--- name: "dpkg-buildpackage" section: "1" platform: "linux" package: "dpkg" version: "1.23.11-1" release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/dpkg-buildpackage" --- # dpkg-buildpackage(1) build binary or source packages from sources ## NAME dpkg-buildpackage - build binary or source packages from sources ## SYNOPSIS **dpkg-buildpackage** \[*option*...\] \[**--**\] \[*filename*.dsc\|*directory*\] ## DESCRIPTION **dpkg-buildpackage** is a program that automates the process of building a Debian package. Support for the *filename*.dsc and *directory* arguments since dpkg 1.22.7, with experimental semantics. It consists of the following steps: - **1.** It runs the **preinit** hook before reading any source file. If a **.dsc** file has been specified it unpacks it anew and changes directory to it, if a *directory* has been specified it changes directory to it, otherwise it expects the current directory to contain the source tree. It prepares the build environment by setting various environment variables (see **ENVIRONMENT**), runs the **init** hook, and calls **dpkg-source --before-build** (unless **-T** or **--target** has been used). - **2.** It checks that the build-dependencies and build-conflicts are satisfied (unless **-d** or **--no-check-builddeps** is specified). - **3.** If one or more specific targets have been selected with the **-T** or **--target** option, it calls those targets and stops here. Otherwise it runs the **preclean** hook and calls **fakeroot debian/rules clean** to clean the build-tree (unless **-nc** or **--no-pre-clean** is specified). - **4.** It runs the **source** hook and calls **dpkg-source -b** to generate the source package (if a **source** build has been requested with **--build** or equivalent options, and if no **.dsc** has been specified). - **5.** It runs the **build** hook and calls **debian/rules** *build-target*, then runs the **binary** hook followed by **fakeroot debian/rules** *binary-target* (unless a source-only build has been requested with **--build=source** or equivalent options). Note that *build-target* and *binary-target* are either **build** and **binary** (default case, or if an **any** and **all** build has been requested with **--build** or equivalent options), or **build-arch** and **binary-arch** (if an **any** and not **all** build has been requested with **--build** or equivalent options), or **build-indep** and **binary-indep** (if an **all** and not **any** build has been requested with **--build** or equivalent options). - **6.** It runs the **buildinfo** hook and calls **dpkg-genbuildinfo** to generate a **.buildinfo** file. Several **dpkg-buildpackage** options are forwarded to **dpkg-genbuildinfo**. If a *.dsc* has been specified, then it will be referenced in the generated **.buildinfo** file, as we can ascertain the provenance of the source tree. - **7.** It runs the **changes** hook and calls **dpkg-genchanges** to generate a **.changes** file. The name of the **.changes** file will depend on the type of build and will be as specific as necessary but not more; the name will be: - *source-name***\_***binary-version***\_***arch***.changes** for a build that includes **any** - *source-name***\_***binary-version***\_all.changes** otherwise for a build that includes **all** - *source-name***\_***source-version***\_source.changes**. otherwise for a build that includes **source** Many **dpkg-buildpackage** options are forwarded to **dpkg-genchanges**. - **8.** It runs the **postclean** hook and if **-tc** or **--post-clean** is specified, it will call **fakeroot debian/rules clean** again. - **9.** It calls **dpkg-source --after-build**. - **10.** It runs the **check** hook and calls a package checker for the **.changes** file (if a command is specified in **DEB\_CHECK\_COMMAND** or with **--check-command**). - **11.** It runs the **sign** hook and signs using the OpenPGP backend (as long as it is not an UNRELEASED build, or **--no-sign** is specified) to sign the **.dsc** file (if any, unless **-us** or **--unsigned-source** is specified), the **.buildinfo** file (unless **-ui**, **--unsigned-buildinfo**, **-uc** or **--unsigned-changes** is specified) and the **.changes** file (unless **-uc** or **--unsigned-changes** is specified). - **12.** If a **.dsc** file has been specified, it removes the extracted source directory. - **13.