line, either using .changes files or the --from/--to syntax, then this option will also show which files (if any) have moved between packages. (The package names are simply determined from the names of the .deb files.)" }, { "flag": "", "long": "--noshow-moved", "arg": null, "description": "The default behaviour; can be used to override a configuration file setting. --renamed FROM TO If --show-moved is being used and a package has been renamed in the process, this com‐ mand instructs debdiff to treat the package in the first list called FROM as if it were called TO. Multiple uses of this option are permitted. --exclude PATTERN Exclude files whose basenames match PATTERN. Multiple uses of this option are permit‐ ted. Note that this option is passed on to diff and has the same behaviour, so only the basename of the file is considered: in particular, --exclude='*.patch' will work, but --exclude='debian/patches/*' will have no practical effect." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--diffstat", "arg": null, "description": "Include the result of diffstat before the generated diff." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--no-diffstat", "arg": null, "description": "The default behaviour; can be used to override a configuration file setting." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--auto-ver-sort", "arg": null, "description": "When comparing source packages, do so in version order." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--no-auto-ver-sort", "arg": null, "description": "Compare source packages in the order they were passed on the command-line, even if that means comparing a package with a higher version against one with a lower version. This is the default behaviour." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--unpack-tarballs", "arg": null, "description": "When comparing source packages, also unpack tarballs found in the top level source di‐ rectory to compare their contents along with the other files. This is the default be‐ haviour." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--no-unpack-tarballs", "arg": null, "description": "Do not unpack tarballs inside source packages." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--apply-patches", "arg": null, "description": "If the old and/or new package is in 3.0 (quilt) format, apply the quilt patches (and remove .pc/) before comparison." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--noapply-patches", "arg": null, "description": "If the old and/or new package is in 3.0 (quilt) format, do not apply the quilt patches before comparison. This is the default behaviour. --no-conf, --noconf Do not read any configuration files. This can only be used as the first option given on the command-line. --debs-dir directory Look for the .dsc files in directory instead of the parent of the source directory. This should either be an absolute path or relative to the top of the source directory. --help, -h Show a summary of options. --version, -v Show version and copyright information. --quiet, -q Be quiet if no differences were found. --ignore-space, -w Ignore whitespace in diffs." } ], "examples": [], "see_also": [ { "name": "debdiff-apply", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/debdiff-apply/1/json" }, { "name": "diffstat", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/diffstat/1/json" }, { "name": "dpkg-deb", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dpkg-deb/1/json" }, { "name": "interdiff", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/interdiff/1/json" }, { "name": "wdiff", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/wdiff/1/json" }, { "name": "devscripts.conf", "section": "5", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/devscripts.conf/5/json" }, { "name": "foscope", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/foscope/1/json" } ] }