---
name: "dh-exec"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "dh-exec"
version: "0.30"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/dh-exec"
---

# dh-exec(1)

Debhelper executable file helpers

## NAME

dh-exec - Debhelper executable file helpers

## SYNOPSIS

**#! /usr/bin/dh-exec**\
 src/libfoo-\*.so.\* debian/foo-plugins/usr/lib/foo/${DEB\_HOST\_MULTIARCH}/\
 etc/example.conf =\> debian/foo/etc/foo/foo.conf\
 \[linux-any kfreebsd-any\] some-arch-specific-file /usr/lib/foo/

## DESCRIPTION

dh-exec is a simple program, meant to be used as the interpreter for executable debhelper config files.

It is a wrapper around the various other sub-commands (see below), and will pipe the input file through all of them in turn, using an ordering that makes most sense in the vast majority of cases.

The order as of now is *dh-exec-subst* gets run first, followed by *dh-exec-install*, so that variable expansion happens before files need to be copied.

## FILTERING

In all dh-exec handled files, lines can be pre- or post-fixed with a list of architectures for which the rest of the line should apply to. All architectures and wildcards known by [*dpkg-architecture*(1)](/dpkg-architecture/1.md) are recognised, even negated ones.

## ARCHITECTURE

dh-exec is built up from three layers: there is the **dh-exec** utility, its single entry point, the only thing one will need to call.

Below that, there are the various *sub-commands*, such as *dh-exec-subst*, *dh-exec-filter*, *dh-exec-install* and *dh-exec-illiterate*, which are thin wrappers around the various dh-exec scripts, that make sure they only run those that need to be run.

And the lowest layer are the various scripts that do the actual work.

One can control which sub-commands to run, or if even more granularity is desired, one can limit which scripts shall be run, too. See below for the options!

## OPTIONS

- **--with**=*command*\[**,***command* ...\]

  Replace the list of sub-commands to run the input through with a custom list (where entries are separated by whitespace or commas) that includes *dh-exec-filter* and *dh-exec-strip* at the start and end of the queue respectively. This option will always replace the existing list with whatever is specified.

  This can be used to explicitly set which sub-commands to use.

  The list **must not** include the *dh-exec-* prefix.

  Defaults to *subst,install*.

- **--without**=*command*\[**,***command* ...\]

  Inversely to the option above, this lists all the sub-commands which should not be used. The *dh-exec-filter* and *dh-exec-strip* subcommands cannot be removed using this option. Use the **--no-defaults** instead.

  The list **must not** include the *dh-exec-* prefix.

- **--with-scripts=***script*\[**,***script* ...\]

  Replace the list of scripts to run the input through with a custom list (where entries are separated by whitespace or commas). This option will always replace the existing list with whatever is specified.

  This can be used to explicitly specify which scripts to use, limiting even beyond what the **--with** option is capable of.

  The list **must not** include the *dh-exec-* prefix.

  By default it is empty, meaning there is no filtering done, and whatever scripts the sub-commands find, will be run.

- **--no-defaults**

  Most packages require the sub-command list to start with *dh-exec-filter* and end with *dh-exec-strip* subcommands. If you really want to, use this option to remove both these sub-commands.

  The *--without* option does not remove these two sub-commands.

- **--no-act**

  Do not really do anything, but print the pipeline that would have been run instead.

- **--list**

  List the available sub-commands and scripts, grouped by sub-command.

- **--help**, **--version**

  Display a short help or the package version, respectively.

## SUB-COMMANDS

- **dh-exec-subst**

  Substitutes various variables (either from the environment, or from [*dpkg-architecture*(1)](/dpkg-architecture/1.md)).

- **dh-exec-filter**

  Filters the input in various ways (architecture restrictions, build profiles, and so on).

- **dh-exec-install**

  An extension to [*dh\_install*(1)](/dh_install/1.md), that supports renaming files during the copy process, using a special syntax.

- **dh-exec-strip**

  Removes unrequired lines such as comments or blank lines.

## ENVIRONMENT

*DH\_EXEC\_LIBDIR*

The directory in which the wrapped sub-commands reside. Defaults to */usr/lib/dh-exec/*.

*DH\_EXEC\_SCRIPTDIR*

The directory in which the scripts that do the heavy work live. Defaults to */usr/share/dh-exec/*.

## FILES

*$DH\_EXEC\_LIBDIR/dh-exec-\**

The various sub-commands.

*$DH\_EXEC\_SCRIPTDIR/dh-exec-\**

The various scripts ran by the sub-commands.

## SEE ALSO

[**dh-exec-subst**(1)](/dh-exec-subst/1.md), [**dh-exec-filter**(1)](/dh-exec-filter/1.md), [**dh-exec-install**(1)](/dh-exec-install/1.md), [**debhelper**(7)](/debhelper/7.md)