** It runs the **done** hook. ## OPTIONS All long options can be specified both on the command line and in the **dpkg-buildpackage** system and user configuration files. Each line in the configuration file is either an option (exactly the same as the command line option but without leading hyphens) or a comment (if it starts with a ‘**#**’). - **--build=***type* Specifies the build *type* from a comma-separated list of components. All the specified components get combined to select the single build type to use, which implies a single build run with a single *.changes* file generated. Passed to **dpkg-genchanges**. Supported since dpkg 1.18.5. The allowed values are: - **source** Builds the source package. **Note**: When using this value standalone and if what you want is to only (re-)build the source package from a clean source tree, using **dpkg-source** directly is always a better option as it does not require any build dependencies to be installed which are otherwise needed to be able to call the **clean** target. - **any** Builds the architecture specific binary packages. - **all** Builds the architecture independent binary packages. - **binary** Builds the architecture specific and independent binary packages. This is an alias for **any,all**. - **full** Builds everything. This is an alias for **source,any,all**, and the same as the default case when no build option is specified. - **-g** Equivalent to **--build=source,all**. Supported since dpkg 1.17.11. - **-G** Equivalent to **--build=source,any**. Supported since dpkg 1.17.11. - **-b** Equivalent to **--build=binary** or **--build=any,all**. - **-B** Equivalent to **--build=any**. - **-A** Equivalent to **--build=all**. - **-S** Equivalent to **--build=source**. - **-F** Equivalent to **--build=full**, **--build=source,binary** or **--build=source,any,all**. Supported since dpkg 1.15.8. - **--target=***target*\[**,**...\] - **--target** *target*\[**,**...\] - **-T**, **--rules-target=***target*\[**,**...\] Calls **debian/rules** *target* once per target specified, after having setup the build environment (except for calling **dpkg-source --before-build**), and stops the package build process here. If **--as-root** is also given, then the command is executed as root (see **--root-command**). Note that known targets that are required to be run as root do not need this option (i.e. the **clean**, **binary**, **binary-arch** and **binary-indep** targets). Support for short option since dpkg 1.15.0. Support for long option since dpkg 1.18.8. Support for multiple targets since dpkg 1.18.16. - **--as-root** Only meaningful together with **--target**. Requires that the target be run with root rights. Supported since dpkg 1.15.0. - **-si** - **-sa** - **-sd** - **-v***version* - **-C***changes-description* - **-m***maintainer-address* - **-e***maintainer-address* Passed unchanged to **dpkg-genchanges**. See its manual page. - **--build-by=***maintainer-address* - **--source-by=***maintainer-address* Pass as **-m** to **dpkg-genchanges**. See its manual page. Support for **--build-by** since dpkg 1.18.8. Support for **--source-by** since dpkg 1.21.10. - **--release-by=***maintainer-address* - **--changed-by=***maintainer-address* Pass as **-e** to **dpkg-genchanges**. See its manual page. Support for **--release-by** since dpkg 1.18.8. Support for **--changed-by** since dpkg 1.21.10. - **-a**, **--host-arch** *architecture* Specify the Debian architecture we build for. The architecture of the machine we build on is determined automatically, and is also the default for the host machine. Support for long option since dpkg 1.17.17. - **-t**, **--host-type** *gnu-system-type* Specify the GNU system type we build for. It can be used in place of **--host-arch** or as a complement to override the default GNU system type of the host Debian architecture. Support for long option since dpkg 1.17.17. - **--target-arch** *architecture* Specify the Debian architecture the binaries built will build for. The default value is the host machine. Supported since dpkg 1.17.17. - **--target-type** *gnu-system-type* Specify the GNU system type the binaries built will build for. It can be used in place of **--target-arch** or as a complement to override the default GNU system type of the target Debian architecture. Supported since dpkg 1.17.17. - **-P**, **--build-profiles=***profile*\[**,**...