# dpkg-source(1) - man - phpMan

[dpkg-source(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dpkg-source/1/markdown)                               dpkg suite                               [dpkg-source(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dpkg-source/1/markdown)



## NAME
       dpkg-source - Debian source package (.dsc) manipulation tool

## SYNOPSIS
       **dpkg-source** [_option_...] _command_

## DESCRIPTION
       **dpkg-source** packs and unpacks Debian source archives.

       None of these commands allow multiple options to be combined into one, and they do not allow
       the value for an option to be specified in a separate argument.

## COMMANDS
### -x --extract
           Extract a source package (**--extract** since dpkg 1.17.14).  One non-option argument must be
           supplied, the name of the Debian source control file (**.dsc**).  An optional second non-
           option argument may be supplied to specify the directory to extract the source package
           to, this must not exist. If no output directory is specified, the source package is
           extracted into a directory named _source_-_version_ under the current working directory.

           **dpkg-source** will read the names of the other file(s) making up the source package from
           the control file; they are assumed to be in the same directory as the **.dsc**.

           The files in the extracted package will have their permissions and ownerships set to
           those which would have been expected if the files and directories had simply been created
           - directories and executable files will be 0777 and plain files will be 0666, both
           modified by the extractors' umask; if the parent directory is setgid then the extracted
           directories will be too, and all the files and directories will inherit its group
           ownership.

           If the source package uses a non-standard format (currently this means all formats except
           “1.0”), its name will be stored in **debian/source/format** so that the following builds of
           the source package use the same format by default.

### -b --build
           Build a source package (**--build** since dpkg 1.17.14).  The first non-option argument is
           taken as the name of the directory containing the debianized source tree (i.e. with a
           debian sub-directory and maybe changes to the original files).  Depending on the source
           package format used to build the package, additional parameters might be accepted.

           **dpkg-source** will build the source package with the first format found in this ordered
           list: the format indicated with the _--format_ command line option, the format indicated in
           **debian/source/format**, “1.0”.  The fallback to “1.0” is deprecated and will be removed at
           some point in the future, you should always document the desired source format in
           **debian/source/format**. See section **SOURCE** **PACKAGE** **FORMATS** for an extensive description of
           the various source package formats.

       **--print-format** _directory_
           Print the source format that would be used to build the source package if **dpkg-source**
           **--build** _directory_ was called (in the same conditions and with the same parameters; since
           dpkg 1.15.5).

       **--before-build** _directory_
           Run the corresponding hook of the source package format (since dpkg 1.15.8).  This hook
           is called before any build of the package (**dpkg-buildpackage** calls it very early even
           before **debian/rules** **clean**). This command is idempotent and can be called multiple times.
           Not all source formats implement something in this hook, and those that do usually
           prepare the source tree for the build for example by ensuring that the Debian patches are
           applied.

       **--after-build** _directory_
           Run the corresponding hook of the source package format (since dpkg 1.15.8).  This hook
           is called after any build of the package (**dpkg-buildpackage** calls it last). This command
           is idempotent and can be called multiple times. Not all source formats implement
           something in this hook, and those that do usually use it to undo what **--before-build** has
           done.

       **--commit** [_directory_] ...
           Record changes in the source tree unpacked in _directory_ (since dpkg 1.16.1).  This
           command can take supplementary parameters depending on the source format.  It will error
           out for formats where this operation doesn't mean anything.

       **-?**, **--help**
           Show the usage message and exit.  The format specific build and extract options can be
           shown by using the **--format** option.

### --version
           Show the version and exit.

## OPTIONS
### Generic build options
### -c
           Specifies the main source control file to read information from. The default is
           **debian/control**.  If given with relative pathname this is interpreted starting at the
           source tree's top level directory.

### -l
           Specifies the changelog file to read information from. The default is **debian/changelog**.
           If given with relative pathname this is interpreted starting at the source tree's top
           level directory.

### -F
           Specifies the format of the changelog. See [**dpkg-parsechangelog**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dpkg-parsechangelog/1/markdown) for information about
           alternative formats.

       **--format=**_value_
           Use the given format for building the source package (since dpkg 1.14.17).  It does
           override any format given in **debian/source/format**.

### -V
           Set an output substitution variable.  See [**deb-substvars**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/deb-substvars/5/markdown) for a discussion of output
           substitution.

