---
name: "debtags-updatecontrol"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "debtags"
version: "1.7.11"
release: "Debian 6.0 (Squeeze)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/debtags-updatecontrol"
---

# debtags-updatecontrol(1)

Update Debtags information in control files

## NAME

debtags-updatecontrol - Update Debtags information in control files

## SYNOPSIS

**debtags-updatecontrol**

## DESCRIPTION

**debtags-updatecontrol** compares the tag information contained in **debian/control** with the user contributed data in **http://debtags.alioth.debian.org**, and imports the changes after manual review.

In order for **debtags-updatecontrol** to work, a *Tag:* header must be present for every *binary* package section in the control file that you want to update yourself.

To add a *Tag:* header to a package that did not have one, just add an empty *Tag:* header and run **debtags-updatecontrol** to populate it.

The program is interactive and should be self-explanatory.  Frequently asked questions about it are collected in the FAQ section below.

## OPTIONS

**debtags-updatecontrol** must be run from the top directory of the unpacked Debian source package, and uses no arguments.

## FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

**The *Tag:* header will be discarded by the archive software: how will the tags enter the Packages file?**

The data from the control file will be collected through the Mole system (see *http://qa.debian.org/data/mole/db*), validated through a syntax checker, filtered of misspelled tags, merged into an override file which will finally populate the *Tag:* headers in the Packages file.

This is done so that the control file can be used as an optional way to manage tags, which can be abandoned at any moment by just deleting the *Tag:* header from it.  This also catches syntax errors and misspellings from developers who edit the header by hand, and permits some extra automated processing in case, for example, a tag gets renamed.

## SEE ALSO

[**debtags**(1)](/debtags/1.md), [**debtags-edit**(1)](/debtags-edit/1.md),\
 **http://debtags.alioth.debian.org/**

## AUTHOR

**debtags-updatecontrol** and this manpage are maintained by enrico@enricozini.org.