\] Specify the profile(s) we build, as a comma-separated list. The default behavior is to build for no specific profile. Also sets them (as a space separated list) as the **DEB\_BUILD\_PROFILES** environment variable which allows, for example, **debian/rules** files to use this information for conditional builds. The exclamation marks are not part of the build profile names, and thus not accepted in this option. Support for short option since dpkg 1.17.2. Support for long option since dpkg 1.18.8. - **-j**, **--jobs**\[=*jobs*\|**auto**\] Specifies the number of jobs allowed to be run simultaneously. The number of jobs matching the number of online processors if **auto** is specified (since dpkg 1.17.10), or unlimited number if *jobs* is not specified. The default behavior is **auto** (since dpkg 1.18.11) in non-forced mode (since dpkg 1.21.10), and as such it is always safer to use with any package including those that are not parallel-build safe. Setting the number of jobs to **1** will restore serial execution. Will add **parallel=***jobs* or **parallel** to the **DEB\_BUILD\_OPTIONS** environment variable which allows debian/rules files to opt-in to use this information for their own purposes. The *jobs* value will override the **parallel=***jobs* or **parallel** option in the **DEB\_BUILD\_OPTIONS** environment variable. Note that the **auto** value will get replaced by the actual number of currently active processors, and as such will not get propagated to any child process. If the number of online processors cannot be inferred then the code will fallback to using serial execution (since dpkg 1.18.15), although this should only happen on exotic and unsupported systems. Support for short option since dpkg 1.14.7. Support for long option since dpkg 1.18.8. - **-J**, **--jobs-try**\[=*jobs*\|**auto**\] This option is equivalent to the **-j** above. Since the behavior for **-j** changed in dpkg 1.21.10 to the opt-in mode, you can use this option instead if you need to guarantee semantics across dpkg release series. Support for short option since dpkg 1.18.2. Support for long option since dpkg 1.18.8. - **--jobs-force**\[=*jobs*\|**auto**\] This option is equivalent to the **--jobs** option except that it will enable forced parallel mode, by adding the **make** **-j** option with the computed number of parallel jobs to the **MAKEFLAGS** environment variable. This should cause all subsequent make invocations to inherit the option, thus forcing the parallel setting on the packaging (and possibly the upstream build system if that uses [**make**(1)](/make/1.md)) regardless of their support for parallel builds, which might cause build failures. **Note**: Any Makefile that is not parallel-safe should be considered to be buggy. These should either be made parallel-safe, or marked as not being safe with the [**make**(1)](/make/1.md) **.NOTPARALLEL** target. Supported since dpkg 1.21.10. - **-D**, **--check-builddeps** Check build dependencies and conflicts; abort if unsatisfied. This is the default behavior. Support for long option since dpkg 1.18.8. - **-d**, **--no-check-builddeps** Do not check build dependencies and conflicts. Support for long option since dpkg 1.18.8. - **--ignore-builtin-builddeps** Do not check built-in build dependencies and conflicts. These are the distribution specific implicit build dependencies usually required in a build environment, the so called Build-Essential package set. Supported since dpkg 1.18.2. - **--rules-requires-root** Do not honor the **Rules-Requires-Root** field, falling back to its legacy default value **binary-targets**. Supported since dpkg 1.19.1. - **-nc**, **--no-pre-clean** Do not clean the source tree before building. Implies **-b** if nothing else has been selected among **-F**, **-g**, **-G**, **-B**, **-A** or **-S**. Implies **-d** with **-S** (since dpkg 1.18.0). Support for long option since dpkg 1.18.8. - **--pre-clean** Clean the source tree before building. This is the default behavior. Supported since dpkg 1.18.8. - **-tc**, **--post-clean** Clean the source tree (using *gain-root-command* **debian/rules clean**) after the package has been built. Support for long option since dpkg 1.18.8. - **--no-post-clean** Do not clean the source tree after the package has been built. This is the default behavior. Supported since dpkg 1.19.1. - **--sanitize-env** Sanitize the build environment. This will reset or remove environment variables, umask, and any other process attributes that might otherwise adversely affect the build of packages. Because the official entry point to build packages is **debian/rules**, packages cannot rely on these settings