---
name: "dpkg-repack"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "dpkg-repack"
version: "1.54"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/dpkg-repack"
---

# dpkg-repack(1)

put an unpacked .deb file back together

## NAME

dpkg-repack - put an unpacked .deb file back together

## SYNOPSIS

**dpkg-repack** \[*option*...\] *package-name*...

## DESCRIPTION

**dpkg-repack** creates a .deb file out of a Debian package that has already been installed on your system.

If any changes have been made to the package while it was unpacked (e.g. conffiles files in /etc modified), the new package will inherit the changes. (There are exceptions to this, including changes to configuration files that are not conffiles, including those managed by [**ucf**(1)](/ucf/1.md).)

This utility can make it easy to copy packages from one computer to another, or to recreate packages that are installed on your system, but no longer available elsewhere.

Note: **dpkg-repack** will place the created package in the current directory.

## OPTIONS

- **--root=***dir*

  Take package from filesystem rooted on *dir*. This is useful if, for example, you have another computer NFS mounted on */mnt*, then you can use **--root=/mnt** to reassemble packages from that computer.

- **--arch=***architecture*

  Make the package be for a specific *architecture*. **dpkg-repack** might not be able to tell if an installed package is architecture **all** or is specific to the system's architecture, in case it lacks the **Architecture** field. If you know the package architecture, you can use this option to force **dpkg-repack** to use the right architecture.

- **-d**, **--deb-option=***option*

  Pass *option* as build argument to **dpkg-deb**. This option can be specified multiple times.

- **--generate**

  Generate a temporary directory suitable for building a package from, but do not actually create the package. This is useful if you want to move files around in the package before building it. The package can be built from this temporary directory by running "**dpkg-deb --build** *dir* **.**" as root (or by using **fakeroot -u**), where *dir* is the generated directory.

- **--tag=***thing*\[,...\]

  Specify a comma-separated list of things to tag in the package as having been repackaged. The current list of *thing*s to tag is:

  - **none**

    Tag nothing. This can be specified first to be augmented by more specific *thing*s.

  - **description**

    Append a timestamped "Repackaged by dpkg-repack" tagline to the package's control file **Description** field. This tag is enabled by default.

  - **version**

    Append a "+repack" tag to the package version.

  - **all**

    Tag everything.

- *package-name*

  The name of the package to attempt to repack. Multiple packages can be listed.

## BUGS

There is a tricky situation that can occur if you **dpkg-repack** a package that has modified conffiles. The modified conffiles are packed up. Now if you install the package, [**dpkg**(1)](/dpkg/1.md) does not realize that the conffiles in it are modified. So if you later upgrade to a new version of the package, [**dpkg**(1)](/dpkg/1.md) will believe that the old (repacked) package has older conffiles than the new version, and will silently replace the conffiles with those in the package you are upgrading to.

While **dpkg-repack** can be run under [**fakeroot**(1)](/fakeroot/1.md) and will work most of the time, **fakeroot -u** must be used if any of the files to be repacked are owned by non-root users. Otherwise the package will have them owned by root. **dpkg-repack** will warn if you run it under [**fakeroot**(1)](/fakeroot/1.md) without the **-u** flag.

## SEE ALSO

[**dpkg**(1)](/dpkg/1.md), [**dpkg-deb**(1)](/dpkg-deb/1.md), [**fakeroot**(1)](/fakeroot/1.md).