### -T
           Read substitution variables in _substvars-file_; the default is to not read any file. This
           option can be used multiple times to read substitution variables from multiple files
           (since dpkg 1.15.6).

### -D
           Override or add an output control file field.

### -U
           Remove an output control file field.

### -Z --compression
           Specify the compression to use for created tarballs and diff files (**--compression** since
           dpkg 1.15.5).  Note that this option will not cause existing tarballs to be recompressed,
           it only affects new files. Supported values are: _gzip_, _bzip2_, _lzma_ and _xz_.  The default
           is _xz_ for formats 2.0 and newer, and _gzip_ for format 1.0. _xz_ is only supported since dpkg
           1.15.5.

### -z --compression-level
           Compression level to use (**--compression-level** since dpkg 1.15.5).  As with **-Z** it only
           affects newly created files. Supported values are: _1_ to _9_, _best_, and _fast_.  The default
           is _9_ for gzip and bzip2, _6_ for xz and lzma.

### -i --diff-ignore
           You may specify a perl regular expression to match files you want filtered out of the
           list of files for the diff (**--diff-ignore** since dpkg 1.15.6).  (This list is generated by
           a find command.) (If the source package is being built as a version 3 source package
           using a VCS, this can be used to ignore uncommitted changes on specific files. Using -i.*
           will ignore all of them.)

           The **-i** option by itself enables this setting with a default regex (preserving any
           modification to the default regex done by a previous use of **--extend-diff-ignore**) that
           will filter out control files and directories of the most common revision control
           systems, backup and swap files and Libtool build output directories. There can only be
           one active regex, of multiple **-i** options only the last one will take effect.

           This is very helpful in cutting out extraneous files that get included in the diff, e.g.
           if you maintain your source in a revision control system and want to use a checkout to
           build a source package without including the additional files and directories that it
           will usually contain (e.g. CVS/, .cvsignore, .svn/). The default regex is already very
           exhaustive, but if you need to replace it, please note that by default it can match any
           part of a path, so if you want to match the begin of a filename or only full filenames,
           you will need to provide the necessary anchors (e.g. ‘(^|/)’, ‘($|/)’) yourself.

       **--extend-diff-ignore**=_regex_
           The perl regular expression specified will extend the default value used by **--diff-ignore**
           and its current value, if set (since dpkg 1.15.6).  It does this by concatenating
           “**|**_regex_” to the existing value.  This option is convenient to use in
           **debian/source/options** to exclude some auto-generated files from the automatic patch
           generation.

### -I --tar-ignore
           If this option is specified, the pattern will be passed to [**tar**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/tar/1/markdown)'s **--exclude** option when
           it is called to generate a .orig.tar or .tar file (**--tar-ignore** since dpkg 1.15.6).  For
           example, **-I**CVS will make tar skip over CVS directories when generating a .tar.gz file.
           The option may be repeated multiple times to list multiple patterns to exclude.

           **-I** by itself adds default **--exclude** options that will filter out control files and
           directories of the most common revision control systems, backup and swap files and
           Libtool build output directories.

       **Note:** While they have similar purposes, **-i** and **-I** have very different syntax and semantics.
### -i
       against the full relative path of each file. **-I** can specified multiple times and takes a
       filename pattern with shell wildcards.  The pattern is applied to the full relative path but
       also to each part of the path individually. The exact semantic of tar's **--exclude** option is
       somewhat complicated, see <<https://www.gnu.org/software/tar/manual/tar.html#wildcards>> for a
       full documentation.

       The default regex and patterns for both options can be seen in the output of the **--help**
       command.

### Generic extract options
### --no-copy
           Do not copy original tarballs near the extracted source package (since dpkg 1.14.17).

### --no-check
           Do not check signatures and checksums before unpacking (since dpkg 1.14.17).

### --no-overwrite-dir
           Do not overwrite the extraction directory if it already exists (since dpkg 1.18.8).

### --require-valid-signature
           Refuse to unpack the source package if it doesn't contain an OpenPGP signature that can
           be verified (since dpkg 1.15.0) either with the user's _trustedkeys.gpg_ keyring, one of
           the vendor-specific keyrings, or one of the official Debian keyrings
           (_/usr/share/keyrings/debian-keyring.gpg_, _/usr/share/keyrings/debian-nonupload.gpg_ and
           _/usr/share/keyrings/debian-maintainers.gpg_).