being in place, and thus should work even when they are not. What to sanitize is vendor specific. Supported since dpkg 1.20.0. - **-r**, **--root-command=***gain-root-command* When **dpkg-buildpackage** needs to execute part of the build process as root, it prefixes the command it executes with *gain-root-command* if one has been specified. Otherwise, if none has been specified, **fakeroot** will be used by default, if the command is present. *gain-root-command* should start with the name of a program on the **PATH** and will get as arguments the name of the real command to run and the arguments it should take. *gain-root-command* can include parameters (they must be space-separated) but no shell metacharacters. *gain-root-command* might typically be **fakeroot**, **sudo**, **super** or **really**. **su** is not suitable, since it can only invoke the user's shell with **-c** instead of passing arguments individually to the command to be run. Support for long option since dpkg 1.18.8. - **-R**, **--rules-file=***rules-file* Building a Debian package usually involves invoking **debian/rules** as a command with several standard parameters. With this option it's possible to use another program invocation to build the package (it can include space separated parameters). Alternatively it can be used to execute the standard rules file with another make program (for example by using **/usr/local/bin/make -f debian/rules** as *rules-file*). Support for short option since dpkg 1.14.17. Support for long option since dpkg 1.18.8. - **--check-command=***check-command* Command used to check the **.changes** file itself and any artifact built referenced in the file. The command should take the **.changes** pathname as an argument. This command will usually be **lintian**. Supported since dpkg 1.17.6. - **--check-option=***opt* Pass option *opt* to the *check-command* specified with **DEB\_CHECK\_COMMAND** or **--check-command**. Can be used multiple times. Supported since dpkg 1.17.6. - **--hook-***hook-name***=***hook-command* Set the specified shell code *hook-command* as the hook *hook-name*, which will run at the times specified in the run steps. The hooks will always be executed even if the following action is not performed (except for the **binary** hook). All the hooks will run in the unpacked source directory. Some hooks can receive addition information through environment variables (since dpkg 1.22.0). All hooks get the hook name in the **DPKG\_BUILDPACKAGE\_HOOK\_NAME** environment variable (since dpkg 1.22.0). **Note**: Hooks can affect the build process, and cause build failures if their commands fail, so watch out for unintended consequences. The current *hook-name* supported are: - **preinit** - **init** - **preclean** - **source** Gets **DPKG\_BUILDPACKAGE\_HOOK\_SOURCE\_OPTIONS** with the space-separated lists of options that will passed to the **dpkg-source** call. - **build** Gets **DPKG\_BUILDPACKAGE\_HOOK\_BUILD\_TARGET** with the name of the **debian/rules** build target called. Before dpkg 1.22.7 the variable was only set if the target was called. - **binary** Gets **DPKG\_BUILDPACKAGE\_HOOK\_BINARY\_TARGET** with the name of the **debian/rules** binary target called, but only if called. - **buildinfo** Gets **DPKG\_BUILDPACKAGE\_HOOK\_BUILDINFO\_OPTIONS** with the space-separated lists of options that will passed to the **dpkg-genbuildinfo** call. - **changes** Gets **DPKG\_BUILDPACKAGE\_HOOK\_CHANGES\_OPTIONS** with the space-separated lists of options that will passed to the **dpkg-genchanges** call. - **postclean** - **check** Gets **DPKG\_BUILDPACKAGE\_HOOK\_CHECK\_OPTIONS** with the space-separated lists of options that will passed to the check command call. - **sign** - **done** The *hook-command* supports the following substitution format string, which will get applied to it before execution: - **%%** A single % character. - **%a** A boolean value (0 or 1), representing whether the following action is being performed. - **%p** The source package name. - **%v** The source package version. - **%s** The source package version (without the epoch). - **%u** The upstream version. Supported since dpkg 1.17.6. - **--buildinfo-file=***filename* Set the *filename* for the generated **.buildinfo** file. Supported since dpkg 1.21.0. - **--buildinfo-option=***opt* Pass option *opt* to **dpkg-genbuildinfo**. Can be used multiple times. Supported since dpkg 1.18.11. - **--sign-backend=***sign-backend* Specify