# debdiff(1) - man - phpman [DEBDIFF(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/DEBDIFF/1/markdown) General Commands Manual [DEBDIFF(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/DEBDIFF/1/markdown) ## NAME debdiff - compare file lists in two Debian packages ## SYNOPSIS **debdiff** [_options_] **debdiff** [_options_] ... _deb1_ _deb2_ **debdiff** [_options_] ... _changes1_ _changes2_ **debdiff** [_options_] ... **--from** _deb1a_ _deb1b_ _..._ **--to** _deb2a_ _deb2b_ _..._ **debdiff** [_options_] ... _dsc1_ _dsc2_ ## DESCRIPTION **debdiff** takes the names of two Debian package files (_.deb_s or _.udeb_s) on the command line and compares their contents (considering only the files in the main package, not the maintenance scripts). It shows which files have been introduced and which removed between the two pack‐ age files, and is therefore useful for spotting files which may have been inadvertently lost between revisions of the package. It also checks the file owners and permissions, and com‐ pares the control files of the two packages using the **wdiff** program. If you want a deeper comparison of two Debian package files you can use the **diffoscope** tool. If no arguments are given, **debdiff** tries to compare the content of the current source direc‐ tory with the last version of the package. **debdiff** can also handle changes between groups of _.deb_ files in two ways. The first is to specify two _.changes_ files. In this case, the _.deb_ files listed in the _.changes_ file will be compared, by taking the contents of all of the listed _.deb_ files together. (The _.deb_ files listed are assumed to be in the same directory as the _.changes_ file.) The second way is to list the _.deb_ files of interest specifically using the **--from** ... **--to** syntax. These both help if a package is broken up into smaller packages and one wishes to ensure that nothing is lost in the interim. **debdiff** examines the **devscripts** configuration files as described below. Command line options override the configuration file settings, though. If **debdiff** is passed two source packages (_.dsc_ files) it will compare the contents of the source packages. If the source packages differ only in Debian revision number (that is, the _.orig.tar.gz_ files are the same in the two _.dsc_ files), then [**interdiff**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/interdiff/1/markdown) will be used to compare the two patch files if this program is available on the system, otherwise a **diff** will be performed between the two source trees. ## OPTIONS **--dirs**, **-d** The default mode of operation is to ignore directory names which appear in the file list, but they, too, will be considered if this option is given. ### --nodirs 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. ### --nocontrol **debdiff** will usually compare the respective control files of the packages using **wd**‐‐ [**iff**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/iff/1/markdown). This option suppresses this part of the processing. ### --control 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. ### --wdiff-source-control When processing source packages, compare control files using **wdiff**. Equivalent to the **--control** option for binary packages. ### --no-wdiff-source-control 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.) ### --show-moved 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.) ### --noshow-moved 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. ### --diffstat Include the result of **diffstat** before the generated diff. ### --no-diffstat The default behaviour; can be used to override a configuration file setting. ### --auto-ver-sort When comparing source packages, do so in version order. ### --no-auto-ver-sort 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. ### --unpack-tarballs 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. ### --no-unpack-tarballs Do not unpack tarballs inside source packages. ### --apply-patches If the old and/or new package is in 3.0 (quilt) format, apply the quilt patches (and remove **.pc/**) before comparison. ### --no-apply-patches, --noapply-patches 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. ## CONFIGURATION VARIABLES The two configuration files _/etc/devscripts.conf_ and _~/.devscripts_ are sourced by a shell in that order to set configuration variables. Command line options can be used to override con‐ figuration file settings. Environment variable settings are ignored for this purpose. The currently recognised variables are: **DEBDIFF**___**DIRS** If this is set to _yes_, then it is the same as the **--dirs** command line parameter being used. **DEBDIFF**___**CONTROL** If this is set to _no_, then it is the same as the **--nocontrol** command line parameter being used. The default is _yes_. **DEBDIFF**___**CONTROLFILES** Which control files to compare, corresponding to the **--controlfiles** command line op‐ tion. The default is _control_. **DEBDIFF**___**SHOW**___**MOVED** If this is set to _yes_, then it is the same as the **--show-moved** command line parameter being used. **DEBDIFF**___**WDIFF**___**OPT** This option will be passed to **wdiff**; it should be one of **-p**, **-l** or **-t**. **DEBDIFF**___**SHOW**___**DIFFSTAT** If this is set to _yes_, then it is the same as the **--diffstat** command line parameter being used. **DEBDIFF**___**WDIFF**___**SOURCE**___**CONTROL** If this is set to _yes_, then it is the same as the **--wdiff-source-control** command line parameter being used. **DEBDIFF**___**AUTO**___**VER**___**SORT** If this is set to _yes_, then it is the same as the **--auto-ver-sort** command line parame‐ ter being used. **DEBDIFF**___**UNPACK**___**TARBALLS** If this is set to _no_, then it is the same as the **--no-unpack-tarballs** command line pa‐ rameter being used. **DEBDIFF**___**APPLY**___**PATCHES** If this is set to _yes_, then it is the same as the **--apply-patches** command line parame‐ ter being used. The default is _no_. **DEBRELEASE**___**DEBS**___**DIR** This specifies the directory in which to look for the _.dsc_ and files, and is either an absolute path or relative to the top of the source tree. This corresponds to the **--debs-dir** command line option. This directive could be used, for example, if you al‐ ways use **pbuilder** or **svn-buildpackage** to build your packages. Note that it also af‐ fects [**debrelease**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/debrelease/1/markdown) in the same way, hence the strange name of the option. ## EXIT VALUES Normally the exit value will be 0 if no differences are reported and 1 if any are reported. If there is some fatal error, the exit code will be 255. ## SEE ALSO [**debdiff-apply**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/debdiff-apply/1/markdown), [**diffstat**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/diffstat/1/markdown), [**dpkg-deb**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dpkg-deb/1/markdown), [**interdiff**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/interdiff/1/markdown), [**wdiff**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/wdiff/1/markdown), [**devscripts.conf**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/devscripts.conf/5/markdown), **dif**‐‐ [**foscope**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/foscope/1/markdown) ## AUTHOR **debdiff** was originally written as a shell script by Yann Dirson <> and rewritten in Perl with many more features by Julian Gilbey <>. The software may be freely redistributed under the terms and conditions of the GNU General Public License, version 2. DEBIAN Debian Utilities [DEBDIFF(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/DEBDIFF/1/markdown)