### --require-strong-checksums
           Refuse to unpack the source package if it does not contain any strong checksums (since
           dpkg 1.18.7).  Currently the only known checksum considered strong is **SHA-256**.

### --ignore-bad-version
           Turns the bad source package version check into a non-fatal warning (since dpkg 1.17.7).
           This option should only be necessary when extracting ancient source packages with broken
           versions, just for backwards compatibility.

## SOURCE PACKAGE FORMATS
       If you don't know what source format to use, you should probably pick either “3.0 (quilt)” or
       “3.0 (native)”.  See <<https://wiki.debian.org/Projects/DebSrc3.0>> for information on the
       deployment of those formats within Debian.

### Format: 1.0
       A source package in this format consists either of a **.orig.tar.gz** associated to a **.diff.gz** or
       a single **.tar.gz** (in that case the package is said to be _native_).  Optionally the original
       tarball might be accompanied by a detached upstream signature **.orig.tar.gz.asc**, extraction
       supported since dpkg 1.18.5.

### Extracting

       Extracting a native package is a simple extraction of the single tarball in the target
       directory. Extracting a non-native package is done by first unpacking the **.orig.tar.gz** and
       then applying the patch contained in the **.diff.gz** file. The timestamp of all patched files is
       reset to the extraction time of the source package (this avoids timestamp skews leading to
       problems when autogenerated files are patched). The diff can create new files (the whole
       debian directory is created that way) but cannot remove files (empty files will be left over)
       and cannot create or change symlinks.

### Building

       Building a native package is just creating a single tarball with the source directory.
       Building a non-native package involves extracting the original tarball in a separate “.orig”
       directory and regenerating the **.diff.gz** by comparing the source package _directory_ with the
       .orig directory.

### Build options (with --build):

       If a second non-option argument is supplied it should be the name of the original source
       directory or tarfile or the empty string if the package is a Debian-specific one and so has
       no debianization diffs. If no second argument is supplied then **dpkg-source** will look for the
       original source tarfile _package_upstream-version_**.orig.tar.gz** or the original source directory
       _directory_**.orig** depending on the **-sX** arguments.

### -sa -sp -sk -su -sr
       desired then **-sA**, **-sP**, **-sK**, **-sU** and **-sR** should be used instead.

### -sk
           _version_**.orig.tar.**_extension_.  It will leave this original source in place as a tarfile, or
           copy it to the current directory if it isn't already there. The tarball will be unpacked
           into _directory_**.orig** for the generation of the diff.

### -sp -sk

### -su
           _package_**-**_upstream-version_**.orig** and **dpkg-source** will create a new original source archive
           from it.

### -sr -su

### -ss
           **dpkg-source** will use the directory to create the diff, but the tarfile to create the
           **.dsc**.  This option must be used with care - if the directory and tarfile do not match a
           bad source archive will be generated.

### -sn
           argument, if supplied, must be the empty string. This is used for Debian-specific
           packages which do not have a separate upstream source and therefore have no debianization
           diffs.

### -sa -sA
           Specifies to look for the original source archive as a tarfile or as a directory - the
           second argument, if any, may be either, or the empty string (this is equivalent to using
           **-sn**).  If a tarfile is found it will unpack it to create the diff and remove it
           afterwards (this is equivalent to **-sp**); if a directory is found it will pack it to create
           the original source and remove it afterwards (this is equivalent to **-sr**); if neither is
           found it will assume that the package has no debianization diffs, only a straightforward
           source archive (this is equivalent to **-sn**).  If both are found then **dpkg-source** will
           ignore the directory, overwriting it, if **-sA** was specified (this is equivalent to **-sP**) or
           raise an error if **-sa** was specified.  **-sa** is the default.

### --abort-on-upstream-changes
           The process fails if the generated diff contains changes to files outside of the debian
           sub-directory (since dpkg 1.15.8).  This option is not allowed in **debian/source/options**
           but can be used in **debian/source/local-options**.

### Extract options (with --extract):

       In all cases any existing original source tree will be removed.

### -sp
           is not already located in the current directory or if an existing but different file is
           there it will be copied there.  (**This** **is** **the** **default**).

### -su

### -sn
           Any original source tree that was in the current directory is still removed.

       All the **-s**_X_ options are mutually exclusive. If you specify more than one only the last one
       will be used.

### --skip-debianization
           Skips application of the debian diff on top of the upstream sources (since dpkg 1.15.1).