an OpenPGP backend interface to use when invoking the *sign-command*. The default is **auto**, where the best current backend available will be used. The specific OpenPGP backends supported in order of preference are: - **sop** Any conforming Stateless OpenPGP (SOP) implementation, such as sqop, rsop, gosop, hop or pgpainless-cli. - **sq** From Sequoia-PGP. - **gpg** From GnuPG. Supported since dpkg 1.21.10. - **-p**, **--sign-command=***sign-command* When **dpkg-buildpackage** needs to execute an OpenPGP backend command to sign a source control (**.dsc**) file, a **.buildinfo** file or a **.changes** file it will run *sign-command* (searching the **PATH** if necessary) instead of the default or auto-detected backend command. *sign-command* will get all the backend specific arguments according to the **--sign-backend** selected. *sign-command* should not contain spaces or any other shell metacharacters. Support for long option since dpkg 1.18.8. - **-k**, **--sign-keyid=***key-id* Specify an OpenPGP key-ID (either a fingerprint or a user-ID) for the secret key to use when signing packages. Support for long option since dpkg 1.21.10. - **--sign-key=***key-id* Deprecated since dpkg 1.23.8, replaced by **--sign-keyid**. Supported since dpkg 1.18.8. - **--sign-keyfile=***key-file* Specify an OpenPGP *key-file* containing the secret key to use when signing packages. **Note**: For security reasons the *key-file* is best kept locked with a password. Supported since dpkg 1.21.10. - **-us**, **--unsigned-source** Do not sign the source package. Support for long option since dpkg 1.18.8. - **-ui**, **--unsigned-buildinfo** Do not sign the **.buildinfo** file. Supported since dpkg 1.18.19. - **-uc**, **--unsigned-changes** Do not sign the **.buildinfo** and **.changes** files. Support for long option since dpkg 1.18.8. - **--no-sign** Do not sign any file, this includes the source package, the **.buildinfo** file and the **.changes** file. Supported since dpkg 1.18.20. - **--force-sign** Force the signing of the resulting files, regardless of **-us**, **--unsigned-source**, **-ui**, **--unsigned-buildinfo**, **-uc**, **--unsigned-changes** or other internal heuristics. Supported since dpkg 1.17.0. - **-sn** - **-ss** - **-sA** - **-sk** - **-su** - **-sr** - **-sK** - **-sU** - **-sR** - **-i**, **--diff-ignore**\[=*regex*\] - **-I**, **--tar-ignore**\[=*pattern*\] - **-z**, **--compression-level=***level* - **-Z**, **--compression=***compressor* Passed unchanged to **dpkg-source**. See its manual page. Support for long options since dpkg 1.18.8. - **--source-option=***opt* Pass option *opt* to **dpkg-source**. Can be used multiple times. Supported since dpkg 1.15.6. - **--changes-file=***filename* Set the *filename* for the generated **.changes** file. Supported since dpkg 1.21.0. - **--changes-option=***opt* Pass option *opt* to **dpkg-genchanges**. Can be used multiple times. Supported since dpkg 1.15.6. - **--admindir=***dir* - **--admindir** *dir* Change the location of the **dpkg** database. The default location is */var/lib/dpkg*. Supported since dpkg 1.14.0. - **-?**, **--help** Show the usage message and exit. - **--version** Show the version and exit. ## ENVIRONMENT ### External environment - **DEB\_CHECK\_COMMAND** If set, it will be used as the command to check the **.changes** file. Overridden by the **--check-command** option. Supported since dpkg 1.17.6. - **DEB\_SIGN\_KEYID** If set, it will be used to sign the **.changes**, **.buildinfo** and **.dsc** files. Overridden by the **--sign-keyid** option. Supported since dpkg 1.17.2. - **DEB\_SIGN\_KEYFILE** If set, it will be used to sign the **.changes**, **.buildinfo** and **.dsc** files. Overridden by the **--sign-keyfile** option. Supported since dpkg 1.21.10. - **DEB\_BUILD\_OPTIONS** If set, it will contain a space-separated list of options that affect the behavior of some dpkg tools involved in package building, and might affect the package build process if the code in *debian/rules* honors them. These options can have parameters specified immediately after an equal sign (‘**=**‘). For options that support multiple parameters, these will not be separated by spaces, as these are reserved to separate options. The following are the options known and supported by dpkg tools, other options honored by *debian/rules* might be defined by distribution specific policies. - **parallel=***N* The *debian/rules* in the packaging might use this option to