### Format: 2.0
       Extraction supported since dpkg 1.13.9, building supported since dpkg 1.14.8.  Also known as
       wig&pen. This format is not recommended for wide-spread usage, the format “3.0 (quilt)”
       replaces it.  Wig&pen was the first specification of a new-generation source package format.

       The behaviour of this format is the same as the “3.0 (quilt)” format except that it doesn't
       use an explicit list of patches. All files in **debian/patches/** matching the perl regular
       expression **[\w-]+** must be valid patches: they are applied at extraction time.

       When building a new source package, any change to the upstream source is stored in a patch
       named **zz**___**debian-diff-auto**.

### Format: 3.0 (native)
       Supported since dpkg 1.14.17.  This format is an extension of the native package format as
       defined in the 1.0 format. It supports all compression methods and will ignore by default any
       VCS specific files and directories as well as many temporary files (see default value
       associated to **-I** option in the **--help** output).

### Format: 3.0 (quilt)
       Supported since dpkg 1.14.17.  A source package in this format contains at least an original
       tarball (**.orig.tar.**_ext_ where _ext_ can be **gz**, **bz2**, **lzma** and **xz**) and a debian tarball
       (**.debian.tar.**_ext_). It can also contain additional original tarballs
       (**.orig-**_component_**.tar.**_ext_).  _component_ can only contain alphanumeric (‘a-zA-Z0-9’) characters
       and hyphens (‘-’).  Optionally each original tarball can be accompanied by a detached
       upstream signature (**.orig.tar.**_ext_**.asc** and **.orig-**_component_**.tar.**_ext_**.asc**), extraction supported
       since dpkg 1.17.20, building supported since dpkg 1.18.5.

### Extracting

       The main original tarball is extracted first, then all additional original tarballs are
       extracted in subdirectories named after the _component_ part of their filename (any pre-
       existing directory is replaced). The debian tarball is extracted on top of the source
       directory after prior removal of any pre-existing **debian** directory. Note that the debian
       tarball must contain a **debian** sub-directory but it can also contain binary files outside of
       that directory (see **--include-binaries** option).

       All patches listed in **debian/patches/**_vendor_**.series** or **debian/patches/series** are then applied,
       where _vendor_ will be the lowercase name of the current vendor, or **debian** if there is no
       vendor defined.  If the former file is used and the latter one doesn't exist (or is a
       symlink), then the latter is replaced with a symlink to the former.  This is meant to
       simplify usage of **quilt** to manage the set of patches.  Vendor-specific series files are
       intended to make it possible to serialize multiple development branches based on the vendor,
       in a declarative way, in preference to open-coding this handling in **debian/rules**.  This is
       particularly useful when the source would need to be patched conditionally because the
       affected files do not have built-in conditional occlusion support.  Note however that while
       **dpkg-source** parses correctly series files with explicit options used for patch application
       (stored on each line after the patch filename and one or more spaces), it does ignore those
       options and always expects patches that can be applied with the **-p1** option of **patch**. It will
       thus emit a warning when it encounters such options, and the build is likely to fail.

       Note that [**lintian**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/lintian/1/markdown) will emit unconditional warnings when using vendor series due to a
       controversial Debian specific ruling, which should not affect any external usage; to silence
       these, the dpkg lintian profile can be used by passing «**--profile** **dpkg**» to [**lintian**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/lintian/1/markdown).

       The timestamp of all patched files is reset to the extraction time of the source package
       (this avoids timestamp skews leading to problems when autogenerated files are patched).

       Contrary to **quilt**'s default behaviour, patches are expected to apply without any fuzz. When
       that is not the case, you should refresh such patches with **quilt**, or **dpkg-source** will error
       out while trying to apply them.

       Similarly to **quilt**'s default behaviour, the patches can remove files too.

       The file **.pc/applied-patches** is created if some patches have been applied during the
       extraction.

### Building

       All original tarballs found in the current directory are extracted in a temporary directory
       by following the same logic as for the unpack, the debian directory is copied over in the
       temporary directory, and all patches except the automatic patch (**debian-changes-**_version_ or
       **debian-changes**, depending on **--single-debian-patch**) are applied. The temporary directory is
       compared to the source package directory. When the diff is non-empty, the build fails unless
       **--single-debian-patch** or **--auto-commit** has been used, in which case the diff is stored in the
       automatic patch.  If the automatic patch is created/deleted, it's added/removed from the
       series file and from the **quilt** metadata.

       Any change on a binary file is not representable in a diff and will thus lead to a failure
       unless the maintainer deliberately decided to include that modified binary file in the debian
       tarball (by listing it in **debian/source/include-binaries**). The build will also fail if it
       finds binary files in the debian sub-directory unless they have been allowed through
       **debian/source/include-binaries**.

       The updated debian directory and the list of modified binaries is then used to generate the
       debian tarball.

       The automatically generated diff doesn't include changes on VCS specific files as well as
       many temporary files (see default value associated to **-i** option in the **--help** output). In
       particular, the **.pc** directory used by **quilt** is ignored during generation of the automatic
       patch.

       **Note:** **dpkg-source** **--before-build** (and **--build**) will ensure that all patches listed in the
       series file are applied so that a package build always has all patches applied. It does this
       by finding unapplied patches (they are listed in the **series** file but not in
       **.pc/applied-patches**), and if the first patch in that set can be applied without errors, it
       will apply them all. The option **--no-preparation** can be used to disable this behavior.

### Recording changes

       **--commit** [_directory_] [_patch-name_] [_patch-file_]
           Generates a patch corresponding to the local changes that are not managed by the **quilt**
           patch system and integrates it in the patch system under the name _patch-name_. If the name
           is missing, it will be asked interactively. If _patch-file_ is given, it is used as the
           patch corresponding to the local changes to integrate. Once integrated, an editor is
           launched so that you can edit the meta-information in the patch header.

           Passing _patch-file_ is mainly useful after a build failure that pre-generated this file,
           and on this ground the given file is removed after integration. Note also that the
           changes contained in the patch file must already be applied on the tree and that the
           files modified by the patch must not have supplementary unrecorded changes.

           If the patch generation detects modified binary files, they will be automatically added
           to **debian/source/include-binaries** so that they end up in the debian tarball (exactly like
           **dpkg-source** **--include-binaries** **--build** would do).

### Build options

       **--allow-version-of-quilt-db=**_version_
           Allow **dpkg-source** to build the source package if the version of the **quilt** metadata is the
           one specified, even if **dpkg-source** doesn't know about it (since dpkg 1.15.5.4).
           Effectively this says that the given version of the **quilt** metadata is compatible with the
           version 2 that **dpkg-source** currently supports. The version of the **quilt** metadata is
           stored in **.pc/.version**.

### --include-removal
           Do not ignore removed files and include them in the automatically generated patch.

### --include-timestamp
           Include timestamp in the automatically generated patch.

### --include-binaries
           Add all modified binaries in the debian tarball. Also add them to
           **debian/source/include-binaries**: they will be added by default in subsequent builds and
           this option is thus no more needed.

### --no-preparation
           Do not try to prepare the build tree by applying patches which are apparently unapplied
           (since dpkg 1.14.18).

### --single-debian-patch
           Use **debian/patches/debian-changes** instead of **debian/patches/debian-changes-**_version_ for
           the name of the automatic patch generated during build (since dpkg 1.15.5.4).  This
           option is particularly useful when the package is maintained in a VCS and a patch set
           can't reliably be generated. Instead the current diff with upstream should be stored in a
           single patch. The option would be put in **debian/source/local-options** and would be
           accompanied by a **debian/source/local-patch-header** file explaining how the Debian changes
           can be best reviewed, for example in the VCS that is used.

### --create-empty-orig
           Automatically create the main original tarball as empty if it's missing and if there are
           supplementary original tarballs (since dpkg 1.15.6).  This option is meant to be used
           when the source package is just a bundle of multiple upstream software and where there's
           no “main” software.

### --no-unapply-patches, --unapply-patches
           By default, **dpkg-source** will automatically unapply the patches in the **--after-build** hook
           if it did apply them during **--before-build** (**--unapply-patches** since dpkg 1.15.8,
           **--no-unapply-patches** since dpkg 1.16.5).  Those options allow you to forcefully disable
           or enable the patch unapplication process. Those options are only allowed in
           **debian/source/local-options** so that all generated source packages have the same behavior
           by default.

### --abort-on-upstream-changes
           The process fails if an automatic patch has been generated (since dpkg 1.15.8).  This
           option can be used to ensure that all changes were properly recorded in separate **quilt**
           patches prior to the source package build. This option is not allowed in
           **debian/source/options** but can be used in **debian/source/local-options**.