set up the build process to use *N* parallel jobs. It is overridden by the **--jobs** and **--jobs-force** options. - **nocheck** **dpkg-buildpackage** will ignore the **DEB\_CHECK\_COMMAND** variable. The *debian/rules* in the packaging is not expected to run test suites during the build. - **noopt** If *debian/rules* calls **dpkg-buildflags** to set up the build flags, those will be set to not enable any optimizations. - **nostrip** The *debian/rules* in the packaging should ensure that objects do not get the debugging information stripped. If *debian/rules* includes the **mk/buildtools.mk** make fragment the **STRIP** make variable will respect this option. - **terse** **dpkg-buildpackage** will append the **--no-print-directory** [**make**(1)](/make/1.md) flag to the **MAKEFLAGS** environment variable. The *debian/rules* in the packaging should reduce verbosity, while not being completely quiet. - **hardening=***feature-spec* - **reproducible=***feature-spec* - **abi=***feature-spec* - **future=***feature-spec* - **qa=***feature-spec* - **optimize=***feature-spec* - **sanitize=***feature-spec* These are feature areas that control build flag features. See [**dpkg-buildflags**(1)](/dpkg-buildflags/1.md) for further details. - **DEB\_BUILD\_PROFILES** If set, it will be used as the active build profile(s) for the package being built. It is a space separated list of profile names, without any exclamation marks. Overridden by the **-P** option. Supported since dpkg 1.17.2. - **DPKG\_COLORS** Sets the color mode. The currently accepted values are: **auto** (default), **always** and **never**. Supported since dpkg 1.18.5. - **DPKG\_NLS** If set, it will be used to decide whether to activate Native Language Support, also known as internationalization (or i18n) support. The accepted values are: **0** and **1** (default). Supported since dpkg 1.19.0. ### Internal environment Even if **dpkg-buildpackage** exports some variables, **debian/rules** should not rely on their presence and should instead use the respective interface to retrieve the needed values, because that file is the main entry point to build packages and running it standalone should be supported. - **DEB\_BUILD\_\*** - **DEB\_HOST\_\*** - **DEB\_TARGET\_\*** **dpkg-architecture** is called with the **-a** and **-t** parameters forwarded. Any variable that is output by its **-s** option is integrated in the build environment. - **DEB\_RULES\_REQUIRES\_ROOT** This variable is set to the value obtained from the **Rules-Requires-Root** field, the dpkg-build-api level or from the command-line. When set, it will be a valid value for the **Rules-Requires-Root** field. It is used to notify **debian/rules** whether the **rootless-builds.txt** specification is supported. - **DEB\_GAIN\_ROOT\_CMD** This variable is set to *gain-root-command* when the field **Rules-Requires-Root** is set to a value different to **no** and **binary-targets**. - **SOURCE\_DATE\_EPOCH** This variable is set to the Unix timestamp since the epoch of the latest entry in *debian/changelog*, if it is not already defined. ## FILES - */etc/dpkg/buildpackage.conf* System wide configuration file - *$XDG\_CONFIG\_HOME/dpkg/buildpackage.conf* - *$HOME/.config/dpkg/buildpackage.conf* User configuration file. ## NOTES ### Compiler flags are no longer exported Between dpkg 1.14.17 and 1.16.1, **dpkg-buildpackage** exported compiler flags (**CFLAGS**, **CXXFLAGS**, **FFLAGS**, **CPPFLAGS** and **LDFLAGS**) with values as returned by **dpkg-buildflags**. This is no longer the case. ### Default build targets **dpkg-buildpackage** is using the **build-arch** and **build-indep** targets since dpkg 1.16.2. Before dpkg 1.22.7, there was code to try to detect the missing targets and fallback on the **build** target. Those targets are thus mandatory. ## SECURITY Building binary or source packages should only be performed over trusted source data. ## BUGS It should be possible to specify spaces and shell metacharacters and initial arguments for *gain-root-command* and *sign-command*. ## SEE ALSO */usr/share/doc/dpkg/spec/rootless-builds.txt*, [**dpkg-source**(1)](/dpkg-source/1.md), [**dpkg-architecture**(1)](/dpkg-architecture/1.md), [**dpkg-buildflags**(1)](/dpkg-buildflags/1.md), [**dpkg-genbuildinfo**(1)](/dpkg-genbuildinfo/1.md), [**dpkg-genchanges**(1)](/dpkg-genchanges/1.md), [**fakeroot**(1)](/fakeroot/1.md), [**lintian**(1)](/lintian/1.md), SOP \, [**sq**(1)](/sq/1.md), [**gpg**(1)](/gpg/1.md).