### --auto-commit
           The process doesn't fail if an automatic patch has been generated, instead it's
           immediately recorded in the **quilt** series.

### Extract options

### --skip-debianization
           Skips extraction of the debian tarball on top of the upstream sources (since dpkg
           1.15.1).

### --skip-patches
           Do not apply patches at the end of the extraction (since dpkg 1.14.18).

### Format: 3.0 (custom)
       Supported since dpkg 1.14.17.  This format is special.  It doesn't represent a real source
       package format but can be used to create source packages with arbitrary files.

### Build options

       All non-option arguments are taken as files to integrate in the generated source package.
       They must exist and are preferably in the current directory. At least one file must be given.

       **--target-format=**_value_
           **Required**. Defines the real format of the generated source package.  The generated .dsc
           file will contain this value in its **Format** field and not “3.0 (custom)”.

### Format: 3.0 (git)
       Supported since dpkg 1.14.17.  This format is experimental.

       A source package in this format consists of a single bundle of a git repository **.git** to hold
       the source of a package.  There may also be a **.gitshallow** file listing revisions for a
       shallow git clone.

### Extracting

       The bundle is cloned as a git repository to the target directory.  If there is a gitshallow
       file, it is installed as _.git/shallow_ inside the cloned git repository.

       Note that by default the new repository will have the same branch checked out that was
       checked out in the original source.  (Typically “master”, but it could be anything.)  Any
       other branches will be available under _remotes/origin/_.

### Building

       Before going any further, some checks are done to ensure that we don't have any non-ignored
       uncommitted changes.

       [**git-bundle**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/git-bundle/1/markdown) is used to generate a bundle of the git repository.  By default, all branches
       and tags in the repository are included in the bundle.

### Build options

       **--git-ref=**_ref_
           Allows specifying a git ref to include in the git bundle. Use disables the default
           behavior of including all branches and tags. May be specified multiple times. The _ref_ can
           be the name of a branch or tag to include. It may also be any parameter that can be
           passed to [**git-rev-list**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/git-rev-list/1/markdown). For example, to include only the master branch, use
           **--git-ref=**master. To include all tags and branches, except for the private branch, use
           **--git-ref=**--all **--git-ref=**^private

       **--git-depth=**_number_
           Creates a shallow clone with a history truncated to the specified number of revisions.

### Format: 3.0 (bzr)
       Supported since dpkg 1.14.17.  This format is experimental.  It generates a single tarball
       containing the bzr repository.

### Extracting

       The tarball is unpacked and then bzr is used to checkout the current branch.

### Building

       Before going any further, some checks are done to ensure that we don't have any non-ignored
       uncommitted changes.

       Then the VCS specific part of the source directory is copied over to a temporary directory.
       Before this temporary directory is packed in a tarball, various cleanup are done to save
       space.

## DIAGNOSTICS
### no source format specified in debian/source/format
       The file **debian/source/format** should always exist and indicate the desired source format. For
       backwards compatibility, format “1.0” is assumed when the file doesn't exist but you should
       not rely on this: at some point in the future **dpkg-source** will be modified to fail when that
       file doesn't exist.

       The rationale is that format “1.0” is no longer the recommended format, you should usually
       pick one of the newer formats (“3.0 (quilt)”, “3.0 (native)”) but **dpkg-source** will not do
       this automatically for you.  If you want to continue using the old format, you should be
       explicit about it and put “1.0” in **debian/source/format**.

### the diff modifies the following upstream files
       When using source format “1.0” it is usually a bad idea to modify upstream files directly as
       the changes end up hidden and mostly undocumented in the .diff.gz file. Instead you should
       store your changes as patches in the debian directory and apply them at build-time. To avoid
       this complexity you can also use the format “3.0 (quilt)” that offers this natively.

   **cannot** **represent** **change** **to** _file_
       Changes to upstream sources are usually stored with patch files, but not all changes can be
       represented with patches: they can only alter the content of plain text files. If you try
       replacing a file with something of a different type (for example replacing a plain file with
       a symlink or a directory), you will get this error message.

   **newly** **created** **empty** **file** _file_ **will** **not** **be** **represented** **in** **diff**
       Empty files can't be created with patch files. Thus this change is not recorded in the source
       package and you are warned about it.

   **executable** **mode** _perms_ **of** _file_ **will** **not** **be** **represented** **in** **diff**
       Patch files do not record permissions of files and thus executable permissions are not stored
       in the source package. This warning reminds you of that fact.

   **special** **mode** _perms_ **of** _file_ **will** **not** **be** **represented** **in** **diff**
       Patch files do not record permissions of files and thus modified permissions are not stored
       in the source package. This warning reminds you of that fact.

## ENVIRONMENT
       **DPKG**___**COLORS**
           Sets the color mode (since dpkg 1.18.5).  The currently accepted values are: **auto**
           (default), **always** and **never**.

       **DPKG**___**NLS**
           If set, it will be used to decide whether to activate Native Language Support, also known
           as internationalization (or i18n) support (since dpkg 1.19.0).  The accepted values are:
           **0** and **1** (default).

       **SOURCE**___**DATE**___**EPOCH**
           If set, it will be used as the timestamp (as seconds since the epoch) to clamp the mtime
           in the [**tar**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/tar/5/markdown) file entries.

       **VISUAL**
       **EDITOR**
           Used by the “2.0” and “3.0 (quilt)” source format modules.

       **GIT**___**DIR**
       **GIT**___**INDEX**___**FILE**
       **GIT**___**OBJECT**___**DIRECTORY**
       **GIT**___**ALTERNATE**___**OBJECT**___**DIRECTORIES**
       **GIT**___**WORK**___**TREE**
           Used by the “3.0 (git)” source format modules.

## FILES
### debian/source/format
       This file contains on a single line the format that should be used to build the source
       package (possible formats are described above). No leading or trailing spaces are allowed.

### debian/source/include-binaries
       This file contains a list of pathnames of binary files (one per line) relative to the source
       root directory that should be included in the debian tarball.  Leading and trailing spaces
       are stripped.  Lines starting with ‘**#**’ are comments and are skipped.  Empty lines are
       ignored.

### debian/source/options
       This file contains a list of long options that should be automatically prepended to the set
       of command line options of a **dpkg-source** **--build** or **dpkg-source** **--print-format** call. Options
       like **--compression** and **--compression-level** are well suited for this file.

       Each option should be put on a separate line. Empty lines and lines starting with ‘**#**’ are
       ignored.  The leading ‘**--**’ should be stripped and short options are not allowed.  Optional
       spaces are allowed around the ‘**=**’ symbol and optional quotes are allowed around the value.
       Here's an example of such a file:

        # let dpkg-source create a debian.tar.bz2 with maximal compression
        compression = "bzip2"
        compression-level = 9
        # use debian/patches/debian-changes as automatic patch
        single-debian-patch
        # ignore changes on config.{sub,guess}
        extend-diff-ignore = "(^|/)(config.sub|config.guess)$"

       **Note:** **format** options are not accepted in this file, you should use **debian/source/format**
       instead.

### debian/source/local-options
       Exactly like **debian/source/options** except that the file is not included in the generated
       source package. It can be useful to store a preference tied to the maintainer or to the VCS
       repository where the source package is maintained.

### debian/source/local-patch-header
### debian/source/patch-header
       Free form text that is put on top of the automatic patch generated in formats “2.0” or “3.0
       (quilt)”. **local-patch-header** is not included in the generated source package while **patch-**
       **header** is.

   **debian/patches/**_vendor_**.series**
### debian/patches/series
       This file lists all patches that have to be applied (in the given order) on top of the
       upstream source package. Leading and trailing spaces are stripped.  The _vendor_ will be the
       lowercase name of the current vendor, or **debian** if there is no vendor defined.  If the
       vendor-specific series file does not exist, the vendor-less series file will be used.  Lines
       starting with ‘**#**’ are comments and are skipped.  Empty lines are ignored.  Remaining lines
       start with a patch filename (relative to the **debian/patches/** directory) up to the first space
       character or the end of line. Optional **quilt** options can follow up to the end of line or the
       first ‘**#**’ preceded by one or more spaces (which marks the start of a comment up to the end of
       line).

## BUGS
       The point at which field overriding occurs compared to certain standard output field settings
       is rather confused.

## SEE ALSO
       [**deb-src-control**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/deb-src-control/5/markdown), [**deb-changelog**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/deb-changelog/5/markdown), [**dsc**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dsc/5/markdown).



1.21.1                                       2025-09-09                               [dpkg-source(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dpkg-source/1/markdown)
